The 16:9 aspect ratio found in Mania and re-releases alleviates this somewhat. The game banks heavily on this nostalgia factor, and gives fans of classic Sonic games the experience they’ve been begging for since the jump to 3D with three distinct gameplay modes Mania Mode, Time Attack, and That's a common complaint with Sonic games, the classic ones in particular, where the player is given the inclination to go fast but is stopped by a spike or enemy or what have you. Despite playing the game on an Xbox One, it felt as if I’d been flung through time à la Sonic CD, and was playing on the Sega Genesis once again. The game is a 16 bit side scrolling adventure, taking place directly following Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Bearing this history in mind, it only makes the triumph of Sonic Mania much more rewarding.ĭespite Sega releasing a proper Sonic 4 years ago, Sonic Mania deserves the true title of the 4th Sonic installment. Sonic Colors, Sonic the Hedgehog 4, and Sonic Generations gave fans hope, but the Sonic Boom franchise reminded everyone just how low the franchise can hit. Despite some really fun games highlighting the speedster’s first jump into 3D platforming, things started going downhill around 2005 with the release of Shadow the Hedgehog, and hit an all time low with 2006’s failure, Sonic the Hedgehog.
It’s no secret that the Sonic franchise hasn’t had the most solid history.
