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Sonic Mania Plus SPOILER THREAD with UNMARKED spoilers!

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Harmony Friends, Apr 25, 2018.

  1. FollOw

    FollOw

    The sun sets forever over Black Water Park Oldbie
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    That makes sense..... ill probably just take a few high quality pictures at best then....
     
  2. Blue Blood

    Blue Blood

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    How does the Angel Island glitch work? Do you just have to enter debug mode as soon as the level loads? I'm having no luck accomplishing that on Switch.
     
  3. CollectiveWater

    CollectiveWater

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    Was that version of Green Hill after Angel Island the Mania mode one? (Guessing GHZ Act 2 had Ray 1-Up monitors since you finished Act 1 and started Act 2 with him. Thought maybe it was the Encore version of GHZ without the palette loaded at first, but now I don't think so--would be interesting if it was possible to play Encore zones with the original Mania mode palettes, though.) And if so does this mean you can play all of Mania mode with a combination of Mighty or Ray with another character? Would love to do Ray+Tails, Mighty+Knuckles, Ray+Sonic, Mighty+Sonic, and Mighty+Ray runs through Mania mode, if so. Yet another cool find OcelotBot!
     
  4. TheOcelot

    TheOcelot

    Scooty Puff Jr sucks! Member

    Haha, thanks.

    I'm saving the two spare Mania-mode slots for Amy & Metal dlc :v:

    I recommend you use no-save mode, because it's slightly easier to get it to work rather than using a save-mode slot. Once you have enabled debug mode, start the game and press the button for debug mode (square for PS4, Y for Switch etc) literately just before the Angel Island cut-scene starts. If it works correctly you will be in debug mode when the cut-scene starts.


    Thanks.

    If you let the cutscene (where Heavy Magician revives the other heavies) playout, then you are transported to Mania-mode Green Hill. You will have the Mania-mode special stages. You can collect all chaos emeralds and get the Mania-mode good ending.

    If you skip the cutscene (where Heavy Magician revives the other heavies), then you are transported to Green Hill, still with the Mania-mode rules, but with the Encore palettes. If you enter a special stage or bonus stage the game always resets to the title screen once you've finished the act you're playing.

    As far as I'm aware you cannot change your AI partner, only your main character (by using the character-swap item-box). So it's kind of a &Mighty or &Ray mode :D
     
  5. Dunno if this is an echoed sentiment, but I am very positive in my mind that Encore Layout Mirage Saloon Zone is the best zone in the game. It has such a stellar, exploration/platforming fueled act 1 coupled with great speed moments, and an AMAZING fast breezy Act 2 to keep the zone at a brisk pace. It helps that the new Act 1 feels like the best designed level in the history of this game, both in how its layouts and TONS of routes make use of Encore Mode's switch mechanic seamlessly, and how fun it is to play even with just a single character via Time Attack. It's so, so good.
     
  6. CollectiveWater

    CollectiveWater

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    Very cool!

    Folks have probably seen it, but if not, CodenameGamma has been doing fun modifications of "Plus." The coolest so far being having the "SegaSonic" crew in Mania mode:

    Having all three on screen and the AI behaving like it does in Sonic & Tails Mania mode is so cool. I think it looks great, and having the original "SegaSonic" crew is so fitting. Would be rad if this ever becomes an official part of the game. (Though I get that having a third AI might introduce weird issues that would require further work that perhaps the team can no longer do.) I imagine getting this working well would also make Sonic+Tails+Knuckles work well, too.

    CodenameGamma has some other interesting "Plus" modications, like Encore character swapping in Mania mode and 4-player (three AI) Encore mode. Neat, but not as cool as the "SegaSonic" 3-player (two AI) Mania mode. 4-player (three AI) Encore mode is honestly too many on screen at the same time and looks kinda bad; 3 seems to be the maximum you can do with it still looking good.

    If there ends up being a "Sonic Mania 2" (or otherwise named sequel), Sonic+Tails+Knuckles and Sonic+Mighty+Ray (if the latter two are brought back) would be nice additions! (Though understandable if that's absent due to it being too much work to resolve any issues adding a third AI brings.)
     
