I personally like Blue Spheres (unless I play them on a mobile device with virtual buttons) but I must agree that I'm not too keen on them being used as bonus stages.
Just wanted to say I love the look of Mania's special stages. Looks like a fun adrenaline-pumping challenge with a catchy piece by Tee Lopes. The low-poly 3d Sonic R-esque models for Sonic, Tails & Knux look really nice. I like how it's made up of designs from Sonic 1, CD, 3, Chaotix & Heroes special stages and yet still has an original feel to it. Happy to see the return of blue sphere as bonus stages (which I predicted when Mania was first announced). Looks like it's made up of blue sphere stages from Sonic 3&K and some new, inspired no-doubt from Stealth & Taxman's "blue sphere 2" concept showcased with the 3&K proof of concept a few years back. 3&K and CD's special stages have always been my favorites, so Mania is more and more becoming a dream game for me. I wonder if blue sphere will be the only bonus stage for Mania (3&K had three bonus stages)? The instant re-start for Time Attack is also a nice touch. Team Mania seem to have thought of everything! Was nice to see some (brief) footage of Studipolis act2: http://i.imgur.com/fe1B4WT.gif Less than 10 days left. The wait is gonna be agony!
I'm honestly surprised I'm not the only one who doesn't like Blue Spheres in here. Not only is it clunky, it always gave me a headache after playing a stage for more than one minute. Also the clip of Studiopolis act 2 looked a bit like Wacky Workbench.
I remember back when I was a kid, my friends used to invite me round their houses specifically to play Blue Spheres and get them chaos emeralds because I was unusually super skilled at those stages and could get them all 14 emeralds in the space of an hour or two. They're a signature trademark of the series IMO and I'm glad to see them return. As for the Super Mario World versus Sonic series argument, Sonic is obviously superior by a mile. SMW was an overrated let down that failed to take advantage of the SNES hardware or do anything innovative or new. Just a more refined Super Mario Bros. 3 that was barely better than that game even when being released on next generation hardware. Sonic 3K destroys it, though there is an argument that can be made that SMW is equal or better than maybe Sonic 1 or 2. So 10 days and counting. To echo everyone else, yeah the wait is going to be agony. At least we'll have reviews coming out to occupy us in the mean time.
I think I'll feel better about blue sphere when the Carnival Night inspired version/color scheme won't have the horribly painful and for wrenching slow down as on the MD/Genesis. That one stage was horrible. To this day I have never collected all 14 emeralds due to the anxiety. I think that was number seven. I just assumed the S&K versions would be worse. EDIT: Didn't mean to say "blow spheres" whoops! Autocorrect mistake. I don't hate it THAT much :v:
Pointing out errors is fine, nothing wrong with that. But it's the matter of encouraging someone to continue being a "crybaby" over something very minor. Encouraging constant insignificant complaining is toxic and petty. Edit: For the sake of not double posting, just received an e-mail from Amazon and they bumped up my delivery of Sonic Mania's collector's edition (Xbox One) to arrive on the 15th. Anyone else get this email?
This was my feeling as well. I understand the sentiment that SMB3 was the best, purest platformer made and all but SMW to me, as good as it was, was a bit overrated in what it accomplished in comparison to SMB3. Sonic 1 was pretty revolutionary for the genre; nothing else plays like it and it was very fun and addicting. S3K was the culmination of all the lessons Sonic learned into one big game. Definitely the best overall platformer of the early to mid 90s era....basically pre-3Dera, S3K is the best of the best. I played Mario a ton before I ever touched a sonic game but at least at that moment, Mario was beaten. Sonic had the presentation, the instant appeal and charm, and at that time, rock solid mechanics that were surprisingly nuanced....the interesting 'environment' based level design. Far more unique and creative while being rooted in solid design mechanics. Can't beat it. ....unless Mania does.
Blue Spheres is clunky, yes, but it's CONTROLLABLE. Even when the speed gets insane, I always know that following the lines will help me see where to go, and that my jump will go over at most 2 spheres. Don't need memorization, just need to recognize the patterns and act accordingly. When I lose, it's MY fault. Sonic 1 constantly had you fighting against the tide of the stage, and just when you think you got a good idea of how to progress, oops, I hit a Speed up that made me rotate into a reverse bumper that sent me back towards the damn start. Sonic 2 can be controlled, yeah, but the wonky hitbox between Sonic and the rings and the constant pop in/memorization is aggrovating. Especially when you're like me and always have Tails with you. CD is fine. Hit detection can be weird sometimes but it's manageable. It's nice that they put in the UFO to increase your timer if you go below 20 too. But I am in total agreement that, even though I love it to bits, Blue Sphere has no reason being a Bonus Stage, at least not a checkpoint one. It's too long and radically different from the main game. I just hope the medals do something cool. Probably concept art and such, I'd imagine.
Honestly, CD's were the best of the 4. I always felt I had more control in CD. 1 was just way too disorienting and moved too much. 2's can eat a dick because of the memorization, so I always skip them. 3&K's are second for me. I don't mind them as much. When I start to speed up, I do play more carefully, but it's not like in Sonic 1 or 2 where one small mistake will kick you out. 3's feel more lenient. Especially because red sphere's aren't everywhere. With CD, it feels like the controls are just perfect, and any mistake, like going into the water, or slowing down by going on the wrong section of the floor, is my fault.
Super Mario World is a good game. It's a nice chill game that I can just play whenever I want to relax, so I play it a lot. But that's the thing. It's super easy. Easy games aren't a bad thing in my book, but I can totally see why people wouldn't like it. Also, Mario 3 is still my favorite 2D Mario~
Maybe I just suck at games, but I don't think SMW's easy, especially if you don't use savestates and go back levels when you die.
I don't use savestates, since I always play my SNES copy on the original hardware. I dunno, the game has never been hard to me. Mario 3 can be tough, but not SMW. It could just be because that was one of the first games I played, and I played it a lot, so I might just know it really well. I mean, I've been told a lot that SMW is hard, like I've been told the classic Sonic games are hard (just completing them casually, that is. Speedrunning them is of course quite hard), and I've always found them to be very easy in casual playthroughs, so idk.
I find Sonic 1 and 2 hard as well, at least playing through them without save states and in one go :v: I don't suck, honestly xD
Which is why this constant desire for a crossover platformer confuses me. I shared my ideas for how I feel such a thing could work a while back without taking the two games in one route, but that idea relied on some massive changes to the way both characters normally handle. Even at their most similar, I still feel like the two are still too different to share levels that cover both of their strengths and weaknesses. As for what I prefer... SMB3 and S3&K are near neck and neck for me, but I'm probably going with SMB3 more often than not. Both blow SMW, Knuckles Chaotix, and every prior NES Mario and Genesis Sonic game out of the water for me. Especially SMB2JP and CD. I really don't like those games.
Super Mario World only really got challenging in later levels, particularly the bonus ones. Sonic actually feels like it got easier with each game, since 1 can be relentless at times while by 3&K, I can shoulder through all but the nastiest of levels and bosses without much difficulty. I still suck at 2's Death Egg Robo though, so maybe I'm just not that great at platformers.
Maybe I just play Sonic 1,2,CD,and 3&K so much to the point that I've forgotten what my first playthroughs felt like. :p
At the risk of sounding like a complete dumbass, what is the point of preordering Mania if it's digital exclusive? Aren't preorders for when you're afraid the game is gonna be out of stock when you buy? Wouldn't the fact that it's download only completely negate that issue? There's no pre-order bonuses as far as I'm aware either.
