With the release of Sonic Mania Plus on the horizon, let us go over every reason Sonic Mania is worth your time, regardless if you play games or not.

Sonic Mania came out on PS4, XBOX ONE, and Nintendo Switch on August 15, 2017. PC users would have to wait just a little while longer before they got a piece of the pie. Now, with Sonic Mania Plus: the enhanced version of Mania coming out later this year, let us go over every reason you should purchase this fine Chaos/Phantom gem of a game.

The first thing (and according to some, the most important thing) are the graphics. If you imagine the old days (probably before you were born), way, way back in the 1990’s, you will see that this was the best the SEGA Mega Drive (or Genesis here in the States) could give out:

That does not look so appealing to the average player of games. However, once you see that they took a step backward, and reverted to the older, more streamlined, Sonic 2 looking sprite, with a different color palette, then it may appeal to the younger generation more:

reddit.com

Look at that Mania sprite! Look how nice it looks. Not only that, but the Mania sprite comes packed with more animations due to the game running 60 frames per second (or fps, for those who do not know). That means that the animations are more fluid than ever.

The next reason you should play this game is the music in every zone. Despite having to stay close to the original, composer Tee Lopes manages to do wonders with the soundtrack. Every song in this game is a work of art, and all rival Sonic Adventure 2 (which has arguably the best soundtrack ever) in quality. Even when playing through Green Hill Zone for the ten-millionth time, the music is still the best it has ever been. However, the songs that stand out the most must be the original themes. Everything from Studiopolis to Press Garden to Mirage Saloon to Titanic Monarch are phenomenal. The best track in the game must be the Hard-Boiled Heavies theme “Hi-Spec Robo Go!†which you can take a listen to here:

The next logical thing to look at is the story, but since this game hearkens back to the day where a story was either saved for an RPG (Role Playing Game), or placed in the instruction manual, Sonic Mania barely has any sort of story out there. The story is that Sonic and Tails fly to Angel Island due to some strange energy. They discover Dr. Eggman/Robotnik has his Egg-Robos digging up a gem called the “Phantom Ruby.†The gem warps everyone to Green Hill Zone, gives the robots free will, and that is it. Please be complacent knowing this is not a Final Fantasy or (insert popular game that people say has a good story) kind of epic, but what did you expect? This is a Sonic game after all.

The final (and arguably the best) thing to analyze would be the gameplay itself. The game is extremely easy to pick up and play. You move the control stick to run, you press any of three buttons to jump, you hold down while repeatedly pressing one of the jump buttons to spin dash. There are not three hundred different buttons that do ten thousand different things (like in a lot of modern games such as “Call of Duty†or the like). The controls are simple, precise, and are appreciated by many fans. Of course, there are a lot of other things you can do, but those must be unlocked, and can only be used in a No Save file. The game is built around both speed and platforming, so when you platform well, you go fast. That is how every Sonic game works. If you have never played a video game before, this would be a great place to start, considering how easy it is. Sonic Mania can be considered a gateway drug into video games. Even if you are at a friend’s house, and they own the game, you should ask to try it. Even if you absolutely abhor video games, you should still play this game; it is that good.

There is still one problem to address. What happens if you do not have a way to play this game? Well, there is a solution for that. The most logical conclusion is to get Steam, and then purchase the game. If you would rather play the game on a console, then you can purchase a PS4, Xbox One (X or S, since they are backward compatible with Xbox 360 games) or a Nintendo Switch. For a more game oriented console, a PS4 or Nintendo Switch is recommended. If playing games is not your upmost priority, then getting an Xbox One is a better option.

Sonic Mania is purchasable digitally on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC for $19.99. Sonic Mania Plus can be preordered at GameStop and Amazon for $29.99 and will release on July 17, 2018.