Special stages are back in Sonic Mania

Hey, I know those fish

If there’s one element of classic Sonic the Hedgehog games I tend to forget about until I go back to replay them, it’s the special stages. Favorite? Least favorite? I like them for different reasons.

Sonic 1‘s bouncy mazes were mesmerizing to look at, Sonic 2‘s half-pipe was fun to launch yourself off, and Sonic 3‘s blue-sphere-touching, red-sphere-avoiding special stages were satisfying to clear.

For Sonic Mania‘s bonus levels, Sega is taking some cues from Sonic CD. Here’s the announcement from San Diego Comic-Con, courtesy of YouTube user Sollux Captor:

As a bonus (and keeping in line with its recent trend), Sega has shared another track.

Sonic the Hedgehog [Twitter]