Sonic Mania

n/a

Sonic Mania
System(s): PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Steam, Epic Games Store
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Christian Whitehead Headcannon PagodaWest Games Tantalus Media Lab24
Genre: Action
Number of players: 1-2
Release Date RRP Code Rating US ▼ 2017-08-15 $19.99 CUSA-07023 US (Collector's Edition) 2017 $69.99 ? EU ▼ 2017-08-15 €19.99 CUSA-07010 FR (Collector's Edition) 2017-08-15 €89.99 ? DE (Collector's Edition) 2017-08-15 €89.99 ? ES (Collector's Edition) 2017-08-16 €89.99 ? DE ▼ 2017-08-15 €19.99 CUSA-07010 UK ▼ 2017-08-15 £15.99 CUSA-07010 UK (Collector's Edition) 2017-08-15 £79.99 ? AU ▼ 2017-08-15 $29.95 CUSA-07010 JP ▼ 2017-08-16 ¥1,800 (1,944) CUSA-07902 KR ▼ 2017-08-16 ₩20,000 CUSA-07023 TW ▼ 2017-08-16 NT$590 CUSA-07023 US ▼ 2017-08-15 $19.99 ? US (Collector's Edition) 2017 $69.99 ? EU ▼ 2017-08-15 €19.99 ? DE ▼ 2017-08-15 €19.99 ? FR (Collector's Edition) 2017-08-17 €89.99 ? DE (Collector's Edition) 2017-08-15 €89.99 ? ES (Collector's Edition) 2017-08-16 €89.99 ? UK ▼ 2017-08-15 £14.99 ? UK (Collector's Edition) 2017-08-15 £79.99 ? JP ▼ 2017-08-16 ¥1,800 (1,944) ? AU ▼ 2017-08-15 $26.95 ? US ▼ 2017-08-15 $19.99 ? EU ▼ 2017-08-15 €19.99 ? UK ▼ 2017-08-15 £15.99 ? DE ▼ 2017-08-15 €19.99 ? JP ▼ 2017-08-16 ¥1,800 (1,944) ? AU ▼ 2017-08-15 $26.95 ? KR ▼ 2017-09-13 ₩20,000 ? HK ▼ 2017-09-13 148.00 ? US (Collector's Edition) 2017 $69.99 HAC-P-ABD7A UK (Collector's Edition) 2017 £79.99 ? FR (Collector's Edition) 2017-08-16 €? ? DE (Collector's Edition) 2017-08-15 €? ? ES (Collector's Edition) 2017 €? ? US (Collector's Edition) 2017 $69.99 ? US 2017-08-29 $19.99 584400 EU 2017-08-29 €19.99 584400 DE 2017-08-29 €19.99 584400 UK 2017-08-29 £14.99 584400 AU 2017-08-29 $24.99 584400 US 2021-06-24 $19.99 ? EU 2021-06-24 €? ? DE 2021-06-24 €? ? UK 2021-06-24 £14.99 ? AU 2021-06-24 $? ?

Sonic Mania (ソニックマニア) is a 2D platformer developed by Christian Whitehead, Headcannon and PagodaWest Games. The game is a return to the style of the Mega Drive games, and features both brand new zones as well as re-imagined zones from Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD and Sonic 3 & Knuckles.

A definitive version of the game, aptly titled Sonic Mania Plus, was released on 17 July 2018 as paid downloadable content to the base game alongside a physical version of the game. This version includes the return of Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel as playable characters, as well as a 4-player Competition Mode and Encore Mode.

Story

Some time after saving Angel Island, Sonic the Hedgehog and his best friend, Miles "Tails" Prower, are relaxing when Tails picks up a strange energy reading far away. Though different from the Chaos Emeralds, the reading is remarkably powerful, and Tails convinces Sonic to join him and check it out. Sonic and Tails take off on the Tornado towards the source, but sure enough, the evil Dr. Eggman has detected it too! Now it's a race between Sonic and Eggman to get there first and figure out what mysteries it holds. However, Eggman has been busy: he's just unleashed a new team of elite Egg-Robos to handle his most important tasks. They're called the "Hard-Boiled Heavies," and they're about to reach the source of the signal first! It's up to Sonic, Tails, and their newest ally, Knuckles the Echidna, to defeat the Hard-Boiled Heavies, unlock the secrets of the energy source, and stop Dr. Eggman!

Characters

SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

The world's fastest hedgehog! Although often impatient, Sonic has a heart of gold and a strong desire to fight injustice - which means putting a stop to the evil Dr. Eggman's plans. His blistering speed, Super Sonic Spin Attack, and sassy attitude make him a force to be reckoned with. After reconciling his differences with Knuckles, he's enjoyed some peace and quiet with Tails and their animal friends - until now.

