14 Most Surprising Metacritic Scores Of 2017
3. Sonic Mania (86)
Beloved though Sonic the Hedgehog is, there's a reason why he isn't held in quite the same esteem as, say, Mario: his games are nowhere near as good.
The Sonic series is one of the most infuriatingly inconsistent AAA franchises in gaming history, almost never scoring consistent 80+ scores across platforms, such that often, only the hardcore Sonic fans need apply (see the widely-panned recent release Sonic Forces).
2017 did see the release of one excellent Sonic game against the odds, however, with Sonic Mania serving as a visually faithful, ingeniously conceived return to the series' 8-bit roots.
While it isn't the most unique or original Sonic game, straight-up "borrowing" from the better earlier games, it performs a minor miracle in getting even casual players excited about Sonic again for the first time in years. Who could've seen that coming?