Sonic Mania

* PAL
* SA
* JP

"I see it's coming soon!."

This article is about a JSG product that has not yet premiered or been released. Information may change as the release date nears.

***Sonic Mania*** (ソニックマニア) is an upcoming 2D platform game developed by 16-bit Studios and e25 Games and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis console. Produced in commemoration of the *Sonic the Hedgehog* series' 30th anniversary, the story follows Sonic the Hedgehog and his companions Tails and Knuckles as they venture to defeat their nemesis Doctor Eggman and his robotic henchmen, the Hard-Boiled Heavies. The game homages the original Sega Genesis *Sonic* games, featuring speedy, side-scrolling gameplay. It takes place over twelve levels, including eight redesigned stages from past games.

The development team JSG Games, Decided to make Sonic Mania for the Genesis, To compare the past and the future. The development then Began in 2018 with the Gamemaker Engine. Jalen uses notes and drawings in his journal to plan out the entire game.

*Sonic Mania* is gonna be released worldwide in August 2019. Many reviewers saw it as a return to form for the *Sonic* series following a number of poorly received games released after the 1990s; its presentation, level design, music, and faithfulness to the early *Sonic* games were praised, but its lack of originality was criticized. Several described it as one of the best *Sonic* games and one of the best games of 2019.

## Gameplay

*Sonic Mania* is a side-scrolling platformer action game similar to the early *Sonic the Hedgehog* games released for the Sega Genesis. Players select one of three playable characters, each with their own unique abilities: Sonic can perform a "drop dash" which sends him rolling in a dash after a jump, Tails can fly and swim, and Knuckles can glide and climb walls.  As with *Sonic the Hedgehog 2* (1992), players can play as Sonic and Tails simultaneously, or a second player can control Tails independently.  Unlockable options include Sonic's abilities from *Sonic CD* (1993) and *Sonic the Hedgehog 3* (1994) in place of the drop dash and "& Knuckles" mode, which allows simultaneous control of any character and Knuckles, including himself.

*Sonic Mania* takes place over twelve levels, called zones; the game features eight "remixed" zones, such as Green Hill Zone from the original *Sonic the Hedgehog*, alongside four original zones. Remixed stages consist of both new elements and recycled gimmicks and ideas from other past *Sonic* games. Each zone is divided into two acts, in which the player must guide their character past various enemies and obstacles to reach the end. At the end of each act, the player takes part in a boss battle against Doctor Eggman or one of his robots, including the Hard-Boiled Heavies, elite henchmen based on the EggRobo enemies from *Sonic & Knuckles* (1994).  The player collects golden rings, which serve as a form of health; players survive hits as long as they have at least one ring, but, if hit, their rings scatter and disappear after a short time. Television monitors containing rings, elemental shields, or power-ups such as invincibility and faster running speed are scattered throughout each level.  Like *Sonic 3 & Knuckles*, the story is told via short in-game cutscenes between levels.

Giant rings hidden in each act, a feature of the original games, lead to pseudo-3D special stages similar to those in *Sonic CD*.  In the stages, players dodge obstacles and collect colored spheres to increase their speed, allowing them to pursue a UFO carrying a Chaos Emerald; collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds allows players to use their character's super transformation and unlocks the game's true ending.  Players' ring counters slowly decrease during special stages and must be continually replenished; if the player runs out of rings before they catch the UFO, the special stage ends. The "Blue Sphere" special stages from *Sonic the Hedgehog 3* also return, repurposed as bonus stages that are accessed by entering a portal that appears when the player passes a checkpoint while carrying 25 or more rings. Completing bonus stages earns the player a silver or gold medal depending on their performance; collecting medals unlocks features such as a debug mode and sound test.

In a time attack mode, players must complete levels as quickly as possible, with the best times included on an online leaderboard; players can instantly reload a level to try again at any time. A split-screen competitive multiplayer mode allows two players to race to the end of a level, similar to those of *Sonic 2*. Players can also unlock "Mean Bean", a two-player minigame based on the 1993 spin-off *Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine*.

## Plot

Following the events of *Sonic 3 & Knuckles*, Sonic and Tails receive a powerful energy reading from Angel Island and board their biplane, the Tornado, to investigate. However, Doctor Eggman sends an elite group of EggRobos to reach the signal before Sonic and Tails. The EggRobos excavate the source of the signal, a magical gemstone called the Phantom Ruby, just as Sonic and Tails arrive. The EggRobos gain new powers from the ruby, becoming the Hard Boiled Heavies, and send Sonic, Tails, and the island's guardian, Knuckles, through places they have previously visited where they pursue Eggman to prevent him from using the ruby's power for evil, clashing with him and the Heavies along the way.

