Sonic Mania Opening Animation Revealed

For anyone who doesn’t know by now, Sonic Mania is the upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog game that features a return to the 2D platforming gameplay the franchise was known for in the early-to-mid 90s. Throughout the summer, several videos have been released showing various aspects of the game, including the game’s music and special and bonus stages. Most recently, the official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel posted a video of the game’s opening animation.

The animation style found in this video seems to emulate that of early Sonic animations, such as the animated cutscenes from the 1993 Sega CD game Sonic CD. Sonic and friends also take on their appearances from this era, as opposed to their “modern” or Sonic Boom iterations. This animation also seems to confirm that Dr. Robotnik AKA Dr. Eggman will be the main antagonist of Sonic Mania, just as he always was in the classic Sonic games, as opposed to the 3D Sonic games, which have featured such villains as Chaos, Shadow the Hedgehog, Metal Sonic and others that have often taken Eggman’s place as the main villain.

None of this should be particularly surprising given the premise of Sonic Mania, but it’s still neat to see. This opening animation will be the last part of the game shared with fans before the game’s release this coming Tuesday, August 15. The game will be available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.