"Sonic Mania" is a rare instance in the blue hedgehog's storied history that has fans excited actually to play a new game. After a slew of disappointing releases, including "Sonic '06" and "Sonic Boom," this 2D platformer was meant to finally bring sega's mascot back to the forefront and the public's good graces.
Obviously, they had to find a way to screw things up.
Online only was a bug
Although this was not the biggest complaint PC gamers had, we'll come to that one later on; it proved to be the icing on the cake. "Sonic Mania" launched on Steam with a bug that did not allow the game to be played if a person is not connected to the internet.
There is no element of Multiplayer in Sega's new title, as "Sonic" has always been a primarily single player experience, so this rightfully angered a lot of people.
Fortunately, this proved to be just a bug and not a necessity, as Sega quickly patched the issue and solved the problem. One has to wonder how such a mistake reminded after the product was put through rigorous testing, as it should hardly be hard to notice that "Sonic Mania" cannot be played without an internet connection.
This brings us to players' biggest complaint.
Denuvo DRM
For those who do not know what Denuvo DRM is, it is an anti-consumer practice which companies employ to try and prevent the piracy of their games. To be clear, it is their product, and they have a right to protect it in any way they want, but this service is considered malware by players.
Its inclusion can lead to a lot of bad publicity, as "Sonic Mania" has a fair amount of negative reviews citing DRM as the main reason, especially when the publisher fails to announce that the technology will be included in the final product.
This is where Sega failed, as the description of "Sonic Mania" did not mention that it has Denuvo.
This was seen as a blatant bait and switch by players, who received something different than what they thought they were buying.
This is where the questions about the online only bug start to be asked, as it could be argued it was included as a necessity with DRM. There is, of course, no evidence of this, and it could very well just be a bug, but it is such a huge mistake to overlook that it is almost too hard to believe.
Hopefully, this does not end up killing "Sonic Mania" on PC, as it is one of the best entries into the franchise. It is the game that fans have been waiting for, so it is frustrating to see it launch with such a negative reception.
