During the Nintendo Treehouse event, those fortunate enough to attend were treated to a sampling of the upcoming Sonic Mania. This game will not be a Nintendo Switch exclusive, but it was still highly advertised at the event. The trailer starts off with a brief history of where Sonic began, and how it evolved, and while they don’t quite say it, you very much get the feeling that this release is a response to the critical failure of their most recent Sonic adventure style games. What I was not able to glean from the trailer, being fairly unfamiliar with the classic (or modern) Sonic games, is whether or not this will be a completely new game in the fashion of the classics, much like the release of MegaMan 9 in 2008, or if it is a collection of the original Sonic sidescrollers. The trailer mentions new levels and worlds, but also “remastered classics”. Maybe it’s both. The Amazon description describes it as an “all new adventure”, but then states that there are “never before seen hidden paths”. If it’s a whole new game, then “never before seen” should be a given, should it not? Along with this vague description, Amazon has the Sonic Mania Collector’s Edition listed at $69.99, which comes with a nifty statuette of Sonic standing on the Sega Genesis. So what exactly is different about this game? We know from the trailer that we will be able to choose from Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles for this game. We also are introduced to the new “drop dash” maneuver, which is exactly what it sounds like. You drop from a certain height, and when you hit the ground, you dash. Take a minute, if you need to. I know the excitement here is overwhelming. It looks as though this move will be helpful to quickly change directions, maybe. Perhaps there’s something I’m missing here. Maybe there’s more to the game than what I’m seeing, because I didn’t get a lot of one on one time with the originals, but it seems like maybe Sega is simultaneously cashing in on nostalgia and trying to win back fans scorned by recent installments with a phoned in “back to basics” campaign.
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