Sonic Mania Adventures

Last updated
Sonic Mania Adventures
Sonic Mania Adventures logo.png
Genre
  • Action
  • Adventure
  • Comedy
Based on Sonic the Hedgehog
by Sega
Written by Tyson Hesse
Directed byTyson Hesse
Music by Tee Lopes
No. of episodes6
Production
ProducerYukio Kusumoto
Running time2–3 minutes
Production companyNeko Productions
Original release
Network YouTube
ReleaseMarch 30 (2018-03-30) –
December 20, 2018 (2018-12-20)
Related
Sonic Mania (2017)

Sonic Mania Adventures is an animated web miniseries which was released from March 30 to December 20, 2018, via YouTube. The series was made in promotion of Sonic Mania Plus and is set after the events of Sonic Forces from Classic Sonic's perspective.

Contents

Sonic Mania Adventures follows Sonic, who discovers that Eggman is after the Chaos Emeralds and has already made significant progress; Sonic must stop Eggman before he can get his hands on the rest of them.

Production

Sonic Mania Adventures began production back in 2017, with Tyson Hesse serving as the art director for the series. The series was conceived after the positive reactions to the Sonic Mania intro and trailers. [1] [2] The series was officially announced on March 16, 2018. [2] [3] [4] It had been confirmed that the series was to feature no dialogue; every plot element would be conveyed using visual clues. [4] [5]

All of the episodes were written and directed by Hesse, with animation production by Neko Productions, and music written by Tee Lopes. [2] [4] During the development of the series, Amy Rose was to be included in the one of the first five episodes, but they were unable to introduce her appropriately. [1]

Episodes of the series were released monthly: "Sonic Returns" was released on March 30; [6] "Sonic and Tails" was released on April 30; [7] "& Knuckles" was released on May 31; [8] "Mighty and Ray" was released on June 22. [9] "Metal Mayhem" was released on July 17, with a compilation of all five episodes being released coincidingly. [10]

During production of episodes 4 and 5, the idea for an episode including Amy was conceived. [1] On December 19, 2018, five months following the release of the presumed series finale, a sixth episode, serving as a holiday special and bonus, was announced, [11] which released the following day, taking place directly after the previous episode. [12]

On January 17, 2019, a papercraft spinoff to Sonic Mania Adventures was released. [13] On January 25, Sega released tracks from the series, of which are remixes of Sonic tracks. [14]

Episodes

No.TitleOriginal release date
1"Sonic Returns"March 30, 2018 (2018-03-30)
Following the events of Sonic Forces , Sonic returns to his world, arriving on Angel Island. There, he catches Eggman flying by in his Egg Mobile, carrying a capsule of Flickies. He rescues them, only to be lured into a trap. Eggman mocks him, only to be tricked by Sonic into falling into his own trap with a Chaos Emerald. Sonic breaks free of the trap and, figuring out Eggman's plan of pursuing the Emeralds, leaves Eggman to get blown up by his trap.
2"Sonic and Tails"April 30, 2018 (2018-04-30)
Sonic and Tails reunite and together, the two of them prevent Eggman from collecting another Chaos Emerald.
3"& Knuckles"May 31, 2018 (2018-05-31)
Due to his setbacks, Eggman decides to go after the Master Emerald instead and steals the Tornado. Meanwhile, somewhere in the woods, Knuckles is protecting the Master Emerald. Suddenly, Ray, in search of Mighty, approaches Knuckles in question. After a brief misunderstanding, Knuckles chucks Ray away from his location. Immediately after, Knuckles defeats three Badniks to protect the Master Emerald. Howeve, while he is doing so, the Master Emerald is sneakily stolen by Eggman, who uses the Tornado to fool Knuckles into believing that Sonic is the thief.
4"Mighty and Ray"June 22, 2018 (2018-06-22)
Ray, while still in search of Mighty, is suddenly attacked by Metal Sonic. Before Metal Sonic can do more damage, Mighty makes a sudden appearance. Detecting a Chaos Emerald on Mighty, Metal Sonic grabs hold of Ray to bait Mighty into handing it over, to which he ultimately relents. Afterwards, Mighty and Ray catch Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Metal Sonic all heading toward Eggman's base, to which they follow.
5"Metal Mayhem"July 17, 2018 (2018-07-17)
Just as Sonic and Tails arrive inside Eggman's base, Metal Sonic steals their two Chaos Emeralds. With all the Chaos Emeralds now in their possession, Metal Sonic utilizes them, giving him a massive power boost, which he uses to overpower Sonic. Fortunately for Sonic, Ray and Mighty arrive, and Mighty saves him. The four heroes then team up to defeat Metal Sonic. In the end, Tails uses his intellect to reject the Chaos Emeralds from Metal Sonic. However, Eggman promptly uses the Master Emerald as a substitute. Before Metal Sonic can power up however, Knuckles arrives and punches both Metal Sonic and Eggman into the distance before taking the Master Emerald with him. With nothing left to do, Sonic, Tails, Mighty and Ray close off their adventure with a picnic.
6"From: A. Rose"December 20, 2018 (2018-12-20)
After being defeated, Eggman and Metal Sonic come crashing into the jungle. Eggman leaves Metal Sonic there alone as the seasons passed. However, when winter came, Amy came across Metal Sonic. Seeing that he was now defenseless, Amy took it upon herself to bring Metal Sonic back to Eggman.

