Beastly Byte: Sonic Mania

It's a sad fact that both fans and critics are split among the Sonic community as many, including myself, find most Sonic games to be...meh. While Sonic 1 was a messy start and Sonic 2 aged as much as cheddar that some collage kids forgot to clean up, Sonic 3 and Knuckles has to be the best as Sonic CD did not age too well dispute still having a killer sound track.  It looks bleak  until the reveal trailer for Sonic Mania appears, it brought hope to most people. However, is it really a good thing?

The Good:

• This is a love letter to Sonic that plays like how Classic Sonic would be played today
• Play as Sonic Knuckles, and Tails as they usually play
• New Jump-Dash Mechanic for Sonic speed-runners to keep on the move
• References to other Sonic and Sega games leaves a charm and shows some heart
• Colorful signature design 
• Level design that fit their ascetics and gimmick
• Unlock different styles from past games
• Story told Nonverbal, giving sonic life as was in Sonic 3 and Knuckles 

The Bad:

• The Lifes system can be dated because Shovel Knight; Use the score as lifes instead, Devs
• The Crushing glitches are still around since Sonic 2
• The Switch Version has horrible delay when it's busy running the game
• The least lifes earned in this game; Hint: Farm at the first level. It sucks, I'm aware.
• The Bonus Level Blue Sphere dose not give you lifes; Just metals for unlocks!
• There's at least one boss somebody hates 
• Felt like some of the levels are misplaced at times due to difficulty 

Grade: B-

 While the game is fun over-all, I would not say it's a perfect game as this game has suffered the flaws of its predecessors. While this game is disappointing to those fallen for the hype, this is a game that needed to exist to fix Sonic. And it has, as Sega is happy with the results of the sales. However, this game needs patching and I don't know if the counsel ports will ever be fix. Sonic 3 and Knuckles is still the top contender, but after tweaking within the PC community, this game will be much better as the lifes system can be modded out with a more shovel knight like system. The game is good, but it is far from being perfect. Until then, wait until the PC release, as this is Sonic's most challenging game.