Chemical Plant Zone still has you zipping through lots of pipes, but instead of diving into one and watching Sonic roll through, as per tradition, you come to junctions where you have to choose which pipe you take next. The new areas are solid, but the oldies-but-goodies deserve special mention because they comprise the cornerstone of what makes Sonic Mania so great.Įach oldie-but-goodie zone starts with familiar terrain, then gradually weaves in new mechanics and areas. Sonic Mania opens with Green Hill Zone, the starting 'world' of the original game and one of many fan-favorite regions that join new playgrounds. That trio prudently ignored every Sonic title released after 1994 and encapsulated within Sonic Mania the essential ingredients that, I've come to discover, made the first few Sonic titles so much fun-literally, in many ways. To their credit, the powers that be over at Sega finally realized they were doing more harm than good and passed Sonic's red-and-white sneaks to Christian Whitehead and the folks PagodaWest Games and Headcannon. The speedy hedgehog was weighed down by bloat across a spate of 2D and 3D offerings that seemed to indicate the character's makers had no idea what had endeared him to so many back in the 1990s. Judging by the poor sales and scathing critical reception to Sonic titles over the last couple of decades, neither did many others. I just didn't care to buy what he and Sega were selling. Even so, speed wasn't enough to win me over. He looped through loops, blasted through barriers, and tunneled through tunnels at breakneck speed, and even though I was old enough to know 'Blast Processing' was just a buzzword, it was still impressive. Although I preferred the thoughtful, precise platforming of Mario and friends, Sonic was one cool cat.

The first was that Sega of America's in-your-face advertising worked its magic. I learned quite about my gaming tastes over our experience exchange. I played Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with my brother, and he played Super Mario World when I lugged my SNES over every other weekend. Danny, my best friend in the third grade, defected from the ranks of Mario maniacs to go do what Ninten-didn't. My first clear memories as a gaming-obsessed child growing up in the 1990s are of the console war between Sega and Nintendo that spilled from the pages of magazines onto playgrounds and living rooms.

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