Today's game is Sonic Mania. I wanted something quick and easy to jump into with tonight, and i picked this up on sale the other day. I grew up on Sonic 1-3, CD, and Knuckles so i have fond memories of the old 2D sonic (even though by the time i was born the genesis was far gone). I even put on the CRT shader! I didn't know much about Mania though and figured it was an original thing, and from what i can tell it mostly is, but the first zones of the first two levels are not.

I believe this game has also elected to fuck with me, because they included Chemical Plant zone which scares the fuck out of me. It's like specifically engineered too make me panic, especially with the section above with the moving platforms. I always struggle with it and it lives rent free in my head. Still like the level though, just fuck that specific part really.

The second parts of the levels are cool, like unique ideas. Chemical plant had these jelly things with syringes that were fun to do. It was fun to press down on it and learn what all the different jelly colors do.

Then there was the Mean Bean Machine minigame, which was awesome to see. I don't have much to say about it lol, i just thought it was cool to see them pay reference too it.

The boss for the 3 level was cool, it was a high speed chase where you had to hit certain rockets back. I lost it and took that as my cue to put the game down for the night, but it was a unique idea. This game seems to be doing a lot of unique boss ideas. It feels loyal to the original idea of the Genesis games but also a lot more unique because of the new hardware it can use. I'm enjoying it, though i probably will shelve it for now until i have another night where i just want something quick and easy to play.