They are located on "special" springs found at the top of stages. It should be one per zone (act 1 or 2) except for Ice Mountain, which has both. Each spring is specific to each special stage/emerald. Since the collected emeralds are shared among all characters, just use Tails and/or Knuckles to get them all. Some of them are a real bitch to reach as Sonic or Amy.
I guess blue hedgehogs that run super fast, foxes that fly, red echidnas that glide, and loopdy loops in the middle of the forest makes sense. Come on guys it's Sonic, a lot of things don't make sense.
If the cave system mostly above ground, it makes a bit more sense. Perhaps the body of water dug the cave out of a giant green hill :specialed:.
If only there were an apt emoticon or something to describe my feelings about a series known for its surreal environs being complained at for having something surreal in an environment. :specialed:
This game looks great, and I'm really looking forward to seeing more about it. Congratulations to Taxman, Stealth, and everyone else involved!
The fangame discussion was ridiculous. I expected it outside of Retro, not so much inside. But hey, this is the retro that I've lurked for years, so I honestly should have known better. That aside. Really sad about the lack of an insta-shield. It was my favorite thing about Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Drop Dash looks dope so hopefully I'll be able to deal with it. What I am REALLY curious about is if Super Tails will be making another appearance. He only existed in S3K because IIRC canon wise he wasnt able to really use the power of the normal chaos emeralds to gain a super form or something? Someone re-enlighten me on that? This game takes place in the future so everyone is older with more experience so I'd really love to see Tails get a super form since I'm pretty sure this game wont get 14 emeralds like S3K did.
My biggest question about the drop dash is if it will make the spin dash moot. I think the biggest factor in that question is if the amount of charge the drop dash gives you is set, or if it is variable based on the height from which you drop. Because if it is indeed variable, there's the chance that the spin dash's benefit may be relegated to the beginning of the stage depending on whether the intricacies of the zones match that which we've seen in Studiopolis, as the drop dash certainly seems more convenient for keeping momentum on uneven terrain with high levels of obstacles.
From what I've seen, the speed boost is constant. Regardless of the height, they always launched off at the same speed. That being said, the speed boost itself is pretty substantial and in regards to speedruns, having a speed boost from the moment you land on the ground outweighs the Spin Dash for the most part. I predict it'll become niche where it's only used in select situations assuming that 6 charges still is what you need for a max speed spindash and that the spindash at max speed gives you more speed than the drop dash. This is also assuming you can charge spin dash once per frame as well.
Long time lurker (another one) here to chip in with how amazed and grateful I am that Sonic Mania is a thing! Some issues with Green Hill, from the footage, is that it seems like the clouds have yet to be updated and still have the jagged tiled and cobbled together look to them caused by, I assume, the requirements of the 16-bit games. Other than that I've been blown away by the footage and, as I'm sure it did for many, it brought a tear to my eyes.
I should rephrase. The cave area doesn't look very polished. The visual design elements don't gel together as well as they could. The theming and sense of location aren't clear - the background suggests Sonic is inside a cavern, the palmtrees and flowers in the foreground suggest that Sonic is outside, what was previously the distant horizon somehow ends up within the confines of the cavern walls. The caverns didn't have this issue in Game Gear Sonic 1 or Sonic Generations. Hill Top Zone and Marble Garden Zone didn't have this issue with their interior sections. It's not about abstraction. Studiopolis Zone is 1000 times more abstract and weird and it looks incredible. The background elements, foreground elements and obstacles all gel together. It's harmonious. It stays on message. I'm really psyched about this game, I just think the visuals could be improved in that section of Green Hill Zone.
According to Iizuka, Super Emeralds are non-canon. He also said that he doesn't consider Knuckles Chaotix part of the canon as well.
Iizuka does not shape my view of the series. Super emeralds and Knuckles Chaotix are both canon to me.
Do you have a link to where he said that about Chaotix? I mean, Sonic Heroes made it very clear that Chaotix was retroactively non-canon, but I'm curious about what Iizuka had to say.
Well that may be but at the end of the day his views shape the series. So ya no super emeralds because reasons. The moon turned around guys it's good :v:
Unfortunately for you, Iizuka does shape the official games in the series, and Sonic Mania is one of them. Super Emeralds, Hyper Sonic, Super Tails, Hyper Knuckles, probably even Super Knuckles are off the table.
That's why the oceans stayed in place in Unleashed because moon gravity IIZUKA IS GENIUS GUYS. I could care less about canon and non-canon in Sonic games. As long as whatever plot the game has makes sense within its own context and more importantly the TONE is consistent and appropriate for the title, that is all I care about. The only exceptipn I have to this mindset is Knuckles' diminished role as guardian of Angel Island. Since Taxman has stated there's a plot, hopefully StealthTaxPagoda come up with a decent reason for Knux leaving the Master Emerald this time around.
To be fair, when Iizuka talks about the canon, he often sounds like he's improvising. I don't blame him TOO much, I mean, this series canon is infamous for never being solid. @Pengi - Here's some sauce towards the Chaotix. [Linky] Basically he says that he reintroduced the Chaotix in Sonic Heroes and built them from the ground up. I think the source for the Super Emeralds not being canon was the Sonic Boom 2013 Q&A, if I'm not mistaken.
I guess it'll depend on whether or not drop dash's only accessible through a prior press of the jump-buttons. Drop dash could also work by rolling of a ramp, charging it up whilst you're in the air. I'm not sure though...its max speed could also depend on Sonic's falling velocity. The point is: you can perform spin dash from a standing position. In more finicky situations I'd go without drop dashing.
