SONIC MANIA
We only review finished games, so in Viewpoint, we go hands-on with near-final code of a game that has just missed our review deadline. Long-term hedgehog fan Justin’s been hands-on twice with Sonic Mania, and this is his definitive pre-release verdict.
Sonic couldn’t move fast enough to meet our print deadline – here’s our pre-release opinion.
I’ve been playing Sonic games since 1991, and firmly believe Sonic Mania is close to being the best of all of them. Seriously, it would take an error of monumental proportions to screw it up now. And Sega seems to believe that, too, since the game has enjoyed a few extra months of development time to make absolutely sure it delivers on its potential. If what I’ve played again is a true indication of the quality of the whole game, I am certain it will be a success. The Sonic gamers loved in the early ’90s really is back. After literally two decades of waiting, I am satisfied. But hold on a minute. Let’s not skip over the gravity of that statement. Sonic fans are never satisfied – it’s one of the unwritten laws of videogames. If you like the new games too much, you have to hand in your Sonic badge. And we’re not talking about the normal margins of critical opinion. Sonic fans’ complaints get severely nitpicky: he’s the wrong shade of blue; his legs are too long; his jumps are too shallow; or he doesn’t have the right ‘inertia’ when he curls up into a ball. Well, Sonic Mania nails all those things. Sonic looks like he did on Mega Drive – a short, fat, little critter – only better. He moves exactly like he did in his original trilogy, with just a few tweaks having been made in certain specific circumstances that genuinely improve the experience of playing this new Sonic game.
Sonic Mania should attract plenty of newcomers in addition to satisfying long-term fans. The game is bright, cheerful, cheeky, gorgeous, fast, measured… basically everything I’ve seen so far has been designed with the player experience in mind.
GOTTA GO FAST
I can imagine the conversations during the creative process: “How will it feel to smash shop windows as you blaze past?”“Awesome? Oh, sorry – damn awesome.” “Okay, it’s in.” “All right, how will people attempt to get up to this high platform?”“Let’s leave a small undulation here to allow a higher technical jump for advanced players…” From a design point of view, Sonic Mania is a masterclass. The action flows beautifully if you want to go fast (this is Sonic, why would you want to do anything else?), but has plenty of tight, challenging platforming too for players who prefer to take a more methodical approach.
Every single element appears to have been carefully considered for inclusion, with nothing put in as filler. The result is a list of things I love, and it’s getting ridiculously long: the new animation frames; the new badniks (enemies); the fanpleasing moments and incidental details (there are visual nods to Daytona USA and Streets Of Rage in the Studiopolis Zone, and the Green Hill Boss is an adapted version of Robotnik’s Sonic 2 behemoth from the Death Egg Zone, for example). Then there’s the physics, the speed, the new takes on old classics, like Chemical Plant pipes where you get to choose a direction at junctions (just like we all imagined we were doing in Sonic 2). I love the cuter Tails sprite, the returning drop-in/ drop-out co-op, the bold reworking of the later half of Green Hill, the new drop-dash move, the enhanced old music, and the incredible Act 2 remixes. The way it’s been designed as though it was targeted to run on a Sega freakin’ Saturn. How the graphical resolution is that of mid-’90s console gaming. The low-detail polygon elements. It really is the next-gen 2D Sonic game we never had. The real Sonic 4. But most of all, I love how it makes me smile whenever I play it. Sonic Mania is a joy to play.
PUMP THE BRAKES?
Of course, no game is perfect, so what don’t I love? At this stage, worryingly little. There is a very slight hint of ‘fan game’ in the environment design, in that there are lots of suspended elements rather than purely ground-running action. But I’ve had two extensive hands-on sessions with Sonic Mania across several levels and ‘suspended elements’ is genuinely the worst criticism that can be levelled at it right now. I would like to see more original stages, but the complete level list is so far undisclosed, and they could be in production. So who knows? Maybe it really will be as big as Sonic 3 and Knuckles, as rumours are suggesting. But either way, at this stage I just want it on my PS4. Everything seems to be just right. It surely can’t go wrong now.
“IT'S STILL 1995 AS FAR AS SONIC MANIA IS CONCERNED, AND THE RESULTS ARE BEAUTIFUL. BARRING A CATACLYSMIC WEREHOG INJECTION, EXPECT THE BEST SONIC GAME EVER.” We’ll have our full review of Sonic Mania next issue, on sale 29 August.