MILES "TAILS" PROWER

Miles "Tails" Prower grew up idolizing Sonic, and now joins him on his adventures. He can fly using his two tails, and as a skilled inventor and mechanic, his talents almost rival those of Dr. Eggman. Anywhere Sonic goes, Tails is never far behind.

KNUCKLES THE ECHIDNA

Knuckles is the last descendant of the ancient Echidnas. He lives alone on the floating Angel Island, kept in the sky by the Master Emerald, which he guards. Knuckles has unmatched strength, and can even punch through solid walls. Following the defeat of Dr. Eggman's previous scheme, Knuckles considers Sonic an ally. When Knuckles spots something amiss on the island, he goes to investigate...

DR. EGGMAN "EVIL GENIUS"

An evil genius with an IQ of 300, Dr. Eggman won't stop until he dominates the world with his army of mechanized minions. Despite suffering defeats at the hands of Sonic and his friends, Dr. Eggman's confidence never wavers. Intrigued by this new energy signal, he plans to exploit it for his own means. With something this powerful, he could finally stop Sonic forever.

Gameplay and Mania Mode

Sonic and "Tails" in the first Act of Studiopolis, one of the original Zones from the game.

As a continuation of the gameplay design of the original Mega Drive and Genesis games, Sonic Mania's gameplay is relatively identical to those games and familiar to well-versed fans of the original titles. Players are still expected to clear the level under the span of ten minutes, with all of the classic elements present--collecting rings to protect themselves from taking damage, running/rolling through loop-de-loops to gain speed, using springs to reach higher platforms, and avoiding Badniks and spikes that can cause damage, as well as other dangerous traps and gimmicks along the way. Item Boxes are also present, with standard powerups like Power Sneakers, Invincibility, and Super Ring present; as well as Star Posts that save the player's spot in the level.

The game design also follows from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles in particular, resulting in many elements returning from those games as well. Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna all return as individual playable characters, as well as a mode that allows Tails to follow Sonic and provide local cooperative play between two players (with Player 1 controlling Sonic and Player 2 controlling Tails). All three characters retain the standard Spin Attack and Spin Dash abilities; with Tails also having his flying and swimming mechanics, and Knuckles having his climbing and gliding mechanics as well. The game's Zones are separated into two relatively large Acts, packed with multiple routes and secret locations for players to discover; alternate routes only accessible by certain characters are also present as well. Every Act also ends with one boss fight, with "sub-bosses" featured at the end of Act 1; and standard bosses featured at the end of Act 2. Shields also return in this game, with the titular trio of elemental Shields from Sonic 3 (the Water Shield, Fire Shield, and the Lightning Shield) restored, alongside the the standard Shield as seen from Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and Sonic CD.

Knuckles in the second Act of Chemical Plant, one of the game's Zones returning from the Mega Drive-era Sonic games.

The game is not without new additions and notable changes to the formula, however. The W Spin Attack introduced in Sonic 3 (popularly known as the "insta-shield") is absent from Sonic's moveset (although it is unlockable); having been replaced with the new "Drop Dash" ability. Best summarized as a "mid-air Spin Dash", the Drop Dash allows Sonic to build up momentum in mid-air after a jump, which upon contact on the ground grants the player additional speed and rolling distance. Environmental properties have also been granted to the elemental shields, which allow them to have additional properties to the levels--two notable examples are the Fire Shield burning down bridges in Green Hill and the Lightning Shield having magnetic properties in Flying Battery. A new item based on the Combine Ring from the obscure 32X spin-off Chaotix is also added (with its monitor appearance marked by a blue ring), which fuses the player's total ring count into multiple rings (a HUD indication is also marked by a blue ring icon added to the player's ring count). Should the player take damage, a handful of giant rings, which represent the total rings lost, fly out of the character; these rings of which can be recollected for a brief period of time.

Other modes

Returning to Sonic Mania are Special Stages, which by tradition contain the series' treasured Chaos Emeralds. As in Sonic 3, Special Stages are hidden within the stages and are accessible through Giant Rings. A new concept based on the Special Stages as seen in Sonic CD and Chaotix; the Special Stages see the player chasing down a UFO carrying a Chaos Emerald in a three-dimensional course, while also making sure to stay on the track (as the player can fall off the course into a pit) and avoid hazards such as spiked balls. Racing against a time limit, the player has to catch up to the UFO in order to earn the Chaos Emerald before the time limit expires. Spread out inside the level are spheres which can increase their speed (collecting a certain number of spheres increases the "Mach" speed level of the player's character), as well as rings that can increase the game's time limit.

