Sonic Mania dashes onto shelves tomorrow, but reviews hit today, and, brace yourself, it turns out critics really like the game. No, really! WWG’s own Robert Workman gave the game a 4.5 out of 5, summing up the blue hedgehog’s latest, thusly…
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“Sonic Mania continues the recent trend of bringing back classics the right way, like Doom before it. The team doesn’t forget the heritage of which Sonic was based on, and keeps his 16-bit roots intact, while introducing fresh new ideas that fit our hero like a glove. It’s insanely fun to play, despite some mild frustrations, and it’s great to have 16-bit Sonic looking and sounding better than ever.”
Sonic Mania currently has an 86 on Metacritic, making it the franchise’s highest-rated game since 2002’s Sonic Advance (which has an 87). Recent Sonic games haven’t been quite as terrible as you might imagine, but an 86 is still a major leap in quality – the previous 10 Sonic games average out to a 66 on Metacritic.
Scroll on down for a sampling of some more of Sonic Mania‘s reviews…
TheSixthAxis were huge fans of Sonic Mania, giving it a perfect 10/10 score, declaring the game even better than the Sega Genesis originals.
“Sonic Mania surpasses the Mega Drive/Genesis originals. It not only incorporates what made Sonic great, but has the inventiveness to shatter what was possible in a 2D platformer.”
The folks at Kotaku also gave the game a hearty recommendation…
“Sonic Mania is a celebration, a digitized block party of blistering speeds and bright worlds. Sega’s decision to hand their famous mascot over to fan creators and artists has paid massive dividends, creating a game that is not just a welcome return to form but a raucous, delightful experience.”
Heck, even notorious crank and Metacritic score ruiner Jim Sterling loved the game.
“Sonic Mania is a brilliantly staged celebration of the past that acts as a true sequel to the Genesis classics.”
There aren’t any outright negative Sonic Mania reviews (which is kind of shocking), but Polygon offered a slightly more reserved recommendation.
“If more Sonic is all you want, then this is very much that, but more, and bigger, and faster. But for me, as someone with fond memories but key criticisms, Sonic Mania seems content to paint over some of the series’ problems rather than fix them, making for a game that falls a little short of what might have been.”
Slant also felt Sonic Mania didn’t quite overcome the series’ longstanding issues…
“Sonic Mania makes classic zones from past Sonic the Hedgehog games feel unpredictable again, spiked as they are with uncountable special effects. Players, though, must still contend with familiar nuisances as they whizz through some of these visionary mazes.”
It sounds like Sonic Mania is the game fans have been waiting for a long, long time. Stock up on chili dogs, because you’re going to be glued to the TV come tomorrow.
Sonic Mania races onto Xbox One, PS4, and Nintendo Switch on August 15.
