Sonic Frontiers
Sonic Frontiers
Game
Game2017
Sonic Mania
Developer Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, PagodaWest Games
Sonic Mania is a 2017 platform game developed by Christian Whitehead, PagodaWest Games and Headcannon and published by Sega. Produced in commemoration of the Sonic the Hedgehog series' 25th anniversary, Sonic Mania pays homage to the original Sega Genesis Sonic games, featuring speedy side-scrolling gameplay. It takes place over 13 levels, including several redesigned from past games. The story follows Sonic, Tails… From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
438 reactions from 4 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon, Lemmy) · newest Nov 5, 2026 · last updated Nov 5, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
93
LovedLoved
273 positive · 20 negative
95% range 90–96%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 273 | 20 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 41 | 4 | 71 |
| Mastodon * | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| Lemmy * | 2 | 1 | 10 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Very Positive
16,192 of 17,418 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
96% recommend · 235 yes, 11 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 246 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Very Positive (27,249 of 29,009 positive).
Players widely consider Sonic Mania the best classic Sonic game in decades. [1][2][3][4] Many praise its level design, physics, music, and art as exceptional. [5][6][7][8] Some note issues with co-op and accessibility for colorblind players. [9][10]
Liked
Representative posts
- [1]
I will die on the hill that this is the best Sonic game of the last 20 years, and that Sonic does best in 2D. Honestly think building off the success of Mania and continue in this art direction.
- [5]
Still simultaneously has some of the best level design, flow, exploration(Why is there a time limit.), physics, music, and art of any platformer game I have EVER played. You can't play it like a regular platformer, you HAVE to learn the physics. Speed is a REWARD, you have to actually understand the environment if you wanna go fast. Going fast isn't all the game offers either, the levels are absolutely MASSIVE and …
- [3]
The best Classic Sonic game, a true love letter to all fans of the series.
- [13]
It's like, genuinely, top 1. I beat it on different systems about 30+ times by now, maybe even 35+. If I had a way to calculate my total playtime in this game across all of them, it would be at least 300 hours. This game never gets boring. The level design is so sublime... So ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ perfect. Every single route in a given act has a purpose, whether it be accessing a special stage, finding powerups to help you along …
- [2]
This game is for anyone who loves the classic games. This is the real Sonic 4.
Summarised from 34 of the 360 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Sonic Mania sits at 93% positive across 293 opinionated reactions from 4 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Critics, per Wikipedia
Sonic Mania was announced following years of mixed reviews for the Sonic franchise. According to the International Business Times, the series had been "tarnished by years of sub-par games with only the occasional gem". The Business Times predicted that Sega's approach of releasing Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania in the same year, catering to new and old fans, could repair the series' reputation and lead to a "Sonic renaissance". Several critics expressed excitement for a return to the style of the early Sonic games, and wrote that Sega's previous efforts to develop games in the "classic" style, such as Sonic the Hedgehog 4 in 2010, had been disappointing. According to the review aggregator…
From the “Reception” section of Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Critic context only — not part of the audience score.
Reactions
60 of 438 · most liked firstSonic modding scene: "We modded Sonic Mania into an entirely new game" Mario 64 modding scene: "We backported the newest 3D Mario's gameplay & levels into the first 3D Mario" The Super Metroid hacking scene in 2026:
neutral · AI labelView post →ngl the vibe around Pokémon dropping their first great game with no catches in like 15 years with Pokopia and following it up with Champions is giving big Sonic Mania into Sonic Forces energy
neutral · AI labelView post →i sometimes see this notion that "the worst Mario game is still better than the best Sonic game" and while i think those two franchises are fairly spaced out in terms of quality control i refuse to humor the idea that The Lost Levels is better than Sonic 3 or Sonic Mania man
positive · AI labelView post →I love watching a cybershell video and hearing about some incredibly minute odd detail about the early Sonic games and then a minute later he mentions that Sonic Mania referenced it absolutely every single time. That's how you know that game was made by freaks
positive · AI labelView post →Happy Yuyuko Tuesday! The current vibe is thinking about Sonic Mania! ngl I loved this game so much 🥹 it was a throwback! It reminded me of playing the classics on the Sega Genesis when I was a kid, it was a magical experience 😊 I hope you have a wonderful day, I send love and positivity your way 💛☺️
positive · AI labelView post →Found a reliable way to crash Sonic Mania by using Mighty to smash the sign at the end of Titanic Monarch Act 1 so if you want to crash the game on your PC that’s your way to do it
neutral · AI labelView post →The next game that I'll be playing is Penny's Big Breakaway! ngl I don't know too much about this game, but I do know that it's a 3D platformer that was made by the same devs that made Sonic Mania! That's pretty much all I know about the game, but I loved Sonic Mania, so I'm excited for this game!
