If nothing else, it got me to open up my Dreamcast project that I've been working off and on for about a decade now for the first time in about 11 months. I feel so inspired right now!
According to this NeoGAF post, I think it is Saturn-inspired more than 32x. I agree that everything we're seeing so far would likely be pushing it for a 32x to handle. I have mixed feelings how they could greenlight Rosy Rascal as a playable character, but I would be all for it too. Her play style is so different from Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, yet the levels don't need to be modified to accommodate her. (Although little shortcuts and paths like those added in Sonic 1 Remastered would be neat.) Her appearance in Sonic Advance 1 is the whole reason I still keep my cart. It might as well have been titled "Amy the Hedgehog 1" for me. :v:
Honestly, I really hope there are no other playable characters. That would really make this just seem like a fangame.
That's why I had mixed feelings about this. It could open the door to things like, "Hey! Where's Mighty? Vector? Big the Cat? WHERE'S MY DLC CHARACTERS SEGA" if it's not sticking solely to the original trio.
Nah, both Sonic 2 and Sonic 3&K introduced a new playable character. It would make sense for Mania to do so as well considering it's the next installment for the classic games. Plus unlockable characters are fun to unlock IMO.
The actual sprites should just be avatars for different move sets, while fundamentally playing the same. That's how the original games were (and actually, in Sonic 2, Tails is basically identical to Sonic anyways). Adding a new character that played with different rules but still felt like Sonic would be right in line with the classic series. It's not that I'm dying for Mighty or Shadow or whoever to get in the game, but rather that I'd like the Megamix move set to make the way into the game somehow. I actually like the modern-inspired moveset in Megamix and I suspect, as an optional unlockable, many others would like it in the new game (sort of like how Classic Sonic gets the homing attack in Sonic Generations -- but it's always optional).
One thing that's bothering me is that neither Studiopolis nor Green Hill 1.1 had Knuckles/Tails-specific areas which kinda indicates that they are gonna be just thrown in there. Don't get me wrong, Sonic 3 didn't handle their extra abilities all that well too but Sonic Mania doesn't seen to be even trying. Can be mistaken though, have to wait and see.
Gamespot released another video with more footage, though their content seems to be misinformed. http://youtu.be/Hhk1Nh3Q1U8
Maybe each character has their own unique versions of the zones? So there's like 6 acts of GHZ instead of just 2. That'd be a sort of evolution of the way Sonic CD had so many acts. Probably not, though lol
You're reading in my thoughts Yeow, I literally have nothing more to add I know that competetive MP is not something which is a vital part of Sonic games (in opposite to such titles as Jazz Jackrabbit 2, where finishing SP campaign was only the beginning of fun - plenty of fan-made maps for SP and MP awaits!), but I really liked the model from Sonic 2, and the possibility to give more juice to it and have both online and splitscreen MP is a great deal for me. (BTW - I've noticed Yeow's post yesterday, today I've needed to dig 5 pages back to find it, this thread is truelly full of life, and I'm not surprised by that ).
From the trailer vid it appeared that Sonic gets up to speed more quickly than the classics. Did anyone who played it notice this? Also, insta-shield... I see the shields are in, but haven't seen an insta-shield anywhere... which I really liked for its control-forcing ability. Because I'm lazy... if someone wants to make a "Sonic Mania - Day 1" sig.......
You know, I always had an issue with the increasing number of playable characters back in the day. With Tails I was fine, because his tails allowed him to "cheat" and keep up with Sonic without running. Then Sonic & Knuckles came out, and I wondered why an echidna who could glide and smash down walls could also run as fast as Sonic. By the time Knuckles' Chaotix was released, everybody and his mother was running like lightning. Sonic's speed isn't unique if everyone has it.
One of the reasons S3&Knuckles worked so well is that the characters had their own unique routes through the stage, so playing as the different characters felt like a different experience. The routes made full use of their special abilities. In every Sonic game since, the extra characters mostly follow the same route as Sonic with only minor differences, so they end up just feeling like skins. If Taxman and Stealth are going to introduce extra characters, then I hope they give them unique routes (and they probably are doing this for Knuckles and Tails, as Knuckles had his own unique area in Marble Zone).
Knuckles can't jump as high as the other two and I'm curious to see how that will play out in stage layouts and boss fights.
A reveal trailer for a classic styled game with Aaron Webber on PR for release close to but not actually during an anniversary year? The comparison is pretty fun...
I still don't believe this game is real. I want to know more about who all is involved with this project, and what extent does Sonic Team play a role with its creation. It appears the designer of Metal Sonic, Kazayuki Hoshino, is giving feedback when it comes to the level design of the project, which is awesome. And really, is this real? A game that could be on par (or greater than) Sonic CD / Sonic 3 & Knuckles? In this generation of Sonic? I would've thought this to be an impossible task with the current SEGA/Sonic Team. We're really back. If this game sells well, we may even have more. My god.
Personally I wouldn't expect enough support from upstairs for it to be something on the scale of S3&K/CD. Both have a huge amount of huge levels. Sonic Mania is already showing as much care in its development as I could think of asking; to extend that to something as huge as those predecessors.... too large a task imo. My personal guess would be a good number (6 or 7) of solid zones, probably with the polish of Sonic 3's zones but not the sheer size, and the glitz of Sonic CD's acts but not the wacky variety. I'd happily see Sonic Mania as something that doesn't burn out everything they've got, but rather sets the stage for more games that grow from it.
I think this will have a fair amount of levels, especially considering some of these are remastered levels. So if you get even 1 from Sonic 1, 2, 3K, and CD that's already 4, Studiopolis is 5, and I can imagine 4 more custom levels at least so that's, what, 9? Plus this game has at least 7 months left of development and has probably been in the works for a while so that's a fair amount of time left for this kind of game. Speaking of which, I wonder if the clips they used from Sonic 2 and Sonic 3 and Knuckles are any indication of what levels they plan on remaking. I wouldn't mind seeing Aquatic Ruin and Flying Battery. Not my favorite levels of those respective games but they're up there (Aquatic Ruin is maybe my 2nd favorite Sonic 2 level after Mystic Cave). I just wonder why they picked those levels considering every other game they showed (besides Sonic R) was just the first level of that game (Green Grove, Emerald Coast, City Escape, Tropical Resort).
My logic for wanting a fourth playable character is this: Sonic 1: Sonic Sonic 2: Sonic, Tails Sonic 3&K: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles Sonic Mania aka the real Sonic 4: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Each classic Sonic game has added a playable character so it makes sense for Sonic Mania aka real Sonic 4 to have a fourth one, and I don't think doing so would make it feel like a fan game. However it's understandable if they just keep it with Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, and I'm more than satisfied with that.
