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Sega has revealed Sonic Mania’s modes in some new gameplay footage. The fan favourite Bonus Stages make a welcome return, while Special Stages has you chasing aliens and the new Time Attack mode adds a nice spin, giving the ability to reload the level at any time, instantly. Is it now ok to get excited about a Sonic game for once?
In the Bonus Stages, players will use Sonic, Tails or Knuckles, navigating them through a series of blue spheres to clear the stage. You’ve got to be careful though; if you touch the blue spheres, they’ll turn red and exit the bonus stage. Silver Medallions are awarded to players who complete the Bonus Stage, while collecting all the blue spheres and rings awards players with a perfect score and a Gold Medallion. Aw man, I miss the Chaos Emeralds.
Time Attack is a new mode in Sonic Mania. Basically, you have to prove you’re the fastest and the best of the best. There is only one way to do that, and that’s to top the online leaderboards, so you can now be the Usain Bolt of the Sonic universe, or something along those lines.
In the Special Stages, players have to chase down enemy UFOs to secure Chaos Emeralds (yay!). Collecting blue spheres along the way gives the player’s character a bit of a speed boost. Once the meter fills up, the Mach level increase, which makes controlling the character even harder.
Sonic Mania will be available on August 15 for PS4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and PC.
