Oh, okay, thanks for the info. I'll update my post. There wasn't any information on it that I could find other than just "there's a day one patch" with other people also asking for a source for that but never getting one. ...I'm guessing that maybe the day one patch might've gotten delayed due to the dev team being probably busy on whatever delayed the PC release?
I'm loving Mania so far. Finished Sonic & Tails playthrough with all Emeralds, and I've got all but two or three Blue Sphere stages beaten (and maybe half of them Perfect). I was so happy to see this as a Bonus Stage, it's my favorite in the series. The new Special Stage is pretty cool too. The jump/drift thing takes a little getting used to, but in a way sorta feels like taking a sharp turn in SR: Zero Gravity (a weird comparison, I know). I started a Knuckles game earlier and experiencing his unique paths after finishing the game as Sonic really takes me back to locking on S&K to Sonic 3 for the first time. I've been exploring a good bit, but the only bug I've come across was a Grabber in CPZ1 that dropped me through the floor to my death. I was Knuckles and in a narrow corridor. Otherwise, things seem pretty solid.
Gotta be honest, kinda wish there was something to do with the bonus stages after getting a perfect on all of them.
Spoiler Not a cheat per se, and not from the sound test, but you can change the monitor types in debug (B on Xbox) and place Super Sonic monitors. EDIT: extra clarification, spoiler-fied
So maybe I'm missing it, but where's the Sega chant from the 25th anniversary party? Remember how they said they were going to do put in the game like how they did it in Generations? It was cool being part of it with Generations and I thought it was going to be the same with Mania.
Anyone managed to get music rips of the Spoiler Angel Island and Heavy King music themes yet?(Sound Test numbers 31 and 32)
Those LRZ2 monitors actually aren't glitched. When you break them in the sercret room above they fall through (you can too to save time). But ya Super Transformation... You need to be mapped elsewhere. Or at least just make it so you have to press whatever button you didn't use to jump in the first place.
Phew, still shaking from the pressure. Fiiiiiiinally beat it with 'bad' ending on my original save. It really is just about getting good, no one should complain about it being too hard, I've seen a few complaints like that. I played much better today and earned lives and hardly lost any (okay so I'm still not amazing). Really fun game and imo definitely better than S3&K. I'm still awful at the special stages, so it's practice time.
So been gone a couple of days playing through Mania and now back to work so I have a few minutes to share some thoughts. Not sure on the spoilering situation here, and its a bit wordy so I have stuck it in a tab: Spoiler First up, incredible! Massive thank yous and congratulations to everyone involved in the development of Mania, it truly is a fantastic game. Played through it multiple times already and I would probably say it has already become my favourite Sonic game of all time, even despite the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia I see Sonic 3 & Knuckles through! I was so skeptical of the reused levels, but Lava Reef (and the subsequent Act 2 in Hidden Palace) and Oil Ocean are both insane. When I launched into the sky in Lava Reef and saw that background I was just speechless and left grinning like an idiot, I haven't felt like that from a game in such a long time. The special stages are also the best in the series, the first few are just fun and simple but for the fifth, sixth and seventh emerald they are intense. It took me multiple attempts to catch the sixth and I practically held my breath the entire time, they are so much fun. I also need to include a shout out to the boss fights - they are like boss fights on steroids! Caught me off guard every time! The soundtrack is also amazing but I had no doubts that this would be the case. I loved all the music and have found myself humming various tunes whilst not playing (the HBH theme seems to get stuck in my head the most) which is probably the biggest compliment I can give. Catchy, fun tracks is what Sonic is all about! Regarding music, not sure if anyone here knows or if its already been discussed but Mirage Saloon Act 1 has a little bit right before the Sky Chase Zone part plays that sounds like its from something else, I want to say a Sonic 3 competition mode track, but I am not sure, anybody know what it is or if I am making it up? Either way, I love it! My only negative with the actual game itself is the seemingly missing level transitions. Their absence is very noticeable, most likely because of how perfectly done the others are (I'm looking at you, Mirage Saloon > Oil Ocean) and I thought it confuses the story a little bit. Flying Battery to Press Garden and Stardust Speedway to Hydrocity are the main culprits for me here, particularly the latter as my inner child was going nuts thinking about how they fell from Little Planet to Angel Island. However, I have to admit this is just a small negative in the grand scheme of things and it's the only one I have with the actual game itself. (apologies if this has already been discussed, I haven't had the chance to read back through 30 pages!) My other nitpick is less about the game itself and more likely a result of what feels like a Sonic Team/Sega interference - the blatant tie in with Forces. I could type up a massive rant about how I don't like it and how I feel it tarnishes Mania slightly by association, but I won't. It's irritating that Mania, a project born from passion that hits the nail on the head and does Sonic right, is linked with the soulless Forces we have coming in November. We all guessed it was coming from the second we saw Classic Sonic in the Project 2017 trailer, but it still irritates me. Don't get me wrong, I still love Mania and I am still overjoyed that it was given the go ahead and made, it just feels like a bad choice to have essentially made Mania a Forces prequel. My hope for the future is that we don't get a Mania 2, but actually the completely original Discovery that was initially pitched - new levels, classic Sonic gameplay, no dodgy links with the main branch of the franchise. Admittedly, if we got a Mania 2 and it was more of the same (remixed old zones, handful of new ones) then I would still be ecstatic, but I am hoping the success of Mania will show the higher ups that these guys are very capable of continuing the Classic branch of Sonic the Hedgehog into the future without the need for constant callbacks and rehashes. I know how negative I sounded at the end there, but it was just something that got under my skin and I needed to vent. I can guarantee it won't spoil the fun I am having with Mania! TL;DR Sonic Mania is amazing and easily the best game in the series since Sonic 3 & Knuckles, if not better. I truly hope for more from these guys in the future.
