Sonic Mania
Even the best 2D sonic game is still a 2d Sonic game
I’ve dipped my toe in all of the original 2d sonic games and none of them ever grabbed me, they felt like they were lacking any sense of direction
After hearing the praise about Sonic Mania and people saying things like if you’re a platforming fan play this but if you’re a sonic fan definitely play this
I thought this wasSonic Mania
Even the best 2D sonic game is still a 2d Sonic game
I’ve dipped my toe in all of the original 2d sonic games and none of them ever grabbed me, they felt like they were lacking any sense of direction
After hearing the praise about Sonic Mania and people saying things like if you’re a platforming fan play this but if you’re a sonic fan definitely play this
I thought this was it.. This would be the one…
I’m actually a fan of a few 3d sonic games so I was excited to finally become a 2d sonic fan... and well…
It never Happened
Sonic Mania is a platformer where you play as either sonic, tails, sonic and tails, or knuckles, all with their won perks and unique play styles…
and you make it through all 13 zones that are split into 2 acts, almost doubling the levels as the 2nd act can look and feel completely different from the first..
They all have their own unique feel and sound, and while at the end of the day I may not like the gameplay, the look and feel of these levels were my favorite part...
sonic mania is all about gaining momentum and collecting rings…
rings act as your life and if you lose them all you have to die and restart from a checkpoint…
which if you’re a sonic noob like me, will happen a lot
you know what it’s like to play ice levels in a platforming game, where you’re sliding all over the place?
This is what playing sonic mania feels like…
I know this is what sonic is. But just because something is the way it’s supposed to be doesn’t make it good...
Platforming feels frustrating because this hedgehog slides off platforms extremely easy forcing you to restart an entire section and it happens way too frequently
speaking of restarting some moments unless I missed something don’t have a fail save, for example I got a fire pick up which caught a platform on fire and I couldn’t figure out how to progress the level, I had to die and restart from a checkpoint losing one of my precious lives
… if there was one somewhere, that’s on the game for me not being able to find it.. Not me...
this was only the first level of the game I shouldn’t already be getting hit with things like this
It shows a lack of direction in the level design which I feel this entire series of 2d games suffers from...
I’m zipping through levels going in all kinds of directions...
I never feel a sense of direction or have any sense how deep I am into a level aside from a few more linear feeling levels…
These levels are short but feel endless because everything inside of its act looks the same and feels like a jumbled mess
once you make It through act 1 you take on a miniboss and act 2 you take on the main boss
these bosses being my 2nd favorite part of the game, but do require a little bit of trial and error... Thankfully are right next to checkpoints, but rarely have rings in them to save you...
And this is where my ultimate frustration comes in with this game…
There is a game over like it’s the 80s and 90s all over again...
sure if you clear an entire zone and beat both bosses you have nothing to worry about…
But no matter what... no matter how deep you get into a level... if you lose all of your lives… you have to play the entire level all over again…
that means if you’re on the final boss and you’re on your last life.. which again these bosses are very trial and error with no rings to give you the opportunity to get your trialing on…
and you die… you not only have to redo act 2 and get to the boss again,.. You also have to go back and beat act 1 and its mini boss again...
an act that you’ve already proven yourself in…
for what? Just to be annoying?
Just to waste your time and drain your lives so it happens again?
Acts themselves feel like full-fledged levels, it’s ridiculous to not give the player a campaign checkpoint at the end of a mini boss or at least a difficulty setting for this, especially to make the game more accessible to people that aren’t sonic vets
it will never be fun for me to have to replay levels ive beat ever..
I’ve already proved I can clear that section, let me move on
there are some cool nods to the entire series here like sonic 3d and a few others that I don’t want to spoil that genuinely made me happy to run into…
But still sonic mania just couldn’t turn me into a 2D sonic fan,
This may without a doubt be a masterpiece for a sonic game…
just don’t ignore that for a sonic game part…
Overall this 2d sonic game is solid, buts it’s still a 2d sonic game
slippery gameplay, frustratingly cheap moments, game overs with trial and error bosses, and levels that while beautiful - lack a sense of direction
I give Sonic Mania
A 7/10… Expand
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