I think the problem with the OI and HC bosses is they build upon the original games' bosses...by making them worse. I think the Octopus looks cool, but the platforms falling down, the projectiles from the arms, I just think they needlessly complicate what was already a refined boss (avoid the projectiles and then attack Eggman when he becomes vulnerable). The second part of the HC boss is even more egregious, because it's exactly the same as the Sonic 3 boss except it's placed higher so it's harder to jump into it, which just makes it a more tedious waiting game. One of the problems I have with the Mania bosses is they don't want you to hammer away at the bosses and beat them in 30 seconds. But in reaching that goal, they often just have you wait around tediously for the boss to become vulnerable. Also, on the HC boss, I think I'll say this because I think it's funny for us hardcore fans to consider. But my mum actually played Sonic Mania! She hasn't played Sonic 3 since maybe 2001. But when she got to the HC boss she said "ah I remember this, they are just reusing this again". I don't think she remembered Hydrocity honestly, but the boss is so memorable even she remembered it. And she actually remembered how the old boss played and complained that this one was more tedious. Lol.
"Git gud"? I don't think he said something like that, but I agree not everyone playes the same way, and that boss wasn't exactly accessible for the general public. I also didn't find it that hard, but, when replaying it, it felt a lot easier on the first try of that run since I had more rings to scatter in case I got hit, which makes it easier to not lose them all under the oil. What I would have never included were the spike and laser phases from the original boss; those where tedious back then and didn't get better in Mania. That said, while I understand it may have needed fixes, I don't think they should have been the ones it got; it went from tricky to lame with no middle point. And yes, Knux was the character that asked for changes the most, I did have the issues other people had with this boss when playing as that character.
This is a really random post, but man. I love Chemical Plant Act 2 so much. I always thought that Wacky Workbench's whole bouncy floor gimmick COULD have been super cool and fun, the level design just made it a completely miserable experience, but accepted that no one would ever agree with me. Then Mania comes out, uses that gimmick perfectly in CPZ2 with the bouncy gel, and I was so happy that I was finally proven right
Mania is a succession of lame things made good, and good things made even better. Everytime I play it (which is a lot, I'm close to clocking 300 hours), I'm surprised by how...absolutely amazing the game is lol.
Chemical Plant 2 is one of the highlights of Mania, and actually ranks amongst my favourite Sonic levels of all time. It's just that good. I also happen to really like Oil Ocean 2 for taking a similarly derided gimmick (the lights of Sandopolis 2) and reworking it into something that's much more tolerable. It's another very good level.
I don't see how Oil Ocean in Mania handled that gimmick any better (or worse) than Sandopolis? Neither implementation gives me much trouble or grief. Certainly nowhere near as annoying as Wacky Workbench's gimmick.
Yeah, CP act2's level design is top-notch. I like how the act ascends. The science lab theme in the background looks so good and and having to press the syringe-thing to bounce higher is a clever idea. Also, I adore Tee lopes remix for this act.
The ghosts in Sandopolis were a real nuisance to handle. They don't give me any trouble as an adult, but I was a child when I first played S3K and I dreaded those things. They made Sandopolis way too difficult for me, and I really had to fully master the level and knocking the ghosts back in order to make it to the boss. Exploration was an absolute no-go with the around. Oil Ocean in Mania replaces the threat of enemies that can damage you with a much more forgiving ring drain. You'll never die from the smoke, and instead you'll only lose rings slowly. Plus you can escape into the submarines as well a bit of reprieve. It's all the same idea of pulling switches to reset the timer on a threat, but the punishment in Mania is far less severe.
My favorite part is the part where you jump on a springe, then into the green goo, and it shoots you up to a loop which leads to a springboard. Just when you're about to lose your speed, you hit a dash panel and it takes you up a pipe of sorts into a DNA elevator. It just flows so nicely and makes me very happy. :-)
Huh. This may actually get me to try the Epic Games store... Sega really loves pushing Epic for some reason.
Because Epic keeps giving out money wholesale to developers. Same reason why Colors Ultimate will be exclusive for up to a year.
Exactly this. When the Colours Ultimate site first went live, it listed Steam as a platform. Money talks, and SEGA is listening. Lots of publishers and indie developers are listening. Epic is throwing money out to companies for exclusivity deals, and takes less commission from sales than Valve does from Steam. It's a no-brainer for anyone seeking their games on PC, even if the Epic store has much less functionality than Steam and the launcher doesn't support all the features of Steam either. Epic's practices are scummy AF and aren't helping the consumer in any way at all. But Valve has had a practical monopoly in the market for far too long, so I can't call it the worst thing ever either. Personally, I'm more upset about the fact that Colours Ultimate is getting a "digital deluxe" edition that is available sooner than the standard digital or boxed versions. That's shitty. So incredibly shitty. Other companies like EA and Ubisoft have been mocked for this exact same practice recently, but clearly money talks once again. People will pay for early access, even if in reality it's regular access and everyone else just has the game arbitrarily withheld for several days. I'm not sure if it's the first SEGA game to try this, but the new Monkey Ball collection is doing the exact same thing so clearly SEGA are diving head first into it.
It's not, Judgment did it first in 2019, and Persona 5 Strikers did the same this year, it's been kind of a SEGA trend for a while and not exactly new.
Yeah, EPIC is also better than Steam for giving percentage of sales to developers. I'm not an expert on it, but one of my close friends is a software developer and he tells me that he has friends who have put games on EPIC and if they didn't put it on there (not exclusively) they might as well have not bothered. The exclusivity deals are very shady but I also think people have a bit of a black and white view of EPIC and Steam.
So it's a practice that's here to stay. Awesome... Mania being free EGS for a week or whatever four years after it released is fine. It's just everything that goes on behind closed doors that's shady.
Epic is pretty scummy as well. I remember some years ago an indie dev refused Epic's exclusivity because he wanted it on both Epic and Steam the same day and Epic simply barred him from their store. Anyway, games always sell better on Steam regardless of how long an Epic exclusive it stays so it's a win/win for companies; get paid by Epic and then actually sell your game later on on Steam. This year alone has had Persona 5 Strikers, Shin Megami Tensei III HD, Sonic Colors Ultimate, and Banana Mania so far. Wouldn't be surprised if Shin Megami Tensei V had one later in the year.
