I was probably nine years old. It was the mid-nineties. My auntie had a games console that blew me away. I’d visit and spend hours playing Sonic games. Back home we didn’t have games consoles. I recall my Mum discussing with her neighbour about getting one, but the Nintendo 64 was newly out and surpassed the Megadrive in most ways. It didn’t have Sonic though so I wasn’t interested.

I was obsessed with the blue hedgehog. During those years I spent some time in hospital with a broken leg. My parents provided me with comic books of the pesky cartoon hero. I remember cherishing them with the captivating stories, the glorious (truly awesome) artwork, and the features about the games. My dad gifted me a pencil drawing of Sonic which I proudly display to this day.

Sonic Mania remixes the brilliant platform Sonic games that came before it in a brilliant and tasteful way. Everything feels how I remember it but looks so much better when compared.

During my playthrough I also played the original series under supervision of my friend Neil. Neil is something of a Sonic expert. I remember the first time watching him play Hydrocity on Sonic 3, eating up the screens in fractions of seconds and stopping at the perfect pixel in an instant when needed. He’s also credited for Sonic 3 Complete, a famous patch for Sonic 3. Knowing him personally has helped my Sonic journey.

I played mainly the Steam version. I played on my PC and on my Steam Deck either handheld or connected to a TV. I have taken the Steam Deck on trips with me where I’ve made some of my greatest progress on the game. I also have the Switch version for some reason but saves do not persist cross-platform. I also played on a Meta Quest 3 via Moonlight streaming to my PC. That’s how good modern wifi is.

There were plenty of moments where I had to persist to progress. Flying Battery Zone was a killer. I would constantly fall to my death. A year passed and I was still at it. I kept at it and can now do it with ease. Stardust Speedway Zone took me months to get past because of the final boss form Metal Sonic as Giga Metal. I eventually managed it because Tails glitched behind the boss, constantly hitting him. I still struggle to beat it to this day. The Titanic Monarch boss, the final boss of the main story, took me a year to get past. In my last session I flew through the proceeding acts as if I was an expert. It was glorious.

To be honest this is not the end of the game. I got to the screen and Robotnik sneered at me with most of the emeralds. I had collected two. I can now resume and select the stages to find the rest of them, allowing me to transform to Super Sonic and presumably defeat the final boss.

I’ve loved my time with Sonic Mania. I will continue to persist to find those last emeralds and see what other endings and challenges await. There’s plenty more to keep going, including different characters to play. All in all this is one of my all time favourite games. I wish they would remaster some more of the Sonic 3 levels in this way. Sonic Origins comes close as a modern way to play the games, but you’ll noticed the drop in animation frames for a start.

If only Sega would listen to the experts. I have no idea if we’ll see a second modern pixel-art Sonic game. I dearly hope we do.