Let's face it: aside from Sonic Generations, the Blue Blur's had a pretty iffy history on PlayStation consoles. The hog's starred in a couple of decent Wii titles – and he's even enjoyed a handful of decent handheld outings – but the character's struggled to live up to his iconic legacy on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and now the PlayStation 4.
The good news is that a bad run for the series is about to hit the finish line, because we don't even need to see any more of Sonic Mania to know that it's going to live up to the Mega Drive games. Now, if you find the very idea of the foot-tapping runner with "raditude" repulsive, then this isn't going to change your mind – but if you just so happened to grow up with the SEGA star, then you should be excited.
This is the two-dimensional, 32-bit Sonic game that never existed. The physics are identical to the Genesis classics, so unlike the shameful Sonic the Hedgehog 4, it feels spot-on. But the visuals, despite feeling authentic, take a step forward from the 16-bit days, with added animations and effects ensuring that it looks both modern and retro all at the same time.
And there are new gameplay mechanics to sweeten the deal. The drop dash means that you can now maintain momentum in a way that wasn't possible in older games – a key addition given that Sonic's pace represents a pivotal part of the property's fun. Old levels like Green Hill Zone have been tweaked, while newcomer Studiopolis Zone feels like a modern version of Casino Night Zone, replete with popcorn machines and other interesting traversal methods.
It's essentially the Sonic game that many have been waiting two decades for, and while the Sonic Adventure series still holds a special place in this author's heart, it's eye-opening that SEGA's essentially had to recruit a bunch of super fans (in Sonic CD porter Christian Whitehead and the crew at Headcannon Games) to recapture the magic.
Are you running loop-the-loops in anticipation for Sonic Mania? Do you think that we're just falling victim to the Sonic cycle again? Tap your feet in the comments section below.
[source bit.ly]
Comments 40
Meh. I grew up a Nintendo kid, and all the Sega kids were dirty losers. Sonic always felt like a second-class experience meant to overcompensate with flashing lights, compared to the pure platforming perfection of Mario and Mega Man.
My only concern is that they're throwing in rehashed levels instead of making this a truly stand-alone game. If I want to play the classic levels I'll play them in the context of their original game. Here it seems like unfortunate filler.
@DiddyWahDiddy
What a tosser, go and play your super R-Type at 5 frames per a second, I'll enjoy my Thunder Force 4.
The Genesis library is amazing btw.......what it lacks in JRPG's (btw it easily beats the SNES in tactical RPG's), it equals or betters it in everything else.... (and I love the SNES btw)
Gunstar Heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog 2-3, Dynamite Headdy, Rocket Knight Adventure, Shining Force 2, Thunder Force series, Crusader of Centy, Streets of Rage 2, Castlevania: Bloodlines, Strider, Steel Empire, Phantasy Star 4, M.U.S.H.A., Gaiares, Twinkle Tale, El Viento, Strider, Mercs, Contra: Hard Corps, Shinobi 3: Return of the Ninja Master, X-Men 2: Clone Wars, Wonder Boy in Monster World, Monster World 4, Pulseman, Landstalker, Alien Soldier, Castle/World of Illusion, Disney's Aladdin, Ristar, Mega Turrican................etc, etc.
@sub12
Man, I would love a good shmup on PS4.
@DiddyWahDiddy
They don't make em like they used to
Sonic Generations wasn't that great, imo.
Anyways, this game looks really neat. Shame they're mostly using older stages, but I can get past that.
I want this game so bad. This is what Sonic 4 should have been.
@sub12 Let me add Vectorman, Comix Zone, Golden Axe, Super Thunder Blade, Beyond Oasis, and Kid Chameleon to that list. Those were games I had to crowbar myself to get away from.
@DerMeister
I very much agree,........except for Super Thunder Blade (ugh)! I actually like Altered Beast, I have no reason why it get's so much hate, for a 1988-1989 game, it was a great technical showpiece.........and while it's a bit shallow, it's still enjoyable.
It probably won't happen, but I would love it if this had decent retro filters, especially scan lines. Been playing around with retropie lately and the benefits of the right shaders to get a retro feel are are amazing.
This has easily become one of my most anticipated games of 2017...
