Sonic the Hedgehog: To Mania and Beyond

Sega was bound to reveal a new Sonic the Hedgehog game at some point during this 25th Anniversary year, which made some news and rumors about future installments worth keeping an eye on. That’s despite the series’ constant ups and downs, which happen more wildly and violently here than for most other franchises you can think of. That alone was cause for concern among its fanbase, including those often embarrassed to call themselves fans due to the quality of some titles and its more…creative fans. You can include Sonic the Hedgehog 2006, the Sonic the Hedgehog 4 episodes, and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric among those that looked intriguing at a glance, but turned out bitterly disappointing; and that list doesn’t need more additions.

Sega not being accustomed to running unveil streams also didn’t help those feelings of pessimism, and it didn’t appear the experienced individuals at Atlus USA were directly involved here. I didn’t watch the stream personally, because I’ve had my fill of these for now, but the reactions to it told me everything I needed to know. At least quite a few felt it was entertaining in its cringe-worthiness.

Fortunately, most who reacted negatively to the stream were positive about the game that was shown, which came in the form of Sonic Mania. I saw quite few comments from people who were hoping Sega would take another shot at a classic-style Sonic title, but this title is venturing further into the “classic” realm than even they expected. At first glance, it looks like one of the Genesis games people know and love, and associate with the era where each Sonic installment was consistently quality. That’s an encouraging sign, as it shows that Sega essentially wants to bend over backwards to appeal to those disenfranchised older fans. In other words, it appears Sega’s staffers were being genuine when they said it was in their plans to address quality issues with recent titles, and the vehement reception towards them.

Upon first seeing the title, I figured it was Sega’s equivalent to Super Mario Maker, in being a project that would let fans make their own levels using sprites and assets from the Genesis and Sega CD titles. Mania will actually feature new levels and remixes of old stages, with Sonic, Tails, and (&) Knuckles being playable. Whether it will have similarly old school-style soundtrack is currently unknown, but this should be a given.

Seeing the game in action is one convincing aspect; the development team working on this is another. In addition to Sega’s internal studios, they’ve enlisted the assistance of Christian Whitehead, who’s previously worked on well-done enhanced versions of previous Sonic games for mobile platforms. Also involved is Headcannon, who used the Retro Engine to remake those titles in tandem with Whitehead. The final outfit involved is PagodaWest Games, an indie outfit operating from Portland, Oregon and London who made a game based on a Sonic 2 remake. They seem to have hired nearly everyone capable of assembling a good 2D Sonic game with good level design, perhaps outside of Freedom Planet-developer Galaxy Trail.

Of course, there’s one big question: Will this project be any good? Sure, you could ask that about any video game, but that question applies to Sonic games a hell of a lot more than others. Whenever people think of “Sonic” and “retro throwback” together, they’ll immediately think of the Sonic 4 episodes, titles planned to placate old school Sonic fans which ended up disappointing them harder than any other games in the series. It’s good that Dimps, who developed them, isn’t involved with this project; but that’s not enough to convince fans who have been severely burnt before.

This means Sega will have to do the best job they can to win them over, partly through showing how current developers can at least closely capture the memorable level designs from titles that made them fans of the franchise. That’s a tall order, but it’s one that should already be in the cards if they want this to be taken seriously. That Mania already looks like an adequate apology for Sonic 4, particularly in how they’ve nailed the physics of those older titles, is an optimistic sign.

Mania will release sometime in spring 2017 for PS4, XB1, and PC. Despite many previous Sonic games also releasing for Nintendo platforms or being exclusive to them, the game isn’t planned for NX. Maybe they’re saving it for later.

For anyone not as optimistic about revising the past, though, Sega closed their presentation by confirming one shocking rumor: There is indeed a brand new Sonic game using polygons in development, known tentatively as Project Sonic 2017. No details about its gameplay were provided, but the teaser showed the new and old versions of Sonic teaming up with each other, reminiscent of Sonic Generations. It was clarified that this won’t be a sequel to any of their previous titles, but that doesn’t mean it won’t contain hallmarks from some of them. Rumor has it this title is being developed by the Sonic Team, meaning skepticism for whether this installment will turn out well is even higher. For their sake, I hope it looks good and delivers in the end.

We have a good wait ahead of us for Project Sonic 2017, since it’s not due for release until next year’s holiday season. It’s due for release on PS4, XB1, NX, and PC, meaning Sega hasn’t completely forgotten about Nintendo’s upcoming system, which makes Mania even more peculiar in its absence. It would be good for everyone if this averts the dreaded Sonic Cycle.