Sonic and his allies discover that Eggman has used the Phantom Ruby's power to retake control of Little Planet from *Sonic CD*. They board Eggman's robotic fortress, defeat him and the Heavies, and escape just as it explodes. If all seven Chaos Emeralds are collected while playing as Sonic, the Phantom Ruby transports Sonic and Eggman to another dimension. There, the Hard Boiled Heavies' leader, the Heavy King, betrays Eggman and takes the ruby, imbuing himself with power; Eggman attacks the Heavy to try to reclaim it. Sonic uses the Chaos Emeralds to become Super Sonic and fights Eggman and the Heavy to keep the ruby out of the possession of both. After the battle, the Phantom Ruby reacts with the Chaos Emeralds, negating Sonic's super state and creating a wormhole that engulfs itself and Sonic as Little Planet vanishes.

## Development

Development of Sonic Mania began in 2018, led by Japanese programmer Jalen Colon. Jalen was a prominent member of the Sonic fangame community, and had previously been contracted by Sega to develop remastered ports of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, and Sonic CD for mobile phones.After developing the game for a few months, Whitehead presented a prototype, which he called Sonic Discovery, to series producer Takashi Iizuka. Iizuka was receptive, and suggested that it should include old levels from the early Sonic games it was inspired by, "remixed" in a way that felt new. He also gave it the working title of Sonic Mania, which stuck after no one suggested a better one during development.The title referenced the development team's "maniacal" fandom for the series; Iizuka described the project as being made "by the mania, for the mania", and as a "passion product" driven by the fans' love for the early Sonic games.

Sonic Mania was produced in commemoration of the series' 25th anniversary. It was developed using Whitehead's Retro Engine, a game engine tailored for creating two-dimensional games, which he also used for the enhanced ports of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, and Sonic CD. The team also included programmer Simon "Stealth" Thomley of the independent studio Headcannon, who assisted Whitehead with those projects and on various Sonic fangames and ROM hacks, as well as level designer Jared Kasl and art director Tom Fry of PagodaWest Games, who had previously independently collaborated on an unofficial high-definition remaster of Sonic 2. Iizuka and the rest of Sonic Team provided guidance and made sure the team did not "go off the rails into something that doesn't feel like Sonic". Iizuka described the visuals as a cross between the graphical capabilities of the Sega Genesis and Sega Saturn, comprising mostly pixel art with some polygonal graphics.

The developers modeled the gameplay on Sonic 3, with each zone consisting of two acts and boss fights at the end of each. For returning stages, the designers made the first act feel familiar, and introduced new elements in the second act. The team cited Sonic CD and Sonic 3 as major influences on the level design for their "big, wide open" and "streamlined" designs, respectively. According to Thomley, the team typically decided what elements to include in the returning stages prior to designing them, but sometimes came up with new ideas or change them based on how the development progressed. The first original level designed was the Hollywood-themed Studiopolis Zone. The desert-themed Mirage Saloon Zone was inspired by the unfinished Sonic 2 level Dust Hill and the Monument Valley region of the United States. The special stages were inspired by more recent games such as Sonic Rush (2005) and Sonic Colors (2010).]The team felt proud of their recreation of classic Sonic gameplay.

The game features animated opening and ending sequences led by Tyson Hesse, one of the artists of the Sonic comics by Archie Comics. It also features an optional CRT graphical filter, and supports the enhanced features of PlayStation 4 Pro, outputting at native 4K resolution. The soundtrack was composed by Tee Lopes of PagodaWest Games, consisting of rearranged pieces from previous Sonic games alongside new material. Lopes was chosen due to his popularity on YouTube for producing arrangements of various Sonic tracks, and for his work on the Sonic 2 HD project. Lopes initially wanted his score to resemble the Sonic CD soundtrack, trying to imagine what a sequel to it might have sounded like. As development progressed, he took inspiration from other older Sonic and Sega games, such as The Revenge of Shinobi (1989) and the Sega Rally games, and from 1990s popular music, such as the work of Michael Jackson.The opening theme, "Friends", was composed by the electronic music group Hyper Potions.

## Release

*Sonic Mania* was announced on *Youtube* by Jalen Sonic Gamer in July 2016. The game was announced for the second quarter of 2019, but JSG announced on *Youtube* that it had been delayed to allow for more development.

*Sonic Mania* was released physically for the Sega Genesis in North America and Europe on August 15, 2019, and in Japan the following day. Four days before release.

A five-part animated short series, *Sonic Mania Adventures*, was released on VHS between March 30 and July 17, 2018. The series depicts Sonic's return to his world following the events of *Sonic Forces*, teaming up with his friends to prevent Eggman and Metal Sonic from collecting the Chaos Emeralds and Master Emerald. The shorts were written and directed by Hesse, with animation production by Neko Productions and music by Tee Lopes.

## Reception

According to review aggregator Metacritic, *Sonic Mania* received "generally favorable" reviews. It became the best-reviewed *Sonic* game in fifteen years, and several critics described it as one of the best 2D platform games.  At launch, *Sonic Mania* was the bestselling Genesis game, outselling the original *Sonic the Hedgehog*. It greatly increased Sega's third-quarter profits, and helped Sega almost double sales of packaged games compared to the same period in 2017. By October 2019, it had sold over one million copies worldwide across all platforms.

The presentation attracted acclaim. *USGamer* described it as the "pinnacle" of the series' pixel graphics. *GameSpot* called the animations and detail superior to the original games, writing that they added an extra layer of personality. *Cubed3* described the levels as stylish and vibrant. Critics also praised the attention to detail in recreating the early games. *Game Informer* wrote that its gameplay was "nearly indistinguishable" from its Genesis predecessors, but with "extra polish" *Easy Allies* wrote that *Mania* emulated the original games "exceptionally", and that "running, jumping, and spin dashing all work exactly as well as you would hope". *Nintendo World Report* wrote that it avoided the physics problems from *Sonic the Hedgehog 4* and recaptured the spirit of the 16-bit games.

The level design and music also received praise.*Hardcore Gamer* wrote that the remixed versions of older stages felt fresh while staying true to the originals. *Game Informer* wrote that the new stages matched the quality and captured the spirit of early *Sonic* games. *The A.V. Club* praised the detail and content in each level; *Metro* praised the fanservice, and likened it to a school project "gone wild, something enthusiastic kids have made while the teacher was away and which far surpasses anything they were actually supposed to be doing". Like *IGN,* *Venture Beat* appreciated the replay value, with branching paths that made multiple playthroughs "fresh". *EGM* wrote that the soundtrack was "completely fantastic" and felt nostalgic and new at the same time. *Nintendo Life* called the soundtrack "one of the best of recent times".

The game received some criticism. *Polygon* commented that frustrations with controls and enemy placement in the original *Sonic* games were present in *Sonic Mania.* *VideoGamer.com* wrote that the game relied too much on nostalgia, with minimal innovation and too few original stages, but was a good proof of concept that the development team could expand upon. *Nintendo World Report* complained about the boss fights, which they felt were poorly executed and too easy.

*EGMNow* commended *Sonic Mania* as one of the "purest and most enjoyable" *Sonic* games, expressing excitement for the future of the series. *IGN* wrote that it was the "classic" throwback that fans had clamored for since the 1990s, but also recommended it for people new to the franchise. *Nintendo World Report* called it a "must-buy" for fans of the older *Sonic*games. *Waypoint* compared it favorably to *Donkey Kong Country Returns*, describing it as a game that knew "what was fun" about its predecessors. *Nintendo Life* felt that *Mania* represented "a true return to form" and was a contender for the best game in the series.

### Accolades

At E3 2019, *Sonic Mania* was nominated for the "Best Platformer" and "Best Sega Genesis Game" awards by *IGN*, though it lost both to the original *Sonic the Hedgehog*. The game was also nominated at The Game Awards 2019 for the "Best Family Game" award, and at *Destructoid*'s Game of the Year Awards 2019 for "Best Genesis Game".The game was also nominated for "Best Platformer" at IGN's Best of 2019 Awards,although it did win the People's Choice award for "Best Original Music". *Giant Bomb* classified the game as a runner-up for "Best Surprise" at the Game of the Year 2017 Awards.The game was also nominated for the Central Park Children's Zoo Award for Best Kids Game at the New York Game Awards 2020. In addition, it was also nominated for "Control Precision", "Game Design, Franchise", and "Game, Franchise Family" at the National Academy of Video Game Trade ReviewersAwards. *Entertainment Weekly* ranked the game ninth on their list of the "Best Games of 2019", *Eurogamer* ranked it 27th on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2019", and *EGMNow* ranked it 13th on their list of the 25 Best Games of 2019,  while *Polygon* ranked it 29th on their list of the 50 best games of 2019, and *The Verge* named it one of their 15 Best Games of 2019.