With Sonic Mania, Sega brings Sonic back to his classic 2D sidescrolling roots, taking direct inspiration from the 16-bit games that originally propelled Sonic and friends to superstardom. See our bonus stages guide for tips.HeвЂ™s had his fair share of ups, downs, and loop-de-loops, but Sonic has proven to be one of gamingвЂ™s most beloved and enduring icons. Thankfully, they're only tied to unlocking bonus content in the Extras menu, so you can skip them without missing out on much. If you could retry these at will I wouldn't mind, but as-is they're a recipe for frustration. The next time you reach a bonus level, it'll be a new, even harder one in the rotation. One slip and you fail, unable to try that bonus stage again. Sonic Mania offers a ton of these orb hunting bonus stages, but the majority are punishingly hard.

That's way too easy to do, especially since the bonus stage moves faster the longer it lasts. Touching a red orb instantly kicks you out of the bonus level. Sonic must navigate around a 3D sphere, collecting rings and touching all of the blue orbs in the stage. They play exactly like the bonus stages of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, complete with the same great music. That's easy enough, but the bonus stages are anything but. You access these by touching a star post checkpoint while carrying 25 or more rings, which creates a bonus portal. While the special stages are fun, I can't say the same for the bonus stages. Even if you die and restart from a checkpoint, the failed ring will still be unusable вЂ“ kind of a mean touch on the developers' part. This target moves much faster than Sonic initially, but collecting enough orbs will increase your speed in stages.Д¬atch the UFO and you get a Chaos Emerald fail and you'll have to find a new giant ring in the next act. The goal in these 3D levels is to chase and catch a single evasive UFO. Mania's special stages play a lot like those of Sonic CD, although Sonic himself and some elements are now polygonal instead of 2D sprites. Still, you only need to complete seven special stages to get all of the Chaos Emeralds, and there are far more than seven acts in which to look for them. I've never cared for the hidden nature of the special stages, as it's easy to miss the right path in a Sonic game's gigantic and fast-moving levels. The first, special stages are accessible by finding the gigantic ring hidden in every act. This one has two distinct varieties of bonus levels. Special stages are a highlight of many Sonic games, and they return in Sonic Mania. Ignoring Tails' flight is almost more fun than using it, thanks to the terrible clumsiness of initiating the maneuver. But you're just as likely to grab nothing, perform a drop dash, or activate an elemental shield's ability instead. If he successfully grabs Sonic, tapping jump repeatedly will cause Tails to fly. You have to jump, press up, and tap jump again when Tails is at the right height in the air. This is useful for reaching high areas and secrets. Tails (who follows Sonic everywhere as in Sonic 2) can now fly while carrying Sonic short distances.

A cool move in theory, but it's too easy to perform by mistake, sending Sonic rolling into danger. For starters, Sonic gets a drop dash that lets him instantly perform a spin attack when landing from a jump. Still, Sonic and friends also have new powers that increase their mobility and offensive options. Mania's gameplay mostly feels close to the 16-bit Sonics, with only the D-Pad or stick and one action buttons used to move and perform Sonic's jump, spin attack, and spin dash.

Sonic mania game