Sonic Mania Plus SPOILER THREAD with UNMARKED spoilers!

Yeah, on my first run of encore I was doing the same thing (just popping open all monitors and adjusting my playstyle accordingly). On replays I've tried to just stick with Mighty/Ray.

Also, you can manually control the combi catcher left/right for a brief period (it will automatically descend if you take too long after initiating control). Figured I'd bring this up just in case you've actually been waiting for the catcher to eventually line up with what you want (like I did for a whole playthrough).

 

I've gotta get some more playtime in as Mighty. I find his drop so jarring and momentum killing and unfun currently, I've just been having a blast with Ray instead. I'd probably stop grappling with it so much if you could use it to get a HUGE vertical bounce off enemies. Anyone have any tips for how to best use him?

 

Mighty has a small handful of neat, but pretty situational benefits with his drop attack:

-can shoot straight through those funnels in Studiopolis 2 that you normally spin around in first
-no rebound on breakable-rock type surfaces, so you can shoot right into the Chemical Plant pipes and also destroy such surfaces all in one go if they're stacked (like the ruined pillars in Press Garden 1, the ice in Press Garden 2, etc)
-can break the saws in Press Garden 1's boss fight
-can destroy the chompers that spawn off the vines in Stardust Speedway 1
-the range on the ground slam can damage the Chemical Plant 1 boss while it's bouncing (pretty tricky)

You can also get a decent speed boost by using it off of slopes, but they have to be fairly steep. Honestly, most of Mighty's utility comes in his defensive traits against projectiles and spikes.

...and a small thing I like doing is charging up a full spindash when an Act 2 capsule is off screen and then using the drop to easily land on it :v:

 

Honestly, Mighty is Easy Mode Sonic but not very speed-conductive for Time Attack. While his slams allow for skipping certain little obstacles and not being impeded by breakables, it's minor time shaves at best compared to the Drop Dash and Shield power usefulness Sonic gets. This is combined with the fact that aside from the occasional added hole in the ground, basically no level design accommodates for Mighty, so he doesn't have many opportunities to use his Hammer Drop uniquely, just the defensive capabilities that let him cheese enemies and bosses compared to Ray just outright cheesing all horizontal level design and some tricky jumps altogether. It's why Ray gets all the attention, since Mighty's abilities aren't all that special in comparison.

 

Wow thanks! I actually didn't know that. Not that it's much help for me though since I just skip bonus stages once I get all the characters :v:

 

I've seen bits and pieces, but not enough to get any technique down before playing it myself. I was able to stick close to his chest and actually thought I was going to die right before my last hit as I landed on crumbling ground!

Simple: Strength/Defense (Mighty) and freedom of controlled exploration (Tails). Although I used Ray (and Mighty) to spam the FBZ special stage ring. I've been able to get to the Ring with Ray in 9 seconds! I finally got the 7th emerald after about 30ish failed attempts and discovered this is the only special stage that requires Mach 3. You run out of rings before you can reach it at Mach 2. Afterwards I went directly to TMZ and lost Mighty at the Act 1 boss (lost all my rings while super!) then the rest at the Final Boss. The freaky thing is that I had about 16 continues and only came back with Ray. It's so strange having really only one life and coming back from continues so quickly! They definitely made it more difficult and longer, but it was great! I've seen the Super ending once before, but I missed so many details that I caught when I beat it myself. Eggmsn still tiptoes away until the Phantom Ruby goes rouge then make a run for the tram before the super crew knocks him in. I love the animations in this game!!

 

Finally got that last Chaos Emerald (Thanks to McAleeCh for your help!)

What are the different endings in Sonic Mania Plus?
I have managed to get the following two: (Warning: Spoiler tags contain major story content spoilers).

1) Encore mode - No Chaos Emeralds

Spoiler

Heavy King randomly stands after the final fight

2) Encore mode - All Chaos Emeralds

Spoiler

The 5 heroes rush pass Eggman and then go to Mirage Saloon for a gag

Are there any others? Please only detail the unlock methods (Use spoiler tags for the actual contents, like I have above). Thanks!

 

While I haven't beaten it yet, I've only heard of those two. I think it's just the usual good ending/bad ending that every other 2D game has.

 

Speaking of special stage ring locations; I've done a two-part playthrough of Encore mode showing-off all special stage ring locations I've found.

Part1:

Spoiler

Special Stage Ring Locations:

GH act1 #1 3:05
GH act1 #2 6:02

GH act2 #3 9:55
GH act2 #4 12:10

CP act1 #5 15:58
CP act1 #6 19:00
CP act1 #7 21:37

CP act2 #8 25:45
CP act2 #9 26:50
CP act2 #10 27:40

SP act1 #11 30:25
SP act1 #12 31:10
SP act1 #13 32:40

SP act2 #14 37:00
SP act2 #15 38:30

FB act1 #16 39:50
FB act1 #17 43:00
FB act1 #18 43:25

FB act2 #19 45:50
FB act2 #20 47:35

PG act1 #21 52:35
PG act1 #22 55:10
PG act1 #23 56:25

PG act2 #24 58:00
PG act2 #25 58:50
PG act2 #26 1:00:10

SS act1 #27 1:02:40
SS act1 #28 1:04:00
SS act1 #29 1:05:20

SS act2 #30 1:09:20
SS act2 #31 1:10:40
SS act2 #32 1:11:40

Part 2

Some special stage rings are definitely harder to find in Encore Mode, so hopefully this guide is helpful. If you guys find any special stage rings which I've missed, then please let me know!

