Sega’s Sonic Mania Plus racing to retail this July

The “Plus” edition of Sonic Mania has finally been dated and will be hitting this coming summer. Aside from the announcement, Sega has also releases a first trailer for the game, starring Ray and Mighty.

Gotta go faster

That was some Tyson Hesse animation on display there. I can’t say I’m familiar with him, but he’s a fan favorite animator according to Sega. Assuming he is, he’s the second “fan favorite” we’re taking about today. The first is Sonic Mania itself.

Released last year digitally, Sonic Mania brought back the classic gameplay of the 2D Sonic titles. And this was no half-hearted attempt. Mania was, in many ways, the Sonic title that gamers had been waiting years for. Honestly Sega, forget about the 3D stuff, just make Sonic’s like this and I think we’ll all be happy.

Maybe they actually get that though, since they pretty quickly turned Mania around into Sonic Mania Plus. While this isn’t a totally new game by any means, Plus adds in some nice content, and a retail box for those who dig that.

So what does Plus offer? Here’s the breakdown:

• 2 new playable characters from past Sonic games, Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel
• Encore mode that will provide a fresh look to familiar zones with new challenges and layouts for new and veteran players alike
• Competition and Time Attack modes will receive an update allowing four player competitions, and ghost challenges for time trials.

And of course, there’s that physical edition. More than just a game in a box, the retail pack includes “a 32-page collector’s artbook, a reversible SEGA Mega Drive cover” (or Genesis, presumably) “and holographic packaging”. That should make a nice addition to the old library.

Now, if you have the already available Sonic Mania and want to upgrade, you’ll be able to do that. It won’t be free however. The Encore DLC pack will include all the goodies that Plus adds in, and will be available day and date with the new retail box (and fresh digital editions).

Watch for all of the above, arriving for the PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on July the 17th.