The best Sonic the Hedgehog video games of all-time

Sonic Mania – 2017 – Nintendo Switch / PlayStation 4 / Xbox One

Australian game programmer Christian “Taxman” Whitehead became well-known for his many “fan games” in the Sonic community, which led to Sega hiring Whitehead to work on the Apple iOS ports of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, and Sonic CD. Whitehead’s work led to Sega using his customized game engine as the basis for the gameplay in Sonic’s latest outing: Sonic Mania.

Whitehead, along with studios Headcannon and PagodaWest Games, created Sonic Mania as a “love letter” to Sonic’s retro gaming roots. Initially available as a downloadable-only game, Sega later released an “enhanced” version known as Sonic Mania Plus, which added new playable characters, remixed levels, and more.

Sonic Mania is an homage to all the classic 2D side-scrolling Sonic games. It hit all the right nostalgic notes for gamers like me who grew up on the classic Genesis titles. The game’s visuals were pixel-perfect representations of Sonic’s 16-bit imagery, along with colorful backgrounds and gorgeous character animations.

Sonic Mania’s many levels feature remixed stages and music from the classic Sonic games, along with a few new areas like the awesome Studiopolis Zone. The gameplay and pixelated graphics mirrored Sonic’s early Genesis games, but in the best possible ways. With all it has to offer, Sonic Mania isn’t just another great Sonic game: rather, it’s a fantastic action platformer that just happens to celebrate Sonic’s historical gaming roots.