If you include a demo with a game, don't make it an unlock, let people play it from the start. That's what will get your "buy the game for a demo" people onboard.
I thought of something similar a few days ago where I imagined the collection would contain a new piece of concept art teasing Mania 2. That is what the Megaman series did when Megaman Legacy Collection 2 contained new art that at the time no one knew was for Megaman 11: https://web.archive.org/web/2018061...-the-origin-of-this-out-of-place-concept-art/ I think that would be a neat way to introduce a new Mania game and have it unlocked the same way @raphael_fc suggested. Yeah that would also be a great addition for the collection.
Was the original Sonic Discovery only supposed to be a few (maybe 3-4) original levels? Because I remember reading somewhere that Christian pitched it as a fully original 2D game bundled with the remasters for consoles (or something like that; mind is very foggy atm).
Honestly, if they were to do a Sonic World-esque thing, I'd rather they use whatever they're cooking up for Sonic Rangers. Rebrand it with Classic Sonic to fit with the theme, but use the same engine they're running so people can get a taste of the new game. I feel like that'd be a neat way to give people a preview of the new game, like how Sonic Jam's Sonic World was built off of the Saturn version of Adventure.
I believe the original intention was actually a Sonic 1, 2, CD bundle with a few new bonus levels yea. So essentially this package, minus S3k, and a few new levels
Here's a link to the exact post where Christian mentions this: https://forums.sonicretro.org/index...ch-ps4-xbox-one-pc.35709/page-269#post-896459 I suppose it's also worth noting that according to Satoshi Okano (the man responsible for kickstarting the Modern Sonic redesign) Sonic Jam was originally going to be called Sonic Mania which was a name that came from Kazuyuki Hoshino: https://twitter.com/okanotion/status/1169261857246343171 [https://archive.vn/XCvS7]
Wow.. talk about ideas coming full circle.. that’s a cool trivia tidbit about Jam, considering what Origins is likely going to be compared to and what Mania ended up becoming.
Minor nitpick, but I really hope that they fix Tails' utterly broken sprite alignments in S3K. And on that note, fix the problematic frame in Sonic's walk animation in S2, they left it broken in the mobile version. They could either shift the entire body left by one pixel where the misalignment is at 16 pixels from the top, or if they want to retain the general position, they could shift just his lower quill and muzzle to the right by one pixel.
A fix I'd like to see — but am not expecting — would be in the Sonic 2 special stages, I don't think Tails should lose rings when he's hit. He doesn't lose rings when hit in the main game, he shouldn't lose them in the special stages. It makes sense in multiplayer obviously but not for the main game.
Tails only collects rings that you yourself fail to grab, though. You can reach the gate thresholds without needing his assistance, if I'm not mistaken. It would also be hilariously unbalanced as you can let the Tails player jump ahead and grab rings first instead of getting the scraps that Sonic leaves behind. (Even easier to do if you've got a second controller, where all 2P has to do is press jump once at any time!) It's not broken in the first place, and "fixing" it like that would be altering them for the worse.
Way too much, apparently. Many long bus rides were spent with those evil machinations on the Retro Engine builds. No one told me about the retry button They are objectively the worst special stage in the classics, but Tails tagging along is never a problem if you do collect everything you need yourself. (The objectively bullshit part is seeing where things are with whatever fake 3D tomfoolery they squeezed on the cartridge.) Haven't played Sonic 2 in ages, so I'll try to do an all emeralds Sonic+Tails run soon and record what I get for rings, updating this post over the course of a few days. Spoiler: Records of a Madman (8 of 7) (COMPLETED) ------ Special Stage 1 (Cyan) got 054 as 1P, need 040 in S+T mode got 109 as 1P, need 080 in S+T mode got 184 as 1P, need 140 in S+T mode Special Stage 2 (Purple) got 069 as 1P, need 050 in S+T mode got 120 as 1P, need 100 in S+T mode got 163 as 1P, need 140 in S+T mode Special Stage 3 (Red) got 065 as 1P, need 060 in S+T mode got 120 as 1P, need 110 in S+T mode got 164 as 1P, need 160 in S+T mode Special Stage 4 (Pink) got 047 as 1P, need 040 in S+T mode got 116 as 1P, need 110 in S+T mode got 158 as 1P, need 150 in S+T mode Special Stage 5 (Yellow) got 061 as 1P, need 055 in S+T mode got 115 as 1P, need 110 in S+T mode (hard to execute) got 201 as 1P, need 200 in S+T mode (hard to execute) Special Stage 6 (Green) got 101 as 1P, need 080 in S+T mode got 185 as 1P, need 140 in S+T mode got 250 as 1P, need 220 in S+T mode Special Stage 7 (White) got 152 as 1P, need 100 in S+T mode got 218 as 1P, need 190 in S+T mode got 237 as 1P, need 210 in S+T mode Special Stage + (Retro Engine Exclusive) got 094 as 1P, need 090 in S+T mode (hard to execute) got 225 as 1P, need 210 in S+T mode got 286 as 1P, need 280 in S+T mode (hard to execute) -----
I'm seeing a bunch of people ragging on Sonic 2's Special Stages, and I need to make sure I've got something straight here... ...people actually play Sonic & Tails mode when they don't have a second player? I mean yes, you can get enough rings to reach the thresholds without his help, but seriously, who actually uses Sonic & Tails mode when there's no one to be Tails?!
But Sonic and Tails mode is not - necessarily - for two players, since Sonic always takes the whole control and Tails is always left behind. The thing is, it's funny to see Tails dying.
You'd be surprised by how many "how do you play as Sonic alone" comments I get on one of my youtube videos, I guess that many random people just press start on the title screen without realising that there is an option menu.
Ignoring the objective utility Retro Engine 1/2 + Mania gave him through single controller airlifting... AI Tails can collect rings you happen to drop in dangerous places (or even grab fresh ones barely offscreen when he falls), can aid with stage gimmicks like switches and those Metropolis bolts, can overshoot and take out a badnik you stopped and hesitated for, and can fluidly extend boss combos by jumping in while you're stuck rebounding away and can't quite land yet. I also sometimes use his distance from Sonic as a sort of pseudo-measuring stick for my own relative speed sometimes, like an after image. He's also quite useful in 2's special stages as a means of casting a wider net over more area, easily securing you more rings than ever possible on your own, at the cost of needing more total rings and having to plan moves to account for even more area being dangerous to your bottom line. (<-this is what smart game balance is, to me anyway.) Even ignoring the nitty-gritty gameplay stuff, it just feels right to have Tails following Sonic around like in the manual stories, instead of presumably just waiting by the Tornado until the final acts kick off.
OK, I'll give you that. On the subject of the Retro Engine remakes adding the single controller airlift...that honestly always felt like an admission of pointlessness, that StealthTax felt they had to add it to make Sonic & Tails mode worthwhile on a platform where you can't play 1.5 player (at least I'm pretty sure the mobile versions can't...). Back to altering Tails' behavior, I'd like to see S3K changed so that Tails doesn't follow you to Death Egg Zone. Partly to make it like 2 where you have to traverse Wing Fortress and Death Egg alone, partly because if he does follow you to Death Egg Zone...when the fuck does he get to the Tornado to catch Sonic? Don't say during Doomsday Zone, surely that lasts only a couple minutes, even in-universe, and at this point, the Tornado is still in Angel Island Zone, while the island is still on the surface. Tails leaving Sonic to go to the Death Egg alone while he goes to get the Tornado ready makes way more sense.