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Final pre-release thoughts on Sonic Mania
8 years ago
In case no one else is aware, Sonic Mania comes out tomorrow, August 15th. Since it was first revealed back in July of 2016, it's shown nothing but promise. I still remember watching the Sonic 25th anniversary stream (brought to you by Totino's pizza rolls!) in a Skype call with my friend 
tinyapple when Sonic Mania was first revealed. The moment I saw Sonic speeding through Studiopolis Zone, I completely LOST IT. Just ask Apple! My hype levels went through the roof and into outer space! I had never, ever had that kind of reaction to a video game announcement before.
To a lot of other people, Sonic Mania is just a simple 2D platformer, but to me it means a lot more. Classic era Sonic was my childhood! I was there during the days of the Sega Genesis, during the days of Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. I was there when the franchise was at its critical and commercial peak. My first experience with Sonic was at a Toys R Us back in 1994. I was only 5 at the time. They had Sonic & Knuckles running on a Sega Genesis kiosk, and when I first sped through Mushroom Hill Zone, I was absolutely enamored! I knew right then and there what I wanted for Christmas that year.
That Christmas I got a Sega Genesis and a copy of Sonic 2 along with Elefun the Elephant (it was 1994!). That Christmas was one of my happiest memories, and I will always associate Sonic and Tails with it. Later that December I got Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, and those two games combined made for what was quite possibly the best game I played during that era. I also remember seeing this commercial for it back when it aired. :V
Ever since Sonic & Knuckles? It pains me to say it, but it's been a never-ending gauntlet of mediocrity to me. The Sega Saturn gave us no definitive Sonic game. It was going to have Sonic X-treme, but Sega cancelled it. It was really neat to finally see Sonic go 3D with the Sonic Adventure games, but looking back at them now, they were really unpolished. They were certainly ambitious and also really impressive games at the time, but also really unpolished.
Then Sega goes third-party.
We had the Sonic Advance games which were 2D, but even those games didn't quite reach the zenith of the Genesis glory days. Afterwards, Sega would just release so many mediocre to bad Sonic games. Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic '06, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, you name it. We did have decent Sonic games such as Sonic Rush, Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, but again, not quite the zenith.
Dimps, the developer behind the Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush games, attempted to replicate the 2D gameplay of the Genesis games with Sonic 4, but they fell short. Way short. It was suppose to be the sequel to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, but they couldn't bother to bring back anything that was good about the Genesis Sonic games. It had broken physics, plastic-looking visuals, rehashed levels, tons of bottomless pits, an obnoxious soundfont for the music, and level design that relies way too heavily on speed boosters to make up for the game's broken physics. Sega also had the gull to make it "episodic" to siphon more money from us. As much of a travesty as Sonic '06 and Rise of Lyric were, no other game in the franchise felt like a greater slap in the face to me than Sonic 4. It felt like a blatant insult to classic Sonic fans, as if Sega were saying, "Here's your classic Sonic game, now shut up."
I pretty much gave up on the franchise afterwards. People were using Sonic 4 as "proof" that even the Genesis Sonic formula doesn't hold up, but I knew better. I knew because occasionally I'd come across fan games such as Sonic Overture which replicated everything I liked about the Genesis Sonic games. I'd go so far to say that three-level demo of Sonic Overture was one of the most enjoyable experiences I had with a Sonic game since Sonic & Knuckles. That and Christian Whitehead's recreation of Hidden Palace Zone in Sonic 2.
Speaking of Christian Whitehead, when I saw his name in Sonic Mania's reveal trailer, I knew right then and there that we were in for an experience, a true-to-the-originals classic Sonic game! If there's anyone who understands the appeal of Sonic, it's Christian Whitehead and Sonic fans like him. It's been over a year since Sonic Mania was revealed and the game has only looked better and better with each new reveal. Now the game is getting glowing reviews, with 8's and 9's across the board! It's an industry darling with so many talented people behind it. It looks to be quite possibly the best Sonic game to come out since Sonic & Knuckles. It's definitely going to be more of a real Sonic 4 than Sonic 4 was.
It's been a very rough ride being a classic era Sonic fan. It's taken so many attempts for Sega to get it right, yet it took an indie developer to outdo every Sonic game Sega's released since 1994. Sonic Mania brings out the 5-year-old kid in me who played Sonic & Knuckles at that Toys R Us back then, and I couldn't be anymore proud of Christian Whitehead, Simon Thomley and everyone at PagodaWest Games for achieving that.
