Sonic sux! LOL! ROFLMAO! Well, unfortunately the series had taken a very notable downward turn. Its 3D adventures have been pretty dismal since 2000.

Sick of this, the Sonic fan community demanded action and an indie team took up the challenge to create a new 2D Sonic. This was the result!

Sonic Mania: It’s Fast, Playable, and Yes

Righto, Sonic Mania launched in 2017 and is available on pretty much everything.

Christian “Taxman” Whitehead, PagodaWest Games, and Headcannon were the teams responsible for it. Sega had little input, other than to publish the game.

It’s already notable as the best received Sonic game in decades. Which is good to see after a series of mediocre-disastrous 3D outings.

As popular as Sonic has remained, there’s no denying the vast majority of the games from the series have been worryingly poor.

Even the Dreamcast’s killer launch game Sonic Adventure (1998) wasn’t exactly amazing and had some serious flaws.

Sonic Mania went out there to address these issues with a nod to Sonic’s heyday in the 1990s. And so we have a traditional 2D Sonic romp to show off.

It’s a revamped take on the Mega Drive (Genesis) classics, and the good news is it delivers a pretty excellent bit of speedy Sonic fun.

Sonic Mania follows on from the events of Sonic 3 (1994) and Dr. Eggman (Dr. Robotnik) is up to his usual shenanigans on Angel Island.

The plot is an excuse to do all the usual hyper fast Sonic stuff. Behold one of the levels!

The game looks lovely, has the usual Sonic soundtrack charm, and we have to say does deliver a strong platforming experience.

You can choose between three characters, including the option to use Sonic and Trails around stages.

You run around collecting coins, doing very impressive speedy feats and saving animals from the local area.

It’s a loving homage to the series as much a game in its own right. Sonic Mania even has that terrifying near-death music if the hedgehog is stuck underwater. Argh!

It’s all very Sonic. Very retro. But also very good!

Congratulations to the teams responsible to give the series a much-needed boot up the arse (in a good way). Huzzah!