Sonic Mania released last week! I love it, to the point I’ve now done eight runthroughs of it; and like, 7 of those were with all emeralds!
Suffice to say, I think it’s the best Sonic game ever, but I couldn’t really think what to write about it when it came to doing a review that hadn’t already been said. So I decided to write something else that’s already been written about a million times; Mania’s callbacks and easter eggs! That being said, I’m going to try and delve a bit deeper than some of the others I’ve seen on this topic. There’ll definitely be some more expected, ‘obvious’ stuff on this list, but hopefully I can point out some neat bits you might’ve missed!
…that or ones I’ve completely misinterpreted in my hunt for fanservice. So in no particular order, let us begin!
(This should be obvious, but this comes with a huge spoiler warning. This list is no-holds barred, so if you’re say, a PC user who wants to go in with all of this as a surprise when the game launches next week, then look away now. Go. Seriously, lads.)
1. The Meanest of Bean Machines
I told ya there’d be some obvious ones on this list; but yes, Chemical Plant Act 2’s boss fight is of course a nod to the Western localisation of the original Puyo Puyo title for Mega Drive, Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine. It’s an insanely cool throwback, and is notable for specifically operating by, as far as I can tell, the now largely unused original Puyo Puyo game’s ruleset rather than the generally accepted Puyo Puyo Tsu set. As far as I can tell, this also goes for the unlockable multiplayer Mean Bean mode. Holy accuracy, Batman!
2. Complete and utter Chaos
During Mirage Saloon Act 1, you’ll face a gigantic Caterkiller enemy. Many people would probably just glance at this as a neat nod to Sonic 1’s Marble Zone dwelling enemy and little else, but it’s actually a far more nuanced reference to Sonic’s 8-Bit past.
This is actually the “Giant Ball Tower” boss from Sonic Chaos‘ Gigapolis Zone! If you fight him as Knuckles, who has a completely different Act 1 to Mirage Saloon, you’ll actually fight him in an identical fashion to his first appearance – it wasn’t until this fight I actually realised just what I was fighting! As a somewhat pointless addendum here, turns out you can actually place him anywhere during Mirage Saloon with debug mode, just in case you feel like having a boss chase you through the entire stage.
3. Goggles, goggles everywhere
Once again during Mirage Saloon Act 1, Tails actually dons some proper flight gear during the Sky Chase segment, unlike the Mega Drive titles (his eyes must’ve been killing him…). But this is actually a reference, too!
The goggles actually originate from the Sonic the Hedgehog Original Video Animation (known as Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie outside of Japan). This is where the references begin to reach outside of just the original Mega Drive Sonic titles, and demonstrates the Mania Team’s thorough awareness of the subject matter. Neat!
Sonic gets some reference love in the Tornado too, as he’s wearing the unused goggles found in Sonic 1’s ROM.
4. Revenge of Heavy Shinobi
This next one pertains to the boss of Press Garden Act 2, Heavy Shinobi. It’s perhaps somewhat obvious, with this being a SEGA game and him having “Shinobi” in his name, but his sound effects during battle are lifted from the 1989 Mega Drive title The Super Shinobi (The Revenge of Shinobi outside Japan.) This is most noticeable with the explosion sound effects his asteron shurikens make, as well the sound he makes upon being knocked out of his spin jump. A really cool nod to another SEGA series that I’m happy to see in here!
5. Ladies and Gentlemen, Start your Engines…
If there’s one thing you can tell about Mania‘s devs from playing it (besides the fact they know how to make a Sonic game), it might be that they love Daytona USA. And hey, it makes sense for a homage to the Saturn era to feature plenty of references to a game released no less than 3 times on the system!
The trucks kitted out in Hudson Hornet High-Class livery in Act 1 of Studiopolis are very well-documented by this point, but you may have missed the true meaning behind the “Gallop LOTTO” sign on Act 2’s lotto machines. It’s once again a homage to the Hudson Hornet High-Class from Daytona‘s livery:
It’s a subtle nod, but a really cool reference that also livens up the aesthetics a lot. Speaking of Daytona USA….
6. RO~LLING, STAAAAAAAAAA-
…just who is that wonderful Time Attack/Competition Mode announcer? Well, as speculated heavily upon through Twitter and now confirmed by the credits, it’s…
Takenobu Mitsuyoshi!