positive · AI labelView post →i will say one of the three or so recent Gen Z Gaming Hot Takes(TM) i straight up reject is the notion that Sonic Mania is actually garbage and not an authentic Sonic game, and that Black Knight is still the last "real" Sonic game.
positive · AI labelView post →Heads up; the Sonic Mania 3DS port is nearly ready for a 1.1 release. Loading times are improved, memory usage is reduced (the game should boot on O3DS now, albeit not at full speed), and the audio thread runs on core 1 now and no longer has the delay in the 1.0 release.
neutral · AI labelView post →Today in the @hitsave.org archive, press materials for Baten Kaitos, Skies of Arcadia, Solatorobo, Sonic 06, Sonic Colour, Sonic Generations, Sonic Mania, Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2, and Super Mario RPG. Please enjoy! archive.hitsave.org/press-material
neutral · AI labelView post →🗓️ 🎉 Happy 32nd Anniversary to Sonic Mania Day in the US, where THREE #SonicTheHedgehog games launched at once! #SonicNews 💎 Sonic CD (Sega CD) 💎 Sonic Spinball (Sega Genesis) 💎 Sonic Chaos (Game Gear)
neutral · AI labelView post →🎂 HAPPY 9TH ANNIVERSARY TO SONIC MANIA! It's no exaggeration to say that this humble little game practically revitalised interest in Sonic after years in the doldrums. Still a fantastic time.
positive · AI labelView post →This track is called "Chemical Plant Zone Act 1"! Sonic Mania was such an amazing game 🥹 it was a straight throwback! Everything from the graphics to the vibe mimicked classic Sonic games perfectly, it was incredible! The new zones were cool as well, and the OST was immaculate 😭 it was a banger!
positive · AI labelView post →Hey y'all should pick up this cool game on sale by the Sonic Mania devs, with cutscenes by Mariel and me 😉
neutral · AI labelView post →This track is called "Lights, Camera, Action!"! Sonic Mania was such an amazing game 🥹 it was such a throwback! The game looked and felt like a Sonic game from the Sega Genesis era, complete with new Zones and some Zones from the original games as well! The soundtrack was a bop too, it was awesome!
positive · AI labelView post →HEY! ITS TIME TO GO FAST! SONIC FAST! 💦 I say totally knowing im not good at this game actually Im playing Sonic Mania! And I wanna beat it with like all the chaos emerolds Mind helpin' me out? 💦 Come on by if ya wanna hang out some~ www.twitch.tv/maplemashed (Stream image by @jinti.bsky.social !!)
neutral · AI labelView post →Finished Sonic Mania 🦔 This was PEAK, my new favourite 2D Sonic game. Really fun stages and amazing boss designs. 9/10 💙
positive · AI labelView post →BREAKING: SEGA has officially joined Xbox's disc to digital program. #SonicNews Not every game is in the program. Sonic Racing CrossWorlds, Sonic Origins Plus, Sonic Mania Plus, Team Sonic Racing, and Sonic x Shadow Generations are reportedly still incompatible.
neutral · AI labelView post →Might as well clear this up: Rubato is the creation of dconn and the rest of us, who had nothing to do with Sonic Mania. That's not to downplay Headcannon's support - without them, you wouldn't be playing Rubato on console. But Rubato is NOT the next game by the Mania devs.
neutral · AI labelView post →Happy 8th anniversary to Sonic Mania, a good game that still ultimately pissed me off because even after so many years we still don't have a conclusion
neutral · AI labelView post →This track is called "Comfort Zone"! Sonic Mania is an awesome game! Playing it for the first time when it came out was such an incredible experience, it really felt like I was a kid again, playing the classic Sonic games 🥹 it mimicked the feel of classic Sonic games perfectly, it was so beautiful 😭
positive · AI labelView post →I will die on the hill that this is the best Sonic game of the last 20 years, and that Sonic does best in 2D. Honestly think building off the success of Mania and continue in this art direction.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The biggest mod yet for Sonic Mania drops in 11 hours. Basically a whole new game with multiple campaigns and modes. sonicmegamixmania.github.io Requires the DLC, I believe.
