Retro News - New 2D Sonic Speeds Our Way!

Sonic Mania by Sega & Others (2017) - PS4, Xbone, PC

I don't usually cover special game anniversaries here, I'm not all that bothered by them to be honest, but news reached me today of a special one. Or rather, one that was accompanied by some special news. The recipient of this grand gesture is the incomparable Sonic the Hedgehog who is now 25 years young, and that means, besides making me feel rather old, it's time to celebrate! Sega's chosen method of doing this is to release not one but two new games starring the Blue Blur. The first of these is a new 3D adventure codenamed Project Sonic 2017 which is due for release sometime that year for PS4, Xbone, and Nintendo's new system, the NX. Of much more interest to us is the other title.

Many of us loyal Sega fans have been crying out for a new 2D Sonic game for years. We did get the episodic Sonic 4 a few years back, which was pretty great actually, but what most fans craved was a game in the same 16-bit style as the MegaDrive originals. Well those prayers appear to have now finally been answered, for the second game announced to mark this big anniversary is Sonic Mania, a game based on and retaining the visual style of those much-loved adventures of our youth. It is being developed by Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, and PagodaWest Games, for a Spring 2017 launch, and has been provisionally pencilled in for release on the PS4, Xbone, and PC.

More importantly, it is also looking pretty frickin' sweet so far! As you can no doubt see from the screen-shots and trailer, the graphics are all lovely and pixelly, and the zones they are portraying seem to be a mixture. Some are clearly based on themes from previous games but others are apparently brand new, and they are looking really quite wonderful. There aren't too many more details available yet, though it's interesting that the game is already complete enough for the trailer to be made, but I'm sure more will be forthcoming soon. In the meantime, I'll leave you to feast your eyes as I have been. I think it's even safe to start getting your hopes up - I certainly am already. SAY-GAH!