Sonic Mania release date announced

Sonic Mania, SEGA’s upcoming return-to-form sidescrolling Sonic title, will launch for PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC on August 15. The game is currently available for all platforms—except the Switch—for 10% off the standard $20 price tag.

Sonic Mania was announced at SEGA’s Sonic 25th Anniversary celebration last year, described as “a new 2D adventure” with both new levels and “reimagined classics” like Green Hill Zone and Flying Battery Zone. The game—a collaborative effort from Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, and PagodaWest Games—was designed to resemble the styles of the original Sonic games for the SEGA Genesis, featuring three classic playable characters—Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles—and many of the same mechanics of those games along with new mechanics like “Drop Dash,” (allowing players to ‘dash’ right after landing a jump).

Sonic Mania has caused much excitement in the active Sonic fan base due to both the return-to-form factor and the involvement of Christian Whitehead, who originally made his name when redesigning ports of old Sonic Genesis games for platforms like Android, iOS, and last-gen consoles.

Sonic Mania comes out this August, preceding the yet unannounced 2017 release date for Sonic Team’s next project, Sonic Forces.