Why Sonic Mania matters more than the next ‘real’ Sonic game

Late Friday night, Sega showed off trailers for two new Sonic games to celebrate the franchise’s 25th anniversary during the San Diego Comic-Con. One was Sonic Mania, a 2D, retro-looking side-scroller with a mix of updated levels from old games and original stages. The other is codenamed Project Sonic 2017. We don’t know much about it, but it looks like a sequel to 2011’s Sonic Generations, which blended the series’ modern 3D gameplay with classic 2D elements. Sonic Mania is set for an early 2017 launch for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, while Project Sonic 2017 won’t release until holiday 2017.

These are two big announcements for a franchise that has been more hit than miss for decades. Project Sonic 2017 feels like it should be the bigger deal. It’s positioning itself as the next “real” Sonic game, which you can see in its slick, fancy announcement trailer.