Sega is once again taking a shot at redeeming Sonic the Hedgehog’s once-good name. As revealed this past weekend, the company is working on two new Sonic games, the fancy triple-A Project Sonic, and retro-styled Sonic Mania. Project Sonic is a bit worrying, but Sonic Mania looks promising. The game’s updated 16-bit art is beautiful, and the game is being designed by Christian Whitehead, a Sonic super fan who has produced well-liked remakes of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic 2 in the past. Frankly, this guy knows the blue hedgeog better than Sonic Team themselves, and is the perfect choice to head up a new retro Sonic adventure.
Polygon recently got to try out a couple Sonic Mania stages, and it certainly seems like the project is speeding down the right track. The first level is a remake of the classic Green Hills Zone, with a number of interesting tweaks and changes. The second is a new eye-poppingly pretty casino-style stage. Both levels look to deliver that Genesis nostalgia while subtly updating things with more detailed graphics, better animation, new challenges and bosses, and and more modern level design. The old Sega kid in me is excited.
Sonic Mania blasts you back to your childhood in early 2017.
(Via Polygon)