SONIC 2 ON STEROIDS
If you had higher testosterone levels like myself back in the day, you most likely chose the Sega Genesis over the Super Nintendo, and if you had a Sega Genesis, then you almost certainly played the masterpiece Sonic 2 at some point, and this game feels like Sonic 2 on steroids.
The Sonic series took a dark turn during the Dreamcast era, while Mario was able to make a beautiful transition into 3D, Sonic was just never meant for the 3D world, Sonic’s fan base also became EXTREMELY bizarre after the 90’s. Sonic Mania feels like it’s straight out of the Genesis era which is why it works so well.
PROS:
-Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles “Tails” Prower (my main), and Knuckles the Canoeenchilada all return.
-Excellent level design.
-Excellent boss battles.
-Dangerously charming.
-Debug mode with level select is available by using a code.
CONS:
-Flying Battery Zone level has some pretty cheap deaths.
-The new characters were pretty unexciting.
Mighty the Armadillo who at first I thought was Shadow the Hedgehog, looks like Sonic with a red mullet and his ground attack is the worst special move of any of the characters.
Ray the Flying Squirrel looks like Super Sonic, if Super Sonic had aged in real time over the years and was now a bloated dumpy looking version of Super Sonic. His special move is sort of like Knuckle’s gliding ability except you can move up or down while gliding, it’s not terrible, but it makes more sense to just play as Knuckles since Knuckles can also climb up walls.