In addition to being responsible for some of SEGA’s most jammin’ tunes, Mitsuyoshi was essentially the voice of SEGA in the Saturn era. Daytona USA, Burning Rangers, Fighters Megamix, and SEGA Rally are just a few of the games he lent his voice to during the period, and he worked on the soundtracks to many, many more. He’s something of a legend at SEGA, and I’m genuinely floored they managed to get him in Mania. 12-year olds in YouTube comments be damned – Mitsuyoshi is an icon of SEGA, and fits like a glove in the Saturn-based Mania.
The crazy part is – I’m still not done with the Daytona references!
7. Time Extension!
This next reference is what we in the business call “a stretch”, but given some of the other references in Mania, I wouldn’t be surprised if this were a nod.
The Special Stages in this game look fantastic, but I’d like to draw your attention towards the heads-up display. It’s a handy speedometer/timer combo, that’s perhaps reminiscent of many an old arcade game.
…perhaps there’s a reason for that though, thanks to some eagle-eyed spotting from @The_Davetona on Twitter.
Daytona USA 2 never got the audience it deserved, largely thanks to it never receiving a Dreamcast port (though signage hidden in the game suggests it may have been intended for one). Despite this, it’s now very playable through emulators, and it’s easily one of my favourite arcade racers. So why am I telling you this? Well, once again, glance at that fancy heads-up display. Does something look perhaps a bit… familiar?
Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but I’d love to believe the Special Stage speedometer/timer is a reference to Daytona USA 2′s! The placement of certain elements such as time and speed, as well as the colouration strikes me as a little more than just happenstance; but I suppose we’d need a dev comment to be sure. Cool to see, either way.
8. For Victory, We Ride
You’re probably somewhat aware of the little jump Sonic does during his victory animation; it’s an unused one from Sonic 1, given new life in Mania. But that’s not actually what I’m talking about with regards to the victory poses, for this next nod!
The victory animations for each characters appear to be based on existing artwork from the Classic era! The only one that isn’t particularly obvious in this regard is Knuckles’ pose; it’s either the one listed here, or this artwork from Chaotix. Anywho, it’s cool to use such iconic artwork in the game itself, and it fits incredibly well, especially with the fluid animations backing them up.
9. Not, not that Silver…
During the bossfight with Metal Sonic in Stardust Speedway, eventually he’ll begin sending small, silver Sonic robots after you. Sonic veterans will know just who these little guys are, but younger fans may be unaware.
It’s actually Silver Sonic, from the 8-Bit versions of Sonic the Hedgehog 2! He even uses the original sound effects from that game, though he’s also much easier to handle here. It’s a cool callback to the lesser-known 8-bit titles that I really wasn’t expecting – good call, Mania Team!
10. …witty joke header involving Chaotix
On the topic of the Stardust Speedway fight, the device Metal hooks himself into during the Silver Sonic phase of the fight may look familiar. It’s actually a nod to Knuckles Chaotix’s penultimate showdown against the metallic doppleganger, only this time without the naff RNG factor.
Weirdly, in my last piece on here I got blowback for calling Knuckles Chaotix shite, of all things. It made me realise I need to be wary of how I express my opinions on video games, so let me be clearer; Knuckles Chaotix is really shite. There. Sorted.
11. Only the best gamepad examples!
A rather small nod, but appreciated all the same. The menu options in Mania all have cute little associated graphics, a la Sonic R. It just so happens the graphic associated with the options features a gamepad, since that’s where the control summary is, but that’s not just any old gamepad!
It’s actually a nod to the SEGA Saturn gamepad, with the correct colours and all. Makes sense; in addition to Mania being a huge Saturn homage, the game was actually tested using SEGA Saturn pads. Ooh, the authenticity!
12. THIS IS COOL.
Keeping to the theme of SEGA Saturn, Sonic Mania adds a new score element to the end-of-level results, a “Cool Bonus”. From what I can gather, it’s based on going a long time without getting hit, getting a good score, that sort of thing. But the name itself, “Cool Bonus”, may actually be a deeper nod to something pretty… cool.
A fairly large part of the SEGA Saturn’s marketing was the “This is COOL” slogan. It was part of adverts, emblazoned on consoles, and there was even a transparent Saturn pad named the COOLPAD. Now that’s pretty cool – and has me wondering if Mania‘s Cool Bonus is a nod to the marketing, again with it being a general nod towards the Saturn era in many other ways. It’s perhaps a bit of a stretch, but if it is a nod, then it’s by far one of the coolest, yet most subtle.
I will now try to go the rest of this article without saying “cool”. I’m sorry.
