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

I clearly don't keep up to date with many of SEGA's releases that don't have Sonic in the title. Lol

 

And that's why we have GOG.

 

Too bad Sega doesn't put their games on GOG because GOG has principles.

 

GOG is my favourite of the digital store fronts. I've always wanted it to succeed over Steam.

 

While it's been a SEGA practice, they don't do it on all their releases, and when they do, we know straight away with it's announcement -like colors and banana mania- , if we know SMT5 release date and it's available for pre-orders now yet they didn't talk about early access, it's safe to assume it won't have it.
Don't even know what criteria they use to determine if a game should have early access or no, seems arbitrary to me.

 

I've been thinking about gimmicks in Sonic levels and one thing came to mind, so I got a question for you all: how many of you when playing Titanic Monarch Act 2 for the first time completely miss the main gimmick of the stage, that being the fact that it's three distinct areas you can go to in any order and must complete to access the final section? Because, damn, I did not realize what was going on until my second playthrough, or maybe not even until someone straight-up said that's what it was in an online discussion.

I really like the concept, but I also think it might be too complicated for a 2D Sonic game. No other level in the series is really like this, TM 1 is a straightforward linear level, and without any text/dialogue/hint systems whatsoever, I feel that it's a bit too complicated for a first-time player to intuitively grasp. At least it was for me, I just beat the level and didn't even realize that was the whole gimmick. It's very simple once you know it, but when you're flying through the level it's easy to miss. Or maybe I'm just an idiot

Still, it is by far the most experimental level design in the entire 2D series, so for that, I can't truly dislike it. I just wonder if it represents the limits of how complicated a 2D Sonic level can be before the complete lack of any hint system makes it annoyingly opaque.

 

I mean....it wasn't obvious to you that you kept going back to the same area with four warps, except each time the warps you'd already been to were blocked off?

It was pretty damn obvious what was going on.

 

I don't know how to explain it, but the way the room is set up makes it seems like something needs to be unlocked.

This along with each portal warping you back to it encourages you to keep exploring each route until you either find the right one or something happens in the main room.

It definitely clicks more if you played other platformers or RPGs/JRPGSs that have those kind of puzzles.

I wouldn't call it pretty damn obvious but I do think the game does a good job of showing you the way.

(And I wouldn't feel bad if you didn't understand it at first.)

 

My first playthrough was basically a single-segment run of the whole game on launch night, I think. I may have just been tired. However, I do have ADHD and really bad focus in general so I tend to miss things other people notice easily.

In any case...I didn't really catch onto that. I think at the time, I felt like I was just being thrown around all over the place and the fact that I was getting warped back to the same room just missed me entirely. Also the level is pretty brutally hard so my mind was hyperfocused on beating it I think.

But yeah. I got ADHD and I often struggle to notice things neurotypical people do when first experiencing something. Tiredness + no other level being like this + focusing really hard on beating the level + overstimulation from the music, graphics, and level design and I just...truly did not notice at all lmao. I remember my thought when beating the level was "what the hell was going on" and then beating the final boss.

Case in point: I did not know that the smog in OOZ2 drained your rings until someone mentioned it weeks after the game came out. I just thought it was solely designed to block your vision. I also needed TWO playthroughs of Before/After The Sequel to realize those games use almost entirely recolored/edited genesis assets so

 

My first playthrough I've got pretty confused as well, I thought I was being dumb (maybe I was).

 

I immediately noticed it. It was really weird that you don't actually interact with or accomplish anything in these sections to show your progress, you just warp out and the area is just... "completed". "Complete" all four of them and the warp to the next area shows up to congratulate you.

 

I think I realised what was going on in my second playthrough.
The first time I was just 'oh, must be a different door i'm meant to take - that's frustrating' three times in a row, getting worse each time

 

I agree, it was awkward how you basically have to go into those section just to... find a warp back to the room you were previously in. I don't blame people who found the whole thing confusing or assumed they had taken the wrong path upon beating each section; it didn't really feel like you were clearing them. They could have put a switch or something at the end of each of them to make it actually feel like you're making progress.

In fact, I feel that pretty sums up a lot of Mania. It had many gimmicks or ideas that were implemented in an unintuitive or awkward manner.

 

Noticed it my first playthrough (and first time returning to the "hub")! it works like a standard video game teleporter room where you go in, do a thing, and get locked out of being able to go in again to know you're done there. Mega Man is a commonly cited example on this, basically being the codifier for the trope:

Spoiler: Examples

Level geometry is incredibly distinct in Mania, and it's very atypical to ever return somewhere you've been in a Sonic game, so it was clear to me what was going on from the get go.

 

Oh sure, I'll agree with this. It wasn't clear what you were actually accomplishing by visiting each area. But I still maintain that it was very clear that you were completing individual challenges and returning to a hub area, complete with a unique back background and multiple pathways that got progressively closed off.

 

Wasn't the original idea for act 2 a boss rush?

The stained glass in the background really gave me that vibe, on my first run I was getting ready to fight all of the heavies at the end of each section only for it to teleport me back.

Eh perhaps this was the intention for the phantom heavies before they were lumped in with the final boss.

 

I get this vibe as well. It especially makes sense when you consider there are five Heavies - presumably the four areas were for the four lesser ones, with Heavy King being saved for the finale.

 

I got it halfway in the level, I started just rushing until I got tired of finding "samey" rooms and noticed it was this "out of place for a Sonic game "mechanic. One thing that helped me not noticing was previously warping back and forth in FBZ2 for the indoors/outdoors effecrt, as it really sent you to a different place each time. I thought TMZ2 was the same first until I noticed I was in the Elite Four hall you constantly revisit before defeating them all and unlocking the access to the Pokémon league champion.

 

072216

It's been 5 years since the game was first revealed. The original announcement trailer still gets me in the feels every time.