A Manic, Forced Cycle

With the dual announcement of Sonic Forces alongside Sonic Mania, I would like to conduct an experiment.

First, take a look at this:

Now, take a look at this:

This Rorschach test of sorts will likely hit you the same way it did me, which is to say: “Man, Sonic Mania looks like it’s on the right track, but…I don’t know about Sonic Forces.”

I’m here to tell you, you aren’t wrong in feeling apprehensive. Mania seems to represent a return to form, and looks to do so with love. It echoes the nostalgia of the past, borrowing elements from the game’s entire 16-bit history, all while using a 2D pixel engine far more powerful than anything the Genesis was capable of to create something new.

Whereas, Forces looks like the rusty, grinding wheels of the Sonic Cycle starting up again.

If you’ve been on the internet for a while, you probably know that the Sonic Cycle (a.k.a. the unofficial predictive model for every 3D Sonic game) is so battle-tested by this point, it’s practically gospel. It’s no secret that I’m a self-proclaimed Sonic lifer as mentioned in our Super Mario Run review, but this tepid looking Forces level reveal unfortunately says more to me than any hopeful mind can reasonably endure without cracking.

First off, WHY is the Green Hill Zone in it? While it has been remade before in previous Sonic games, arguably, there were GOOD reasons for this to happen. 

In the case of Sonic Adventure 2 for instance, the game was released during Sonic’s 10th anniversary, so remaking the very first stage in the franchise’s history was a welcome choice. In Sonic Generations, not only was it relevant to the story they were telling, but that game was released during Sonic’s 20th anniversary. Again, it made sense.

What’s the occasion here? Why is it called the Green Hill Zone? Which canceled Mega Man game did they steal this music from? Why does so much of it look like holding forward without a care in the world, whereas the Mania version looks intuitively laid out, multi-leveled, and brimming with new ideas? WHY is Sega forcing (pun unintended) me to make this comparison between the two when no one–literally NO ONE asked for another 3D Sonic game?

In case you haven’t been paying attention to current news on the title, in the latest Nintendo Direct, they’ve already announced an unknown THIRD playable character in Forces. Check the chart above, it looks like we’re already up to stage 2!

It’s more than a little disappointing, and sadly, par for the course. When I witnessed Sonic running across a wooden bridge in Mania, setting it ablaze using his flame shield to access a secret path, it gave me chills. There is nothing even remotely exciting about the exact same level in Forces, despite the diminutive version of the blue blur being labeled as the “Classic” Sonic with matching gameplay to boot. Let us not even get started with the “Modern” Sonic gameplay. I could almost hear the entire internet buckle with a collective groan as this video below was revealed. It shows Modern Sonic holding forward, briefly segueing to the dash and jump buttons to provide variety while the game plays itself.

I just don’t understand why, Sega. I don’t know why this has to exist. Why, with all the goodwill generated by Mania, did you have to commission the team that has been getting Sonic wrong for years alongside it? It’s like recreating the Mona Lisa brushstroke for stroke, and then announcing that you’re placing it into a frame made of feces. You can almost feel the excitement being sucked out of the room with every ring chime and explosion, hope draining with each uncontrollable homing attack driving poor beleaguered Sonic forward on rails. 

By announcing yet another 3D Sonic game alongside the positively received homage, Sega risks diluting Mania‘s announcement, and the sentiment along with it: That Sega had learned their lesson and wanted a completely new direction for their schizophrenic, inconsistent mascot. One that they would stick to, that is. 

Congrats, I suppose? In one fell swoop, with this game announcement, Sega has managed to make Sonic Mania feel like it’s going to be the exception, not the rule for Sonic games moving forward. They’ve made it feel like a one-off that’ll never be reproduced or built upon. It’s a tone-deaf move, screaming at the top of its lungs that while Headcannon and PagodaWest totally get Sonic, the actual SONIC TEAM couldn’t be less interested in the pamphlets they’re handing out.

There’s a certain lack of confidence you can feel creeping out of the project that is Forces, and I hope I’m not the only one that feels this way.

Something about Forces makes it seem like it has been backed into a corner, and bullied into trying to live up to a design that admittedly worked pretty well 6 years ago. Sadly, it’s an approach that hasn’t been revisited since Sega became preoccupied with turning the franchise into Mario Galaxy at a mediocre best, and Sonic Boom at the very worst. 

Tacking the announcement of this game, reportedly in development since 2013, onto a very well received passion project like Mania (which began development in 2015) is just that: Tacky. 

In lieu of any kind of perceivable symbiosis between the two titles, we instead have a situation where it seems as if one title is feeding off of the goodwill generated by another like some kind of blue spiky-haired parasite. 
Now, I’m willing to mea culpa if the need arises. If Forces comes out and is not only a worthy spiritual sequel to Generations, but an actual great game in its own right, I’ll eat my words. But the difference between what fans see when they view Sonic, and what Sega sees is all too obvious. As it stands now, this just feels too much like the same manic, forced cycle that’s set to take this franchise for yet another bumpy ride, and it’ll more than likely end up with us becoming sick.