Sonic Mania

Sonic Mania is a 2D platform game by Head Cannon and PagodaWest. It’s a remake with of the original Sonic the Hedgehog for Sega consoles. You play classic characters – Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails. They have to go through old and new levels to destroy plans of villains. You can download Sonic Mania for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC.

Graphics – 5/5

The idea of Sonic Mania game is to capture the spirit of the original series. Visuals produced by the new team match the old game and add up some fresh flavors. Mainly it goes to animation. It’s now more diverse. Of course, all objects have enhanced sharpness. The design of new levels looks like it was created 28 years ago. The feeling of playing Sonic The Hedgehog is just awesome.

Gameplay – 5/5

Sonic Mania gameplay is also based on the classic guidelines. You have to pass zones that always include 2 acts. You have to be quick and finish an act in 10 minutes. Otherwise, the protagonist dies. You have to attack Badnik robots on your way. If they attack you first, you lose all your rings.

Rings are needed for protection. If you lose them after being attacked, you have to get more immediately, or another hit kills you. Try to get over 100 rings to get an extra life. The more rings you get and robots you destroy, the more points you achieve for each act. You can also get hidden bonuses and power-ups, like a flame shield that can burn oil and enemies or a water shield for running over ponds.

You’re allowed to select Sonic, Knuckles, or Tails to play the entire game. In the multiplayer mode, you can play only in a couple of Sonic and Tails. Each of them has unique skills and limitations.

Controls – 4.5/5

Sonic Mania platform game has simple controls. You need just several buttons for changing the direction of running, dashing, jumping, and attacking. No matter what platform you have, it’s played similarly well. We tested all versions for this Sonic Mania review and concluded that only Switch allows you to divide the original gamepad for co-op play. Other consoles require 2 gamepads for that. On PC you can use one keyboard. You should also consider that Sonic Mania is a semi-hardcore experience.

Replay Value – 5/5

Sonic Mania full game includes 14 stages with 2 acts each. The long-play walkthrough takes slightly more than 2 hours. You can also unlock a bonus race level on which you have to chase the UFO that steals the giant emerald. It’s also rather exciting to replay levels to beat your high scores. The co-op multiplayer is also incredibly immersive. You can play online or in the local co-op in split screen mode.

Conclusion

Sonic Mania is one of the worthiest Sonic series titles of the last decade. It’s recommended to all fans of hardcore platform arcades and, of course, to all fans of the legendary universe by Sega. Sonic Mania price is the same across all platforms, so there’s only an insignificant difference in the comfortability of play. Hopefully, this release will come on mobile systems one day as well.

• Graphics 5
• Gameplay 5
• Controls 4.5
• Replay Value 5

Pros

Original ‘90s graphics;
Immersive gameplay;
New and classic levels combined;
Great reimagined soundtrack by Tee Lopes.

Cons

The difficulty could be lower;
No mobile version.