‘Sonic Mania’ Is Sonic Just Like Mama Used to Make

  As a wise man once said, ‘Sonic’s at his best when he’s being pure, unadulterated, no-effing-around Sonic. Just him, some sweet level design, and some goddamn speed. No frills or gimmicky BS. There have been glimmers of this in recent years, with releases like Sonic Colors and Sonic Rush, but overall, there’s been nothing but disappointment from Sonic Team for quite a while now.’ 

Who was this wise man? It was me, mothereffer. When I speak, the world listens. The world nods its head, acknowledges my brilliance and says, this smart bastard knows what he’s talking about right here. This is totally how Sonic Mania came about.

Without raking back over too much ground that was covered in our Sonic 25th anniversary feature last week, a return to form was long overdue. Sonic’s gone from one of the most respected heroes in platform-dom to a gimmick-monger whose glory days are far behind him.

Enter, as I say, Sonic Mania. It looks as though the developers hear our cries for the good, quality ‘hog games of old. With this one, they’re partying like it’s 1992 and dropping something that’d look right at home on anyone’s Genesis system. This is just a first look, natch, and there’s still plenty time for them to screw this up, but first impressions are good. It looks like this is Sonic, Jim, and just as we know it.

Here’s Polygon playing the game at last week’s SDCC: