Last month, I wrote a review of one of Sonic's most horrid games that was ever made and should have never been made. That game was Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. This month I am going to do a complete 180 and review a Sonic game that is not only has just been released but it is also super cool and totally worth getting your hands on and playing it. That game is called Sonic Mania which was released for the Sony Playstation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and also for the PC via Steam. Much like the soon to be made Terminator 6 will erase everything that came after T2, Sonic Mania will seemingly erase Sonic 4 but since it will tie into another future Sonic game which I will not spoil here, Sonic 4 still might happen chronologically if said future game ties into it.
 
OVERVIEW
 
Sonic & company are investigating a disturbance on Angel Island in the form of a mysterious kind of energy but unfortunately, Dr. Eggman has gotten wind of this disturbance as well and beats Sonic to the source of it. This source is called the Phantom Ruby and it warps Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles through time and space and causes the gang to journey through some old areas that they had traveled to in the past and well as some all new original ones.
 
GRAPHICS - SSS
 
As you can see by the grade I have given it, Sonic Mania is yet another game that I feel giving a certain category an A+ would be too low of a grade to give for this game it is just that damn good and the graphics are well deserving of a max score of SSS. Every revisited zone has been a major face lift with 100% pure well designed level structures. Also in each zone are extra perks that makes the level more interesting depending on whether you have a certain shield or an inside gimmick within the level. In Green Hill Zone if you have a Flame Shield, you can walk on a certain wooden log bridge and it will burn up and give you access to a secret area. In Oil Ocean Zone, wearing a Flame Shield or having any type of fire touch the oil will ignite it in a wild fire. That is common chemistry for you there is not? The new zones also have wonderful colors and gimmicky functions like the spinning gun in Mirage Saloon as well as the spritzer in the same zone. Mirage Saloon draws its conception from an unreleased Dust Hill Zone from Sonic 2 and Desert Dazzle from the modern day re-release of Sonic CD. Press Garden is another brand zone that takes place inside of a castle full of vines and roses and in the 2nd zone, it shows the winter theme that pays somewhat of a homage to Sonic 3 and Sonic CD where Sonic, Tails, and/or Knuckles get frozen in ice. Sonic is frozen in the same manner as he was in Sonic 3's Ice Cap Zone but has that same goofy expression from where he got frozen in Sonic CD's Wacky Workbench Zone. Fortunately, you will not suffer any damage from it directly after becoming freed. Studiopolis contains a lot of high tech stuff that is similar to zones like Sonic 1's Spring Yard Zone, Sonic 2's Casino Night Zone, and Sonic 3's Carnival Night Zone. There are also a bunch of reference to other games and old Sega products and adverts everywhere. One of those references is Genesis Does. This refers to the "Genesis Does What Nintendon't" campaign SEGA used to run when it used to be a 1st party developer and competed with Nintendo, Atari, and NEC before Microsoft and Sony kicked it and the latter two off their high horses to be among the dominant video game forces. Titanic Monarch and Egg Reverie are the final two original zone and the final levels of the game for that matter. The latter only accessible via collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds.
 
Speaking of which, just as Sonic 4: Episode 1's special stage pays homage to Sonic 1's and Episode 2 pays tribute to Sonic 2, the Chaos Emerald stage here pays tribute to Sonic CD with different objectives. The graphics here make good use of raycasting technology to make it work. The character movement animations borrows heavily from Sonic CD and some of it is for show and tell. This is the case when jumping onto a spring and it sends Sonic twirling through the air.The bonus coin stage pays tribute to Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles special stage where you collect blue spheres and avoid the red ones. Another thing I want to bring up before I finish up with the graphics area is the wonderful animation sequences that take place during both the intro and in the ending. Very awesome and provides a good old throwback to the animation style used in Sonic CD and an old Sonic anime that came out in the mid 90s I believe.
 
CONTROLS - A-
 
Whew! I said a mouthful there. The controls I'm going to give it an A- here since there are still a few flaws with the controls here and there with them but nothing major that will impede your progress. In the normal game, there is one new control that I am not really too fond of and it involves doing a Spin Dash upon landing on the ground by holding the Jump button while landing from a jump. This assumes you are using Sonic and not Knuckles or Tails. It is also hard to control yourself with this feature in this place if you are not careful. Thankfully, by successfully completing bonus sphere levels you can unlock lots of new features but only under the No Save option so you can choose to play a non savable game using the Sonic 3 & Knuckles or Sonic CD controls if you prefer. This all includes using an Instant Shield from Sonic 3 and the Peel Out feature from Sonic CD. 
 
SOUND/MUSIC - SSS
 
The sound effects are great and well synced but they are the same old stuff we've heard from other Sonic 2-D games from before but the grade I am giving here is purely for the music alone. I gave it the max score as the music is a very superb soundtrack with remastered and remixed versions of old zones. Even the Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and Sonic CD zones got remixed versions of their theme songs in each of their respective Zone 2's. It was a trend that originally started with Sonic 3. If you want to listen to the soundtrack yourself, work hard on clearing enough of the bonus stages so you can unlock the DA Garden which is the name of the Sound Test mode given in Sonic CD.
 
REPLAYABILTY - SS
 
There are a ton of stuff to explore in this game mainly because you can choose to play the game under several different scenarios like playing as Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles alone. You can also play as Sonic & Tails as a team if you prefer. As you complete several of the bonus stages, you unlock more features as playing the Mean Bean Machine and Extra Bonus Sphere stages under Extras as well as the aforementioned DA Garden (Sound Test) Mode, and the Sonic Controls. Also unlockable is the "& Knuckles" mode where you can select your character and have Knuckles functions similar to the way Tails does when you are in Sonic & Tails mode. Long story short, you can play with Sonic & Knuckles, Tails & Knuckles, and even Knuckles & Knuckles. Playing as Knuckles can also leads to some changes in some levels. You may notice that even in the first zone (Green Hill Zone), Knuckles starts off in an area lower than the others. Attempting to go to his area, with the other characters will lead to their death outside of Debug Mode which is also an unlockable.
 
OVERALL - SS+
 
This is one of Sonic's greatest games I played in a long time. It has a lot to offer and varies in difficulty depending on what zones you are playing. You may notice that Oil Ocean Zone is a bit tougher this time around as are more of the remixed zones and original zones.