The “Sonic the Hedgehog” Game You’ve Been Waiting For

Sonic Mania, a spiritual successor to the four Sonic the Hedgehog games from the early to mid-90s, hits shelves on Tuesday. The game has been heralded by many as a return to classic form for the “Blue Blur” in visual presentation, sound and feel and came to be almost by accident.

The game was developed in part by Simon Thomley and Christian Whitehead, who got their start making unofficial Sonic Fan games. Their love of the franchise (and the technology that they developed to make those games) led them to be in charge of bringing Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to phones. The iOS and Android releases were called the “definitive versions” of those titles. The full story about their rise within the Sonic community is well-documented by George Weidman.

Sonic Mania contains 12 different zones with nods to classic levels, music and allows you to play as Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. The game releases on Tuesday for Xbox One, PS4 and Nintendo Switch. A version for Microsoft Windows comes out on August 29th.