SONIC IS BACK AT FULL SPEED!

– Review by Blaidd (Elliot Lovibond) 

SONIC MANIA: A NEW 2D ADVENTURE

Sonic is back in Sonic Mania,  a new game and it may be not what you’re expecting if you were in the dark about this one. Those in the dark may be expecting another fast paced 3D game like Sonic Forces which is due out later this year. The new game called Sonic Mania is a brand new adventure for Sonic with his friends Tails and Knuckles in the retro style of 2D.

MANIA FACTS MANY DON’T KNOW

Now I won’t go all the way back to how Sonic mania came to be but some of the background facts are pretty interesting, like how the entire thing came about from SEGA hiring Sonic fans who originally recreated a Sonic game using different code and coding techniques….whoops I went all the way back after all my bad.

So yeah those guys were hired by SEGA to do this project but the sound as in the music is done by Tee Lobes a YouTuber known for remixing game music, so yeah that’s pretty cool

If you want more facts you may not know then click here and be educated!

WHAT’S IN THE GAME?

In the game is what you expect along with surprise throwbacks to previous games. Sonic Mania gives you fast paced levels with increasing difficulty and if you blink more than likely you’ll hit something and lose your rings…just like when we were kids, but this is what we fans wanted right? of course we did!

Now don’t go thinking you are just playing as the blue blur, because if it didn’t click in the first paragraph of this review then let me tell you simply that you can also play as Tails and Knuckles! (also Sonic & Tails like in Sonic 2) that’s right the original trio.

So the aim is to progress through levels as normal and defeating Dr. Robotnik (No not Eggman, It’s Robotnik and always will be), as well as new villains whilst collecting Chaos Emeralds through secret special stages hidden within levels and not at the end of levels with 50+ rings.

Also there are special bonus stages at the checkpoints similar to a previous Sonic game which if you complete you get medals that unlock extras.

VERDICT

Pros

• Sonic Mania is a great addition to the retro greats to which some on the internet are calling this the real Sonic 4, The art style is perfect to make it similar but different enough for us to see that it’s a new game and not an updated old one.

• Tee Lobes has nailed the music, he captured what made the original score great and updated it with his style and avoided making it too modern and boring, there were many times I found myself head bobbing along to the beat.

• The controls feel different but not bad, it’s a hard one to explain and more of a case of if you play it yourselves you’ll notice what I mean. The controls may feel different but it’s not bad in any way in fact they still act like they used to with maybe more responsiveness.

Cons

• The only minus I would say is the check point bonus stages are a bit of a weak part unless you are a perfectionist, however it revolves around turning blue spheres red and collecting rings from the transformed spheres. This is where a lot of the bonus stages troll you and end the stage when you get all spheres before you are able to get the rings as you can’t get them until after the spheres are turned red leaving you with a silver medal instead of a gold.

Overall

Sonic Mania a game not created by the Sonic Team sounds, looks and plays great on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PlayStation 4 at 60 FPS 1080p (4K PS4 Pro compatible) and is a game for fans of the classic and even new players as it doesn’t continue on a previous story like modern games these days do.

Yes there is a downside with the bonus check point stages but that’s just me, it doesn’t ruin the game at all and I’ve been looking forward to this game for so long that I stayed up until midnight just to download it even though I couldn’t play it until the following day (What’s that got to do with anything?) if you like Classic Sonic or Sonic in general they I’d highly recommend you get this game! it’s fun and of did I mention it’s LOCAL CO-OP!

SEGA have also publicly stated that depending oh how well Sonic Mania does it may change how they do Sonic in the future, so when it’s slapped with the low price of £15.99 I’m happy to give this game my personal rating of 4.5 Super Sonic’s out of 5!