He’s a maniac
As someone who was born in the twilight of Sonic’s golden age, I’ve forever heard that the blue blur’s best was behind him. While I enjoyed the Advance and Adventure series of the early 2000s, that history was always at the fringe of my consciousness. As the hedgehog struggled to find an identity on rapidly progressing hardware, I found my interest waning, and for good reason. Sonic games became a junkyard of failed gimmicks and awful characters. Press continuously asked if *insert Sonic game here* would break the cycle of mediocrity, but the answer was always no. This is what makes Sonic Mania such an achievement; it not only reminds us of how good Sonic can be, it captures the magic that made us fall in love with him in the first place.