If players run out of rings, the Special Stage ends, so collecting blue spheres to gain speed is integral while keeping an eye on the rings counter. In these, players enter a 3D arena and must chase a UFO carrying an emerald. The new Special Stages in Sonic Mania are discovered in the same fashion as those in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, by finding giant rings hidden throughout the game’s levels. Returning stages have subtle new effects at times, while the brand new stages give you a good idea of what a Sega Saturn Sonic game might have looked like. This is also a beautiful pixel art game, even more so since Sonic and his friends have been enhanced from their 16-bit incarnations with additional frames of animations. The music and sound effects in Sonic titles have always been extremely important for setting the mood and thankfully Sonic Mania does not disappoint in those areas. Along with the returning favorites, Tee Lopes has arranged a number of brand new songs that sound great and perfectly fit the Sonic aesthetic. However, Tee Lopes does an amazing job at jazzing up many of the old songs by creating delightful new remixes. Some of the returning songs stick very close to the original arrangements except with fancy new synth instruments. The music is composed by Tee Lopes, who has been creating Sonic remixes for years. I rarely used the Drop Dash during regular play, but it is a handy tool for the game’s time attack mode. Sonic does have one new trick in his arsenal, a Drop Dash, where Sonic can perform a quick boost immediately after landing a jump. The game’s 3 playable characters, Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles control exactly like you remember. The physics are not a problem in Sonic Mania thanks to Christian Whitehead’s Retro Engine, which perfectly replicates the physics of the 16-bit Sonic games. One of the largest criticisms leveled against Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was the game’s physics. Overall, the level design is extremely strong and does a great job at balancing nostalgia with new ideas. Just because your favorite Sonic Zone is absent from the game’s roster, doesn’t mean a sly nod to it won’t show up at some point.
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For example, Green Hill Zone now includes the corkscrew paths that originally appeared in Sonic 2’s Emerald Hill Zone. The little nods and gimmicks that reference past Sonic games were pleasantly surprising. Bits and pieces of the original level design show up, but for the most part the returning Zones feature completely new layouts in the style of Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
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It’s important to note that the returning stages have been heavily remixed. Just like in Sonic’s Genesis debut, players begin the game in Green Hill Zone. Sonic Mania features a mix of brand new Zones along with many returning favorites. Sonic Mania takes players on a nostalgia-filled adventure that feels like the Sonic 3 & Knuckles follow-up that Sonic fans have been forever waiting for. While Sega has released an assortment of 2D Sonic games since then, none have come close to capturing the magic of those early Sega Genesis entries until now.
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Through the power of Lock-On-Technology, players could combine that game with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and create one the greatest platformers of all time, Sonic 3 & Knuckles. The last 16-bit mainline Sonic game was 1994’s Sonic & Knuckles.