I'll give my thoughts on the game once I finally to get to play it tomorrow. Until then, thanks for reading. <3
tinyapple when Sonic Mania was first revealed. The moment I saw Sonic speeding through Studiopolis Zone, I completely LOST IT. Just ask Apple! My hype levels went through the roof and into outer space! I had never, ever had that kind of reaction to a video game announcement before.To a lot of other people, Sonic Mania is just a simple 2D platformer, but to me it means a lot more. Classic era Sonic was my childhood! I was there during the days of the Sega Genesis, during the days of Sonic 1, 2, 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. I was there when the franchise was at its critical and commercial peak. My first experience with Sonic was at a Toys R Us back in 1994. I was only 5 at the time. They had Sonic & Knuckles running on a Sega Genesis kiosk, and when I first sped through Mushroom Hill Zone, I was absolutely enamored! I knew right then and there what I wanted for Christmas that year.
That Christmas I got a Sega Genesis and a copy of Sonic 2 along with Elefun the Elephant (it was 1994!). That Christmas was one of my happiest memories, and I will always associate Sonic and Tails with it. Later that December I got Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, and those two games combined made for what was quite possibly the best game I played during that era. I also remember seeing this commercial for it back when it aired. :V
Ever since Sonic & Knuckles? It pains me to say it, but it's been a never-ending gauntlet of mediocrity to me. The Sega Saturn gave us no definitive Sonic game. It was going to have Sonic X-treme, but Sega cancelled it. It was really neat to finally see Sonic go 3D with the Sonic Adventure games, but looking back at them now, they were really unpolished. They were certainly ambitious and also really impressive games at the time, but also really unpolished.
Then Sega goes third-party.
We had the Sonic Advance games which were 2D, but even those games didn't quite reach the zenith of the Genesis glory days. Afterwards, Sega would just release so many mediocre to bad Sonic games. Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic '06, Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, you name it. We did have decent Sonic games such as Sonic Rush, Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations, but again, not quite the zenith.
Dimps, the developer behind the Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush games, attempted to replicate the 2D gameplay of the Genesis games with Sonic 4, but they fell short. Way short. It was suppose to be the sequel to Sonic 3 & Knuckles, but they couldn't bother to bring back anything that was good about the Genesis Sonic games. It had broken physics, plastic-looking visuals, rehashed levels, tons of bottomless pits, an obnoxious soundfont for the music, and level design that relies way too heavily on speed boosters to make up for the game's broken physics. Sega also had the gull to make it "episodic" to siphon more money from us. As much of a travesty as Sonic '06 and Rise of Lyric were, no other game in the franchise felt like a greater slap in the face to me than Sonic 4. It felt like a blatant insult to classic Sonic fans, as if Sega were saying, "Here's your classic Sonic game, now shut up."
I pretty much gave up on the franchise afterwards. People were using Sonic 4 as "proof" that even the Genesis Sonic formula doesn't hold up, but I knew better. I knew because occasionally I'd come across fan games such as Sonic Overture which replicated everything I liked about the Genesis Sonic games. I'd go so far to say that three-level demo of Sonic Overture was one of the most enjoyable experiences I had with a Sonic game since Sonic & Knuckles. That and Christian Whitehead's recreation of Hidden Palace Zone in Sonic 2.
Speaking of Christian Whitehead, when I saw his name in Sonic Mania's reveal trailer, I knew right then and there that we were in for an experience, a true-to-the-originals classic Sonic game! If there's anyone who understands the appeal of Sonic, it's Christian Whitehead and Sonic fans like him. It's been over a year since Sonic Mania was revealed and the game has only looked better and better with each new reveal. Now the game is getting glowing reviews, with 8's and 9's across the board! It's an industry darling with so many talented people behind it. It looks to be quite possibly the best Sonic game to come out since Sonic & Knuckles. It's definitely going to be more of a real Sonic 4 than Sonic 4 was.
It's been a very rough ride being a classic era Sonic fan. It's taken so many attempts for Sega to get it right, yet it took an indie developer to outdo every Sonic game Sega's released since 1994. Sonic Mania brings out the 5-year-old kid in me who played Sonic & Knuckles at that Toys R Us back then, and I couldn't be anymore proud of Christian Whitehead, Simon Thomley and everyone at PagodaWest Games for achieving that.
I'll give my thoughts on the game once I finally to get to play it tomorrow. Until then, thanks for reading. <3
Sonic CD was the last true 2D Sonic game in my eyes, but I'll admit to liking Colors and found it to be enjoyable after getting 06 and Shadow the Edgehog. Generations was pretty decent also and it seemed to get a lot of love as that game has received a number of mods. I'm praying Sonic Mania is good and I've already picked up my points card to purchase it tomorrow!
I am so glad were getting Sonic Mania and I'm hoping that it'll do well enough (which I think it will)