The release of Sonic Mania in 2017 signaled to many fans that Sega and the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise were listening to fans. Announced as part of the series' 25th anniversary in 2016, the title was developed as a collaboration between Sonic Team and a group of independent developers led by designer Christian Whitehead. Following the release and subsequent overwhelming acclaim of Sonic Mania and its upgraded version, Sonic Mania Plus, Sonic Team entered into conversations with Evening Star, the studio founded by Whitehead and several other members of the Sonic Mania dev team in 2018, but despite getting into the prototyping phase, that sequel never happened. 

In 2023, a Sonic Mania sequel felt like a distant hope, as Evening Star announced its own platformer, Penny's Big Breakaway, while Sega released its next 2D Sonic game, Sonic Superstars, which was developed in collaboration with Sonic co-creator Naoto Ohshima's studio, Arzest. When I broached the Sonic Mania 2 topic with Iizuka a few years ago, he confirmed that those initial conversations occurred with Evening Star. "There was a period after the development of Sonic Mania when we worked with them to consider concepts for the next generation of Classic Sonic," Iizuka said in 2023. "It's too bad that it didn't become a finished game. Still, I'm pleased that the next generation of Classic Sonic that we talked about with them has been achieved with Superstars."

Iizuka mentions that he wanted to go a different route with Mania's successor, instead relying on 3D models instead of pixel-art graphics to appeal to a wider audience.

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