Also returning in Sonic Mania are the Bonus Stages as presented in Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, which are accessible through a circles of stars that appear above Star Posts, should they be activated with at the player holding at least 25 rings. This time, the Bonus Stage see the return of the Blue Spheres stages from the aforementioned two games, with the primary change being the player collecting one of two types of medallions upon completion of the stage. The player is awarded a Silver Medallion upon collecting all of the spheres, while the player collecting all of the spheres and all of the rings (and thus earning a "Perfect" score) is awarded a Gold Medallion. The Bonus Stages are cycled through a specific order, and Blue Sphere layouts for the stages include reused layouts from Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, as well as original layouts.

Sonic and Tails in Green Hill, within the two-player Competition Mode.

Sonic Mania also features a Time Attack mode, as first seen from Sonic CD. This time, the Time Attack mode features unique goalposts separate from the main campaign (both used for starting and ending the level), as well as a new feature that allows players to immediately restart the level during playthroughs by pressing and holding a certain button. Acts in Time Attack mode exclude bosses and checkpoints, and the clock functions as as a timer. Players upon completing Acts are graded on their time, and their score; an a additional "Cool Bonus" is added if the player completed the level without taking damage. Once Acts are completed, the game saves and records your time, in which the player can either compare them to a personal list of best time logs, or upload their record to an online leaderboard.

A Competition mode that provides competitive multiplayer with two players is also included. Adapting the two-player "Vs. Mode" setup as seen in Sonic 2, players see themselves racing each other in Zones from the main campaign in a split-screen format, and are graded on a criteria of the player's Score, Time, Ring count at the end of the Act, their Total Ring count (including rings they lost), and the amount of Item Boxes broken. The player that wins the most criteria takes the round.

Scoring

Hitting bumpers: 10 points for each of the first five hits on any given bumper; after that no more points can be gained from that bumper.

Enemy chains:

• First enemy = 100
• Second enemy = 200
• Third enemy = 500
• Fourth through fifteenth enemies = 1,000 each
• Sixteenth and all subsequent enemies = 10,000 each

(a chain refers to all enemies destroyed until the next time the player lands on some form of ground or jumps)

Bosses: 1,000 points

Signpost: At the end of each Act 1 is a signpost. In most Zones the signpost will fall from the air, but in some Zones it'll be on the ground and will be launched into the air by passing it at high speed. Jump at it before it hits the ground to keep it in the air and score 100 points. The signpost can yield as many 100-point bonuses as the player is able to keep the sign in the air for. If the signpost lands on a predefined spot it will spawn an Item Box. Each level has a different arrangement and different selections of power-ups available.

End Level Ring Bonus: 100 points for each Ring held.

End Level Time Bonus:

• 0:29 or less = 50,000
• 0:30 to 0:44 = 10,000
• 0:45 to 0:59 = 5,000
• 1:00 to 1:29 = 4,000
• 1:30 to 1:59 = 3,000
• 2:00 to 2:59 = 2,000
• 3:00 to 3:59 = 1,000
• 4:00 to 4:59 = 500
• 5:00 to 5:59 = 100
• 6:00 or more = 0

End Level Cool Bonus: Starts at 10,000 points, and is decreased by 1,000 for each time the player has taken damage. If the player has lost a life during the Act, this bonus drops to 0.

Special Stage:

• Ring Bonus: 100 points for each Ring held.
• Mach Bonus: 1,000 points each time the Mach level is raised, 10,000 points each time the gauge is completely filled after reaching Mach 3.

Unlockables

To unlock the following in this list, the player must complete the Bonus Stages to earn medallions. Only silver medallions are necessary to unlock everything listed here.

• Super Peel-Out: Collect 1 medallion. The player can replace Sonic's Drop Dash with the Super Peel-Out from Sonic CD.
• Insta-Shield: Collect 6 medallions. The player can replace Sonic's Drop Dash with the Insta-Shield from Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
• & Knuckles Mode: Collect 11 medallions. This allows the player to have Knuckles follow them around as a partner, even if they are Knuckles.
• Debug Mode: Collect 16 medallions. The player can enable Debug Mode during gameplay.
  • During gameplay, press (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) /  Q  (PC) to enter/exit object placement mode.
  • Use the Left Stick, D-Pad or Arrow Keys to move around in object placement mode.
  • Press (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) / {{Key|A (PC) to cycle forward through the available objects.
  • Press (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) /  W  (PC) while holding the above button to cycle backward through the available objects.
  • Press (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) /  S  (PC) when selecting an item monitor to change its contents.
  • Press (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) /  W  (PC) to place the currently selected object.
  • Camera coordinates are designated by the top line of hex digits in the top-right corner.
  • Player coordinates are designated by the bottom line of hex digits in the top-right corner.
• Mean Bean: Collect 21 medallions. The player can then play a game of Puyo Puyo against the computer or another player.
• D.A. Garden: Collect 26 medallions. The player can then listen to the in-game music.
• Blue Spheres: Collect all 32 medallions. This will allow the player to play a randomly-generated Blue Spheres stage in either the "Original" style or the "Mania" style.

