I've found a lot of stupid bugs in this game, typically involving Super Tails. I've got a whole playlist of speedruns and glitches. Super Tails really needs looking into. Level boundaries and collision really need to be higher so he can't break levels so easily.
Mania has been nominated for Central Park Children's Zoo Award for Best Kids Game in the 7th Annual New York Game Awards
Mania is winning awards all over the place. I just hope Sega is receptive to its immense success and that steers Sonic in a good direction moving forward i.e. more Mania.
Keep in mind that it probably doesn't get more low-priority than this, though. "Boss! Super Tails breaks everything!" "Ha ha! Yes he does son, yes he does" I think they'd sooner patch in his S3&K bird army than care enough about any of this. lol
In todays stream, Aaron pretty much hinted at a Mania soundtrack (hopefully full) release. He said to stay tuned for news over the next few weeks.
Although I really want a OST release for Sonic Mania, that would be the most anticlimatic thing ever /> I don't think it's the case, though. Take To the Moon. The game has 5 branches, the main one, and some outdated betas. The OST released for the game (which is included as a DLC, as its the case with many other games) is not found in a branch, it is its own app, linked to the main game. So, it's the same DLC discussion we had some pages ago. Project Plus is not a DLC, it's an update to the core Sonic Mania app. Perhaps it will be announced and released alongside the OST? I'll try to keep an eye out and see if they add a hidden DLC these weeks.
Finally got all the Chaos emeralds with Sonic & Tails, turning my attention to Tails alone, Knuckles alone and Sonic alone together with the blue spheres. I love that I am equally frustrated as I am addicted to blue sphere. I am proving utterly hopeless at it but you get so many opportunities to play the blue spheres game that it doesn't matter. The Mean Bean unlock able is genius and again I am addicted to it. I feel like such a fan boy after years of putting out criticism on the Sonic 4 forums. Mania has reinvigorated a love of video games I haven't felt for years. Gotta say, objectively speaking the quality of games such as, say Zelda, is clear (but they had a bigger budget and team of course) but they just do not have the feel of Mania. Mania has so much love in every corner of every level. It's my game of 2017 and I suspect I will be playing a lot in 2018 too for the time trials and just for the fun of it!
Steam sales are pretty respectable at almost 150K which is decent when you factor in the game's still at full price and all that Denuvo bullshit. The game seems to be getting a torrent of accolades too following the glowing critical reception and we know from Sega Sammy's recent financial reports Mania's sales on console are extremely strong and in the multiple millions. Point is, surely this is enough to secure a Mania 2 or something similar particularly with Forces under performing both critically and commercially in comparison to Mania's insane success. Hopefully the mystery surrounding "Project Plus" will be revealed soon too. Still predicting it's an enhanced re-release though obviously we're still waiting for news.
I'm still holding out hope that it's the original pitch idea of the remasters collected together alongside a brand new game, only now that "brand new game" (Sonic Discovery) would be Sonic Mania obviously, call it Sonic Mania + Throw in Sonic 3 & Knuckles remastered and make a physical version and I'm sold. Don't take away my dreams..
I personally hope they release the remasters separately and not with the Plus edition. Reasons: 1) Sega could make more money that way (especially on Switch), which would hopefully increases budgets for future Mania Team titles. 2) Releasing them separately, would hopefully give more budget for new features. I'd love to see more 2P features in Sonic 1 & Sonic CD. That Sonic artbook showed that Sega has a lot of concept art for these titles in their vaults, so maybe the Mania Team could scan it all in and make it unlockable rewards for completing levels in the remasters. 3) They could release the remasters over 2018 & 2019, which would hopefully give them more time for a Mania sequel, especially if the remasters were ported by a third party (With the Mania team supervising). Of course, I don't know much about how game development works, so some of these suggestions might not be practical. Same here. If there is a Plus version, I hope they make it that collecting all Gold Medals causes Blue Sphere to be replaced with something else, even if it's just getting a random shield when passing a Starpost. I always felt that exploring with Sonic was more enjoyable in S3&K than Mania, simply because it was easier for him to get shields (by using the bonus stages) which in turn gave him more abilities for exploring.
I'd be fine with the remasters being released separately on current-gen. At the same time I think a collection (physical and/or digital) consisting of Mania and the Sonic 1&2 remasters would surely be a good seller. I know Sonic CD (Remastered) was made using an older version of the Retro engine and doesn't have all the same features as the Sonic 1&2 mobile versions; such as the ability to replay any stage on a completed save-file, Playable Knuckles and playable Sonic & Tails (AI) etc. However, I'd still want Sonic CD included. Actually, how about a new current-gen collection featuring all the 8 bit, 32 bit games as well as the 16-bit classics. So in other words like the Sonic Mega Collection and Gems Collection. I'm sure fans would want to play Mean Bean again after it's inclusion as Mania's Chemical Plant boss. (Knuckles) Chaotix has never been re-released (accept for a Windows release - I think - ages ago), so I'd like this included. They could also include the 3D Blast Directors Cut. I digress... Anyway, any collection of 2d Sonic games would be appreciated, especially off the back of Mania's success.
I'm sure the remasters will see the light of day again via some kind of inclusion with Mania or standalone re-release. "Plus" could indicate something as simple as remasters being bundled, Mega Collection style, or an enhanced edition of Mania with more content. Then again it could even be both. I just hope our previous efforts to make noise about Sonic 3K remastered had some impact since it's a game that needs to be made. Aaron seems to be dropping news in the regular Sonic streams he does, so I'd anticipate something about "Project Plus" coming up in one of those.
VGMOnline (videogame soundtrack-focused website) has posted their 2017 nominations for their Annual Game Music Awards. Chiptune / Retro (within Scores of the Year) Blaster Master Zero Cosmic Star Heroine Flinthook Sonic Mania Yooka-Laylee Newcomer (within Artists of the Year) Daughter (Life is Strange: Before the Storm) Jeff Russo (What Remains of Edith Finch) Kristofer Maddigan (Cuphead) Mariam Abounnasr (Another Eden) Tee Lopes (Sonic Mania) Fan-Arranged Album (within Albums of the Year) Crypt of the NecroDancer: OverClocked Mirror Image: A Link to the Past Remixed Piano Collections: Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow/Green Sonic Mania Remixed Zodiac: Final Fantasy Tactics Remixed Aside from more music nominations for Mania and Tee Lopes, a fan project of an official game made by fans also got a nod. Everything came full circle! :v: Now for the punchline--if Mania, Tee Lopes, and Mania Remixed can win any of their respective minor categories, then they get a shot for winning their respective major categories (Score of the Year, Artist of the Year, and Album of the Year; the winner for these awards are picked from a pool of winners of the minor categories).
