#emerald was the first game i played - it's difficult to pick a favourite area (:

[rainpendant]

i cant get enough of your art and how atmospheric some of these pokemon pieces have come out. did you like rse? id love to see you draw your favorite hoenn town or route or cave or strip of water

[hardforbenhardy]

This one comes from personal experience. Anyway... Reader is at the beach in a bikini and Ben (stranger) makes a comment about how ugly a birthmark on her upper leg- lower bum cheek area is and she gets really upset. A few year later they meet up, start a relationship and in the middle of some smutty stuff he realises that she's the one he was rude to. lots of fluff at the end? Hope that's okay? xx

beach body ready | benxreader

I’m sorry if this isn’t quite what you expected, but I tried to do it as much justice as I could! Especially since it’s personal experience - I personally can’t see Ben doing something like this so I tried to find an even field where it is like Ben as much as possible but still sticking to your experience. Hope you enjoy!

summary: you were always pretty confident in your body, until a rude remark about a birthmark set you in the tracks of insecurity. years later, you come to find you never let that go, and find it difficult to face

warnings: insecurities, rude remarks about birthmark, swearing, light smut

word count: 4.9k

requested by @queenlover05 - i hope you love it! (sorry if the ending is a little shit, i wasn’t sure what to write towards the end)

You grew up right by the ocean, waking to the sound of the waves on the sands. You swam of course, and to you swimming meant briny waves colliding with your faces, not the chlorinated pools that were further into the town. Even in the summertime, there were days you didn’t want to swim or catch crabs; you’d take your fingers and draw a hopscotch grid in the sand. Pebbles were always easy to find. You and your friends could spend hours there, hopping from one foot to two, spinning and making your way back to the start. You can still recall the softness of the sand, your feet erasing the numbers and the lines as you went. Some days you’d even play long enough for the tide to claim our game. Then you would slink home under the setting sun, only to repeat the fun the next day. 

So, returning there in your early adulthood was like a dream come true. After moving to the city to study at university, you never really got the chance to visit the place you called home as much as you’d have hoped to. You had almost forgotten the way the hot sand slid between your toes, or the way the cool breeze drifting through your locks, and the taste of the saliferous water on your taste buds. Almost. 

*****

“Over hewre, YN!” your little sister shouted, jumping up and down in an outburst of pure elation. You laughed loudly, picking up the light beach ball from the ground and throwing as well as you could. After a few times of throwing the ball to each other, you began failing miserably when the wind caught it in its breeze, causing it to fly off to the side. 

“This isn’t going to work, Liv! It’s too windy!” you shouted back, both giggling at the sight of the ball floating away in the ocean. The 5 year old was quick to chase after it, throwing herself into the cold water and doggy-paddling to keep up with it. You ran in after her, not only to make sure she was safe, but mostly because it looked even more fun than being on the land at that point. The sudden chill of the ocean made you squeal, Olivia laughing in response. 

“It’s not even cowd, YN! Come on, I want to swim!” 

“I just got in Liv!” you exclaimed, racing to catch up with the small girl who was now so deep she couldn’t touch the ocean floor with her feet. She definitely took after you and you tendency to take risks; one of your favourite things to do was just float in the ocean and let if drift you where it wanted, it made you feel free. A good 20 minutes later of splashing around in the water and getting your hair positively soaked, you started to feel yourself get hungry. “How about we go grab some ice cream and sit on the towels for a bit, huh?” 

Of course, Olivia bolted back onto the sand, grabbing her towel to wrap around her stomach and waiting incredibly impatiently for you to follow suit. As you emerged from the water, your bikini bottom pulled up a little higher than usual, but you left you it be not thinking much of it. Thankfully the ice cream van was not far from where you had settled with your things, so you were okay with leaving your stuff alone for a few minutes. With her small body hoisted on your right hip, you turned to her; “Okay Liv what do you want?” 

“Stwawbewwy ice cweam! With chocowate sauce! And a chocowate fwake!” she cheered, pointing at all the different parts of her creation that she could see in the van. The man behind the window chuckled lightly, following her hand to grab each piece, and quickly whipped up the concoction for the small girl. “Thank woo!” 

“Is that all?”

