About

Sonic Mania is a side-scrolling video game featuring Sonic the Hedgehog made by the Sega video game company. Released in 2017, fans and critics viewed the game as a return to form for the Sonic series, which after years of three-dimensional adventure games, revisited the franchise's roots both in gameplay and design with 2D graphics and remastered versions of classic Sonic levels.

History

On July 22nd, during the San Diego Comic Con, Sega released the trailer for Sonic Mania, a new Sonic the Hedgehog video game reminiscent of the original installments. The game features new levels as well as remastered versions of levels from Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, Sonic and Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The trailer^[1] (shown below) has been viewed more than 855,000 times in one year.

Over the next week at San Diego Comic Con, the makers of the games held panels and premiered the trailer, answering questions about the game's development.^[2] On July 24th, 2017, the YouTube account The Sonic Stadium posted the entire Sonic Mania panel (shown below, left). Two days later, YouTuber SEGAbits posted a video of fans reacting the Sonic Mania trailer. The video, as of August 2017, has received more than 193,000 views.

Two months later, on September 20th, Sega released the trailer for "Sonic Mania Collector's Edition," a limited version of the game that comes with a series of collectibles and statues. The trailer, which parodies infomercials of the 1990s, has received more than 200,000 views in less than a year.

On August 15th, 2017, Sega released Sonic Mania on Playstation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. However, though originally slated for release on Microsoft Windows, the company delayed release for further optimization.^[4]

Reception

Sonic Mania received generally positive reviews from critics, many of whom considered the game a return to form after decades of disappointing sequels. On the review aggregator site Metacritic,^[5] the game received a score of 86 from critics. Video game website Gamespot^[6] said:

"Sonic Mania methodically uses its sentimental appeal to great effect, but in the process, it heals the wounds inflicted by its most disappointing predecessors and surpasses the series' best with its smart and interpretive design. An excellent 2D platformer, Sonic Mania goes beyond expectations, managing to be not only a proper evolution of the series' iconic formula, but the best Sonic game ever made."

On August 14th, YouTuber videogamedunkey^[7] uploaded his positive review of the game. Within 24 hours, the video (shown below) has been viewed more than 1.2 million times.

Fandom

On August 14th, Redditor Sages posted "Sonic Mania Review Thread" in the /r/Games.^[8] Within 24 hours, the post received more than 1,200 points (92% upvoted) and more than 500 comments.

Sonic Mania also became the inspiration for fan art on the website DeviantArt ^[9] (examples below).

Search Interest

External References