Yo, this be Reuben. If you’re a regular reader, which you probably aren’t, you would probably know that I’m a big Sonic fan. I’ve been playing ’em since I were but a lad and I’ve enjoyed sprinting around the many different environments Sega have put out there as the good ol’ blue blur.
Now, since Sonic Boom ruined Sonic’s reputation, I’ve been waiting for a proper Sonic game to be announced for the 8th generation of consoles. Thankfully, after many weeks of stalling from Sega, we got two new Sonics announced in one day, with their 25th Anniversary stream. One of which being labelled Project Sonic 2017, and the other Sonic Mania. I’m gert excited.
The first I saw was Project Sonic 2017;
It’s a somewhat overblown trailer, it must be said. It’s also apparent that Sonic Team are now colourblind, and may well be trying to make Sonic dark and serious again. It’s no real biggy though, because as long as the gameplay is in the same bracket as Sonic Generations and Colours, I will be happy; and I think it will be, because it’s by that same studio with the same graphical style shown, and they bothered to put at the start of the trailer that they were the studio that brought us Colours and Generations, so surely they are targeting the market that liked those two games. I’m definitely part of that market. I love both games’ mixing of 3D and 2D platforming and the incorporating of the super-speedy and exhilarating gameplay and the more Mega Drive days influenced 2D sections.
The game will probably veer more towards Sonic Generations in gameplay and possibly even story, though. There are no colour powers seen in the clip – something that some will be glad to see the back of – and, most obviously, classic Sonic as saw half of Generations’ run time appears in the trailer. It’s an intriguing one, as it shows Sega appreciate that many fans loved that side of Generations and the classic 90’s games, and so are bringing it back even without the gimmick of Generations — unless, that is, if so called Project Sonic 2017 is going to be a sequel to Generations. To be honest, I would rather we got new stages and worlds from Sonic Team, but we’ll see what they do.
The other Sonic game announced was Sonic Mania;
An intriguing and kinda exciting announcement followed by a rather neat one, for me. Sonic Mania is a throwback to those original days of the blue Hedgehog, with the same old style brought back after years dormant – in gameplay and aesthetics — unlike the sorta weird Sonic the Hedgehog 4.
Sonic Mania really does look like something out of the late Mega Drive era, and it holds seemingly that same gameplay style so many people – including myself – loved in Sonic the Hedgehog 1 through 3 and Knuckles. A self-proclaimed “new 2D adventure”, it holds what looks like some redesigned old stages and “new zones”, the latter taking most of the trailer’s screen time. The game also has a new gameplay feature in the “drop dash”, where seemingly Sonic can dash as soon as he lands from a jump. It will be interesting, also, in that the game is a collaboration of a few developers including Sonic Team. This announcement was possibly the best thing to come out of the 25th Anniversary show, and I can’t wait to play it as soon as possible.
Both the new Sonic games announced come next year, with Project Sonic 2017 on PC, PS4, Xbox One and NX – one of few games to be confirmed for the NX; whereas Sonic Mania will be on PC, PS4 and Xbox One only. It’s a shame and something that has confused a lot of people that Mania isn’t going to be on the NX, but Sega have shown their loyalty for Nintendo with the confirmation of at least one Sonic game on the NX. Vague release dates were also announced in the trailers for both games, with Project Sonic being “Holiday 2017”, and Mania being “Spring 2017”. I, for one, am irritated that after so long without a decent Sonic release Sega have prolonged the wait even further until next year. The “Holiday 2017” release date for Project Sonic really got on my goat. That’s a long time to wait. It’s also a shame that we haven’t got Sonic Adventure 3, and a genuine shame, as this article proves.
Oh well, we’ll see. I’m looking forward to the two games, and hopefully they will both remind people that Sega are competent game makers and Sonic is still alive. With that, I will send a link to my ol’ prolonged ‘Angry Message‘ about Sonic games to the hating internet, including Marcus — what a dingus!
Sonic the Hedgehog is not just weird fan art and Sonic Boom, people.
Bringing redundant opinions for scrollers everywhere,
Reuben.
Stuff and That. 