Switch Adventures #2: Sonic Mania

First things first, this game has the honor of being the first Sonic game I have ever finished, so that's a milestone for me (despite having not played much Sonic in my lifetime.)

Now, onto the review itself. This game, first off, blew me away with its retro visuals, looking like the classic Sonic games from the 90s, but a little bit more cleaned up and with smoother animations. I know visuals are only a small part of the presentation, but I felt I should acknowledge the amount of work that went into this looking as faithful to the original games as possible.

The story isn't much to write home about. From what I gather, it's something about Dr. Eggman getting a strange ruby that makes his robots stronger and gives Sonic fans a 'best of' tour of the classic Sonic levels as well as a couple new ones thrown in for good measure. Regardless, it's serviceable in getting you from point A to point B.

As for the gameplay itself, this is, once again, a Classic 2D Sonic game with all the fast paced action, difficult enemies, and creative bosses the original Genesis games were known for. It, once again, has a few surprises, especially one of the bosses in Chemical Plant is a nice nod to a really obscure and memetic Sonic game. I'll leave you to figure out what game it is, as I don't intend to spoil much about this game.

When it comes to the levels, this game has a fantastic difficulty curve. Things starting out fairly easy in Green Hill Zone and gradually become more intense and difficult until you reach the final boss, which made me tear my hair out in rage as I died to him over and over again. Regardless, that was part of the fun, experiencing the challenge as the game progressed. I never felt like the game was impossible, but it definitely was very difficult to play through at times, and I died a lot after the first three or four zones.

I don't really have much negative to say about this game. I will admit that I did finish the game without getting all the Chaos Emeralds, which I know unlocks extra content in terms of story and gameplay but I was playing at my own pace, and for what it was, me not going for 100% was totally fine with me. Playing minigames to unlock more story content is not my idea of fun, but then again, I'm not a hardcore Sonic fan, so make of that what you will.

Overall, though, I had a fantastic time with this game. It was exciting, fast paced, and fun. I liked the simple premise and the throwback gameplay and visuals. If you are looking for a modern game with the gameplay of the first three Sonic games, look no further than Sonic Mania.

Next time on Switch Adventures, we will be taking a kingdom hopping adventure with everyone's favorite plumber as he once again saves his friend the princess from a monstrous beast. Keep your eyes open for Super Mario Odyssey.

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