Hmm, putting it next to the other cover Sonics the only things that seem unfinished are the socks, which have a too well defined hole in them and a less soft than desired outside shading. It's also interesting that they went with a different color palette, just like in-game.
Wow is there a bigger version of the happy new year sonic image ?! P.S. I like the Sonic pose that they chose for Sonic Mania's box art, it shows that sonic is enthusiastic and confident about his new game!
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of them using that stock art as the main art for Mania but it does fit with the old Japanese ones. I guess the western covers did have Sonic showing action, but I wouldn't call them dynamic or that it gave the illusion that Sonic was coming out of them. Honestly the only Sonic cover I can say it's dynamic it's the Sonic Adventure cover. Noodles limbs makes it seem he's spinning/has movement and makes him pop.
Yeah it's like modern Sonic has the correct shade of blue, but for some reason, they think old Sonic has to be a different shade, like we'd get confused or something if they were the same colour. I mean, Sonic is 'SEGA' blue, that was the point right, when he was created? XD
I like the new coloration. It's warmer, and just more pleasing to the eyes IMO. Sonic's blue-ness has varied a bunch in the past, anyway. Also, the specifics of Sonic's design are nailed down now, so it looks much less derpy than some of the older stuff. I think it's an overall improvement, regardless of whatever little nits you could potentially pick.
@Dr. Mustache & Casshern: I agree the new artwork follows the style of past covers. I was lamenting the loss of action poses in general. I am trying to think of the last time we had some action artwork that wasn't CG. I think it might have been Sonic Adventure 2 (as a lot of the Rush/Advance stuff was mostly static looking). Even in CG artwork, there's only a handful of instances where Sonic is making an action pose.
I wouldn't call any of this art static, and it's all from Advance/Rush: Spoiler Also: Spoiler Don't forget Battle: Or Chronicles: Or Mega Collection: Or Pinball Party: Or Riders: et cetera, et cetera :v:
@Atendega I don't know. In a lot of those, Sonic seems to be floating more and twisting than actively moving in the same way that he did in earlier examples. You are correct, they do have movements, but, at least to me, it just doesn't seem to have the same impact (although I can't put my finger on why). But there a few excellent examples I had forgotten about (e.g. like Pinball Party), so they did continue the tradition well after Mega Collection.
I find it funny how people are seriously complaining that Classic Sonic is a lighter shade of blue. :v:
The color is a small complaint, yes. But I honestly just think he looks better with the darker shade he had in Sonic 3, etc.
I know we've beaten this horse to a bloody pulp by this point and that I'm woefully late to the horse-beating party, but chalk me in as another one whose interest in the Collector's Edition plummeted when they heard there was still only a digital code. I can already get a digital copy of the game, and for much cheaper than that to boot. So, the extra... I dunno, $50-55 is purely for the rest of the package, which, frankly, I neither need nor really have the space for. Hard pass. You tried, Sega, but this offering just isn't for me.
I don't really consider this beating a horse, I haven't really seen much complaining in this thread about it. I'm glad I never voted in the Twitter poll for this same reason. I'd gladly pay the $70 they're charging for the collectors edition if it came with a physical copy of the game and a copy of the soundtrack. I don't want or need more desk ornaments that ultimately I'll just throw in the garbage. Any games I've purchased collectors editions for in the past were because they included content that provided some kind of additional benefit to actually having with the game. For example, I bought the collector's edition of MGSIV primarily because it included a documentary Blu Ray that showed some behind the scenes work on the making of the game. I spent $120 on the Ni No Kuni collectors edition because it included a physical copy of the spell book featured in the game, which made it a lot quicker to look things up compared to using the in-game digital book. And that came with a soundtrack too. I think the problem is that there actually are a lot of people who buy collectors editions for the toys and figures that come with them, rather than additional content that supplements the game. It's obviously selling well, so that's good. If they ever offer a physical version, I'll definitely order it. Otherwise I guess I'll stick to just buying it digitally because that's effectively what they're selling now.
And it also got two articles on Famitsu. I dunno if they has any important information in them, but at least we have a bigger image of that Sonic now.
Ya know, maybe Sonic has a lighter color in Mania to differentiate him enough from his Modern incarnation to minimize confusion to the general consumer and solidify the franchise's now-split branding? Just a thought.