neutral · AI labelView post →Oh btw I’ve been collecting game ideas to stream soon and I think I’m gonna try to officially start back this Wednesday evening with a Sonic Mania playthrough! I haven’t played the game in years so I figured it’d be fun to revisit
neutral · AI labelView post →They did the thing! They activated the predictable Black Friday sale they sent this game out against Mario and Spider-Man to achieve. If you like the classic Sonic games and have already played Sonic Mania, I’d recommend giving this game a go. It’s pretty good!
neutral · AI labelView post →NEWS: A trio of homebrew projects slipped under the radar in late August, bringing Sonic CD and Sonic Mania to classic Sega hardware that never officially received either game - Saturn and 32X! #SonicNews www.sonicstadium.org/articles/son...
neutral · AI labelView post →Proper intro... I'm Hunter Bridges. Game creator who does lots of stuff. Some credits: - Sonic Mania - Programmer, Project Manager - Penny's Big Breakaway - Game Director, Technical Director - Zero Zero: Perfect Stop - Creator I also write music, and have written tracks on several game OSTs!
neutral · AI labelView post →Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice is the only game to be released during Sonic's 25th Anniversary, and thus is the only game to be branded as such. Sonic Mania and Forces would release the following year and have no association with the anniversary whatsoever.
neutral · AI labelView post →This track is called "Egg Reverie - Egg Reverie Zone"! Sonic Mania was such an amazing game 🥹 I played it on the Nintendo Switch when it originally came out, and the game felt so much like a classic Sonic game, it was incredible! It was a ton of fun and an awesome throwback to the original games 😊
positive · AI labelView post →To the Sonic fans that think "Sonic Mania saved the series" y'all are way overestimating how much Sega management actually cares about a game selling, let alone a Sonic game, unless it does "Call of Duty" numbers.
neutral · AI labelView post →I knew Sonic Mania was gonna end up being the last game from SEGA I’d ever enjoy lol
positive · AI labelView post →Sega's is oversimplified to the point someone who doesn't already know the story would be misinformed. Christian Whitehead was employed at Sega before this for porting classic *Sonic* games (1, 2, and CD) using his Retro Engine, and they later let him and his team make *Sonic Mania* after he presented a prototype to Takashi Iizuka. That is, Whitehead intended from the start to bring it to Sonic Team, whom he'd already worked for, as a prototype to have it officially produced and released. Sega…
neutral · AI labelView post →❄️ Song Showcase #9 | Blossom Haze ~ Press Garden Zone (Act 2) ❄️ Game: Sonic Mania Composer: Tee Lopes #csshowcase #sonic #sonicthehedgehog
neutral · AI labelView post →Aaron Webber eventually shows the Sonic Mania devs the trailer and they love it, and it's soon decided by SEGA that it will be put into the game as its intro, giving Sonic Mania the CD-type intro he'd pitched months earlier. #SonicNews #AX26
neutral · AI labelView post →The fact that SEGA wants to distance themselves from "16-bit-like" classic Sonic titles is extremely disappointing; this game is absolutely beautiful.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Imagine hiring a developer to make a game as fun as Sonic Mania and then never letting them make a sequel. 🤦🏻♂️
positive · AI labelView post →BTW: Jnmartin was the same programmer who also got the Sonic Mania 3D special stages working in that game's upcoming Dreamcast port: www.sonicstadium.org/articles/son...
neutral · AI labelView post →Day 349 of posting a Daily Screenshot from the games I've been playing. 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*…
positive · AI labelView post →An unfortunate truth is that the average person things a mediocre 3D game looks better than the best looking 2D game ever made because people consider 2D to be primitive and 3D to always be an upgrade. People called Sonic Mania and Blazblue "8-bit" consumers are idiots.
positive · AI labelView post →Hradly. The only universally acclaimed game around the first movie's release was Sonic Mania. The Boom series bombed, and Forces wasn't well received either. Sonic's reputation was strongly salvaged by the films, because it wasn't 06 levels of bad but it wasn't hot either.
neutral · AI labelView post →i would love to like this game sadly in (i think?) level 2 there's a color based minigame that i cannot finish because i am colorblind and the game has no accessibility options
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Still surreal that @teelopes.bsky.social DM'd me out of nowhere praising my music. Sonic Mania is one of the best video game soundtracks thanks to him!!
