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Sonic Mania Plus (Consoles Physical; PC Digital) - Non-Leaks Thread

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Chris Highwind, Mar 16, 2018.

  1. Darth Taco

    Darth Taco

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    Not sure if known but Captain Aaron confirmed on Sonic Official stream today (though pricing is tba) that you can get Plus as DLC for the digital versions :ruby:
     
  2. 360

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    Yeah I watched the stream earlier and there were a few Mania-related tidbits of info. Yours is the main one in terms of a DLC upgrade for existing Mania owners along with him and his team working hard to make the physical release happen given the overwhelming requests for one with special attention paid to the artbook that they worked hard on. That and Sonic Mania Adventures episode 1 is due within 3 weeks, the episodes are short in length at ~2 minutes or so and there's an overarching storyline to them. Only other info I recall being of note is that they're working on getting Europe added to the Sega shop. For anyone that missed the stream it was basically just a recap of SXSW without anything major announced. Next one is in 2 weeks and they said it's possible Mania Adventures episode 1 will drop before the next stream hits.

    Hopefully we'll see news of Mania 2 being announced before the year is out. Sonic Mania Plus should do well given the demand for it which should only embolden them to deliver a sequel.
     
  3. big smile

    big smile

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    Do we know if there will be a digital version of the artbook for those who purchase the DLC? Thanks!
     
  4. McAleeCh

    McAleeCh

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    Hope so - that'd be a nice inclusion. As someone who owns none of the consoles the physical version will be available on, being able to have a PDF or other digital version of the artbook would be great.

    Quick note - I've noticed people pointing out Ray's new shoes are inspired by his Archie Comics design; has anyone pointed out his ears have also followed suit? In SegaSonic the Hedgehog and the Ohshima concept art that was recently posted he has round ears that are smaller than Sonic's; in Mania Plus the ears have kept their smaller size, but are pointy like his Archie Comics design.

    EDIT: Hmm, actually, disregard that - it only seems to be Ohshima's later design which has the rounded ears. Looking at images of Kusunoki's original design the ears are pointy there, and the in-game graphics in SegaSonic seem inconsistent as to whether they're round or pointy - his title screen graphics actually have the nearest ear round and the farthest one pointy...! XD
     
  5. Dark Sonic

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    ^ I'm ok with Ray's redesign (Actually that makes Ray one of the only classic characters to ever receive a redesign that wasn't a classic to modern redesign, so that's kinda neat). Since Ray was only in one game any other takes are somewhat unofficial anyway, since he may have been redesigned but said design was never used. The Mania Plus look helps him kind of fall in line with the other characters while also giving him something to stick out a bit more, so I think that's a good look for him.

    Eh, it has GHZ patterns but at least it still laid out the same way as in Sonic 3. Honestly I thought it looked kinda nice, I didn't mind that change (although there's an odd patch of grass in the Knuckles intro that looks like the tile was placed backwards, that always bugged me).

    And who knows? Maybe that's what happened naturally after Angel Island got over that massive fire :v:
     
  6. McAleeCh

    McAleeCh

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    Oh, I agree - nice to see Ray having some design tweaks to make him more distinct. Hopefully him and Mighty will get interesting movesets to further differentiate them, too - I'm sure the Mania team understands the importance of giving characters their own unique quirks gameplay-wise.

    It could be tough in this case as the existing layouts haven't been made with Mighty/Ray in mind, though it's useless to speculate until we have more info on Encore Mode and exactly what the entails. Based on what little's been said about "changing up the levels" and "offering a new challenge", I wouldn't be that surprised if it ends up being a Mighty/Ray only mode with new layouts for some of the existing stages - a sort of "Act 3 & 4" for a selection of Zones, using existing art/objects to create new layouts based around whatever Mighty/Ray's movesets end up being. This would allow the team to go with whatever they can dream up for the new characters' movesets without having to worry about altering existing levels to accommodate them, though not sure how this would work re: the 4-player multiplayer as presumably any character would be selectable there. Plus, a Mighty/Ray icon for Encore Mode on the main menu would be a nice companion to Mania Mode's Sonic/Tails/Knuckles icon...! = P

    ...And yes, I do realise the irony of saying it's useless to speculate and then going off on a massive speculative thought train, haha. Apologies for the hypocrisy there! XD

    Guess the darker streaks must be scorch marks, haha! XD
     
  7. runde

    runde

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    Aw man! Don't tempt me to make a test sprite for a Sonic Bubsy!
     