@sketchturner The thing about the classic levels is that, going by what they've shown so far, they have been significantly opened up. Green Hill Zone in Sonic Mania, while familiar, has new pathways and hidden areas, presumably so that it falls in line with the level design of the new zones. Plus there's the inclusion of the elemental shields from Sonic 3&K and all new mini bosses. It feels like much more of an effort than simply filler
As I said before between this, Persona 5 and Yakuza 0 Sega is gonna own Q1 2017
@sub12
Thunder force 4 is still one of my favourite games ever. I'd love the same treatment sonic is getting for this game. By the way dariusburst isn't to far off. But only worth getting in cheap sale, think I paid £15. It's release price I think £45, makes me think they are still taking drugs from the 90's. Or as the phrase went are you trippin.
@sub12 @DerMeister What! No Virtua Racing, Chiki Chiki boys, NHLPA hockey or Revenge of Shinobi? Haha great games all the ones you have listed though.
Shining Force 2 is a great shout, easily my favourite MD game. I've started that one hundred times and finished it 3 times all of which took me hundreds of hours. The only game to keep me that hooked until Final Fantasy on the PS1.
I played this at EGX in the queue the worst Sonic player ever was holding everyone up. Its down and press the button to warm up your spin dash you Muppet. Now go and do your homework.
Canny wait
Really looking forward to this, I got Sonic 2 with my MD when I was about 10 and it's still in my top 5 games now. I recently saw the Sonic 2 challenge on Go 8 Bit, where the quickest time across Green Hill Zone 2 won. The celebs were utter toilet (even though they profess to being gamers), I remember playing this stage relentlessly and could do it in 23 seconds or something. Ahhhh, good times.
@DiddyWahDiddy That's great - I had both a SNES and MD and round my way the MD was definitely seen as the cooler system. So funny that other places it was considered 'dirty' )
Not and exclusive to SEGA obviously, but Sensible Soccer's the reason my MD still gets wheeled out when mates come over. Genuinely don't think there's ever been a better football game.
@DiddyWahDiddy yeah all those flat levels from Mario were so much better than the loops and runways of Sonic
im really looking forward to Sonic Mania the series has been crying out for a return to 2d since Sonic Heroes imo hopi g a demo drops on PSN i just want to have a blast at it
@HappyGamer yeah the gaming celebs have been awful on go 8 bit, that said the game journos arent much better
Ridiculously excited for this, always had a soft spot for Sega and wish so much that they'd capitalize on that nostalgia more. Didn't get on with Sonic Generations at all so the first trailer for this had my screaming "FINALLY" at my monitor, much to the alarm of my nearby colleagues. Can't wait.
@GlynCR yeah you're right, considering it's a gaming show you'd think that at least one of them would be half way decent. Where's the fun in watching someone be good at stuff though. Might be a British thing but I kind of enjoyed watching the Scottish woman being beyond useless at Chuckie Egg the other week in an eye rolling 'derrrrrrrrr' kind of way.
Isn't the Wii U considered dirty? Anyway Nintendo are far from what they used to be, they are still stuck in the 80's half the half the time.
Looking forwards to it, its differently a 10times better then mosst modern Sonic.
I recently played Sonic 4 out of sheer morbid curiosity and it was terrible.
But then Sonic was never any good even when it was good.
@johncalmc
Sonic 1-2-3+Knuckles, great games...
Sonic 4, medicore to bad...
C'mon kiddo, you have to know how to pick em....
@sub12 preach it. Best 2D platforms, I consider Super Mario World and Yoshi's islands close seconds...Still Sonic 4 was pretty lame but this seems to be the anti Sonic 4!
@Feena
You should try getting your hands on a repro of the English patch, or a rom of Doremi Fantasy: Milon's Doki Doki Adventure for the Super Famicom, thats a really quality platformer as well.
I would also say that Rocket Knight Adventures for the Genesis is one of the best 2D platformers ever.
It's about Sonic stared in a decent game, and leave all the Boom crap in the past.
Well it can't be as much of a disappointment as Sonic 3! The first massive letdown of my childhood.
I must be the only one who though 4 was ok haha
@sub12 I always felt drawn to Doremi Fantasy! Never had a chance to play it though.
Rocket Knight is very nice but I wouldn't put it up there with the best.
Also noteworthy: Klonoa and Twinbee Rainbow Bell Adventures
Thunder Force III remake is coming to 3DS in Japan then hopefully everywhere else thereafter. I risked bricking my LL so I could play Quack Shot on it and am very glad I did.
@sub12 I didn't mind Altered Beast, it was good for standards of the time. I thought there were better beat-em-ups though, as well as easier ones. I don't think I made it past level 3 in that game.