Saying that no one should complain about it being too hard because you did well isn't a good argument. If someone was really good at Dark Souls that doesn't mean Dark Souls isn't hard. And "you should get good" isn't a valid argument. Mania is too hard for the average platformer fan because it doesn't explain its challenges well, it has vague, confusing bosses and it throws BS instakills at the player (most commonly crushes) with very little to no warning. And this irritation is heightened by game over reverting the player to Act One with no chance to backtrack into earlier levels to gain lives until you have won the game. The difficulty in Mania is very poorly balanced, it's by far the weakest element of the game. It doesn't bother players like us because we have been playing Sonic for decades, but it doesn't account for the other wide range of other players who could pick up Mania. I've watched my family play Sonic Mania and even my brother, who's a very good gamer who's beaten all the Souls games and Ninja Gaiden Black on hard, had difficulty and frustration with the game. And he's good at Sonic, he beat Sonic 2 and Sonic and Knuckles countless times on Mega Drive. He's just not the Sonic wizards that we are.
Minor quibble: You can't re-watch the opening cutscene from a completed save file. It just starts you up at the title card of the first Zone. Ideally, selecting Zone 1 should start you up at Zone 1, but selecting the "Clear" icon should take you to the opening. Cool bit: + - In Press Garden Zone Act 2 if you stand next to an ice block or icey spikes with a fire shield they will melt/shatter.
Eh, so the special stages have some frame-rate issues on Switch? That's what happens with an outsiurced port I guess.
The developers hit a home run with shields reacting with environments. It's kinda like, "That makes sense! That's how it's suppose to be!!" I'm really curious -- so, moving forward, it's important that the game continues to innovate in some areas to keep everyone's interests in the long-term. Aside from 100% new levels/experiences, is there any ways/ideas for them to innovate in future titles while still staying retro? Personally, I think continuing/expanding on environmental interactivity is the way to go. See: Oil Ocean. That was just ... the coolest level for me to play. The first time that fire shield hits the oil, and ACTUALLY COMBUSTS EVERYTHING. I'm surprised I couldn't use that as a weapon against enemies who were touching oil, or near it. Maybe in the future.... And the weather effects was cool too. Definitely changed the gameplay up so it wasn't same ol same ol.
Oh ya did anyone see this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WosV9Y4l79Y We have a new SA2 Knuckles rap in celebration of Sonic Mania! I think it's ridiculous but that's why I kinda love it.
Anyone else saw this Sonic Colors reference in Studiopolis? https://gfycat.com/gifs/detail/HeartyMassiveAiredaleterrier I love how the transitions are timed to how you'd have to jump to stay in that spot as well.
I don't think it's any harder than other classic Sonic games. If someone can do well on a third session of a last stage I'd say that it's hardly brutal. Hard indeed! But not unfair. Getting good... okay fine it sounds silly. I think it is a valid argument for what I was talking about. If I agreed that the stage had unfair hazards then it wouldn't be, but I don't. I actually think that you just need to 'get good'. Should you need to? Who knows. But I did, and it worked. Crushing is something I died a lot with. It's a really true hazard in the last 2 zones, and while I fell victim, I still don't think it's bad. To elaborate on 'getting good': It's very easy to get crushed with no way to move out the way granted, BUT its also possible to not get into that tight situation if you are very careful. Only when I changed how I approached and handled things did I succeed. I don't see a problem with that, I got very frustrated all those times I died, it only heightened my satisfaction when I mastered it. I agree new players will find it difficult, they'll also probably be spending a lot more time in earlier zones learning if their skill level is that low. As I said I don't think its any harder than other classics. Do you mean that the last stages are way higher difficulty than the others, quite suddenly? I'd definitely agree there - doesn't mean the levels are too difficult in a vacuum though.