  8. Dark Sonic

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    I'd rather Encore mode be open to all, same with the regular mode. I'm sure whatever move set they give Mighty and Ray will fit into what's already there, judging from their past appearances we already know that they play similar to Sonic at the very least. If they do that then they should be able to get through any level no problem, even if they give Mighty his Wall Jump from Chaotix and Ray some kind of glide power similar to the cape from Super Mario World or whatever.

    Speaking of Mighty though, one thing I'm curious about is if he'll be able to access Knuckles paths? Mighty is supposedly strong, although we've never seen that in game, so you'd think he'd be able to punch through walls like Knuckles can, and with his wall jump he could clear most of Knuckles obstacles (with the exception of the glide over the pit in Lava Reef Act 2, that'd have to be adjusted). I also wonder how they plan on addressing Mirage Saloon and the intro. I'm assuming Mighty and Ray will have their own story sort of so they won't have the Tornado, I doubt they'd start on Angel Island, and Mirage Saloon Act 1 would be a mystery since neither acts make sense for them (unless they just give Ray a plane or access to the Tornado which would be... idk kinda lazy?). Personally I'm imagining an intro that'd play as a Chaotix call back, with Mighty and Ray hanging out in that intro zone where Knuckles finds Espio, only to be transported to GHZ due to Phantom Ruby wackiness.

    I wonder if Mighty and Ray mode would mix things up a bit though. Mirage Saloon's an oddball, but a desert environment makes sense for Mighty. Maybe that could be Mighty and Ray's intro stage and the stage order could be mixed up for those two to give the game a bit of a different feel. I certainly wouldn't be against it.
     
  9. big smile

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    ^ I think Mighty was only strong in the Archie comics. He never had that ability in the games. Then again, Ray's new shoes draw inspiration from Archie, so who knows what other influences it may have.
     
  10. Dark Sonic

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    Mighty was also strong in the Fleetway comics IIRC. So it's implied that he's strong, he's just never in any games that have shown that. In SegaSonic arcade they were all Sonic clones, one would think Ray could fly or glide but he cannot in that game, same goes for Mighty. Mighty was in Chaotix, but that's another example of there's no reason to show off that ability. Not even Knuckles can break through walls in Chaotix as breakable walls just didn't exist in that game.

    There's not a lot to work with with either character. They may have been in the classic era but they were in the weird parts of the classic era. Vector, Espio, and Charmy were heavily overhauled when Heroes came out and they gave them new abilities (They're musicians now, Espio and turn invisible, Vector can shoot bubbles for some reason and can glide when he previously had an air dash, and Charmy can activate flowers). While I don't think this appearance will be as extreme a departure as those guys, SegaSonic arcade and Chaotix don't give a lot to work with ability wise, I mean unless Ray's gimmick is going to be you can only play through the game with a trackball.
     
  11. RetroKoH

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    Um...

    [​IMG]

    Just saying... this COULD (read: SHOULD) be a thing???
     
  12. Dark Sonic

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    I more meant that given their in game appearances there's not a lot to work with (Mighty's only special ability with what we have is a wall jump, Ray has nothing). That'd be an interesting gimmick, hopefully it could expand beyond just item monitors though. Maybe he could throw sets of spikes at enemies or he could carry rocks to places that might help him cross gaps or reach places he otherwise couldn't. Or maybe he could carry and throw a partner character like in Chaotix
     
  13. Drex

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    Yeah, he could do it, but why, though? Throw it at an enemy? Would you have to press up + jump to grab the item box and then up + Jump again to throw at an enemy? Seems clunky and I can't see a better way to do it using only one button.