  7. XCubed

    XCubed

    Will Someday Own a Rent-A-Center Oldbie
    Whoops! I guess it was something I never realized as my playthroughs have been all the way through and not restarting an Act 1 and finding a Special Stage I've entered. It's just weird to me that only "some" Act 1 data is saved. Being able to farm after initially getting to the end of the game is a good compromise. I haven't spoiled the bad ending for Encore Mode yet, so I'm definitely going to get there before getting all the emeralds.

    As for the transitions, I meant the Hydrocity -> Mirage Saloon. I was expecting a bit more.

    BUT Honestly, the removal of the time limit has changed everything for the better!
     
  8. I noticed something fun last night that I'm not sure has been mentioned yet. In Encore mode, when underwater in Hydrocity, you can cheat death from drowning by swapping characters. It may not help much depending on who got a bubble last, but it did save me at least once. In general its just amusing.

    What's also amusing is swimming as Ray. I love it.
     
  9. Endgame

    Endgame

    Formerly The Growler Member
    OK, this is getting annoying now.

    Every time I load up Mania after turning my computer on, my anti-virus keeps blocking it when I start up a game. I keep whitelisting Sonicmania.exe, but for some reason it's not there again the next time - not matter how many times I click "save" on it.


    On a side-note, it's a shame there aren't any new achievements to go with Plus.
     
  10. I got my copy in the mail earlier this week, and my heart sank when I saw two huge stickers on the back of the holographic box. Why would anyone ruin something like this:
    [​IMG]

    (There's an even bigger one on the bottom uuugggggh.)

    Oh well, the rest of the package makes up for it. Just reading the text in the art book shows how happy the team was with this physical release. I got a kick out of the Special Thanks ending with: "... and you!" At first I never expected Mania to give fans of the 8-bit games so many winks (if any), but I love it!

    I also got a letter in my package telling me the promotional pin would be sent later. This caught me by surprise because I didn't even know I was getting one to begin with, and I still don't really know what that's about. But hey, I'm not complaining. I'll post a picture when it gets here.

    Encore Mode is great. I still dislike the new level palettes (going back to Mania Mode just reinforced how dull/weird these swaps look), but the character swap mechanics are surprisingly fun. They're a lot more intuitive than they seem, and once you grasp which monitor does what and how you can take advantage of this, this mode quickly becomes its own beast rather than an afterthought. For some reason, I got Mighty and Tails paired up really frequently, but I liked playing as Mighty and Ray the most, not just because they're new, but also because they're just so much fun.

    At first I didn't find Ray all that useful, but that's because I moronically assumed he could only ascend as much as Cape Mario. He became much more fun to use when I realized that wasn't the case. I still don't know if I prefer him over Mighty, though. Mighty's invulnerability to spikes and projectiles is really useful, and the Hammer Drop is fun to use on slopes and where things would normally bounce you off. I also found it useful to stop on a dime when I'm accidentally bumped backwards.

    The new audio is surprisingly disappointing compared to the original stuff. Angel Island still sounds great, and I like the new rendition of Trap Tower (even if the guitar is a little weird), but the remaining tracks and most of the new sound effects feel oddly out of place. I don't like how ominous Double Take sounds for no reason (the endings to Encore Mode are even more lighthearted than the originals, so...) From what I've read in this thread, Tee Lopes wasn't involved in the new tracks, and I don't find it surprising if that really is the case. They're not "bad", but yeah.

    The new bonus stage isn't as great as I thought it would be, but as far as having an actual purpose goes, it's still better than Blue Spheres by a long shot. I'm glad it becomes the default bonus stage if you have all the gold medallions, since it's at least good for something, especially in Encore Mode where you'd want to have as many characters as possible at all times. I also enjoyed the new, harder Special Stages. The cat-and-mouse thing with the UFO gets pretty hectic in these new layouts.

    Oh yeah, I almost forgot... Everyone is right about the new Mirage Saloon act 1. I've only played it a couple of times, but both times I played it felt almost completely different. Really good level design in this.

