Sonic Mania Plus is out in exactly one week. What’s Sonic Mania Plus? Why, it’s Sonic Mania… but Plus. Look, it’s complicated. Fortunately, Sonic maniac Brian Shea works here, so he could walk me and Ben Hanson through what you get with this enhanced edition of the game.

The biggest draw is the new Encore mode, in which Sonic teams up with some noteworthy friends (and a couple of nobodies), who act as his in-game lives. When a hero dies, another will jump in to take their place – unless they’re the last one in line. In that case, well, I don’t even want to talk about what happens next. Probably because I don’t really know. Game over screen, possibly?

Anyway, Shea does a much better job of explaining it all and showing off the game, which is why he’s on this NGT episode. Sonic Mania Plus is coming out July 17 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and Windows PC.

Source: Game Informer New Gameplay Today – Sonic Mania Plus