 

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the bottom of the pinball stage which looks like 5 goombas in a row. While this bonus stage isn't perfect, I'll take it due to getting characters and shields! However, my preferred character farming method are the extra lives boxes.

 

If that's the case, then the story is a huge disappointment.

It's a shame as it starts of fantastically well with the Angel Island cut scene. But then ends up being the exact same story as Mania.

I know they wouldn't have had the budget to make a new story, but they could have taken a leaf out of S&K and had Heavy King take over from Eggman (and maybe switch the stage order around like Rush did for Blaze).

They should have also had a better cut scene to explain how Sonic goes from Hydrocity to Mirage Saloon. And maybe saved Metal Sonic Kai as an Encore exclusive.

At the very least, they should have had...

Spoiler

...a (sprite-based) ending cutscene that showed the gang using the ruby to restore Little Planet from Eggman's robotization to give the adventure some closure.

Also considering how difficult the special stages were, they should have brought back the Super Emeralds as a reward (and it would have been another neat S&K parallel).

These grumbles sound very petty as I write them, but I appreciated the little touches that were used in S&K to make Knuckles' game feel different and I am sad the same wasn't done with Encore mode. Although, from what I gather the budget was limited, so they probably had to prioritize their efforts.

 

Spoiler

Huh, didn't think about this. Clearly Mania and Sonic 4 have more in common than we thought. RIP in peace little planet

 

Wait. The new Metal Sonic Boss is in Mania Mode too?? It shouldn't have been replaced there, but just as an Encore Mode feature. R.I.P spiked wall of ring bouncing not really death. I always thought it was cool how each layer stacked.

As for the Little Planet, the Phantom Ruby vortex swallowed it up: The End.

Now the LP is fucked both in the Mania and Modern universes. It all depends on the canon-ality of Encore Mode.

 

Yup, all the new cutscenes (including Metal Sonic Kai) are available in the Mania 1.4 update without purchasing Plus. Plus simply adds the new Angel Island opening and the new ending cut scene.

It's so sad that the planet ends like that and it makes the story very unsatisfying. After beating Lava Reef, there's a new scene of the gang looking at the robotized Little Planet. They should have just re-used that scene in the ending, but show the Ruby Vortex restoring the planet.

Speaking of Lava Reef, when I play in Encore Mode, I always end up battling Heavy Rider (which gives the Little Planet cutscene). But I've seen videos of people battling Heavy King, which gives a different teleportation cut scene. How do you switch between the two?

 

I think you're just supposed to sssume that the little planet “got better”, even if it's not explicitly shown. Same thing that happened once it was unchained in Sonic CD. Same with Angel Island now that the ruby is presumably gone.

Though maybe Encore mode isn't meant to be canon? After all, the ruby being destroyed is the whole reason that Sonic is even back in his home dimension again.

 

The boss of Lava Reef 2 is determined by which exit you take at the end.

 

In Sonic CD's good ending, Little Planet is shown restored before it teleports away.
I don't think the Ruby was actually shown destroyed in Forces. But even if it was, the one in Mania is different. Encore probably is canon because it shows how the Heavies were rebuilt (and then destroyed again -_-) plus it also shows Ray and Mighty's return.

@kyasarintsu Thanks!

 

In Encore Mode you can choose to fight either Heavy King or Heavy Rider. The route to both boss-fights has been modified in Encore Mode so that all-five characters can reach either boss-fight, which is really cool!

Pretty much this. The fact that Team Mania went to the trouble of showing the chain tethering Little Planet in Mania Mode being destroyed (thus releasing LP) very much implies it would have also happened at the end of Encore Mode.

Remember only Stardust Speedway & Metallic Madness have been attacked by Eggman. At the end of Stardust Speedway act1 (in Mania Mode & Encore Mode) Sonic destroys the Metal Sonic hologram (just before the boss-fight) and destroys the robotiser-machine in the cutscene transition to act2 which implies a good future in that zone. There's no indication that Eggman collected the Time-Stones again and I wouldn't read much into Stardust Speedway act2 & Metallic Madness palette swaps-being set in the bad-future as canon.

It's safe to assume Little Planet is now free of Eggman's influence at the end of Encore Mode. Team Mania did a much better job at bringing closure to Little Planet than Sonic 4 Episode 2 did.

Encore Mode's ending-custcene is far more satisfying than Mania Mode's ending-cutscene being linked to Forces.

 

Wait... When did this happen? In Mania Mode's ending animation, the roboticized little planet explodes into Sonic's face (presumably that means it's healed?) Then in Encore mode, at the end of Lava Reef, Little Planet is shown to be robotocised again. We then don't see it again.

Interestingly in the Lava Reef cut scene, although Little Planet is roboticized, it's not chained to anything. And just as the cut scene ends, it begins to sparkle, much like it did in Sonic CD's good ending, before it disappeared. So perhaps defeating Egg Rider caused it to be healed?

I can give the horrid mess that's Sonic 4 a pass on Little Planet's closure, as it was supposed to have an episode III. With Mania, the fate of it is all so vague, unless the Lava Reef scene is supposed to be the resolution. Although like I said earlier, they were reported to working to a tight budget, so I can give them a pass, as the story isn't that important compared to the other things they had to do.

 

In Mania Plus the Lava Reef-Metallic Madness transition-cutscene which shows Little Planet appearing in the sky happens in both Mania-Mode & Encore-Mode. There's no reason to assume that Little Planet hasn't been freed again at the end of Encore-Mode like it was in Mania-mode.