@themcnoisy Haven't played those games to be honest. Revenge of Shinobi sounds familiar, but the only Shinobi game I've played is III.
How was the actual game itself? I'm sure I don't need to know the quality of Genesis era Sonic, but still, was it good?
@DerMeister
The OG Revenge of Shinobi, along with Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi, are quite a bit slower paced than Shinobi 3..........that doesn't mean Revenge is bad, because it isn't at all, just that the gameplay is a bit more meticulous and old school. The level design in Revenge ranges from good to somewhat cheap, but it has a nice diversity in locals, and SEGA went off and kinda illegally threw in a bunch of IP's into revenge, you have Batman, Spiderman, Godzilla, etc. So Revenge has this great B-grade cheesiness to it, sometimes you swear the game is taking itself seriously, but than it goes off the deep end (and that's a good thing in this case).
As far as Sonic.......
Sonic the Hedgehog: Great game that still holds up, although it's a bit front loaded as the later levels aren't quite as good / rushed.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Very close to a 10/10 game, maybe outside of Metropolis Zone overstaying it's welcome, this title is pretty much perfection.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Just a tad bit below 2, the presentation is superior, and although most of the levels in 3 are amazing, some become a bit overly long-convoluted.
Sonic and Knuckles: More or less the same as 3.
****You can also "lock-on" Knuckles to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in order to create Sonic 3 and Knuckles, which is a massive 2D platformer by any standards, and is more or less the real Sonic 3 (originally Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles were one and the same, but Sonic divided the game in half and continued to work on Knuckles in order to get a game out sooner).
Can't wait for this game, looks like the perfect throwback to those great old days. Probably the best move for Sonic at the moment - those days were when we got the best Sonic games.
@sub12
But did you know you could also plug in Sonic 1 and Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine? You'd get a screen that says "NO WAY!!! NO WAY!!!" With Sonic and friends shaking their finger, but press A+B+C+Start and you'd unlock infinite chaos emerald bonus levels. I made it to level 469 before finally dying.
Ah man, I was a Sonic MANIAC when I was growing up. I actually was raised on NES, SNES and N64 but once I tried my friend's Genesis, Sonic was played so much... Oh my goodness.
This is the game I've been waiting for indeed.
Still think SNES is way, way better than Genesis (a fact I only recently came to acknowledge as I discovered the wealth of SNES classics and fan translations- be it Super Mario World, DKC 1-3, Super Metroid, F-Zero, Fire Emblem 3-5, Super Mario Kart, Yoshi's Island, Earthbound, Mega Man VII, X, X2 and X3, Killer Instinct, Maximun Carnage, Street Fighter II Turbo, SSFII and SFII Alpha, Final Fantasy II, V and VI, Secret of Mana 1-2, Dragon Quest I, II, III, V and VI, 7th Saga, Romancing Saga and Romancing Saga 3, Lufia 1-2,Bahamut Lagoon, Chrono Trigger, Terranigma, Y's 3-5, Soul Blazer, SMT 1-2, Illusion of Gaia, Der Langrisser, Shiren the Wanderer, Tactics Ogre, Breath of Fire 1-2, Super Castlevania IV...)
And, I know there's a lengthy list of Genesis classics too, despite Sonic being all I played on it.
@JaxonH
The great games on the SNES, 70% of gamers know about, the great games on the Genesis/Mega Drive, 70% of gamers have never heard about them.
I totally disagree with you that the SNES has a much better library than the Genesis, each has libraries that play to it's own strengths, although people fail to realize this. The Genesis had a much faster CPU, so it excels when it comes to being able to handle a number of sprites at a fast rate (hence you have a lot of shooters and action games, fast moving platformers), the SNES had the superior graphics chips, but a slow CPU, so it did best when playing graphical tricks on slower moving games (like JRPG's, more meticulous platformers, erc)
@sub12
There just aren't as many games I love on Genesis. The 3D Classics on 3DS are timeless though, and there's a few I'd toss in as classics like Phantasy Star games and Shining Force, but ya it's just missing too many of the all time greats.
That's not to say I don't like Genesis. I love Genesis. I just don't love it as much as SNES.
@JaxonH
That's the thing.....
Do you like JRPG's and action adventure-titles?, stick to the SNES...
Do you like shooters and action games?, stick to the Genesis...
Do you like platformers? play both...
The game looks great
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