The first short was phenomenal and I expect the second to be even better. Between this, Sonic Megadrive that while ago and all his old work I can't wait to see if the Mania project can get a larger animated project off of the ground. The hype is real, and it takes me back to my own childhood.
Episode 2 is up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYEmRHFolvM It seems like there's some Mania Plus gameplay in the credits. Thank for the treat, Sega !
Oh my god, please keep them coming this way SEGA. I love how nicely some of the classic sound effects complement the jokes. And the expressiveness of Eggman's mouth, where applicable. And everything else. The highlight for me this time was + - Sonic's defeat =P .
This was brilliant, just like episode 1. I loved how they conveyed the friendship between Sonic & Tails, it was just wonderful to behold. In the Modern Sonic games, Tails has been reduced to a damsel in distress, so it's great to see him take part in the action. It's just wonderful. Honestly the hardest thing is finding ways to praise it without being repetitive.
I almost legit thought they were about to do the Double Spin from S4 EPII for a second. :v: I'm guessing we've had a Sonic episode, a Tails episode now, so Knuckles' moment to shine will be next!
They DIDN'T do the doublespin? =P Great episode, Sonic attacking and being THWACK'D into the sand was hilarious. No sign of Metal, I guess he's going to show up in episode 3?
Instead of doing a double spin, they did the Double spin from the Sonic OVA....Or it's just a coincidence. Good episode, now a certain guy won't complain about "Jesus Sonic the Hedgehog". Edit: Kinda hit me, the reason Robotnik wasn't scrambled from the explosion last episode was cause he had rings on him.
It seems like nobody here has noticed this yet, but there are some neat secrets... Spoiler ...during the scene where the Emerald radar goes off (some get shown more times than others):
I think the first episode was stronger in regards to comedy; but on the flipside, I think this might have the stronger attempt at setting up the plot (despite clocking under three minutes). Part 2 actually establishes a location for where the red emerald is (compared to Sonic just happening to have the green emerald) and the stinger does more to set up the plot of events for the next episode better than Episode I did. Eggman scoring a win against Sonic with his mech (albeit a slapstick-induced win) and Sonic and Tails directly fighting Eggman together is also good to see. With that said, I think I'm convinced that for the story Heese and co. are trying to set up, 2-3 minutes for each episode isn't enough. It's good for one-off shorts, but not enough for an overarching plot (especially when they're still trying to have some action/comedy sequences to them). They would had taken longer to produce, but I think these 5-7 minutes would had been the ideal length for the episodes to be properly fleshed out.
Sooo... Spoiler Am I the only one wondering why Knuckles is running around with the Master Emerald? Last I checked, that was safe and sound in the Hidden Palace.
No prizes for stating the obvious here, but at least we know what the holes were from the beginning of Episode 1. Did anyone else notice in the Mania clip of Tails going through Flying Battery that it's from 2 different clips, and the level colour changes slightly at the 2:28 mark? Is that the Plus change that SuperSnoopy mentioned? Why the colour change? The "Sonic & Tails maneuver" is the same one as in Sonic Mania's intro sequence (or close enough).
Spoiler Yeah, that is such a nice reference. Also, if you look at the very top of the image where it says "91 09 09 02 01 01 02 04". Now remove the "9" from the start and replace it with "0" and you get the DEBUG MODE code! I think Tyson made a mistake in putting 91 instead of 01 :P Episode 2 was good fun. Definitely had a more interesting story and better action than episode 1. May not have been as funny, but the bromance with Tails is adorable. Was pretty cool how Tails saved Sonic and they then did a kind of (Sonic 4 Ep2 inspired) super-spindash move on Eggman.
I love this version of Tails, the plucky sidekick. Don't like the smug/snarky passive Tails of the recent 3D games. As a more action based episode, it was a nice change of pace from the gag-based first episode. I was a little surprised there was no follow up on episode 1's stinger with Metal Sonic. Being saved for the finale? This episode's stinger was curious. Spoiler Maybe they'll get into the lore a little and explain why Angel Island isn't in the sky?
Spoiler Hidden Palace probably isn't a good hiding spot considering Heavy King nearly stole the Master Emerald from him. He's probably trying to find a new place to hide it.
One thing I really enjoy with these episodes is the lack of dialogue. Using expressions and body language to convey the plot can be hit or miss, but so far this series has pulled it off wonderfully.