13. A load of Spinballs
A relatively small nod, but cute all the same. Upon arriving in Chemical Plant Zone, a droplet falls on Sonic’s head, surprising him. He then shakes himself dry –
-in a manner somewhat reminiscent of the intro to Toxic Caves in Sonic Spinball, the magnificently naff Mega Drive pinball spinoff. It’s a funny nod that I didn’t actually catch on my first time through, and that once again shows the sheer awareness the devs have of every nook and cranny when it comes to the Classic titles.
14. The AM2 Crew (and Fang)
During Mirage Saloon, you come to blows with a trio of wanted blokes; Bean the Dynamite, Bark the Polar Bear, and Fang the Sniper. Of course, only fans will recognise them off the bat – Bean and Bark originate from AM2’s arcade-only Sonic the Fighters, whereas Fang is from the 8-bit Sonic Triple Trouble. Beyond a small cameo on wanted posters in Generations, none of these characters have been in action since Sonic the Fighters, so seeing them return in Mania is a shock to say the least.
It’s perhaps worth noting however, that their appearance doesn’t particularly take after their original ingame incarnations beyond their designs, besides Fang. Bean and Bark’s reputation as part of “Team Hooligan” with Fang actually only came about in the now cancelled Sonic the Hedgehog comic series from Archie Comics, where they made somewhat regular appearances. According to their character profiles in the Japanese SoftBank guide to Fighters Megamix, Bean and Bark weren’t actually intended as villains! Bark is described as quite gentle and shy, and Bean enjoys sports, particularly football (a shout-out to his cameo in Virtua Striker 2). Interesting to see how media outside of the games can have such an impact on the perception of these characters – for what it’s worth, I think the boss role suits them quite well.
15. Heavy King… & Knuckles
Knuckles’ exclusive fight with the Heavy King, leader of the Hardboiled Heavies, has several nods to other games and material. So let’s go through em, innit.
First of all, we can actually see the Super Emeralds from 3 & Knuckles here. Certainly explains why they haven’t been seen since, or in Mania; they’re all cracked up and generally looking worse for wear. Hooray for continuity explanations!
The setup in general is a nod to 3&K’s Hidden Palace showdown with Eggman, only the sprites are about 50% larger here. This is also seen in Knuckles’ thought-process, shown in absolutely hilarious doodle form. Said thought process may be another reference though, outside the realm of video games!
In the fantastic Sonic: Mega Drive comic miniseries by Archie (illustrated by one of the main guys behind Mania’s fantastic intro, Tyson Hesse), Knuckles recounts being tricked by Eggman once again. It’s told in an incredibly amusing scribble format, one that’s echoed in Mania. No idea if Tyson himself was responsible for the ingame scribbles, but either way it’s a cool nod.
Final nod here – the way the Heavy King uses the Master Emerald to charge up is basically identical to when Mecha Sonic battles Knuckles at the end of 3&K. A nifty reference!
16. Welcome the Fantasy Zone! Get Ready!
This isn’t particularly a concrete reference to anything, but Special Stage 6’s giant, bendy mushrooms and checkered floor are reminiscent of more than just Vaporwave –
It’s also quite similar to the environments found in SEGA’s arcade classics, Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone. As far as I can tell it’s not a direct reference to any particular stage in either game, but the aesthetic is certainly there; and some of the polygonal plants dotted about a strikingly similar to those found in the background of Fantasy Zone‘s first stage. Both Space Harrier and Fantasy Zone roughly take place in the same universe, so the aesthetic being a blend of the two works quite well.
So, where does Sonic Mania fall into the Space Harrier / Fantasy Zone shared timeline? Now there’s a question for the ages.
HONOURABLE MENTION: Sonic Forces his music into a different game
Sonic Mania’s true final boss theme is absolutely jammin’, but you may notice a familiar tune kick in at the 54 second mark.
It’s actually the main theme of the upcoming disaster Sonic game, Sonic Forces. It sounds damn good here too; probably the lack of naff lyrics thrown over the top of it. Suits the final boss pretty well, I reckon, and solidifies the theorised connection between Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces.
And that’ll do it for nods and the like in Mania. There’s certainly far more than the ones listed here (such as Studiopolis’ streetlights being the UFOs found in Marble Zone’s beta version back in Sonic 1), but I tried to keep to the ones I found most interesting. Or cool.
Spotted any others you reckon are worth a mention? Sound off in the comments or shout ’em at my Twitter account! And try not to go on a tangent about me just calling Forces an upcoming disaster. Or me insulting Chaotix earlier. Yeah?
Tracker_TD 
I loved this game. Good attention to all of the details I didn’t pick up. Sonic Manis is the best Sonic game since the original.
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