3/5 ★ – Gurt's review of Sonic Mania.

2D Sonic (and to a degree Sonic in general) is in a weird spot because it has the same problems as fighting games. The most fun version of the game exists beyond the first time investment. Any and every game you will play in your life does the same thing, it tries to teach you a skill-set to allow you to succeed. The most exciting element of Sonic gameplay is platforming at top speed. And at top speed is when you are most likely to be hurt, and I would argue sometimes getting hurt is unavoidable if you haven't memorized the level layout. It is my understanding then that the skill-set that you learn for Sonic Mania is not how to platform smarter, but instead to encounter failure until you memorize success. I cannot avoid enemies or obstacles that I have less than a tenth of a second to react to unless I know they are already there. The alternative is that I go slow, which isn't as fun. I am not against level memorization. I love Super Meat Boy and Punch Out for that. However, I think its a big ask of first time players to memorize layouts of levels that are not only long (for a platformer that is) but with multiple paths. The issue is not difficulty, but rather the first run of a 2D Sonic game I think is the least enjoyable version of playing that respective game. That's why I think Sonic has such a loyal fan-base, because the people that stuck around got really good at these games and found the fun that exists when you've memorized level layouts. As a result, I don't think first-time players should be faulted if they aren't compelled to play again to unlock that extra fun. Anyway, enjoyed the game otherwise, it's just shouldering the burden of the game design that already existed for several decades.