“Oh, erm, yes that’s it thank you” you grinned, before looking over at your sister to see remnants of the melting ice cream all around her cheeks and chin, as if she’d shoved her face straight into it. You chuckled loudly, seeing her shoot you a guilty, toothy grin in response. “Actually, could we get a few napkins as well if that’s okay.”

After paying for the ice cream and resulting napkins, you headed back to sit down for a while; you had forgotten quite how exhausting the beach could be. IN the direction of your towels, you noticed a man standing beside them, bending over to pick up something. In the split second he stood back up, you took in the sight. The boy was probably the most attractive man you had ever seen; he had the most gorgeous emerald eyes with the smallest flecks of gold in them that made them gleam naturally in the summer sunlight. And you couldn’t deny how built he was either. An incredibly built six pack, with an arousing v-line which disappeared into the red swimming trucks he was wearing, and his thighs; God his thighs. Your favourite part of him, however, was his soaked, golden locks; you couldn’t deny, you were a sucker for hair. 

“S-sorry, can I help you?” you stuttered out, trying not to choke on your words at the blonde in front of you. He hadn’t noticed you at first, but you saw his eyes quickly rake up and down your body before answering.

“Sorry, my nephew threw this and it landed on your towels. I didn’t mean to bother you” he excused, stumbling over his own words from nerves. You weren’t expecting the deepness, with just a hint of sultry, in his British voice; it sent butterflies straight to your tummy. You saw his hands holding a frisbee, and immediately understood. 

“Oh, it-it’s fine. I’m YN” you grinned, holding your hand out to shake his. He took the offer, taking your hand into his, and you couldn’t help but notice how rough and calloused they were. God. “Ben, are you from around here or-” 

You were quite sure he could feel your hand lightly shaking from nervousness, but that was the least of your problems at that point, especially considering Liv was now nowhere to be seen. Your head shot around the beach, catching the small girls body heading towards the sea, ice cream in one and piles of sand in the other. “I-I’m sorry, just- Liv, get back here! Not in the sea while your eating your ice cream remember, we sit on the towels while we eat. Otherwise, the ocean might steal it and we don’t want that do-”

“Have you always had that?” Ben’s voice chuckled from behind you, making you shoot around confused. 

“Huh, sorry? Had what?”

“That thing… on your leg?” he answered, pointing to your upper leg-lower bum cheek area. You knew exactly what he was referring to; you had a birthmark in that exact area. It wasn’t common that people would ask about it, but when they did, they were polite and respectful about it. Which was why it threw you off a little that Ben had found it funny. 

“Oh, erm, yeah. It’s a birthmark, why?” you said with puzzlement, not quite expecting what he was to say next. 

“Oh, nothing. It’s just, it’s not exactly the prettiest sight.” 

“Erm, excuse me?” you scoffed out, furrowing your brows in disbelief. Was this random man really making a comment about this? You were usually able to brush off the bad comments about it, people had said before how it was different to any birthmark they’d seen before or that maybe you should have it checked by a doctor, but that was always in private and you could explain the situation. At this point, Ben was just being downright rude and it was embarrassing

“Well, I thought you were pretty hot until I saw that. Don’t get me wrong, I know you can’t help it but like it’s pretty unattractive” you were left stunned at the remark. Never had you expected words like that to come out of a mouth of someone who seemed to be such a gentleman. You now understand the meaning of don’t judge a book by its cover to a t. 

“Erm, sorry could you leave? I don’t care for your opinions” you retaliated, a grimace showing on your face. You could see some slight hesitation and guilt on his face, as if he hadn’t meant to upset, but you considered him stupid if he thought saying such things wouldn’t render you at least somewhat angry. He backed off, raising his arms in the air as if to sarcastically say ‘sorry’ before jogging to meet his nephew on the other side of a big umbrella. You quickly went back to your spot, plonking down on the towel and huffing in defeat. Your mind couldn’t help but glaze over his words - ‘unattractive’, ‘not the prettiest sight’. You tried so desperately to hold back the tears that had began brimming in the corners of your eyes, but there came a point where you weren’t able to stop one from rolling down. Your little sister popped up from beside you, noticing how downcast you were, pouting out her bottom lip in over exaggeration.

“It’s okay YN. Why are you wad?” she reassured you, jumping down on your stomach and wrapping her arms around your shoulders to give you biggest hug you thought possible, yet you couldn’t help but laugh at the fact she still had ice cream smeared all around her mouth. You chuckled lightly, planting a big kiss on her cheek and wiping the tear from your cheek.

“I’m not Liv, don’t worry. It’s just, people say mean words sometimes, words about things people can’t change, or things people may be insecure about. And it can hurt their feelings” you explained, sitting her on your knee and sniffling back anymore tears about to drop.

“If it makes you feewl better, I think you’re biwthmark is vewy pwetty” she smiled, reaching her hand round to rub the mark and give you another quick hug, as you mouthed ‘thank you’. She jumped up off your lap, grabbing your hand and pulling you towards the see; “Let’s go swimming again!”

You spent another hour or two in the ocean with the little girl, but you couldn’t help your eyes drifting over to the blonde man every few minutes. You couldn’t let what he said go, and yet he looked like nothing had even happened when 30 minutes after the incident he caught your eyes and threw over a friendly smile. You tried to send one back, probably failing miserably.

“I thought you were pretty hot until I saw that“

** 3 years later **

You had been practically craving a coffee the whole morning, your lack of energy due to your work piling up had been swallowing you whole and you needed something to keep you awake. It was only the fresh afternoon, but you were sure you would drift back into sleep if you didn’t find a source of caffeine from somewhere, so you popped round to the local coffee shop.

“One large latte macchiato please, thank you” you asked the cashier, tapping your card before taking a seat at a small table just across from the counter. Scrolling through your Instagram feed, you saw a familiar face pop up a few times on an account you were even aware you followed; Ben Hardy? You clicked on his page to investigate further, when you realised exactly where you knew the guy from. It was the same guy who you had met at the beach a few years ago, the same guy who had insulted your birthmark. You were over his comment by now, it didn’t really affect you anymore but it had admittedly sent you into a bit of a frenzy for a few months after it. You didn’t wear shorts, or you wouldn’t wear a bikini to the beach, you refused to have sex with any guys. It weirded you out a little though to find him on your feed, was he famous? Posts of friends, photo shoots, a few familiar actors… press junkies. Premieres. Movie sets? He was an actor.

Ben Hardy was an actor

He seemed like he was doing pretty well for himself, and you noticed he was staring in a new movie alongside some of your favourite actors. You popped him a follow, liking a few of his recent pictures, and almost instantly you got a DM and follow. Off him.

Ben Hardy

hey, this is YN right? from the beach like 3 years ago?

You panicked, surprised that he even remembered you or the incident, but then again you remember him. What’s the difference? What shocked you even more was that he was being so friendly; did he not remember what he had said to you?

You

heyyy ben, yeah it is! surprised you remembered me, especially after what happened haha

Trying to play it cool was not something you were very good at; when you were nervous, you were nervous. Friendly may not have been your approach to the man 3 years ago, but you couldn’t deny seeing him again kick-started that small crush you had felt on the stranger. Maybe what he said, he hadn’t meant.

Ben Hardy

what happened? i literally don’t remember anything except you! 

in a good way i swear - god, that sounded bad. im sorry - i remember thinking you were pretty good looking! 

Ironic. So he didn't remember. And he seemed like he was taking a relatively amiable approach to getting to know you; maybe it could be a fresh start. If he didn’t remember what had happened, he most likely didn’t remember what had caused it. Maybe he had changed. Hopefully he had changed. 

You

oh it was nothing! can barely remember it either! but thank you - can’t say you weren’t either haha

so did you message for a reason or…

Ben Hardy

not really, just thought i’d check in on you considering we didn’t get to speak much when we met. i’m actually back in your town next week, would you maybe want to meet up? grab a coffee and have a chat?

This threw you off. You really, really wanted to. But you knew it probably wasn’t a good idea; I mean you had only met him once, and that one time, he insulted you. Not a good first impression, but you couldn’t help the urge to say yes. And your fingers were typing it out before you could even stop them;

You

yeah that sounds great! 

i know the perfect place - in fact i’m sat there right now! they have the best homemade pretzels, they’re to die for!

Ben Hardy

i’ll take your word for it! heres my number - *blah blah* - text me with a good time and place? 

Shit. He had just given you his number. Was this a date? Or just two people who had met before simply meeting again. Or what if you got there and it was all an elaborate prank set up by him and his friends to embarrass you in front of everyone. Either way, you had committed to it, and backing out now would make you seem like a pussy. And maybe it wouldn’t go sooo bad. You hoped.

You 

can’t wait!

*****

“Babe, I’m back!” you heard his voice shouting through from the front door. Sat on the couch, you were reading a book you had recently taken out from the local library when you heard the commotion of his bags being dropped on the floor. Your head shot around, a grin plastered across your face at the sound of his husky voice. You watched as his blonde hair bobbed into the room, walking towards you and placing a peck to your forehead.

“Missed you” you muttered, leaning your head back further so the second kiss landed on your lips instead. Placing your book down on the side table, you turned to where he had just sat down next to you and cuddled into his side, his warmth sending shivers down your spines. 

You almost considered bunking off on the date you planned with Ben, your nerves and insecurities getting the better of you as it got closer to the day you planned. Even texting him a time and place was hard enough for you, but you saw it as a challenge for yourself; you didn’t want to let one small incident ruin your chances with him. So you did text him a time and place. 12, early rise cafe? And you did go on the date. And you did hit it off with him; he was nothing like you remembered. Constantly complimenting you, how gorgeous you looked and how intelligent you were. A kind soul, he described you as at one point. After that, you continued to keep in touch, even when he was away filming he would be sure to put aside at least one hour every night to call you and you would just talk about your day. You caught feelings fast, and what he had said to you years before was long forgotten.

You had now been officially together for 3 months, and you were the happiest you had ever been; he loved you, and you loved him. He reminded you of it every day, with both words and actions - kisses, hugs, occasional squeezes of the bum, saying ‘I love you’, you even caught at him staring at you from time to time while you worked. He felt like the luckiest man on earth. Almost, there was just one thing he wanted to do so badly with you that you were yet to agree to; he wanted to make love to you, show you just how much he truly does love you but physically. And you wanted it too, just the sight of the blonde himself was enough to turn you on, but there was one thing holding you back. You thought maybe you’d let his words go, but he hadn’t seen you naked since that time on the beach, and you couldn’t help but fear the idea of him bringing it up again. What if he left you? What if he thought you were ugly and decided he didn’t want sex? What if he just laughed? What if-

“YN, babe, are you listening?” he cleared his throat, his eyes looking down at you worryingly. You didn’t even realise he had been speaking, too caught up in your own thoughts of doing it (or not) with Ben. He seemed very stressed as he came in, and it was still showing now, so you felt very guilty. “I was saying how Joe mentioned we should all head round to his some time this week for dinner, like a quadruple date or something. I’m down if you are but don’t feel forced, I know you haven’t known them for very long”

“O-oh, yeah that sounds good” you murmured, trying to sound enthusiastic about the suggestion but failing; Ben knew you and his friends didn’t get along very well because they were all actors and knew each other’s, whereas you were just a girl from a small town who had never met any of them. It’s not that you didn’t like them, it’s just that you preferred to keep to yourself and all they would do is ask you questions.

“You don’t seem very enthusiastic”

“I-I want to Ben, I just get very nervous around new people. I promise, I’ll try and make it, but don’t let me hold you back from going” you smiled, watching his face light up at the fact you’d step out of your comfort zone. For him. He kissed you straight on the lips, hand shooting to caress the side of your face lightly and placing the other one on your thigh. You tensed a little at the feeling but grew comfortable to it soon after, it felt nice. And it gradually felt nicer and nicer as he moved further up you thigh to meet the buttons of your jeans. Until he began unbuttoning them. And every thought and insecurity you had encountered before came flooding back; he’s going to see your birthmark, and he’s going to remember exactly what he said at the beach, and he’s going to realise he was right, and he’s going to dump you. 

Of course, he noticed the way you froze in your spot, taking a deep breath in. He pulled back immediately, hand still on your thigh but much less tight now, in a more comforting way. “Are you okay? I-I’m sorry, I got caught in the moment, I-”

“It’s fine, Ben. I just- I don’t think we should” you muttered, refusing to make eye contact with the blonde as you twiddled your fingers out of nerves. He could tell something was wrong, he had never seen you so removed and insecure before. But you had been together for 3 months, and he thought it was a good time to start getting intimate; not that he wouldn’t respect your decision, he was just getting a little impatient with being with you and not being able to help the raging boner in his pants nearly every time he saw you. 

“Why not?” he questioned, not in a accusatory way but a curious one. He was beginning to get a little insecure himself; did you not want to have sex with him because you didn’t find him attractive? Or because you didn’t think he’d be any good? He couldn’t hear the apprehensive thoughts in your head, but you were struggling to put them to words. He didn’t need to hear them, for when you started tearing up a little before him, he knew something was definitely wrong; “Hey, hey, what’s wrong? You can talk to me about anything”

“I know I can Ben, just not this”

“YN, if whatever is going on in your head is hurting you, we talk about it; I don’t care if you think it’ll be embarrassing, or make me sad or angry. We talk about your problems because that’s what I’m here for” 

“It’s… I, erm, I don’t want you to see me naked” you practically the lasts word, so quietly that you weren’t even sure he had heard them at first. But he had, because his eyes widened in disbelief. He hadn’t even considered the fact he hadn’t seen you in underwear before because you had seen him in just his boxers so many times that he just found it normal. “I don’t want you to leave me”

“I- YN, why would I leave you? I love you, every single part of you. Naked or not. Please, you need to explain what is going on in your head so I can help you” he encouraging, smoothing his hand up and down your thigh in a calming manner. You wanted to tell him, explain what was going on in your brain so he could help, but you didn’t want to; your insecurities got the best of you. Everything had been going so well in your relationship, and you didn’t want something like this to ruin everything you had worked so hard for. You didn’t want one measly birthmark to ruin everything. You loved him, and you wanted to make sure he loved you. After you had stayed silent for a minute or two, Ben was beginning to grow impatient; “YN, please you need to talk to me. I don’t understand how you could feel so insecure over your body when-”

“Because of you!” you cut in, almost screaming the words if your voice hadn’t been so weak. Ben stared at you incredulously, his brain trying to understand what he might say or have said to put you in such a state; he thought you were absolutely perfect, and he told you that nearly every day. Because you are perfect. “Because of what you said at the beach 3 years ago.”

“I-uh, I don’t…”

“You seriously don’t remember?” you scoffed, thinking he must be joking at this point because it was the first time you two had met; he must’ve remembered some of the conversation. You stood in front of him, deciding that it was now or never to show him; you deserved someone better than him if he repeated what he said 3 years ago. Pulling your pants down just enough to reveal the top of your leg, letting Ben finally see the reason you were so reluctant to get naked in front of him. You watched as his mouth open in confusion, and then realisation. “You called it ‘pretty unattractive’ and said how you thought I was hot before you saw it. It hurt Ben, a lot. Having a complete stranger point out and make fun of something that you can’t change. I put it aside at the beginning of our relationship because I really liked you and I hoped you changed; but I can’t help but be scared that you’ll still leave me. That’s why I didn’t want to get intimate yet, I’m sorry.” 

“No, no, no, I’m sorry” Ben mumbled, unable to comprehend a lot of what you had just said. He remembered what he had said, but he never realised how badly you took the words; he didn’t even consider the possibility of hurting you by saying it. He was an ignorant 20-something-year-old who only thought about sex and partying, and so he thought he was just ‘bantering’ as he would’ve called it back then. Watching the way it affected your feelings broke his heart; he had never meant to hurt you, and he never would want hurt you intentionally. “I-I never even considered how that may have made you feel. I don’t even remember much about that day; I can’t excuse what I said at all. I was probably trying to cover up my own insecurities or the fact that I thought you were really attractive. I can’t say sorry enough, but I really am and I want you to know that I think you are the most beautiful person on this planet. And I’m sorry that I made you feel any less than that, and if you decide you don’t want to love me anymore, I understand-”

“Ben.” you interrupted, seeing that he was also now on the brink of tears. He thought you wouldn’t love him. He thought you wouldn’t love him. Not the other way round like you had assumed this situation would go. You let out a small sigh of relief before walking to Ben, who was now sat hunched with his head in his hands. You threw your legs over his to straddle his lap, a common cuddling position for the two of you (one of your personal favourites, but Ben would always get afraid you’d be able to feel his semi every time) “I will always love you, I’m certain of it. I wouldn’t have let myself fall for you if I wasn’t willing to forgive you. I was scared that you wouldn’t love me, that you’d remember how disgusting I am and you’d leave. Trust me, I think this is the most sexually frustrated I’ve ever been, you are too fucking hot to spend all this time around and not get turned on.” you chuckled lowly, Ben joining in before shooting you a smirk and small wink; classic Ben humour. “I just… I let my insecurities get the best of me and that was my fault. I guess I only took it to heart because it was coming from you, usually I can brush those comments off.” 

“I’m really sorry, YN, I don’t know how I could make it up to you, I’m so sorry-”

“Ben, you seriously need to stop apologising” you giggled, cupping the soft skin of his cheek and stroking your thumb gently. He went to say it again, catching himself out and looking almost ashamed about it. “You said you wanted to make it up to me?”

“I-I would do anything YN, I love you.” he stuttered, almost surprised you were giving him a second chance as he looked up at you with his baby doll eyes. 

“I can think of one way you could, erm, make it up to me?” you muttered, beginning to become embarrassed with what you were saying. He seemed eager though, nodding his head urgently to urge you to say what was on your mind; “show me how much you love me?”

“I-erm, how? You want gifts? Hugs?” he rushed, but you just giggled at his obliviousness to what you were suggesting. 

“No, Ben. I want you to make love to me” you whispered, wrapping your arms around his neck before planting your lips firmly onto his in a moment of passion. He immediately returned the gesture, feeling relief you weren’t nearly as angry at him as he thought you’d be. 

“Now, that I can do” he mumbled against your lips, raising to his feet and hoisting your body so he could carry you upstairs. 

He vowed the love you forever, and always prove it in every way he could, including making love to you. And he did just that. 

[seganerds]

NOTE: We try to keep our reviews as spoiler-free as possible, though there is a chance some minor spoilers may be mentioned in this review. But I promise not to give away the game’s ending or any major spoilers.

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]fter a good year of build-up, with hands-on previews at countless gaming events and shows, Sonic Mania is finally here!

But will Sonic’s return to its 16-bit roots be a positive outcome the franchise has been yearning for, for years? Let’s find out!

Looks like Classic Sonic

From the moment you boot up Sonic Mania, you feel as though you’re back in the mid-’90s with an excellent sprite-based ‘3D effect’ of a rotating island and Sonic sitting in his usual title screen emblem.

If you leave Sonic floating there for a few seconds, you’re treated to a nifty animated intro (created by Sonic Comic artist, Tyson Hesse), similar to the old Adventures of Sonic The Hedgehog cartoon series. This opening intro isn’t a cutscene – it doesn’t have any voice over work or tell a coherent story – it’s more of a subtle and very fun introduction for the game, presenting the main characters and giving a nod to the storyline.

As for the story, Sonic Mania is set immediately after the events in Sonic 3 & Knuckles. After saving Angel Island, Knuckles is now firmly on your side and all is good with the world, when suddenly Tails picks up an energy reading. But Dr. Eggman has detected the energy reading as well and unleashes a new team of Egg-Robos known as the ‘Hard-Boiled Heavies’, sent to reach the source of the signal first. With Eggman up to no good, it’s up to Sonic, Tails and Knuckles to stop him.

Jumping into the game, everything about the 16-bit era flows back, as you are treated to a beautiful, pixilated experience almost exactly like the Mega Drive originals. Unlike Sonic 4, SEGA hasn’t opted for smooth, up-to-date graphics and fancy animations, everything about Sonic Mania exudes ‘retro’ – even the few moments where 3D polygons are used, they are created in a way that it looks like a Mega Drive game.

But of course, Sonic Mania isn’t a 16-bit game; while the visuals maintain their retro appearance, there are moments of ‘flair’, such as transparency and subtle depth of fields that were too complex for a 16-bit machine to handle effectively – even with blast processing.

These moments of flair are often very subtle during main levels, such as occasionally seeing the odd ring bounce to the fore/background after being hit by an enemy, but they are prevalent during boss battles, with the use of foreground and background objects in play.

Feels like Classic Sonic

Now, regardless of visuals, what really makes a Sonic game is the gameplay. It’s part of the reason Sonic became a firm favourite with many gamers and a genuine rival for Nintendo’s Super Mario series. Sonic The Hedgehog was fresh, fast and offered a unique platforming gameplay experience unlike any other game at the time.

‘Classic Sonic’ is pure: it’s a combination of well thought-out platforming brilliance, combined with the flow of a fast game of pinball. While ‘Modern Sonic’ is a mixture of balls-to-the-wall, (virtually uncontrollable) speed and (often unnecessary) gameplay mechanics interweaved into a story line – some people like it, but it’s not for everyone.

Sonic Mania takes the simplicity and purity of Classic Sonic and does very little to change it, which is great. You have no lock-on attack, no additional moves or gimmicks to get in the way of reaching your end-level goals and beating Robotnik.

Returning to retro Sonic gameplay can take some getting used to, but once you get your groove going, everything comes together to make a wonderfully fluid experience.

Wait, this is Classic Sonic!

If Sonic Generations paid homage to every main Sonic game over the past 20 years or so (both 2D and 3D), Sonic Mania is a homage purely to the 2D classics. There’s so much fan service that at times it feels like a re-release of early Sonic games, with nods to each of the Mega Drive originals at every turn – awesome little details, such as the birds and fish from Sonic 1‘s special stage, featuring in Mania’s special stage.

While the game does feature entirely new zones, it also features remakes of classic zones from Sonic 1, 2, 3, Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic CD – fan favourites that are synonymous with Sonic, such as Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Flying Battery, Stardust Speedway, among others.

At times, you feel like you are playing the original games, but then Mania will throw in some massive curve balls that totally change everything – such as new enemies, boss battles or entirely new sections and mechanics to a level, such as the springy goo in Chemical Plant Zone. It’s really fun to reminisce over old levels, but have them feel fresh at the same time and I applaud the developers for this.

On the boss battles, these are great fun in Mania. The bosses that are similar to the old Sonic titles have been changed up enough to feel fresh. The brand new bosses are great, making good use of the modern technology to add some subtle visual or gameplay enhancements to make them exciting.

The old music in the game is remixed slightly, with zone remakes feature the same excellent soundtrack, while new levels feature appropriately original scores – which are catchy and in-keeping with Sonic.

…With added extras

For the most part, the new levels are awesome, keeping the flow of the game going, with some very fun settings and unique elements to each level that makes them stand out – such as one zone where Sonic shrinks and looks like a baby Sonic; standing next to badniks, he looks hilarious and added something new to the game.

Sonic Mania’s special stage is one of my favourite additions to the game. Sonic runs around a flat quasi-3D environment, similar to those in Sonic CD (or Mario Kart on the SNES, if you will), as you chase after a UFO carrying a Chaos Emerald, against a time limit. To catch the UFO, you need to collect blue balls, to build up Sonic’s speed, while collecting rings will boost the precious time limit.

These special stages are really fun and, while can offer a challenge, never feel unfairly taxing. However, finding them is a different story – as the entry points, which are giant rings, are hidden throughout the levels (some levels have multiple rings to find) and that can be a problem for first-time players. I only got four of the Chaos Emeralds on my first playthrough, simply because I couldn’t find the rings in the levels!

But that’s the beauty of Sonic games, replaying the games over and over lets you explore and find the secret areas or new routes to get the best times in each zone.

Mania has also added new mechanics to already established pickups – such as the fire shield being able to burn things, such as wood and oil. As you progress, you unlock new gameplay modes, such as Time Attack and Competition (2-player vs) Mode. There’s additional abilities to unlock, such as Sonic’s Peel Out move from Sonic CD  – which you need to select in the options menu after unlocking to activate them, so you can play through without these new abilities.

