Ah. Well idk that pose doesn't look so bad to me. I'm liking these poses better than a lot of Sonic 3's Knuckles poses, and these sprites look 1000x better than his Chaotix sprites.
That's how I saw it too, and that might be the original intent. I'm not seeing a creepy smile there either.
Mirage Lagoon Zone is looking great. I love the music (another fantastic track by Tee Lopes) and it's great seeing Dust Hill come to fruition in some form officially after all this time. I also love Tails and Knuckles animations (although I do see a strange grin on Tails face when carrying Sonic, like others have mentioned previously). It was also nice to see some more of Studiopolis Zone courtesy of the Tails video, whereby the player flew around a lot and showed off some of the additional paths. I am so excited for this, it's unreal. ...however, I am still not sold on some of the level layout decisions that are made. I really don't want to be that guy, but some of the choices made in terms of layout design for Mirage Lagoon Zone Act 2 rub me up the wrong way to no end. The layout has this Sonic CD feel about it (which is fine, by the way), but it seems generally unforgiving in terms of spike and badnik placement. I also don't like the fact that both videos of Mirage Saloon Zone Act 2 seem to force a single route on you for half of the Act (Forcing the player to take the high path in the pinball section felt a bit odd to me. When the player(s) mis-timed a flipper launch or a jump from a ramp, they had to climb back up again and it seemed a bit odd seeing this consistently). Now, I know I've mentioned this before, I know it's still in development, and I know that things can change, but I hope some attention to detail will be applied in places, as I feel it would benefit from it immensely. I just want Sonic Mania to be the best it can be, is all. This is just my opinion, by the way. Feel free to tear me apart, if you wish.
Yes, because the music was "placed" into Aquatic Ruin. The whistle pretty much gives away that it was originally composed for Dust Hill (due to the Good, The Bad, and the ugly - western connection). Jun Senoue thought he was being cute with Sylvania Castle act 2, but it was like copying the wrong answer off of someone's test.
I think the Tails carrying sprite looks miles better when he isn't smiling. Here's the original creepy smile image: And here's my edit, where he looks like he's straining and not smiling like a creepy psycho: It just looks far more natural in my opinion.
Loving this. Surprised that we got Tails and Knuckles at the same time. I mean. I would have staggered them. Maybe with a level that showed off Knuckles's routes. I'm not sure about the Knuckles walk animation. Reminds me of a different character. Different game. Probably going mad. But Im so happy Im gonna be playing as Knuckles again. Its been too long. Love the Bean, Bark and Fang/Nack wanted posters. Along with sinster Egg Robo pictures. All that level needs is Honey. Might as well go whole hog. Confused at the lack of a boss. I'm guessing that it isnt finished. Could have referenced this instead of TGTBATU though. Linkies But... So want this game.
I'm SO happy they changed the jump sound effect. And I thought it was a nice touch how the Roller-like Badniks in Mirage Saloon still used the Sonic CD jump sound. Laura, your edit looks LOADS better. Hopefully they tweak is before release. I adore all of Tails' other animations, his "tired carrying" is fine, and kudos to whoever noticed the way he looks shocked when Sonic starts moving again. I will agree that the level design looks like it MAY be leaning too much into the Sonic CD style for my tastes, but I'm perfectly happy to give them the benefit of the doubt. After all, we're still a long way out from release. I think I'm just going to cryogenically freeze myself until March. Between this (maybe) coming out, the Switch, the Power Rangers movie, and WrestleMania... like, I don't even know how I'm going to COPE.
I feel like this is valid but I do think it's worth considering that most people were playing this zone kinda blind and weren't exactly good at it (sorry guys, I don't mind or anything but....yeah!) and also this is apparently one of the later worlds so I imagine the less forgiving design is a byproduct of difficulty metric, it's really hard to say without the full context of the zone layout/zone order, but I can only guess (as for where I found out it's a later zone, the it's mentioned in the KindaFunnyGames video). I imagine it looks a lot less forgiving than it actually is for most of us, basically. Though I can share in your sentiments just a little bit! For what it's worth I quite like the level design direction overall. I feel like they're taking the verticality of Sonic CD but not the baggage that is all of CD's less than desirable choices. There looks to be a really good flow to it (I imagine it would be a lot more obvious if we could play it ourselves/see someone experienced tackle it) and I REALLY can't wait for this game....
Struggling to see how anyone's seeing Tails' expression when lifting Sonic as a "creepy smile" - he's got a flat determined mouth with his cheek puffed up through strain. Is everyone watching the video in 240p or something? = P
I'll chime in for the sake of community feedback... Totally see the Sonic CD influences, which I think boil down to the (and I don't know the actual terms): pinball pads, glass bounce thingers, open space and verticality. While I'm not generally a proponent of Sonic CD layouts, I think having some influences in Mania is good, and will have the benefit of adding variety to the gameplay. Music also more in line with the CD sound. Regarding Tails flying animation: Yes, I do see the weird face he's making. Technically there may be nothing "wrong" with it, but it just looks bad. I normally don't offer much criticism for Mania because I trust the developers choices, and have been overjoyed with nearly ever decision... but ya... that animation just looks weird. and would probably be an easy fix. It should be fixed. Tails looks so adorable, and I love the Sonic 2 influence, which I always thought was the best Tails. BUT, this weird face is not cute... That animation when he is startled is priceless! Knuckles walking animation: I see how he looks a little floaty, but I actually really like his animation, and it reflects his glide ability. Nothing out of place here. Music: Fucking outstanding! Just love it, love that 90's sound. Reminds me a lot of 808 State. Nuff said!
Here's the Mirage Saloon music, if someone needs it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeD7nhcnsJw&feature=youtu.be
Maybe it would be a good idea to make the amount of fist waving akin to the title screen, because FAPFAPFAPFAPFAPFAP. :v:
That doesn't look like an improvement to me. Ironically, it kinda makes him look as psycho as you claim he appears originally, if not like he's about to poot or something. I wish more fans would realize how insulting it is to the artist to edit things this way. (At least not without asking first.) There's a time and place for edits, but here it's like, why? What did wiping one pixel away change?
Hate to play the backseat mod but maybe we can also respect each other's nitpicks? Works in progress can always benefit from some feedback and I'm sure the devs are mature enough to just ignore any kind of input that they either don't need or find inappropriate. That said, the problem with Tails' face is that his (I think) puffed cheeks don't seem to have enough contrast against his white muzzle, so some people just aren't seeing the graphics properly and it looks to them like he has an odd smirk on his face. This seems to be even less noticeable with the scanline effect, so perhaps it could just get fixed by darkening the shading a little more.
I've deliberately been as polite and positive as I can :v: . The game looks amazing. I still think that face looks ridiculous though. And my edit isn't supposed to be "whoah Laura's a way better pixelartist", I don't even know the basics of pixelart :v: . The edit is just supposed to show that I think Tails would look better if he isn't smiling in that pose. The devs would obviously make a way, way better sprite than I ever could. And I do think he's supposed to have a puffed cheek now, but it still looks incredibly dorky and offputting. And yes, I know this is incredibly nitpicky, but Whitehead, Thornley and PagodaWest wouldn't be real Sonic devs if they didn't have to put up with our green eyes esque criticisms :v:
My thoughts exactly. It gets me that this needs pointing out in a fandom community. Regarding Tails and the edits, adjusting the mouth is only part of the fix. The inside of his eyes need to be higher to give a more neutral look than the agressive look he has now.