Note that to access the first four unlockables, the player must highlight a "No Save" game on the Save Select screen, then press (PS4) / (Switch) / (XB1) /  W  (PC); as of version 1.04, the player no longer needs to highlight a "No Save" game and can use the unlockable extras (except Debug Mode) on save files. An option to disable the time limit was also added. The last three unlockables are accessed in the Extras menu.

Music

• Sonic Mania (vinyl album)
• Sonic Mania Original Soundtrack (Selected Edition)

History

Sales data

Number of copies sold	Reference	Platforms	Regions
1,000,000+	Weekly Famitsu interview with Takashi Iizuka about Sonic Mania Plus (4/26/2018) Famitsu (Advertisement for interview) (Japanese site, mentions sales numbers)	N/A	Worldwide

Nintendo eShop chart performance

Platform	Nintendo eShop reference	Monthly Nintendo eShop chart appearances and rankings	Weekly eShop chart appearances and rankings	Weeks on the eShop (original run / cumulative total)
Nintendo Switch	Nintendo Everything (starting 11/30/12)	August 2017 (#1 - Europe)	8/17 (#1), 8/24 (#1), 8/31 (#1)	3 / 3
"	"	September 2017 (#2 - North America, #2 - Europe)	9/7 (#2), 9/14 (#2), 9/21 (#2), 9/28 (#4)	7 / 7
"	"	October 2017 (#7 - Europe)	10/5 (#9), 10/12 (#8), 10/19 (#3), 10/27 (#5)	11 / 11
"	"	November 2017 (#11 - Europe)	11/3 (#6), 11/10 (#8), 11/17 (#10), 11/24 (#12)	15 / 15
"	"	December 2017	12/1 (#15), 12/8 (#17), 12/15 (#18), 12/22 (#18), 12/29 (#15)	20 / 20
"	"	January 2018 (#14 - Europe, #13 - Australia and New Zealand)	1/6 (#14), 1/12 (#12), 1/20 (#12), 1/27 (#13)	24 / 24
"	"	February 2018	2/2 (#16)	25 / 25
"	"	March 2018	3/17 (#19), 3/24 (#19)	" / 27

Platform	Nintendo eShop reference	Overall 2017 performance	Notes
Nintendo Switch	Nintendo Everything	#11 Best-selling Nintendo Switch game	Due to the distribution of the source, Nintendo Everything presumes this list of best-selling Switch games only counts eShop sales in the Americas.
"	Nintendo.co.jp (Domestic/Japan, Overseas), Nintendo Everything	#22 Most-downloaded Nintendo Switch eShop game in Japan, #3 Most-downloaded Nintendo Switch eShop game overseas	Nintendo Everything source notes that both lists only count games exclusively released on the eShop, and the Overseas list only counts games released worldwide.
"	Nintendo.co.uk, Nintendo Everything	#5 Most-downloaded Nintendo Switch eShop game in Europe

PlayStation Store chart performance

Platform	PlayStation Store reference	Monthly PlayStation Store chart appearances and rankings
PlayStation 4	US PlayStation Blog	August 2017 - #3
"	EU PlayStation Blog	August 2017 - #8

Production credits

Developed by: Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, PadogaWest Games
In Association with Sega

Sonic Mania Development Team

Lead Developer: Christian Whitehead
Project Manager: Hunter Bridges
Business Dev: Greg Dawson

Programming
Lead Programmer: Christian Whitehead
Programmer: Simon "Stealth" Thomley, Hunter Bridges

Design
Lead Designer: Jared Kasl
Designers: Brad Flick, Taryn Costello, Michael Balm

Art
Art Director: Tom Fry
Artists: Paul Veer, Kieran Gates, Lucas "Midio" Carvalho

Sound
Composer: Tee Lopes
Mastering: Falk Au Yeong
Sound Designers: Hunter Bridges, Jameson Sutton
Announcer: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Audio Engineer: Jun Senoue

Sega
VP of Product Development and Creative Services: Takashi Iizuka
Director of Creative Services: Kazuyuki Hoshino
Director of Product Development: Austin Keys
Producer: Lola Shiraishi

Tantalus Media
CEO: Tom Crago
Producer: Joss Ellis

Programming
Switch Lead: David Lally
Programmers: Sean O'Sullivan, Derek Johnson

QA
QA Leads: David Doe, Sheylla Tupia

Original Music
Green Hill Zone, Chemical Plant Zone, Oil Ocean Zone: Composed by Masato Nakamura

