Most people my age were brought up on Sonic The Hedgehog. The games even now have that replayability factor (Probably not a word, I'm using it anyway...) and just hearing the music brings up a load of nostalgia where you uncontrollably hum the entire act song. However Sonic had great gameplay for one reason; it was a simple 2D game and the speed, stages, style of gameplay etc... really suited the style of play down to the ground. But when the game started becoming more 3D, the game was quickly exposed and Sonic as a game never truly recovered.
Enter Christian Whitehead...
The full longplay game for Sonic Mania on Youtube
I became aware of Christian Whitehead two or three years ago. I managed to download an old Sonic game on my smart phone for free. It was great! It felt like I was playing the old Sonic games in its fluidity again. But Sega did not produce this game; this free game was programmed by an unknown programmer and Sonic fan called Christian Whitehead.
I would also see 'fan made hacks' of Sonic on Youtube. I marvelled at the creativity that these fan gamers had when they designed the levels based on previous games, and most of comments were people saying that Sega should take note how Sonic games should be made, as a lot of the newer Sonic games left a lot to be desired. Even the most hardcore fans - as much as they pretended to enjoy the games - felt disappointed. Sega have always had a gem, but ever since Sonic 3 & Knuckles (or arguably Sonic CD) They've never really been able to crack the code, even when they ditched the 3D world and went back to the classic 2D format.
A video of an incredible fan-made Sonic hack called 'The S Factor'
Fans have been saying for ages what they want, but it's not as simple as that; if it was that simple everyone would be a video game programmer! So after Sega tried a few different methods, they finally pulled the trigger and let Christian Whitehead loose on a completely new Sonic game (along with a few other fans as programmers) to breathe a new lease of life into the franchise.
What Christian did was simple, yet genius. He kept a lot of the old zones in the game (8 classic zones, and 4 unique ones). At first glance this seems lazy but it did exactly what it was supposed to do; attract the nostalgic gamers who loved Sonic when they were kids. The first level of the classic zones is always exactly the same for the first 5-10 seconds to make fans scream in euphoria when they begin the level, but as the level goes on it is noticeably harder than the originals, with their own completely unique layout which is not similar to the originals at all.
Video of the new special stages
Another two problems were the bosses and the special stages. People wanted original ideas, and boy did Christian come up with them! A cool 'chase the emerald' special stage, and now every level has its own boss, not just at the end of every zone. There is a perfect mix between throwbacks and completely new ideas. Oh, and as expected the gameplay is fast and exciting, but not painfully difficult to control like the games in the 2000's...
Video of all the bosses
Christian Whitehead is just like all of us; he's a guy with a dream. He loved Sonic and when he was younger he probably dreamed of working with Sega and creating a quality Sonic game for everyone. We all have dreams, and it seems that Christian Whitehead got to live out his dream. And to honest I can't help but feel incredibly happy for the guy. This story should be told to thousands of people who feel like they want to give up on whatever it is that their dream is. "It never happens to me..." It could do. This is a guy who created free Sonic games for people, and now he is the head programmer of a game that has been very well received with the PS4 and X-Box reviewers. If it can happen to him then it can happen to any of us. Keep on pushing, but you never know when that final push could make you successful, whatever 'successful' means for you...
- I did not create any of these Youtube videos. They are here solely to break up the post and I have no idea if the creator(s) make a profit on these videos or not
Wow, I remember this game when I was a younger! I cannot believe I was watching the first vid for an hour. Then again, I guess it was the same when you used to watch your friends play haha! Good memories! Thanks for the share
That's what I thought when I posted the video; "Surely no one is going to watch a video that long. Just put an intro video in..." However I soon realised I was an hour and a half in and thought, "Yeah, it'll probably be as addictive as watching a Royal Rumble video. Keep it in..."
Yeah, you're not the only one. I'm sure there will be many others who going to to be watching this for at least an hour lol
Sometimes to good to procrastinate reliving your childhood! As long as you remain focused once you're done having fun...
one of the first things i did when i got back from holiday on Tuesday was to download it, and it was totally worth it. a beautiful homage to the classics and some fantastic twists, i plan on getting some more emeralds over the weekend so I can become a super saiyan hedgehog once more.
There are little tips online how to get the emeralds really easily. It has something to do with running to the left and jumping while pressing right, and vice versa. I'll see if I can find the video for you:
I haven't played it yet, but it looks immense. Enjoy!!!