Sonic Mania Two

Sonic Mania Two is a 2021 platform game made by Sega for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows. The game is a sequel to the hit popular game Sonic Mania three years prior in 2017. The game was made to celebrate Sonic's 30th anniversary being released 10 days prior and pays homage to the original 16-bit Sonic titles. It follows Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles as they stop Doctor Eggman from polluting the world and turning animals into badnik slaves. Christian "Taxman" Whitehead, Simon "Stealth" Thomley, among several others who worked on the first game returned for Sonic Mania Two.

After the success of Sonic Mania in 2017, Sega announced plans for a sequel in December until it was finally announced by Whitehead and Thomley. Production of the sequel was shown through photos on Twitter through the year but in late 2020, had a teaser trailer released. The team still used the Retro Engine Whithead used for the mobile ports of the classic Sonic games. The game features levels from the original Sonic the Hedgehog 2, taking place on West Side Island. Tee Lopes returned to compose the game.

Sonic Mania Two was released on June 13, 2021, ten days before Sonic's 30th anniversary, and like the first game received critical acclaim from both critics, audiences, and fans of the franchise praising its level design, music, story, faifthfulness, and more originality. It received the same reception as the first game. Sonic Mania Two sold over one million copies in a year.

Zones

 * Emerald Hill Zone
 * Abandoned Forest Zone
 * Toxic Caves Zone
 * Aquatic Ruin Zone
 * Rock World Zone
 * Winter Zone
 * Badnik Gauntlet Zone
 * Madness Mountain Zone
 * Sunset Beach Zone
 * Bridge Zone
 * Cloudy Chase Zone
 * Egg Fortress Zone
 * The Final Battle
 * Hidden Palace Zone (bonus stage)

Hyper Sonic ending
If the player decides to get the Super Emeralds through the Super Giant Rings (working in the same mechanic as Sonic Mania), they will be transported to Hidden Palace Zone, a scrapped zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog 2 where Sonic would have a cutscene turning into Super Sonic, whereas in this, he turns into Hyper Sonic. After going through a whole act and a mini-boss. Sonic gets the seventh Super Emerald and turns into Hyper Sonic, and goes back to the zone he was in.

If the player has got Hyper Sonic, they will get a different final boss. In one last attempt to beat Sonic, Doctor Eggman gets out his giant powerful robot, Egg Mecha Robot. Hyper Sonic and Egg Mecha have an all out battle brawl in space, missles and violence. After Hyper Sonic defeats Eggman, Hyper Sonic and Tails go back onto the tornado, now flown by Knuckles, and they ride off into the sky with Knuckles going back to Angel Island.

Knuckles' Story
On the save file screen, there is an option to play as Knuckles. At the beginning, there is a cutscene where Knuckles is recruited by Tails to help rescue Sonic. After rescuing him on Madness Mountain, Knuckles explores West Side Island by himself. He goes through these zones:


 * Olympus Hill Zone
 * Yellow Powerhouse Zone
 * Wood Zone
 * Lava Machine

In Lava Machine Zone, Knuckles battles Sonic, until he realizes that he is battling Mecha Sonic, revived by Eggman after Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Knuckles, has shapeshifted into Sonic and has more powers. When West Side Island floods, Knuckles enters the tornado and with Sonic and Tails, goes into the sky to chase down Eggman and enter his newly-named Egg Fortress Zone. When Knuckles is in Egg Fortress, he is attacked by Mecha Sonic, who just attacked Sonic before. Knuckles defeats Mecha Sonic, and Knuckles' story ends with rescuing Sonic and Tails and going back to Angel Island.