Animation Intro
Director, Lead Animator: Tyson Hesse
Music: "Friends" by Hyper Potions
Animation Supervisor: Takashi Iizuka, Kazuyuki Hoshino
Animation Producer: Aaron Webber
Animation Assistance: Studio Yotta, Mariel Cartwright
BG Illustrations: Hans Tseng
Compositing, Motion Graphics: Brady Hartel, Jon Kim

Special Thanks
Elizabeth Ramirez, Lana Kasl and Baby Tenly, Rachel Steinberg, John Hardin, Allie Doyon, Michael Cisneros, Jasmin Hernandez, Ales "The Kidd" Solverson, Mai Kiyotaki, Edith Yang, Kitty Mach, Peter Bowman, Misty Noor, Ben Westhoven, Sergio Montelegre, Aaron Webber, Sam Mullin, Westin

Sega of America, Inc.

CEO and COO: Tasuyuki Miyazaki
Executive VP: Yusuke Suai
SVP: Ivo Gerscovich

Production
VP of Product Development and Creative Services: Takashi Iizuka
Director of Product Development: Austin Keys
Producers: Lola Shiraishi, Miki Takahashi, Terri Watanabe

Marketing
Marketing Manager: Ari Sariel
Marketing Associate: Nathan Shabazi
PR Manager: Edith Yang
Social Media Manager: Aaron Webber
Social Media Coordinator: Sergio Montealegre

Licensing
Licensing Director: Ari Sariel
Senior Manager: Sylvia Barraza
PD Manager: Sandra Jo
Associate Manager: Alex "The Kidd" Solverson
Specialist: Michael Cisneros
PD Coordinator: Mai Kiyotaki

Creative Services
Director of Creative Services: Kazuyuki Hoshino
Senior Graphic Designer: Jimmy Lenoir
Graphic Designer: Petia Koutzarova
Associate Manager: Alex "The Kidd" Solverson
Specialist: Michael Cisneros
PD Coordinator: Mai Kiyotaki

Multimedia Production
Producer: Marlene Sharp
Production Coordinators: Jasmin Hernandez, Ayumi Tanioka

Legal and Business Affairs
Director of Legal and Business: Cindy Lin
Legal and Business Counsel: Wendy Wang

Corporate
SVP of Publishing: Naoto Hiraoka
VP of Sales and Marketing: Tim Pivnicny
Director of Business Planning: Kenya Numata
Sales Administration Manager: Nathan Harris
Sales Administration: Connie Chinn
Financial Analyst: Hajime Sugino

Atlus USA, Inc.

Marketing
Senior Marketing Manager: Robyn Mukai Koshi
Marketing Associate: Sara Chan
Creative Designers: Ayami Haruno, Amy Shimoshige
Web Designer: James Kaneshiro
Events and Purchasing Manager: Kathy Park

Production
VP of Production: Bill Alexander

Quality Assurance
QA Manager: Carl Chen
Assistant QA Manager: Scott Williams
QA Lead: Elwood Cruz
QA Accomplice Specialist: Rob Stone
QA Testers: Tony Resendes, Adam Borno, Ian Kelly, Logan Sandefur, Steven Kawafuchi

IT
Senior Systems Admin: Bryan Khul
IT Guy Tyrone: Brian "Bquick" Quach

Sega Europe, Ltd.

COO: Jurgen Post
CFO: John Ward
SVP: Martin Servante

Product Development
Head of Studio Localisation and ESO: Charlie Harris
Producer: Teppei Otsuka
Head of Program Office: Mark Le Breton
Submission Manager: Mike Veness
Process and TCM Manager: Ben Howell
Senior SDET: Mindaugas Batitus
Junior SDET: Gordon McKendrick
Head of QA and Localisation and ESO: Ghulam Khan
Production Manager: Adrian Daly
Project Lead: Owen Hewitt
Resource Manager: Ben Jackson
Training and Recruitment Supervisor: Julie Metior
Localisation Manager: Marta Lois González
Localisation Project Supervisor: Antonella Marras

Lead Translators
Luis J. Paredes, Nicole Thomer, Jesús Álvarez

Translators
Chiarra Canu, Gwladys Gaye, Giulia Checchi, Giuseppe Rosa, Sebastián Salguero, Martin Schmalz, Alexia Trensch, Sarah Breton, Enrico Sette

Quality Assurance
Functionality QA Lead: Stephen Edwards
Functionality QA Senior Tester: Jasper Engels
Functionality QA Testers: Dumitru Garofil, Dwyane Husbands, Errol Burke, Luke Nelson, Michael Pelling, Prathan Lothongkum, Simone Decradi-Nelson, John Wright, Zack Garvey, Amandeep Gosal
Localisation QA Supervisor: Ruggero Varisco
Localisation QA: Jérémié Maréchau, Antonio Matrone, Irina Hoff, Jose Torres

