Review for . I play for,
Sonic Mania reminds us of the distant times of the NES, characterized by that friendly rivalry between Nintendo and Sega, far from what is today the console war. Fans from both houses met to play together, including NES, Game Boy, Master System and Game Gear. If on the one hand we had Super Mario, on the other the legendary icon was that of Sonic, the very fast blue hedgehog.
However, while things have been getting better and better for Mario from year to year and the move to 3D has been a success, it hasn't gone quite as well for Sonic. Fans hated almost every three-dimensional chapter of the porcupine, at least as much as they loved games in two dimensions, and this led Sega to enter a real crisis where poor Sonic completely lost his identity, arriving even to a remake of very little thickness like Sonic Boom. Yet what fans want is clear and has always been asked aloud: a back to the origins. This return is given to us not by the parent company, but by two independent developers who have often brought mods and fanmade titles dedicated to the porcupine.
Sega gave a chance to a return to the past, perhaps evaluating the moderate success of Sonic Generations, and thus Sonic Mania was born, which has already been purchased in enormous proportions compared to the three-dimensional chapters. That this time Sega finally understands the hint?
Gotta go fast!
Sonic Mania it takes up the visual style and gameplay of the first chapters, with two-dimensional paths in which to run at breakneck speed trying to avoid traps, enemies and dead ends and, at the same time, to find as many rings as possible and hidden passages, with secret areas to explore. Just like we used to, we can choose whether to use Sonic, fast and with the ability to use the secondary effects of the shields, Tails, which has the ability to fly for a few seconds, and Knuckles, able to break through walls without screwing and climbing everywhere: this involves exploring very different areas, to the point that Knuckles sometimes even starts levels in different points of the map, so as to face completely exclusive challenges. Only new mechanics compared to the past is that of Drop Dash, which allows you to load the screw while we are still in the air, which makes everything much more comfortable and faster.
The infamous also return Chaos Emerald, the seven diamonds that allow Sonic to transform into Super Sonic, obtainable only by finding the large ring hidden in each area and passing a special stage created especially for the occasion. At this juncture we will find ourselves in a three-dimensional setting, where we will have to chase a flying spacecraft on the run. The time limit is defined by a number of rings that will go down as each second passes, and our aim will be to run around the path catching other rings to increase the time available and balls that will increase the speed up to a maximum of Mach 3. If we manage to catch the ship within the time limit (and without falling) we will have obtained a Chaos Emerald, while otherwise we will have failed without the possibility of trying again.
Old and new
Sonic Mania it is a real ode to the beginnings of the blue porcupine. Are present 12 zones for a total of 24 levels (without considering some juicy extras), among which old glories such as Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, Oil Ocean Zone, Hydrocity Zone, Flying Battery Zone, Lava Reef Zone, Stardust Speedway Zone and Metallic Madness Zone return, while the areas created ex novo are Studiopolis Zone, Press Garden Zone, Mirage Saloon Zone and Titanic Monarch Zone. Each zone is reminiscent of ancient games, yet the levels are all different just enough to offer something new, as well as secrets, areas, and new bosses, completely original and with a crazy flair, to the point that we could find ourselves playing Mean Machine against Dr. Eggman. In addition to this, by passing some special stages (reachable by unlocking a checkpoint in possession of at least 25 rings), we will get some silver coins that are used to unlock many extras, including the incredible Debug mode with which to change the levels to our liking.
As for the technical sector, we find ourselves in front of well-made sprites that could give us the impression of being identical to those of the past, but that will make us change our mind once in motion, with amazing animations. The soundtrack incorporates old songs rearranged properly, as well as new tracks absolutely up to it.
Sonic Mania is exactly what we expected and hoped for: a celebration of the first chapters of Sonic, excellently made and with all the credentials to be loved by all the fans who missed a REAL game of the blue porcupine, like those of a time. The success he is having has proved beyond doubt that this is what everyone wants. We'll see if Sega decides to get the ham out of his eyes.
► is a game for,