    Would I say Plus is worth the extra $5? That's a big, fat yes. Despite a few minor shortcomings, Encore Mode, Mighty, and Ray more than make up for that price tag. Of course I still double-dipped and went for the physical version anyway, because... Look at it! It's physical, it's shiny, it has an art book, and the reversible cover looks great! I only wish it came with the soundtrack outside Japan, but I'll take what I can get.
     
  11. Fred

    Fred

    Taking a break Oldbie
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    Yeah, the IGAC can eat a fucking dick. I peeled mine off by melting the glue with my breath and carefully pulling it with my fingernails. Worked great.
     
  12. I might just try that, though I'm more worried about the giant sticker with the translation on the bottom. I guess having that stuff on the shrink wrap would have made too much sense.
     
  13. Blue Blood

    Blue Blood

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    I don't get where those stickers could have come from. My copies birth came wrapped in a thin plastic cover. Had they been on store shelves with any stickers attached, they would only have been on the plastic covering that you need to take off to open the thing up. Are some retailers still opening up packages, even ones being delivered direct to customers? That's bull.
     
  14. TimmiT

    TimmiT

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Member
    Hunty has said on Twitter who composed the new tracks in Plus: https://twitter.com/HunterBridges/status/1020418829971685376

    Double Take (the Plus save select music) and Trap Tower (the pinball bonus stage music) were composed by Falk, Back In Action (the Mighty & Ray cutscene) was composed by Hunty.
     
  15. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    I've probably mentioned this around the original Mania release, but I'm so glad that they're properly using the capital "T" in "The Hedgehog".
     
  16. CollectiveWater

    CollectiveWater

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    Man, Falk did an incredible job. Like I said before, I would have just assumed "Double Take" and "Trap Tower" were done by Tee unless told otherwise. Both are so damn good. I wonder if working alongside Tee on the original game helped him capture his style as closely as he did. (And even though "Back In Action" is very short it's also well-done.)

    Hunty didn't mention who did "Angel Island," so it was likely still Tee. (Of course it's a rendition of the original song from "Sonic 3," which was composed by… well, probably several people, ha. Y'all know the drill about 3K song credits. I honestly have no idea which of the various composers people *think* are the ones responsible for the original "Angel Island.")

    And yeah bummer about the stickers on your packaging, HP Zoner. I once had a nice worker at a video store where I bought some Blu-rays lightly apply a heat gun toward a huge sticker on one of the packages to easily remove it, and it worked pretty well. Apparently some people just use a hair dryer (they get warm after a while). You still want to be careful doing that because applying too much heat can obviously warp plastic/the packaging. But yeah it can work pretty well at removing pesky unwanted stickers. (Damn stickers on all packaging that isn't shrink wrap; it should be banished.)

    Also nice tip saintminya!
     
  17. Axanery

    Axanery

    Member
    Yep, I found out the other day I was wrong about Hunter composing the other two and edited my videos' descriptions as well. You can't see from the image, but Falk did arrange everything after Tee for Angel Island.
     
  18. CollectiveWater

    CollectiveWater

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    So Falk did everything after the first 14 seconds of "Angel Island" (which Tee did for the original game)? That's some insane wizardry if so; it seamlessly blends so well. Still a bit unsure why they didn't just have Tee come back and do all the tracks, but I guess he was preoccupied with "Mania Adventures." (He did a great job with the music on that.)

    Has anyone been able to figure out what Hyperkinetic specifically did on Encore/"Plus"? Their logo getting such prominent treatment at boot-up and in the end credits seems to indicate they did a lot of work on it. Would be interesting to know what they did on the project. (My guess is perhaps a lot of the Encore palette work.)
     
  19. foXcollr

    foXcollr

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    This actually explains it perfectly! Double Take sounds a lot like Falk, and if it's true that he did all the mastering for Mania then it makes sense that he could build off of the original Angel Island, having worked with it already for vanilla Mania. It would also explain the completely different guitar vst in Trap Tower.
     
  20. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    ...Isn't it just the original composition from Sonic 3's Angel Island or am I missing something here?