Sonic Mania Adventures
| Image |  |
| Director | Tyson Hesse |
| Producer | Yukio Kusumoto |
| Company | Neko Productions |
| Writer | Tyson Hesse |
| Music | Tee Lopes |
| Num Episodes | 6 |
| Runtime | 2–3 minutes |
| Network | YouTube |
| First Aired | 2018-03-30 |
| Last Aired | 2018-12-20 |
| Related | Sonic Mania (2017) |
Sonic Mania Adventures is an animated web miniseries released in 2018 on the Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel. It was created to promote the release of Sonic Mania Plus, a downloadable content add-on for Sonic Mania (2017). The series follows Sonic returning home after the events of Sonic Forces (2017), only for he and his friends to be forced to stop Doctor Eggman's latest attempt to acquire the Chaos Emeralds. Episodes were released monthly between March and July, with a special holiday-themed episode released the following December.
Production
Sonic Mania Adventures began production in 2017, with Tyson Hesse serving as the writer and director. The series was conceived after the positive reactions to Sonic Mania animated intro and trailers, which were animated by Hesse. The series was officially announced on March 16, 2018. The series features no dialogue, with the story being conveyed entirely through its visuals.
All of the episodes were written and directed by Hesse, with animation production by Neko Productions, and music written by Sonic Mania composer Tee Lopes. The series premiered in March 2018, and episodes were released monthly through the following July, with a compilation of all five episodes released alongside the finale.
During the development of the series, the team had hoped to include Amy Rose as a featured character, but they were unable to find a space to introduce her appropriately. While producing episodes 4 and 5, an idea for how to incorporate her was conceived. This took the form of a bonus holiday special, which was released five months after the end of the series proper.
Sega released a papercraft-themed video based on Mania Adventures was released on January 17, 2019. A selection of music tracks from the series were released the same year. All six episodes of the series were included as unlockables in Sonic Origins (2022).
Episodes
Reception
Sonic Mania Adventures was positively received. Game Informer Brian Shea praised its animation and music. Allegra Frank of Polygon called the series "an adorable and well-deserved spotlight for the character."
Ollie Barder of Forbes praised its charm and lack of voiceover, but felt it was not as well-animated as the Sonic Mania opening animation. Joseph Knoop of The Daily Dot praised the series' animation and humor. Kyle LeClair of Hardcore Gamer called the episodes "short but sweet", feeling the series was a worthy addendum to Mania.
References
- Declara, Joe, March 16, 2018, Sonic Mania Plus, New Playable Characters, and Animated Short Series announced, October 5, 2025, Comics Gaming Magazine, en-CA
- Ruppert, Liana, March 16, 2018, Sonic Mania Adventures Reveals Our First Look With New Footage, October 3, 2025, ComicBook.com, en-US
- Romano, Sal, March 16, 2018, Sonic Mania Adventures animated shorts series announced, live, March 16, 2018, October 2, 2025, Gematsu
- Romano, Sal, March 30, 2018, Sonic Mania Adventures Part 1 now available, October 2, 2025, Gematsu, en-US
- Khan, Imran, July 17, 2018, Sonic Mania Adventures Finishes The Fight With Final Episode, October 2, 2025, Game Informer, en
- Barder, Ollie, December 22, 2018, Tyson Hesse And Jasmin Hernandez On Making 'Sonic Mania Adventures' And The Latest Holiday Special, October 2, 2025, Forbes, en
- Romano, Sal, December 20, 2018, Sonic Mania Adventures Part 6: Holiday Special now available, October 2, 2025, Gematsu, en-US
- Dedmon, Tanner, January 20, 2019, 'Sonic the Hedgehog' Characters Compete in a Papercraft Animation, October 3, 2025, ComicBook.com, en-US
- Vincent, Brittany, January 25, 2019, Sega releases remixed Sonic Mania Adventures tracks, October 3, 2025, Shacknews, en
- Woolsey, Cameron, Sonic Origins PC review, Prima Games, 2022-06-24, 2025-10-21
- Shea, Brian, May 31, 2018, Sonic Mania Adventures Episode Three Shines The Spotlight On Knuckles, October 2, 2025, Game Informer, en
- Frank, Allegra, April 3, 2018, These Sonic Mania shorts need to be a full animated series, October 2, 2025, Polygon, en
- Barder, Ollie, April 1, 2018, The First Episode For 'Sonic Mania Adventures' Is Out And Nicely Ties Back To The Classic Games, October 3, 2025, Forbes, en
- Knoop, Joseph, April 30, 2018, 'Sonic Mania Adventures' is a love letter to original Sonic cartoon fans, October 3, 2025, The Daily Dot, en-US
- LeClair, Kyle, June 1, 2018, Part 3 of Sonic Mania Adventures Now Available, October 5, 2025, Hardcore Gamer, en
External links
Category:Sonic the Hedgehog
Category:Animated series based on Sonic the Hedgehog
Category:Animated web series based on video games
Category:2018 web series debuts
Category:2018 web series endings