Sonic Mania Review

Summary

THE BEST-ahem. Let's not get ahead of ourselves. 

Gameplay and Controls

The gameplay is a lot like the classic games, even with different options for spinning styles. that being said, it's easy for anyone to pick up and play (though it will make you miss the simplicity of the ABC type of controller). 

Plot and Characters

I'm not really into the whole hard-boiled heavies thing. Pretty lame, honestly. 

While it would have been nice to add Amy maybe as an Easter Egg like Sonic Advance 2, the original games basically were Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, so I'm content. 

I thought the Phantom Ruby thing was actually kind of annoying, here. Does this have an instruction manual? Where's my backstory?!

Level Design

What is impressive: layout and gimmicks. Especially in Act 2, they try to jazz things up. I LOVED the Mean Bean part in Chemical Plant. Best surprise in the whole game, and the easiest boss by far. 

What's not: the actual locations. First, let's choose the most obvious levels possible. GREEN HILL! CHEMICAL PLANT! FLYING BATTERY UM, WHERE IS ICE CAP?! At least there's Lava Reef. 

I don't like the reusing locations thing Sega's been pulling since Generations. I don't care who made this version, that's no excuse. Maybe 1 or 2, NOT HALF THE GAME. And NO, NO, NO, not the same levels from Generations, ugh. Then stupid Forces made this even worse. 

I don't like the bosses at all. This is the classic days, so they should not take more than 3 minutes max. These are much too difficult and slow (Sonic 4 had this problem, too). Ugh, Stuidopolis is annoying. 

The original levels must be creative, then, right? Ugh. I like half of them, maybe, visually, Mirage Saloon the best (and that...was inspired from the scrapped CD level...which was inspired from the scrapped Sonic 2 level). Stuidopolis is very cool...but nothing says classic Sonic quite like a HUGE CITY. No, wait, that's Mod Sonic, ugh. Press Garden annoyed me almost as much as Marble Garden from Sonic 3. 

Just...it wasn't as fun to go through as anything from, say, Sonic 2. Including all 3 acts of Metropolis Zone. I think there's an identity issue and they tried to pile too many ideas up. It got cluttered.  

Music 

Mania's OST was disappointing. I would not call it bad--some of the songs are epic. But as a whole it's not deserving of it's high, HIGH praise. 

Many of the tracks, especially in the beginning, are so happy it feels forced. It can get annoying.

The biggest disappointment while playing the game was Stardust Speedway: my literal reaction was "What the FXXX?" At the time I was so excited to get to the level that I completely forgot about the original Japanese soundtrack. Foolishly I thought maybe there was some Easter Egg that would change it, or I at least expected some of the instrumentation to be similar to the US OST as a compromise, but I couldn't be more wrong. 

I told myself to get over it and enjoy the remix in Forces. Unfortunately, even now that I have a deeper respect for the JP version, I can't enjoy the Stardust Speedway mixes. 

The beautiful piano in the past--the main attraction--has been altered into something passive and the "Hues" have become cringe-worthy "Huh-UGH"s. Act 2 was an improvement, but still not as good as the original (or the US version!). 

The Metallic Madness remixes weren't as disturbing. They were fine, but not as impactful as "You Can't Do Anything, So Don't Even Try."   

Green Hill's been remixed so many times that not even resurrecting Michael Jackson and asking him to compose it would make it seem any different. 

Still, a lot of the remixes are good; they just don't jump out at me as special. The exception is Lava Reef Act 2, which took a more radical change--worth the risk. I also liked Titanic Monarch Zone, but the other originals are mostly hit or miss. 

As a whole it's not bad, I'd still call it good! But it's not even close to being the best in the series. Considering Sonic titles of the 2010s, it was probably the best in a while, but Team Sonic Racing has already surpassed it as the best of that era. 

  

Final Thoughts

• While I like all the little details and Easter eggs, I kinda' expected more. It almost seems like they reference the obscure stuff over the things you'd expect. 
• Even though this is "by the fans," the game seems more biased to "Japan Sonic." They kinda' tried some things like some 90s air brushing on the art, but it does not look nearly as authentic to "American-ized Sonic" box art as the animation does to Sonic CD's cutscenes. 
• Light Blue Sonic. Even with the original Sega CD he was not really light blue like that (the colors are washed out/not pixel-y in the rerelease). 
• Sonic's shoes did not have gold buckles really. Just in the CD cutscenes and Mod games. 
• There's hints of the JP CD OST all over and stuff inspired from it. The US? Some drum samples in like one level.
• Not to mention the SegaSonic stuff in Plus
• References to JP-exclusive stuff like Sega Popcorn Shop yet no references to the DiC cartoons? Mirage was callin' for a AoStH one?
• Sorry, Sega. THERE IS NO CLASSIC EGGMAN. ONLY ROBOTNIK. 
• I don't know, it just kinda' bothered me they couldn't make some sacrifices like calling him Robotnik. 
• I mean, other than that nasty attempt at 90s airbrushing, only Ray's shoes (a reference to the Archie Comics) is an American thing.  
• This is what Sonic 4 should have been. Still, Sonic never left 2-D. The Sonic Rush and Sonic Advance games are crying. 

Final Ranking: A

That's a low A, actually, I was tempted to give it a B, if not for one simple fact: this is the Sonic sequel we always wanted. I never understood it. If they had the tech in the 90s to make a Genesis game, why not just MAKE ANOTHER ONE? I've grown to love the 2000s games, but I had this thought with Sonic 4, Generations, and even Sonic Adventure. Yet now here it is, and it's not enough? 

I don't know, maybe it's all the praise the game gets. I usually end up liking the "bad" games because my expectations are so low. But I guess Mania doesn't meet the expectations because everyone says it's perfect. 

It's still the best game in a long time, though. 

Sonic Mania Plus

Ray is kinda' annoying, and I was expecting more levels, but I like the character aspect. Can I get a US Stardust Speedway DLC? Please? There's a nice version by Jun Senoue and Cash Cash!

Final Ranking: S

They changed it up with the gameplay, and somehow I ended up liking the idea. IDK, whatever.