‘Sonic Mania’ is a wonderful balance of nostalgia and novelty
That might sound a bit overzealous, but it’s written with honesty. There’s a stigma attached to Sonic the Hedgehog games; a pattern of expectation and disappointment that’s become so ingrained in the series’ community that it’s known as the “Sonic Cycle.” The cycle is mostly an old joke, but there’s a grain of truth to it: Sonic games are typically announced with a lot of fanfare but often fall…