Occasionally, it was due to overreliance on gimmicky new gameplay mechanics, absurd storylines, and/or an overabundance of annoying, extraneous characters that nobody asked for. Oftentimes, it was poor controls or questionable design choices that impeded the navigation of the levels. Sometimes it was the graphics, and other times it was the sound effects. While past Sonic games have tried to replicate the feel of the Genesis games, they always seemed to missed some (or in many cases, several) crucial elements. I know I've played this stage before, but this double-helix bubble lift is definitely new. Well, the devil, as they say, is in the details or the lack of attention to it, as is so often the case. You are probably wondering what could possibly separate this clear success from the countless failures that preceded it. For the third time in my life, I was blown away by a Sonic game. Like a retro defibrillator, Sonic Mania jolted the 16-bit love in my heart alive once again. Upon being greeted by that oh-so-familiar "SEGA" logo, seeing the lovely title screen, and starting up the incredibly familiar, yet curiously new first level (Green Hill Zone, of course), I was instantly transported back to my youth. As has become the unfortunate norm, I went in expecting very little, only to receive the surprise of (what feels like) a lifetime. So, in light of the overwhelming majority of garbage that the Sonic franchise has become, Sonic Mania comes as quite a welcome shock. Just to be clear, we're talking about more than 20 games over the course of more than 20 years (with another likely stinker due to arrive later this year). The only exceptions to this rule (Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing and SEGA Superstars Tennis) were games that had nothing at all to do with the top-notch platforming that the series used to be known for. Given the near endless flow of mediocrity (and crap, to be quite honest) that's followed ever since Sonic made the leap from the Genesis, most fans had resigned themselves to the fact that there would likely never be another great Sonic game. Many have come in 3-D, some in 2, and some have even featured a mix of both and while certain titles may have been arguably better than others, not one of them has even come close to reaching the lofty heights of the originals. In the time since those 2-D glory days, many other Sonic games have come to many other consoles. But while the other great Sonic games from those Genesis days (Sonic 3, Sonic CD, and Sonic & Knuckles) were all more or less equally good, none of those games could really manage to pull off quite that same awe-inspiring first impression. The first Sonic game had turned the gaming world completely upside down, and the second, not only managed to recapture that same magic, but improve on it enough to stand on its own. Seeing that beautiful Emerald Hill Zone level was just like the first time I had seen the Green Hill Zone from Sonic 1, a few years earlier. When I got home and popped it into my shiny new Genesis, I was mesmerized. Despite the fact that Sonic 2 had already been available for two years by that point, I hadn't actually had the opportunity to play it yet, myself. I only took two games home with me that day and they were both Sonic titles, Sonic Spinball (a pack-in game that was included with the system) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2. In 1994, after years of jealously playing Sega Genesis games at other people's houses (Sonic the Hedgehog, in particular), I finally decided to plunk down the allowance I'd managed to save up and buy the system for myself.
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