If you haven’t heard, Sonic Mania is the remake the tortured franchise needs to get back to its former glory. The development is led by Christian Whitehead, an indie Sonic fan that made a bootleg iPhone port of Sonic CD so good Sega eventually hired him. The game is dripping with passion for what made the 16-bit titles so loved.

Sega has been releasing new music for the upcoming Sonic and today they posted the brand new Special Stage  music “Dimension Heist”.

It’s fast-paced and Japanese as heck. There’s a fun sense of spirit and adventure racing along with the break-neck tempo. Composed by Tee Lopes, who lacks big-name titles on his musical resume, but is winning over many Sonic fans with his exuberant music and passion for the original Sonic charm.

Previous tracks have already been uploaded.

“Theme of the Hard-Boiled Heavies” is an upbeat, futuristic dance track pulsating with hyper-active horns and fun vocal layers.

The final track to show is the slowest of the bunch, but still pumps along at a faster BPM than most. “Studiopolis Act 1” is jam-packed with funk and confident exuberance.

Sonic Mania is due this August on Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.

“A BRAND NEW CLASSIC SONIC EXPERIENCE

2D Sonic is back in an all-new adventure!

Play as Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles as you race through all-new Zones and fully re-imagined classics, each filled with exciting surprises and powerful bosses.  Harness Sonic’s new Drop Dash, Tails’ flight, and Knuckles’ climbing abilities to overcome the evil Dr. Eggman’s robots.  Discover a myriad of never-before-seen hidden paths and secrets!”

I was a Sega kid myself and it’s frankly impressive how long the franchise has stuck around after years of mediocre releases. Mathematically, the series has been bad longer than it’s been good.

I love that Sega is forgoing a traditional industry veteran and instead trusting a super fan with chops and a proven track record of great classic Sonic.

Are you interested in Sonic Mania or has the blue ball lost your trust?