The Sonic the Hedgehog series was the first videogame series that I owned on console. I remember playing all games on the Sega Genesis over and over again, always getting a little farther every time. Sonic Mania is an absolutely wonderful blast of nostalgia. The game looks, plays, and sounds just like how I remember the original series. Of course, it has been nearly three decades since the original games and the developers have cleverly updated the experience for modern times without tampering with the core mechanics.
Sonic is all about speed. The team behind this game did a great job of finding that sweet spot between having the levels play fast but not so much so that you can't keep track of whats happening. Even while running around you'll usually have time to make jumps and dodge enemies. The verticality of the stages are designed to reward the clever players access to upper routes while failing to reach these paths send players towards the bottom of the stage. Many of the stages are throwbacks to classic sonic worlds such as Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant. With each new level you get different fun gimmicks such as canons and pipes that blast or transport you around the map.
There are many checkpoints each stage and if you have at least 25 rings you can jump into a bonus stage. In these special stages you run around a 3D world collecting coins and turn blue spheres into red spheres. These will be familiar to anyone who played Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Additionally, hidden in each level you can also find a large ring that features another mini-game. In this side game you run around a track trying to grab the chaos emerald. Collecting the blue spheres will boost your speed. Should you manage to stay on the track you've eventually catch up the the UFO and collect one of seven chaos emeralds.
There are several ways to get to the end of the stage and every single exit features a boss fight. These are very fun little challenges that mix up the gameplay. Many of the bosses are throwbacks to the original Genesis' games. Even though I haven't played those games in years the bosses were very memorable. The nice thing is although the bosses are familiar each does feature a new twist. You can play through the game as sonic, tails, and knuckles for added variety. I was quite impressed with the length of the game featuring two acts in each of more than 12 zones.
This is the Sonic game I always wanted but never knew that I needed. Everything about it brings back memories of playing the classic titles. Yet, I feel the developers have cleverly both updated the visuals and smoothed out the gameplay. Lets not forget to mention the soundtrack. The old sonic games had some of my favorite videogame music and Sonic Mania is just as catchy. Even though I just beat the game and I have other titles on my backlog I want to jump right back in and play as a different character. All Sonic fan need to do themselves a favor and pick up this wonderful throwback.