Compliance
Compliance QA Leads: David Jenkins, Gerson de Sousa
Compliance QA Senior Tester: Renato Insalaco
Compliance QA Testers: Martha Baquero, Michael Blanco

Mastering
Mastering and Equipment Manager: Francesco Fraulo
Equipment and Shift Coordinator: Tony Langan
Mastering and Build Engineer: Shaun Young
Equipment and Mastering Coordinator: Danny Florey
Assistant Mastering Technician: Ashar Dubois
Development Service Administrator: Chris Geiles

Customer Service
Customer Service Manager: John White

Marketing PR and Comms
Marketing Director: Anna Downing
Senior Product Managers: Ben Walker, Tim Breach, Lewis Herbert
Brand Manager: Derek Seklecki
Marketing Manager: Reena Sood
Product Manager: James Dyer
Head of PR: Peter Oliver
PR Manager: Sarah Head
PR Assistant: Kerry Barrett
Senior Marketing Manager: Alfonso Cubias
PR Manager: Erica Denning

Creative Services
Head of Creative Services: Jeff Webber
Traffic Manager: Samra Halli
Creative Team Manager: Noud Tempelaere
Senior Creative Designer: Ranj Vekaria
Creative Artworker: James Kent
Video Suite Manager: Elliot Kidner
Video Suite Editor: Chris Bailey
Video Suite Assistant: Una Marzorati

Searchlight
SVP, Commercial Publishing: John Clark
Content Director: Dean Trotman
Head of Brand: Rowan Tafler
Senior Content Manager: Bobby Wertheim

Commercial Publishing
VP of Digital Business: James Schall
Business Development Directors: Peter Chan, Stephane Bonazza
Technical Director: Steve Sharp
EMEA Sales Director: Alison Gould
Head of EMEA Sales: Simon Inch
EMEA Sales Account Manager: Stephanie Olbe
Senior Business Manager: Anh Luong
Junior Digital Account Manager: Charlotte Rouget-Murphy
Digital Distribution Assistant: Megan Garett
Senior Business Analyst: Jarvis Crofts
Business Analysts: Filippo Minigione, Pedro Gonzalez
Project Launch Manager: James Gourlay
Project Launch Assistant: Clinton Allman

Business Planning
SVP, Business Planning: Katsuhiro Ichinose
Director of Business Analysis: Jean-Yves Lapasset
Publishing Project Manager: Ryoko Nakao
Senior Business Planning Analyst: Yoshiko Mukaiyama
Business Planning Co-ordinator: Takashi Nakaya
Business Analyst: Matthew Hodgson
Junior Business Analyst: Samuel Riches
European Research Manager: Lucy Peaple
European Research Executive: Douglas Owusu
European Research Assistant: Daniel Vincent

Operations
Head of Operations: Natalie Cooke, Linda Kershaw
Operations Co-ordinator: Jacob Nixon

Brand Licensing
Director of EU Brand Licensing: Jason Rice
Senior Licensing Manager: Toby Rayfield
Retail Licensing Power: Kay Ferneyhough
Product Development Manager: Samuel Byard
Licensing Co-ordinator: Jason Goonery
Junior Graphic Designer: Paul Dunn

Legal
Director of Legal and Business Affairs: Nicky Ormrod
Head of Licensing: Nivine Emeran
Legal Counsels: Daniel Finegold, Ilan Pdahtzur
Legal Executive: Lola Okuboyejo

Finance
Finance Director: Deepak Sharma
Finance Controller: Michael Riley
Group Finance Manager: Lenia Peros
Finance Manager: Paul Foley
Credit Control Manager: Pauline McDonagh
Management Accountant: Tac Hau
Accounts Payment Supervisor: Bradley Matthews
Accounts Co-ordinator: Sunil Kalotia
Oracle Applications Support: Luke Walker
Oracle Finance Applications Support: Richard Welch

Online
Head of Design and Development: Nick McKenzie
Lead Interactive Designer: Sean Gallagher
Junior Online Producer: Scott Bone
Senior Web Designer: Marta Camilo

IT
Director of Technology: Stuart Wright
Head of Live Operations and Development: Francis Hart
Senior Systems Infrastructure Analyst: Jide Agbalaya
Network and Security Manager: Khasif Iqbal
Network and Security Technicians: Clinton Littlejohn, Mohamed Bensakrane
Linux Live Operations Engineer: Borislav Velchev
Project Manager: Paul Leclercq
Online Services Developer: Navin Algoo
Web Developer: Rob Howard
Data Architect: Felix Baker
Junior Data Developer: Jagdeep Gosal
IT Support Manager: Luis de Mendonca
Junior IT Support Technicians: Bryan Mencias, Stacy Lovage
Live Operations Monitoring Lead: Peter Hamilton
Live Operations Monitoring Engineers: Ricky Hetherington, Fernando Azevedo, Rikki Laffar, Daniel Dixon, Haren Patel

