After looking forward to this game it is finally here and it didn't surprise me that I completed it in one sitting (there was a 30 minute dinner break in there), an ode to a 16 bit Sonic where the speedster made his name, before flikies (unbelievably not a real word) island began a downward spiral ultimately resulting in making out with a human woman and turning it to a (sigh) werehog (plus shadow had a game where he had a gun and there was a kinect racing game but they're spin offs (what next, Blaze P.I,? (that's right, multiple brackets are back))) . I've spoke before of how I like Sonic generations, and even though there's been a slump since it seems at least 2/3 of the upcoming Sonic Forces will be along the same vain, so hopes are up on that. I'm not here to talk about Sonic forces though, or the Sonic list I promised and never deliveredupon (kinda seemed like no one but me would care and hence a waste of my time (though argument could be made that all my blog posts are)), I'm here to talk about Sonic Mania, and how great it is.
Sonic Mania sees the return of some classic zones (with a few surprising choices) that are remixed in to something semi knew, but not in a bad way at all, parts touch the nostalgia bone in my body (though I need several for this insane year (can't wait for them Woolies to strike back), and it was already tickled by Crash) while also offering new challenges, and tunes. Speaking of music, this is one of the best sounding games I've ever heard, probably last challenged by Saints row 4 (btw, what is volition doing with Agents of Mayhem instead of Saints Row 5, seriously?) and that had actual songs in it, this is created music specifically for this game. That great music passes on even better to the new levels which have all new music, yet sound in the same style as any of the classics, and most of these new levels are great too, Studiopilis and the second act of Mirage Saloon are particular stand outs (the latter of which which may be the best sonic act, ever). Bosses are good too (and you know my views on them), not too hard but still a challenge, apart from Oil Oceans', which annoyed me.
Many new ideas are in there too, as well as old ones, it could be seen as they threw every gimmick from every one of the Megadrive games, and some new ones at a wall and waited to see what stuck, and very nearly all of them did, praise must be given to the developers who were made up of Sonic fans and fan game creators, not even touched by Sonic team, which is for the best in this day and age.
This is not a totally perfect game though, no game is, the penultimate level reminds me of Metroplos zone from Sonic 2, my second least favourite Sonic level from the originals (labyrinth being the worst, obviously). I found this one to be full of traps that are unavoidable where you don't know what's coming, although to be fair this always comes up towards the end of every 2D platformer every made, not that it makes this right. I also wasn't keen on the final zone, not for the difficulty but for the length, I ended up being timed out on both acts, which seems to be Casino night and Carnival night zones both mixed in to one, yet somehow longer than both combined (if you ignore the fact that as a child I couldn't figure out how to do that that up and down spinning platform bit on Carnival night zone as I thought you had to jump on it rather than just hold up and down (jeez, the amount of time outs I got from that). That zone in particular being where the gimmicks just cross the line of going too far.
I don't want to linger on the negatives though, so let's get in to the reference fest that is Sonic Mania, made by fans, for fans. The games is full of references to the main 2D sonic games, beyond just the levels, with the best of all coming from the Sonic CD level Starlight speedway, that's right, time travelling returns, and even the odd choice of sounds from that game turn up. (speaking of Sonic CD, what a shame that until The Sonic gems collection (back on PS2) this game was restricted to the Mega CD (and roms you thief's (definitely not how I first played it...)) so was criminally underplayed, bu at least it wasn't stuck on the 32X like Knuckles chatoix, a game I still haven't played and isn't even referenced in Mania (I think, the chaotix team certainly don't appear (see Sonic the comic/ Sonic heroes as to how I know who they are (I've lost the amount of brackets I've opened now so this should cover it)))). There is also an appearance of famed 'Sonic the fighters' characters Bean, Bark and Fang (though to be fair the latter did appear in the game gear only Sonic chaos sequel, Sonic triple trouble (yes, I've played (and completed) it, pretty decent tbh)). There's also a reference to the reference to Sonic from Deus Ex. The best one of all though I don't want to mention, as it was one of my favourite video game surprises of all time (and no, it's not a Sonic Spinball reference, fortunately).
So there you have it, for any Sonic fan back from the 16 bit era, this game is for you, and any fan of 2D platformers should get a kick out of this. Can't really do a 'you may also like' thing in here, 'cause the answers are obvious (also Freedom planet, the best Sonic fan game, of which one of the creators worked on Sonic Mania (I think, I'm sure I heard that somewhere a while ago)).
I want to start writing more blog posts now, I need to catch up on what I've missed and Pyre definitely deserves it's own post (though no one will read it, indies don't get much traffic). I also want to start my new idea for another blog soon, but I'm not setting a date for that.
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