positive · AI labelView post →Still simultaneously has some of the best level design, flow, exploration(Why is there a time limit.), physics, music, and art of any platformer game I have EVER played. You can't play it like a regular platformer, you HAVE to learn the physics. Speed is a REWARD, you have to actually understand the environment if you wanna go fast. Going fast isn't all the game offers either, the levels are absolutely MASSIVE and just traversing them is a true joy. Every level is just a huge sandbox for you to…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sonic Colors Ultimate was cracked and Denuvo has been broken. I do believe the last Sonic game that got cracked and had it's denuvo protection removed was Sonic Mania meaning it's almost been 8 years since the last time a Sonic Game has been cracked. #SonicTheHedgehog #Denuvo
neutral · AI labelView post →Heavy King of the Hardboiled Heavies egg bots from Sonic Mania. The soundtrack for this game is still fire. #sonicthehedgehog #gaming #robots #SaniArts
positive · AI labelView post →Egg Reverie Zone in Sonic Mania is the most "oh fuck the game goes gold in a week" thing in the entire game ngl wish SEGA gave them more time to make the damn game
neutral · AI labelView post →Here's my #SGDQ2025 game submissions. Can't go in person so they're both remote / online runs. Sonic Mania - Good Ending NMG - Character bidwar between Sonic & Tails, Knuckles, Amy or Blaze. Sonic Dream Team - Adventure mode race vs @huds601.co.uk - Dr Hudsman vs SonArg incentive.
neutral · AI labelView post →The fact that this is somehow the best modern sonic game without even having modern sonic is pathetic
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sonic Mania is a game that exists due to a very specific brand of autism
neutral · AI labelView post →Sonic Mania devs, frustrated by "corporate bureaucracy," aim to fight back with their next game, ... http://gonintendo.com/contents/56842-sonic-mania-devs-frustrated-by-corporate-bureaucracy-aim-to-fight-back-with-their #sonic
neutral · AI labelView post →Random Screenshots of my Games #52 - Sonic X Shadow Generations (Shadow Generations). Good morning! Today I'm going to be looking at the latest game in the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise: *Sonic X Shadow Generations*. This game is a 2024 remake of the 2011 game *Sonic Generations*, which itself was a modern tribute to Sonic's past games fighting against Dr. Eggman. *Side note: His name was Dr. Robotnik in the old American version of the games, but he's always been known as Dr. Eggman in the…
neutral · AI labelView post →🄵🅁🄾🄼 🅃🄷🄴 🄵🄰🄻🄲🄾🄽 🅅🄰🅄🄻🅃🅂 #365xFalconGames26 A game a day keeps the doctor away! Game 2️⃣4️⃣ This is Sonic Mania. Sonic rocks always!!! What are you sharing today? #gaming #GamingCommunity #videogames
positive · AI labelView post →---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☑ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☑ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☑ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Alright time to go update the Sonic Mania & Hatsune Miku mod to acknowledge that Miku is actually in a goddamn Sonic game now
neutral · AI labelView post →i own this game on 3 systems, it's just that good. Doesn't try to do too much, just a nice simple sonic game that brings me back to my childhood on the genesis/megadrive. Thanks sega
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Sonic Mania is a fantastic game, and it deserves a sequel. That's it. That's the post. #SonicTheHedgehog
positive · AI labelView post →Leaving a positive review to counteract the other one that was posted earlier today. Sega was right to drop that streamer. There is enough hatred in the world already, platforming people who divide us further will only lead to more conflict amongst ourselves while those in power profit from our scrambling. If you're reading this, you probably already know this game is peak.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game is for anyone who loves the classic games. This is the real Sonic 4.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is my final haul. Most went to the Genesis and related expenses. Been looking for the physical of Sonic Mania for years. Overboard is a mystery-solving game where YOU'RE the killer and trying to prevent anyone else from solving it. $20 is a good price for it #PRGE #PRGE2026
neutral · AI labelView post →I know this is such a “people online” thing but I feel like I need to replay Sonic Mania because I’ve seen people turn on it recently. It’s my 4th favorite game in the franchise but I haven’t played it in a hot minute so my opinion on it may change. then again i still love frontiers so maybe not
neutral · AI labelView post →
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