HR
Director of HR: Ben Harrison
HR Manager: Eithne Metcalfe-Bliss
Payroll and Benefits Manager: Shilpa Pandya
Talent Executive: Ashleigh Meale
HR Assistant: Roseanna Jefferson

Corporate
Facilities Manager: Aidan Bass
Corporate Office Manager: Lindsey Cox
Receptionist: Alexia Hudson

Sega Games Co., Ltd.

Localization Support
Tatsuyuki Miyazaki, Tatsuya Shikata, Shintaro Tanioka, Takuma Hatori, Emi Yamane, Takuya Kishimoto, Kohei Kondo

Marketing
Toyohisa Hiwatari, Satoshi Imai, Sho Nanmoku

Executive Marketing Supervisor
Hiroyuki Miyazaki

Promotion
Takayoshi Ohuchi, Koji Uemura, Natsuki Sato, Risa Araki, Ruiko Miyamoto, Ikuo Ishizaka

First Party Managers
Tetsuo Sasaki, Chiaki Furuya

PR
Mamoru Kodama, Yuko Yasuda, Teruyuki Kaida, Rei Kawasaki, Akane Inoue

Asia Business Dept.
Go Saito, Shintaro Tanioka, Takako Takusagawa, Quan Yeng, Takeyuki Iso, Kenji Sonobe, Hiroshi Seno, Takuji Konuma, Kenta Ueno, Yosuke Okunari, Takafumi Osaka, Yui Funakoshi, Ryuta Sakamoto

Package and Manual Distribution
Yoshihiro Sakuta, Hiroki Osawa, Colin Restall, Makoto Nishino, Takuya Hamamoto

Product Test
Takashi Shoji, Akira Nishikawa, Osamu Sato, Kenzo Kadowaki, Takayuki Miyazaki, Atsushi Furukawa, Kenji Takahashi, Chiharu Yoshida

Quality Assurance
Tomoki Kaji, Kazuhiko Morii, Yasuyuki Hattori, Yuji Nakamura, Shunya Shimizu

Web Design
Yuichi Kikuchi

Chief Producer
Osamu Ohashi

Executive Producers: Haruki Satomi, Kenji Matsubara, Toshihiro Nagoshi

© Sega 2017

Versions

Version history

Main article: Sonic Mania/Changelog

System	Version	Size	Date	Comment	Ref	Icon
	00RC 1000006000503000000000000RC 1.06.0503		201903082019-03-08	community_beta branch, merged with master on 2019-03-12. Not listed in the official notes: Denuvo was removed. This results in the main EXE size dropping from 117 MB to 3 MB.
	00RC 1000005000713000000000000RC 1.05.0713		201807172018-07-17	Sonic Mania Plus update.
	00RC 1000003000919000000000000RC 1.03.0919		201709252017-09-25	Removed Dunkey easter egg.
	00RC 1000003000831000000000000RC 1.03.0831		201708312017-08-31
			201708302017-08-30
	000001000003008290000000000001.03.0829		201708292017-08-29	Initial version; contains Denuvo DRM and doesn't allow offline play.

Undocumented changes

• RC 1.05.0713 (2018-07-17): Sonic Mania Plus update.
  • Special Stages: A leftover debugging feature that allows increasing the Mach level by pressing is present.

• 1.03.0829 (2017-08-29): Initial release.
  • The "Super" transformation has been moved to a separate button.
  • Other fixes that will be ported to the console versions at a later date.

Downloadable content

Main article: Sonic Mania/Downloadable content

Manuals

Main article: Sonic Mania/Manuals

Promotional material

• 

  Collector's Edition

• 

  PS4 Collector's Edition

• 

  Japanese Collector's Edition

• 

  Vinyl Soundtrack

• 

  Classic Black Vinyl Soundtrack

• 

  Limited Edition Vinyl Soundtrack

• 

  Translucent Blue Vinyl Soundtrack

• 

  Translucent Blue Vinyl Soundtrack

• 

  T Shirts

• 

  Soda

• 

  Blanket

• 

  Handkerchief

• 

  Hoodie Jacket

• 

  Promotional Collectibles

Artwork

• 

  cover art

• 

  logo

• 

  Sonic

• 

  Sonic

• 

  Sonic

• 

  Sonic

• 

  Silhouette of Sonic

• 

  Tails

• 

  Tails

• 

  Tails from the E3 poster.

• 

  Tails

• 

  Silhouette of Tails

• 

  Knuckles

• 

  Knuckles

• 

  Knuckles

• 

  Silhouette of Knuckles

• 

  Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles

• 

  Dr. Eggman

• 

  Dr. Eggman

• 

  Dr. Eggman

• 

  Heavy King

• 

  Heavy Gunner

• 

  Heavy Shinobi

• 

  Heavy Magician

• 

  Heavy Rider

• 

  Silhouette of the Hard-Boiled Heavies

• 

  Silhouette of the Hard-Boiled Heavies

• 

  Green Hill

• 

  Green Hill

• 

  Studiopolis

• 

  Studiopolis

• 

  Studiopolis

25th anniversary debut trailer

• 

  Sonic

• 

  Tails

• 

  Knuckles

• 

  Sonic

• 

  Tails

• 

  Knuckles

Pre-order trailer

• 

  elevator

• 

  Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles

Miscellaneous

• 

  25th Anniversary logo

• 

  Banner used on the Sonic the Hedgehog website

• 

  Collector's Edition box (front)

• 

  Initial digital box art

• 

  Poster from E3 2017

• 

  Banner for Steam

• 

  Vinyl cover (front)

• 

  Vinyl cover (back)

• 

  Title from the opening

• 

  Shirt detail showing Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles

Physical scans

PlayStation 4 version

	92	Sonic Retro Average
		Based on 1 review
Publication Score Source RetroGamer 92 №172, p102-103

PlayStation 4, US
Cover
Inner box

PlayStation 4, UK
Cover
Inner box

PlayStation 4, FR
Cover
Inner box

PlayStation 4, DE
Cover
Inner box

PlayStation 4, ES/IT
Cover
Inner box

PlayStation 4, KR
Cover

Switch version

	80	Sonic Retro Average
		Based on 1 review
Publication Score Source maniaau 80 №206, p55Media:Mania AU Issue 206 November 2017.pdf

Switch, US
Cover

Switch, UK
Cover

Switch, FR
Cover

Switch, DE
Cover

Switch, ES
Cover

Xbox One version

Xbox One, US
Cover

Xbox One, UK
Cover

Xbox One, FR
Cover

Xbox One, DE
Cover

Xbox One, ES
Cover

PC version

PC, US
Cover

External links

• Sega of Japan catalogue page
• Official website (Japanese)
• Sonic Mania on Steam
• Sonic Mania on Epic Games Store
• YouTube trailers:
  • Debut trailer
  • Pre-Order trailer
  • Sonic Mania Collector's Edition infomercial
• Sonic Mania on PlayStation.com: JP, US, KR
• Sonic Mania on PlayStation Store: JP, US, UK, AU, KR, TW
• Nintendo catalogue pages: JP, US, UK, AU, KR, HK
• Sonic Mania on Xbox Store: JP, US, UK, AU

References

Sonic the Hedgehog games for the following systems
	2017  Sonic Mania | Sonic Forces     2018  Sonic Mania Plus | Sonic Forces & Sonic Mania Plus Double Pack     2019  Team Sonic Racing     2021  Sonic Colours: Ultimate     2022  Sonic Origins | Sonic Frontiers     2023  Sonic Origins Plus

	2017  Sonic Mania | Sonic Forces     2018  Sonic Mania Plus | Sonic Forces & Sonic Mania Plus Double Pack     2019  Team Sonic Racing     2021  Sonic Colours: Ultimate     2022  Sonic Speed Simulator | Sonic Origins | Sonic Frontiers     2023  Sonic Origins Plus

filler

2017  Sonic Mania | Sonic Forces     2018  Sonic Mania Plus | Sega Ages Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic Forces & Sonic Mania Plus Double Pack | 2 Hits Pack     2019  Team Sonic Racing | Sonic Mania Plus & Team Sonic Racing | Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020     2020  Sega Ages Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sonic Mania + Team Sonic Racing Double Pack     2021  Sonic Colours: Ultimate     2022  Sonic Origins | Sonic Frontiers     2023  Sonic Origins Plus      Demos  Sonic Forces Demo Version

2010  Sonic the Hedgehog | Sonic Spinball | Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine | Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island | Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing     2011  Sonic the Hedgehog 2 | Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles | Sonic Adventure | Sonic Generations     2012  Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I | Sonic the Hedgehog CD | Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II | Sonic Adventure 2     2013  Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed     2015  Sonic Lost World     2017  Sonic Mania | Sonic Forces     2019  Team Sonic Racing     2022  Sonic Origins | Sonic Frontiers     2023  Sonic Colours: Ultimate      Prototypes  Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II (Beta 8)