Earlier this year, a celebration took place for the twenty fifth anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. During the event, a new 2D platformer named Sonic Mania was announced to be coming out in 2017 for PC, PS4 and Xbox One. The levels that were showcased during the first demo footage were an all new metro themed stage named Studiopolis Zone, and a reimagining of Green Hill Zone, the very first level from the original Sonic the Hedgehog.

On an interesting note, both SEGA and Christian Whitehead, one of the developers of the new title have confirmed that there will be more re-imagined zones than original levels in Sonic Mania. This is not really that much of a surprise considering it has been made for the anniversary of the series. However, it does raise the question as to which levels will be brought back from the many games that Sonic has starred in, over his twenty five years as SEGA’s flagship mascot. Here at VGU, we have assembled a small selection of the zones we would like to see revived, and a description of what makes them primed for a high definition return. To make things fair, none of the levels that have been included in the list were included in either the console or 3DS versions of Sonic Generations.

Marble Garden Zone (Sonic 3 – Genesis / Mega Drive)

Jungle Zone (Sonic 1 – Master System)

Flying Battery Zone (Sonic & Knuckles – Genesis / Mega Drive)

Marina Madness Zone (Knuckles Chaotix – Sega 32X / Mega Drive 32X)

Ice Cap Zone (Sonic 3 – Genesis / Mega Drive)

Aqua Lake Zone (Sonic 2 – Master System)

Casino Night Zone (Sonic 2 – Genesis / Mega Drive)