Sonic Mania (Switch, PS4, Xbox One, PC...Netflix?)

2 of those are likely to be intentional. Tails in the background could probably cause a lot of weird issues if he was the only one there, and as for Tails not entering the submarines, this is a good thing IMO because if you for whatever reason don't actually want to enter, you don't have to worry about CPU Tails bumbling into it, or your friend doing it by accident either. Sonic should control all transitions from screen to screen when it comes to this kind of partner system unless there is a specified 2P Co-Op mode. As for the other ones, iunno.

Also you're gonna have to pardon me for being a little put off that there's a request for a Director's Cut for a game that's not even 6 months old yet. Wouldn't mind a bugfix patch or anything though, but honestly I think we'll get there via modding so we good.

 

Exactly. Once you realize this it makes every scene with Tails that much better.

Or at least not a joke character. I mean ffs he yells "Save me, Sonic!" at a part where Sonic is supposedly + - dead and completely unable to help him   . Meanwhile his Mania counterpart is playable, able to go super, looks awesome when he wing walks and is all around useful. ¯\_(?)_/¯

 

It took me about halfway through this video to realize he wasn't purposely making a face.....Great review though!

 

Sonic Mania was nominated for best family game by the Game Awards! Go vote please:
http://thegameawards.com/awards/#best-family-game

 

Let's be real here. Four Three of the five games in the category are published by Nintendo, another in conjunction with Nintendo. Three star Mario. For Mania to win, it would be an upset to end all upsets. I'll still vote for the Mania team, but c'mon. Mario wins everything.

 

Man, I know this is mean, and I personally hate the VGAs, but can you imagine how idiotic Sonic Team would feel if Mania did manage to get away with an award? There's no way in hell it's going to beat out some of its competition, really wish there was a "Best Side Scroller" catagory that it might have a better chance in.

Hell, it technically has a place in the Indie catagory in everything but the IP they're using. But I get why it can't be there.

 

That fact that it's not nominated for best soundtrack causes the VGAs to lose all credibility.

 

Anybody know why the game's description brags about 60 FPS gameplay? The classic games (1, 2, CD, 3, K, 3D, KC) all ran at 60 FPS and this is the expected norm nowadays so why is this something to brag about? Maybe I am just looking into too much.

 

Well, I guess they could've said "constant 60fps"

 

Nostalgic advertising not to be taken seriously. You saw the “infomercial” right?

 

Some games actually still do run at 30fps. Forces on Switch actually runs on 30fps with controls at 60fps.

Aaron also made the mistake of saying the original games ran at 30fps at one point in an interview

 

Well technically the classic games ran at either 50 or 59.94 frames per second, depending on the console's region.

 

Yeah, one thing that kept bugging me about Mania reviewers is how they'd overstate that 60fps, as if the gameplay in Mania was radically improved by its framerate, and the Genesis games are comparatively clunky and outdated.

It's like... I would see that, and I would know that the reviewer must not have played the originals in a long time, because THEY ALSO TARGETED 60FPS. And for the most part, they hit it! The only one of 'em that has consistently noticeable slowdown in any situation other than ring loss is probably CD.

 

Aaron even said in a stream that Mania ran at 60fps and that the classics didn't. I'm not really sure WHY he said that, and not positive which stream it was (I think the one where the PC version was delayed?), but I remember being really baffled by it.

 

I really don't see all the humming and hawing about this. This feels more like a Sonic 3.5 & Knuckles than it does a full sequel. It's just a lot of the same with some sprinkles on it. Sure it's a great package, but there's a lot in the game that's reused, and that to me is a shame.

 

It's the first Sonic game in over two decades to actually return to where the original formula was left off, and do so in an authentic way. Prior to Mania, the best case scenario for an official new classic Sonic game that wasn't a port/remaster/remake of the original titles, were either spiritual successors that went down a different path (Advance 1, Adventure 1 to a much lesser extent) or attempted revivals that either missed the mark (Generations, Forces even moreso) or missed the point so badly it raised questions on whether the original games were even good in the first place (Sonic The Portable Sonic 4). And they were the few exceptions to the rule--all of the other Sonic games throughout the years threw out the original gameplay in favor of doing something completely "new" and "different". "More of the same" would be a fair complaint to make if this wasn't the first game in 23 years that even tried (let alone succeeded) in being exactly that.

As for the large bulk of reused content, even fans of the game have complained about the game not having (more) new zones rather than remixed zones, nobody's really shying away from pointing that out. At the same time though, the dev team put in a lot of work with the existing material they had--new acts made from scratch, new level mechanics/gimmicks, new and retouched graphics / assets, and new / expanded boss battles. Far more than "just some sprinkles" thrown on top of it. To say nothing that having remixed levels wasn't even a call made by the dev team themselves, it was just one of (thankfully a few) stipulations they had to oblige to when given the greenlight to make the game.

And in both cases--if you're able to restore the original forumula to critical and commercial success, you're largely guarenteed to make a followup; it's not hard to imagine that from there, you can pretty much cut loose on bringing new content and ideas to the table. NSMB, DKCR, and Megaman were all able to get at least one additional sequel; and Mania's highly positive reviews and strong commercial sales virtually leaves the door open for Taxman and company to be brought back to work on another installment.

 

Plus with each game they work on, Taxman and co. seem to have more and more freedom:

2011: Sonic CD: Can add Tails, but not Desert Dazzle or Final Fever.
2012: Sonic 1: Can add Tails and Knuckles, and remix a bit of the level design.
2012: Sonic 2: Can add flying!Tails and Knuckles, and Hidden Palace Zone (which comes with its own Boss)
2017: Mania: Can add several new Zones, and almost completely reimagine returning ones.

And I believe there's other stuff I've forgotten. Mania may only be Sonic 3.5 and Knuckles, but that's a smart place to step back to before fully moving forward, which hopefully Sonic Team will now finally allow.

 

Any word on DLC for Mania? I would love to have seen the train scene in Mirage Saloon to have been the train boss from Sonic Triple Trouble, maybe a DLC release?

Not to mention, there are more levels from S1,2, 3&K to be re-imagined......

 

Probably because it was on the list of things he had to say.

That's the kind of thing that gets announced along with the game's release, so no.

 

I felt a bit like this on my initial go of Mania. As awesome as Mania is, the recycled content slightly soured the experience. It felt like Sega had wanted a full length game but didn't want to give the Mania team the budget for it.

However, after subsequent playthroughs, I've changed my mind completely. Firstly, Mania has loads of new content that is hidden away some of which I am still finding. Secondly, and more importantly, the Mania team perfectly understand the classic Sonic mechanics and do a much better job of integrating speed and exploration than the originals. So even though there's recycled bits, the overall experience feels new and fresh. Even with the reused bits, it still manages to be one of the best Sonic games ever made.

Having said that I hope the Mania team get to do a game that is all new stuff. I don't mind the remixes of classic zones: It's the reused level objects and layouts that I am referring to. I really loved the creativity in the new Zone ideas (especially Studiopolis and Press Garden) and would love to see more.