don't click here

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

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by TimmiT, Jul 23, 2016.

  1. Overlord

    Overlord

    Now playable in Smash Bros Ultimate Moderator
    19,218
    965
    93
    Long-term happiness
    I can't believe we're still making zone lists this close to release. Though now we've from "I want" to "I predict". =P
     
  2. steveswede

    steveswede

    Member
    5,032
    1
    16
    Ask my hand
    Fighting against the Unitary State of Europe
    I've been avoiding this thread in an attempt to not have anything spoiled before the game comes out, I just hope that the research gang is whipping up all the promotional and concept material for the wiki so after I've played it I can check it out once I've completed it.

    Not long now until our spiky blue lord raises from his 90's grave.
     
  3. Spanner

    Spanner

    The Tool Member
    Could just call it Neo Death Egg and be done with it.
     
  4. Beltway

    Beltway

    The most grateful Sonic fan of all time this week Member
    1,662
    182
    43
    Sega of Darkest Peru
    Artwork and classes
    Apparently review codes are now or are about to be distributed, if this tweet by The Taxman here is to go by (specifically, it was a clarification to recent questions about reviews codes in which he explained Sega sends out the review codes, not the dev team). So I guess we should start seeing reviews pop up either later this week or (more likely) next week. If that's the case, we can start making final predictions and/or bets on this game's reception / aggregate scores.

    Personally speaking, I'm anticipating a metascore around the mid-high 80s (mostly scores of 8s and 9s), it should easily be the highest-reviewed mainline Sonic game since the original Dreamcast releases of the first Adventure. .I don't think its going to hit a 90+ MC, due to the recycled zones (even given all of the changes the dev team has made to them); a handful of previews --though positive-- haven't been shy of raising concerns that the game might be too reliant on nostalgia, rather than doing new things. On a similar note, I'm also sure some reviewers will judge the game more on how innovative it is rather than how well it restores the original gameplay (though given how NSMB and DKCR reviewed, this might be more downplayed, not too sure really). But otherwise, it's only one or two serious complaints against what will otherwise be praised as the first great Sonic game in years. Very confident the game will review great, especially so with all of the glowing E3 previews and the handful of E3 awards/nominations the game has received.
     
  5. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

    Member
    14,631
    1,610
    93
    Working on my art!
    Some may be against the recycled zones, but at the same time some reviewers may actually appreciate them. Nostalgia is a fickle thing for sure.
     
  6. McAleeCh

    McAleeCh

    Oldbie
    1,470
    531
    93
    He may have been red in the official art (in Japan at least - not sure on the US), but in game he's pink in Sonic 3 and Chaotix too. Of his first three appearances, only Sonic & Knuckles recoloured him to red in-game, and even then his Competition Mode sprites and appearances as an antagonist keep his original colours. So if anything, his pinkish hue in Mania is more consistent with the in-game art of the time than having him red would be.

    Hell, in PAL regions, even the Sonic 3 box art and official Sonic comic had him pink - the comics only switched him to red near the time Sonic & Knuckles released (in between parts one and two of a story if I remember correctly...!)
     
  7. 360

    360

    Light Vision Overdrive Oldbie
    2,282
    1
    0
    United Kingdom
    Sonic Neon
    I'm expecting a Metacritic score hovering around the ~90 range. The pre-release previews and impressions are just that astoundingly glowing I think Mania will score extremely highly. Realistically speaking maybe ~85 when all is said and done just because you're going to get the 7/10 outliers that might bring the score down.

    I think we'll be pleasantly surprised however. The early impressions are really glowing. Game journalists seem enamoured with it.
     
  8. TheOcelot

    TheOcelot

    Scooty Puff Jr sucks! Member
    I can definitely see Mania scoring some 8's, 9's and 10/10's. It should also help that the Switch version will be equally as good as console versions (unlike Forces). An overall 80+ metacritic score would be respectable but a 90+ would be awesome.
     
  9. There's something about Mania that gives me a feel there's gonna be more than your standard "Start game -> Choose save / character -> Finish game".

    Like, the CRT filters have been confirmed, but could we be getting something potentially bigger and better than the main game + Super Sonic? I'd easily rule out extra Characters (I personally don't get the Amy hype; go play the Advance series), but perhaps Hard mode? Emblems / Missions? Imports of other remakes on this new engine (with drop dash)?

    We're talking for the mania, by the mania. There's gotta be something more than hitting the main game nail on the head, I feel it.
     
  10. Laura

    Laura

    Brightened Eyes Member
    I think Mania's going to score very highly simply because it's the last Sonic game in decades that plays correctly with the original physics intact. Outsiders often laugh at how stupid that sounds, but it makes such a difference to gameplay and controls. We take it for granted because of how much we analyse the physics, but for them it will be an even bigger shock because they won't be expecting Mania's Retro Engine to have such a huge impact on gameplay. Same with Mania's widescreen.

    Because imagine going from thinking Classic Sonic in 4, Forces and Generations was good, and then playing Mania. It'll be such a huge upgrade for them that I think it will actually bump up the already good score the game will get.

    I can bet you that it's going to get 85+ with reviewers making snarky comments that Sonic Team has just been embarrased :v: (even though ST helped in the development so it's not entirely true).
     