SEGA, you’ve made me soft

At times, I found Sonic Mania weirdly hard, but I think it’s because I’ve become so unaccustomed to playing games that require skill to complete, and I was struggling in the early levels. Modern Sonic titles have so many moments where the game basically plays itself and the lock-on attack means that you can just continuously tap jump and you’ll kill everything on screen and bounce off the nearest spring pad: the skill has been removed.

But Sonic Mania takes you back, it makes you work for your success. I had a ‘Game Over’ early on, too early really, I’m ashamed to say. But once I got back into the flow, I progressed through the game without any more Game Overs – though plenty of deaths.

The good news here is that, like Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic Mania offers save files, so you can pick up from where you left off, should you find yourself struggling at any point.

There’s also the bonus stages (not special stages, bonus stages), which felt incredibly difficult. The bonus stages are the same as Sonic 3 & Knuckles’ special stages – where you run around a big 3D ball, collecting blue balls and rings, while avoiding any red balls: touching a red ball instantly ends the stage and when you touch a blue ball it turns red.

Now, not one to boast usually, but I was pretty darn good at Sonic & Knuckles’ special stages – my friend and I played the crap out of them over and over (using the S&K lock-on with non-Sonic Mega Drive games).

So, I was super happy to see this return in Mania… until about the 6th or 7th time, when suddenly they became really hard. Using an Xbox One controller probably didn’t help as the d-pad is rather ‘spongy’ and the analogue stick isn’t designed for the precise turns that you need to pull off. But halfway through the game, I found I no longer enjoyed these stages like I once did, often feeling cheated when I lost at the stage.

Completing the bonus stage will either earn you a silver or a gold medal. Silver when you only collect the blue balls and gold when you collect all the rings and the blue balls. To be honest, I have no idea what the medals did (there’s no manual) – though, as mentioned, you do unlock new abilities and game modes, so maybe they unlock those (I’ve asked SEGA to confirm).

That seems a little unfair…

Putting aside from my diminished Sonic gaming skills, I did find that Sonic Mania had more unfair deaths than I’d ever experienced in a Sonic game. There were times where the game would literally force you into enemies/traps, with no control or ability to avoid them.

I also found some of the levels took far longer than previous entries. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, except Sonic games have a time limit; as soon as you hit 9 mins 59 secs on a level, you die, due to time out.

I have only ever had this happen to me once on Sonic 1, when I was really exploring a level, trying to find different paths. But it’s never happened to me since… until Sonic Mania, where I managed to get time outs three times in a playthrough. One of them was because Tails kept screwing up in a boss battle (he kept jumping on something when he wasn’t meant to, meaning I couldn’t hurt the boss) and the others because I just ran out of time. It’s weird, I didn’t feel like I was going slow, yet I ran out of time more than once.

Summary

While Sonic Mania has moments of frustration, it doesn’t have any serious problems that hold it back. This is a bold statement, but Sonic Mania is the very Sonic game fans have been dying to play for years!

SEGA has finally done the right thing, removed all the nonsense of Modern Sonic titles and, through Christian Whitehead and the teams at Headcannon and PagodaWest, delivered a Sonic The Hedgehog game in its purest form.

Sonic Mania takes some of the best samples/examples of the 16-bit Sonic games on the Mega Drive/Mega CD and mixes them up to be one of the best Sonic game in years; bringing back the replay value and the challenge needed to complete the game fully (with all Chaos Emeralds), plus some added extras, so things don’t feel stale.

However, I don’t want to say this is THE best Sonic game of all time, that’s too big a call to make – especially when the original material was so damn impressive back in the day, only hampered by the technology behind it. But ultimately, if you are a big fan of Classic Sonic games, then Sonic Mania is an absolute must-have.

Pros: + It’s Classic Sonic gameplay, visuals and sounds, in its purest form + Fun, additional extras to unlock + Both re-imagined and brand new zones are great fun + Hard to master, easy enough to pick up (as a Sonic game should be)

Cons: – More unfair deaths than other Sonic games – …Modern Sonic games have made me weak – …I wish it was still the 90s, when I was a kid and could play games like this all day, rather than work

#SonicMania goes old school & it's wonderful! Read our full #review to find out more! #Sonic NOTE: We try to keep our reviews as spoiler-free as possible, though there is a chance some minor spoilers may be mentioned in this review.