In the middle of my second playthrough and there's no question in my mind that this is the greatest Sonic game ever made. So many modern Sonic games have tried to do what this games does completely effortlessly and either mostly succeeded by trying to imitate the classic games (half of Unleashed, Colors, half of Generations) or failed by doing something completely different (Secret Rings, every Adventure style game, Shadow the Hedgehog, etc.). The original Sonic games (1, 2, 3&K & CD) pale in comparison, with only S3&K as Sonic Team finally finding their footing.
A significant factor in this is, of all things, widescreen. The original Sonic games suffered from their aspect ratio, because in a game about moving fast, it gave you very little reaction time to prepare for enemies coming up ahead of you. It made the games more annoying than fun, especially with the addition of enemies seemingly designed or placed in the most annoying ways possible (like those damn starfish in Sonic 2.)
Sonic Mania expunges this problem by first getting rid of almost all of the most annoying enemies, and second by having a wider aspect ratio to react to things coming up ahead of you. There's very few, if any, times where I ever felt like I had been blindsided by a trap - the game simply never feels genuinely frustrating.
The other significant factor is also surprising - that it's made by fans. Many, many retro games or fangames made in the style of old games are far too precious about their game design flaws and original level design, and will imitate even the worst parts of the original game out of "faithfulness." Sonic Mania rarely does this. While feeling entirely like a classic Sonic game, it's clear that the team is not just hugely competent but completely aware of what makes a Sonic game and a Sonic level interesting and fun. It's better than a "greatest hits collection" - it's a cover band that in every way surpasses the original artist, a Johnny Cash's "Hurt" to Nine Inch Nail's.
This game has absolutely no right to be as good as it is, and the only unfortunate thing is that some of the potential is squandered. Because Sonic Mania reuses many old levels for the first acts of each zone, those levels suffer a lot compared to the entirely new zones, where the developers get to flex their incredible creativity and level design chops.
Regardless it's still an absolute must-play and by far the peak of the series. Never before has what's technically a fangame shown the potential of an entire franchise this clearly.
A significant factor in this is, of all things, widescreen. The original Sonic games suffered from their aspect ratio, because in a game about moving fast, it gave you very little reaction time to prepare for enemies coming up ahead of you. It made the games more annoying than fun, especially with the addition of enemies seemingly designed or placed in the most annoying ways possible (like those damn starfish in Sonic 2.)
Sonic Mania expunges this problem by first getting rid of almost all of the most annoying enemies, and second by having a wider aspect ratio to react to things coming up ahead of you. There's very few, if any, times where I ever felt like I had been blindsided by a trap - the game simply never feels genuinely frustrating.
The other significant factor is also surprising - that it's made by fans. Many, many retro games or fangames made in the style of old games are far too precious about their game design flaws and original level design, and will imitate even the worst parts of the original game out of "faithfulness." Sonic Mania rarely does this. While feeling entirely like a classic Sonic game, it's clear that the team is not just hugely competent but completely aware of what makes a Sonic game and a Sonic level interesting and fun. It's better than a "greatest hits collection" - it's a cover band that in every way surpasses the original artist, a Johnny Cash's "Hurt" to Nine Inch Nail's.
This game has absolutely no right to be as good as it is, and the only unfortunate thing is that some of the potential is squandered. Because Sonic Mania reuses many old levels for the first acts of each zone, those levels suffer a lot compared to the entirely new zones, where the developers get to flex their incredible creativity and level design chops.
Regardless it's still an absolute must-play and by far the peak of the series. Never before has what's technically a fangame shown the potential of an entire franchise this clearly.