The original story is so much better. For a start, it actually explains why you visit old areas. The phantom ruby is so confusing and nonsensical in Mania. Another change is I'm assuming the original story would make it clear that Eggman and the HBH are enemies at the beginning. While in Mania it isn't at all apparent until right at the end. I'm wondering when the story was changed. The old story seems to line up with what Whitehead was saying in the earliest interviews after the games announcement.
The end-of-act jingle was replaced with the Sonic 3 version at the request of Sega, according to Taxman.
I love the idea of the Hard Boiled Heavies being a motley crue of abandonware Eggrobo rejects, instead of being Elite Eggrobo Units Modified By The Phantom Ruby. Eggman's robot army gaining sentience and organizing themselves in his absence would've been a much cooler story, one that expands upon the themes you can see in the classic games, and which would've made revisiting old concepts and scrapped badniks a brilliant experience.
I'm more surprised they were allowed to keep as much of their story as they did. Too bad about the forced (ha!) integration.
I get that more I’m surprised they’re allowed to show this stuff now. Finally got to listen to the unused credits theme, I wish they refined this version a bit more, I like it more than the final lol. But I’m glad they replaced the end act music with the Sonic 3 act clear jingle.
I honestly feel like the final credits might fit a little better, even if I like this better as a standalone piece of music. Ultimately what I really feel is that the credits are long enough that they could have fit in both… I feel like this unused one would be a nice cooldown after it opens with the final one. I do prefer the Sonic 3 act clear jingle, but as mentioned before, having it play on the Act 2s might be neat. I'd love a mod that does both of those things, lol.
I like that you’ve spelt this like the band instead of “motley crew.” But on the topic, yeah, the original story concept is so much fucking better but we’ve known most of it for years. It’s annoying they changed it around to fit in with Mania, but what are you gonna do? There is a little bit of a lack of artistry at SEGA lately, and I don’t like it. I don’t know if it’s their franchises breaking out in the west, a change in strategy, or what, but everything is getting too “commercial” and in a way that doesn’t compete with the actual “big” publishers. It’s like they’re throwing away the competitive advantage which were their unique games. Sonic never had the luxury of really doing whatever it wanted, but making games tie-in for no reason didn’t really have a precedent. Though I did see kids drooling over Sonic toys at toy store the past few weeks so that’s a good sign.
Oh yeah. Sonic's star is rising in a huge way right now. The movies really boosted Sonic's profile, and SEGA is finally capitalizing on it.
I agree with this decision, but the original version should have been for Act 2 completions. The music segment of the franchise as a whole, while giving us stellar sounds, has always seemed to lack consistency and the act clear theme dating back to Sonic 3 is something that should be consistent at the very least. I’m always disappointed when it’s not there.
So a few days ago, I took a shot in the dark and Tee Lopes answered. I’m always curious about composition order, even more so when there are variations between the acts. He confirmed that he composed Mirage Saloon Act 2 before Act 1! https://twitter.com/teelopes/status/1695873693614772347?s=46&t=97z_WCjPn1lxYJBgxYT0MA https://twitter.com/everydimecounts/status/1695872133526847843?s=46&t=97z_WCjPn1lxYJBgxYT0MA
I would 100% believe that. I feel like act 2 was designed 1st since the main act 1 is a sky chase like
If I recall correctly, Act 2 was shown off first and people were rather confused by it. Doesn't surprise me at all that development and composition for Act 2 took place first, it's a more traditional level compared to both Act 1s.
I remember hearing this version of the story banded around in some pre-publicity for Mania, so it's interesting to see it laid out here in full. Of particular note is the idea the player would face the Hard-Boiled Heavies at the end of new stages only, suggesting at one point they hoped to make five new Zones rather than four. Given how different the theming is for each Act of Press Garden Zone - indoor printing press vs. outdoor Japanese gardens - it makes me wonder whether the dev team may originally have conceptualised these themes for two separate Zones, and then mashed the two ideas together when they realised they'd only have scope to do four new Zones. I'd be interested to ask any of the developers this directly to see whether this was the case, or whether it's just a coincidence that there's this one odd fusion-theme Zone thrown into the mix.