Reception

Sonic Mania Adventures was positively received, which reportedly "captured fans' hearts with a charming, animated style and amazing remixes of classic Sonic tunes". [15] Allegra Frank of Polygon states, "Sonic Mania Adventures is an adorable and well-deserved spotlight for the character. No offense to Sonic’s most recent TV show, Sonic Boom , but I’d take half-hour episodes of Hesse’s cartoon over that one in a heartbeat." [16]

Reviewing the first episode, Ollie Barder of Forbes states, "it definitely captures the charm of Sonic and the absence of voiceover actually helps in keeping the animation in line with the early games, of which Sonic Mania was a love letter to," but criticizes the quality of the animation in comparison to the Sonic Mania opening animation. [17] Reviewing the second episode, Joseph Knoop of The Daily Dot states, "the animation is gorgeous, done by the same studio that produced the original Sonic Mania trailer, and it really captures all the humor and character necessary to get its simple point across." [18] Reviewing the third episode, Kyle LeClair of Hardcore Gamer states, "short but sweet, it's another cute animated work that that does Sonic Mania and the rest of the franchise justice". [19] Reviewing the sixth episode, Matthew Heyes of A 90s Kid states that the episode brings heartwarming and fuzzy feelings. [20]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Barder, Ollie (December 22, 2018). "Tyson Hesse And Jasmin Hernandez On Making 'Sonic Mania Adventures' And The Latest Holiday Special". Forbes . Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Declara, Joe (March 16, 2018). "Sonic Mania Plus, New Playable Characters, and Animated Short Series announced". Comics Gaming Magazine. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  3. ↑ Ruppert, Liana (March 16, 2018). "Sonic Mania Adventures Reveals Our First Look With New Footage". ComicBook.com . Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  4. 1 2 3 Romano, Sal (March 16, 2018). "Sonic Mania Adventures animated shorts series announced". Gematsu. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  5. ↑ Lyles, Taylor (March 16, 2018). "Sonic Mania Adventures Announced at SXSW; Sneak Peek Footage Released". DualShockers. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  6. ↑ Romano, Sal (March 30, 2018). "Sonic Mania Adventures Part 1 now available". Gematsu. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  7. ↑ Fogel, Stefanie (April 30, 2018). "Watch the Second Episode of 'Sonic Mania Adventures'". Variety . Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  8. ↑ Romano, Sal (May 31, 2018). "Sonic Mania Adventures Part 3 now available". Gematsu. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  9. ↑ Romano, Sal (June 22, 2018). "Sonic Mania Adventures Part 4 now available". Gematsu. Retrieved October 2, 2018.
  10. ↑ Khan, Imran (July 17, 2018). "Sonic Mania Adventures Finishes The Fight With Final Episode". Game Informer . Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  11. ↑ Franzese, Tomas (December 19, 2025). "Sonic Mania Adventures Part 6 is Coming Tomorrow, Just in Time for the Holidays". DualShockers. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  12. ↑ Romano, Sal (December 20, 2018). "Sonic Mania Adventures Part 6: Holiday Special now available". Gematsu. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  13. ↑ Dedmon, Tanner (January 20, 2019). "'Sonic the Hedgehog' Characters Compete in a Papercraft Animation". ComicBook.com . Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  14. ↑ Vincent, Brittany (January 25, 2019). "Sega releases remixed Sonic Mania Adventures tracks". Shacknews . Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  15. ↑ Shea, Brian (May 31, 2018). "Sonic Mania Adventures Episode Three Shines The Spotlight On Knuckles". Game Informer . Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  16. ↑ Frank, Allegra (April 3, 2018). "These Sonic Mania shorts need to be a full animated series". Polygon . Retrieved October 2, 2025.
  17. ↑ Barder, Ollie (April 1, 2018). "The First Episode For 'Sonic Mania Adventures' Is Out And Nicely Ties Back To The Classic Games". Forbes . Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  18. ↑ Knoop, Joseph (April 30, 2018). "'Sonic Mania Adventures' is a love letter to original Sonic cartoon fans". The Daily Dot . Retrieved October 3, 2025.
  19. ↑ LeClair, Kyle (June 1, 2018). "Part 3 of Sonic Mania Adventures Now Available". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved October 5, 2025.
  20. ↑ Hayes, Matthew (December 20, 2018). "The Sonic Mania Adventures Holiday Special Is Truly Heartwarming". A 90s Kid. Retrieved October 2, 2025.
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