Hoo boy, this is gonna be rough.

Recently, my Top 100 games list reached a point that I’m pretty satisfied with. This made me realize two things: First off, that I’m now a lot more comfortable replaying games I like rather than playing a bunch of new ones. Second, I have little reverence for games of the 1980’s and 1990’s; Of the games on the list, only two released before the year 2000, and none released before the fifth console generation. There are good games from those eras, don’t get me wrong, but I think even the best ones have long since been made obselete, either by subsequent entries, spiritual successors, or simply by the passage of time. Sure, Super Mario 64 is fine, but 90% of its good qualities are done better in Super Mario Odyssey. Yeah, I like Mega Man X, but I don’t see much reason to when Mega Man Zero is right there. And, perhaps most crucially…

I don’t like classic Sonic. I’ve tried getting into it a couple times, but it just never felt right to play. Compared to a lot of the modern games, the more limited movesets combined with less free-flowing level design always felt a lot slower and more awkward. So it’s not much of a surprise I don’t care for Sonic Mania. It’s the true Sonic 4 you’ve been waiting for. It’s a pure, classic experience just like the games of the 90’s. It’s the return to form everyone else was waiting for and I look at and think, “Well, this exists, I guess. When’s the next 3D game?” It’s classic Sonic, and that’s about it.

And in a vacuum, there’s nothing wrong with that. A lot of great games are made by sticking to what works, and if you’re a fan of the classic games, there’s plenty here to like. But this is a Sonic game, and Sonic means so much more to me than just “ fast 2D platformer gameplay”. It’s a franchise I’ve always respected for its willingness to experiment and refusal to rest on its laurels. While many will be quick to point and laugh at how it’s stumbled (and boy, has it stumbled), the series always manages to get back on its feet and keep on running. You can see this in so many entries, from Sonic Adventure 2’s confident delivery of its over-the-top story and high-octane action, to Sonic Colors’ unmatched visual and auditory spectacle, to Sonic Unleashed’s epic scale and undeniable heart, and more recently, in Sonic Frontiers’ effortless combination of all three. And even when Sonic fails, he still manages to succeed. I still get chills watching Shadow remove his limiters in Sonic ’06 or watching Sonic blast Erazor Djinn out of existence in Sonic and the Secret Rings. I love listening to the music of Sonic and the Black Knight and Sonic Forces and enjoy their overly serious, yet sincere stories. Hell, even Sonic Boom spawned a great show on Cartoon Network. Despite what some people might have you believe, Sonic has been good for a long time, and I doubt he’ll ever stop.

Which is why it disheartens me to see a Sonic game content with being just okay. Even taking into account my distaste for classic Sonic and for how certain fans treat the franchise, there’s nothing about Sonic Mania that really sticks out to me. It has good spritework, good music, and some neat references, but other than that, it’s just…more classic Sonic. It’s the safest experience Sega could possibly deliver for an anniversary title, something people can look at and say “Wow, that’s neat!” while discounting every cool thing the franchise has done since the release of Sonic Adventure. I can’t call Sonic Mania a bad game, but for me, it’s the worst thing a Sonic game can be. It’s boring.

This game is just too much fun, I don't know what else I can say about it. Almost everything about this game is 2D Sonic perfected.

Short and sweet, reimagined classics, multiple characters with fun playstyles, amazing music and remixes, fun chaos emerald minigames, blue balls are back...................

Only certain levels I would say are kind of a chore to get through, but even when this game is weak, it still is a lot of fun. The secret final boss with Super Sonic sucks massive ass tho, seems like even this game can't get that right.

You probably can get better than this, but Sonic Team sure as hell can't do it. Uuuuh, it would be a 5/5 if the final Super Sonic fight wasn't as shitty as it is, but it's close.

If Sonic CD and 3&K had a son, this would be it. The almost perfect sum of both game's best spots, where aesthetic and music meet the tight level design.
Honestly, this is the true Sonic The Hedgehog 4. If you want to introduce someone to the series, there's no better point than this.
If I had to nitpick something here... it's just that I wish more new and unique levels were added. While it's great to see the original games having a tighter level design and a sound that's closer to Sonic CD.... I don't know, I think I'm just too tired of seeing Green Hill and Chemical plant all over again. Also, doesn't help that they get my least favorite level from Sonic 2 back here (The Oil one) and mix it with concepts from my least favorite level from 3&K (the desert one).
Also, kinda funny how the last stage of this game is the only one where I cannot remember the track that played. Tee Lopes really went so hard on Metallic Madness Act 2 that the droney music that plays on the actual final stage feels weaker in comparison lol
But okay, let me go over positives here, which is a LOT.
God, the character's sprite have so much personality to them. It's the perfect mix of the CD era sprites with the 3&K sprite work. That little animation Sonic does right before chemical plant is SO CUTE.
And while I'm pretty much done with Green Hills and Chemical Plants, seeing Hidrocity, Stardust Speedway, Metallic Madness, Lava Reef coming back with a vengeance was great. And somehow, they made Flying Battery even crazier this time around!!!
And oh my goodness, the new stages. Studiopolis and Press Garden are some of my new favorite stage concepts for the franchise, and I do hope these ones come back in some shape or form in the future.
Honestly, this just makes me wish they gave the dev team a proper budget to make a new game filled with unique levels. Shame it didn't turn out like that and we got Superstars instead...
Also, really funny how this game is a "prequel" to Forces in a way. Does this mean I should play Forces next....? shivers

I was gonna play spore before this but decided against it considering this game is a total of 211 MB in size, even with my shit internet i could install it in only a few minutes

It had played this one, but quit somewhere. i didn't remember why i dropped though, seeing my save file i was in the airship zone, which... i'm gonna be real it's not a good zone but i don't think it's dropping-the-game worthy.

anyways, this game has really beautiful presentation, even if it took me a stage or two for my eyes to adjust to the pixel art. However, i think this beautiful pixel art hurts the game in a few areas, particularly, readability. There was way more than just a few occasions where i got hit by something pretty dumb because i simply thought it was part of the (admittedly beautiful) background.

another thing is that... fuck this sonic feels odd. Maybe it's because i was playing on keyboard instead of controller. I haven't touched the classics in a good while but man was the spindash always this... weak? it barely gets you through a loop. i also found the new drop-dash kinda useless except when you really just need to reach another side really quickly and don't have time to spin-dash, it comes up often enough but not really a big deal for sonic's moveset for me.

For another thing... i dislike a lot of the level designs, not all of them and not all the way throughout, but there was plenty of occasions where i'd go into a spring or something, which usually is safe, only to be thrown into a direction that i can't see anything in, and then hit a random badnick that just happened to be where i landed. Aside from that the fact that they included hydrocity zone at all in the game is an atrocity, it's easily the worst zone in the entire game.

anyways maybe i would've enjoyed this one a bit more were for me being better at sonic games, but as it stands i think it's just okay.

I beat it the first time, thought it was great!
Then I beat it again!
Then I beat it again!

Yea this is one of the best games I've ever played in my life, the love and passion oozing from it every second is unlike any game I've ever played, this game is a triumph for anybody who likes games, it's an absolute grand slam for the medium!