    Placing an object on a button could be a thing, but even that would feels off. The ability is basically only useful to complete a chore rather than enhance gameplay.

    Heh... Yeah. Just kind of hate it losing a bit of its identity by making it look like yet another Green Hill clone. I also think the pattern clashes a bit with the slightly more realistic setting of Angel Island and the other outdoor, natural environments in S3K like Marble Garden and Mushroom Hill.
     
  14. Dark Sonic

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    I wouldn't call it a clone exactly, but I bet one of the reasons it was done was so it could be more in line with Sonic 1/2's art style. Sonic Mania definitely leans more towards those games than 3K, so they probably just wanted to bring Angel Island in line a bit so that it didn't clash with the rest of the game. I imagine if Mushroom Hill and Marble Garden were in the game they would have received similar updates.
     
  15. Creature SH

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    There's also the matter of putting together a whole bunch of assets for a quick fake-out. And when you already have a perfectly good grass element ready to go...
     
  16. Drex

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    Editing out existing grass and replacing it with grass from another level to save time? Nah, it was definitely an artistic choice, but one I don't agree with. Changing the grass would've been fine if it were still unique.

    Sonic 2 had realistic outdoor settings too (Aquatic Ruin Zone) and possibly Sonic CD as well so I don't think that's the reasoning behind it. If anything, I think they're just trying to tie together the trope of the first Zone of every Sonic game being a variation of Green Hill Zone
     
  17. I was just thinking, and what are they going to do with mighty and ray in regards to the ending?

    if i had to take a guess I'd say that they have a sprite-based ending cutscene (or the ending cutscnene is edited to have them in it)
     
  18. TheOcelot

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    I hope they have some kind of ending cutscene. It would be disappointing if it was like Sonic CD (2011) where you didn't have an ending cutscene when playing as Tails.

    Come to think of it, what about the beginning cutscene in Angel Island? I mean, I wouldn't expect it to be like Sonic & Tails intro; with Mighty on top of the Tornado and Ray piloting (and with Mighty piloting when playing with Ray). It also seems unlikely Mighty and Ray will start from the same location which Knuckles does (lower down in Angel Island and then ending-up lower down in Green Hill).

    It would be super interesting if Mighty and Ray get a different starting point in Green Hill. Maybe a different cutscene where they get warped to GH after encountering the Hard-Boiled Heavies (in possession of the phantom ruby). Perhaps Team Mania will expand Green Hill act 1 and give Mighty and Ray their own unique routes?

    Also, I wonder if Mighty and Ray will get their own original act for Mirage Saloon Act1. Them using the Tornado (again like Sonic & Tails) in act1 seems unlikely and Knuckles route would need to be reworked to allow Mighty and Ray to make it through. So, maybe giving Mighty and Ray their own unique act for Mirage Saloon act1 would be a better option. Perhaps expand Eggman's train-make it much longer and play most of the act (with Mighty and Ray) moving across the train??? It's disappointed that Sonic and Tails route across the train is so short.
     
  19. Sir_mihael

    Sir_mihael

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    Mighty and Ray having a different order of Hard Boiled Heavies to fight would also be very ace.

    Maybe Mighty and Ray have to fight the Final Heavies at the end of TMZ Act 2 instead of Eggman, but occasionally the Phantom Ruby warps them to Eggman for five-ten seconds. Basically the flip-reverse of the regular 'final' Boss fight.
     
  20. big smile

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    I hope they replace & Knuckles with Arcade mode, so you can have three characters on screen on once. It would be neat to have Sonic, Mighty and Ray together (not to mention Sonic, Tails and Knuckles together or Mighty and Ray as a Sonic/Tails alternative or even just Ray and Tails together).