  11. ICEknight

    ICEknight

    Researcher Researcher
    Digging the Stardust Speedway remix... although, yeah, it may sound a bit too slow for a fast level? But maybe the level has been made more exploration-based and it does fit in.

    Would be lying if I said I don't miss the huehues, though. =P
     
  12. Flygon

    Flygon

    Member
    Anyone that hates Pink Knuckles hates colour theory and on why Reds tend to look awful on such pastely gradiented artwork. :v:
     
  13. Turbohog

    Turbohog

    Member
    923
    117
    43
    I really hope that when Forces comes it, reviewers will have played Mania so they can really appreciate (and point out) the physics differences. Maybe that will help current Sonicteam finally learn (doubtful though).

    I am personally glad that at least one music track is slower. If they all sounded like fast dance club songs it would get pretty old.
     
  14. Sappharad

    Sappharad

    Oldbie
    1,413
    70
    28
    I doubt there is any connection between that tweet and review codes going out. Sadly, it's normal for people to pretend to be reviewers and ask for game codes to try and scam companies. When I saw that tweet earlier today the first thing I thought is someone was probably trying to scam the team and pretend to be reviewers because they might not realize that this happens.

    I'm glad Sega is handling everything internally, as it probably means review copies will be restricted to established entities and not scammers. Is it even normal for review codes to go out 2 weeks early, and are they even giving reviewers early copies this time around?
     
  15. Beltway

    Beltway

    The most grateful Sonic fan of all time this week Member
    1,662
    182
    43
    Sega of Darkest Peru
    Artwork and classes
    I wouldn't exactly say that. We're only fourteen days away from Mania going live. Game reviews are usually expected to start being published at least one week prior to a game's release date, if not two weeks prior.
     
  16. HEDGESMFG

    HEDGESMFG

    Oldbie
    1,283
    1,224
    93
    I sincerely hope this reviews well. Generations should've scored a bit higher than it did, though I do admit the side missions were weaker than they should have been. Despite some serious missteps (06, Shadow, Boom, S4E1, ect) many Sonic games were actually pretty decent quality titles that only rated lower after the Dreamcast era ended, even if many weren't the return to classic form the mania series was. A perfect example being Sonic Adventure 2... Dreamcast version on IGN in June 2001 gets a very high score, while a version of the same game that has literally been improved with no new downsides, SA2B, scores in the mid 70s a mere 8 months later. Yes, two different reviewers, but the contrast is still pretty sharp... and ever since then, Sonic games always seem to have rated 10 points lower than they would have if SEGA was still a major console developer. Sonic 4 episode 2 was also an improvement over Episode 1 in almost every way (better visuals, music, physics, stage design, ect), yet episode 1 was rated quite a bit higher, and it was considerably weaker of a Sonic title!

    I'm not saying I like Unleashed, Colors, the Rush games, Advance games as much as the classics, but none of them were the glitchy messes that Shadow, 06, boom, and many others were. Even Lost Worlds, which I'm not super fond of, was not as bad than the reviews gave it credit for.

    I guess that's one thing to at least consider; Sonic 4 was a 2D title capitalizing on nostalgia and it reviewed surprisingly well consider how poor of a job it did. If it got that much initial praise, I can only see Mania doing that much better.
     
  17. 360

    360

    Light Vision Overdrive Oldbie
    2,282
    1
    0
    United Kingdom
    Sonic Neon
    Yeah if Sonic 4 Episode 1 can score 9/10s Mania should get 10/10s just by default. Confident it will score highly. Also:

    [​IMG]

    Checked Mania's Steam page earlier and saw this. Just 13 days away. Less than 2 weeks!
     
  18. I really wish this was actual NTSC emulation (as in blargg's filters that can be found in several emulators) rather than generic blurriness + scanlines, but unfortunately I don't think that's gonna happen. Oh well, I just hope it looks nice.

    What kind of logic is this? If a character being present in a game negated the need for that character to be in any future games we wouldn't need Mania at all, since Sonic, Tails and Knuckles are also present in the Advance series.

    I'd personally love to see Amy playable in a classic Sonic game, and Mania would be a great opportunity for that. I'll still love the game even if she isn't in it, of course.

    It may not sound like a big deal to most people, but my 4-year-old daughter loves Sonic Advance more than the original series because she gets to play as Amy, and that makes all the difference to her. Having her excited about Mania and wanting to play it with me would make the whole thing even more special to me.
     
  19. 360

    360

    Light Vision Overdrive Oldbie
    2,282
    1
    0
    United Kingdom
    Sonic Neon
    Well the classic games have had a tradition of adding a new playable character with every game - and they are treating Mania officially as the direct successor to Sonic 3K (fuck you Sonic 4) so my opinion? Amy is in the game and she's an unlockable character and they're keeping her as a surprise. Either that or something out of left field like Metal Sonic.

    Then again Iizuka could have mandated the team to make the game as classic as possible and restricted them to the usual trio. Guess we'll see soon.
     
  20. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

    Member
    14,631
    1,610
    93
    Working on my art!
    I mean if it's like Sonic 3 & Knuckles, adding Amy doesn't hurt anything. She'd be entirely optional and you could ignore her if you wanted to, but she'd be there for those who want to play as her. That's part of the appeal of the classic gameplay style, optional characters. Hell you could ignore Sonic if you wanted to and just play as Tails :specialed: