If we get a Mania 2 with remixed Zones again it would be fun to see some Game Gear stages in there. But the drawback for the team is that it would take a lot more work to enhance the graphics. There might also be concern from Sega about it not being as marketable/nostalgic, since Game Gear was pretty niche. Maybe one or two, just to throw the hardcore fans a bone? Sky Base (S1), Aqua Lake (S2), Mecha Green Hill (SC) and especially Sunset Park (STT) are my big wants. (It's best to ignore Sonic Blast altogether.)
Knuckles Chaotix would be a good choice, not only is the level art already full resolution but the game is far rarer making for a fresher experience and there's actually a lot left to be realised with it's designs in the original game. Unlike the Megadrive games that were already full fledged levels, it would be interesting to see them develop the empty worlds of Knuckles Chaotix with proper gimmicks and competent layouts.
Chaotix levels would basically have to be remade from the ground up though. ...granted, that's what they did with the CD levels in Mania :v:/> (You can still really feel the CD-ness, though, SSZ in particular is just a fucking mess in Mania, it just makes sense unlike the CD version. I do particularly like how they excised the path swappers entirely because fuck those things so hard :v
Anyone else farmed lives and points from the Splats badniks in PG1? You can just bounce in place as they spawn endlessly and you reap the rewards. The devs had the foresight not to let you spindash in place ala the birds in Launch Base, as doing so will cause Splats to stop spawning, but bouncing works just as well.
I just hope Mania 2 moves away from Looney Toons style surrealism. I loved the big ass gun in MSZ, but I would've loved it more without the giant hand. And the giant seltzer bottles seemed odd too. I mean none of these things are bad. Just my preference that things be more in the style of S3&K.
It wouldn't surprise me if the 4chan leak was real (however unlikely). The problem is the post written is constructed well enough to sound like something like that could happen. The PC version is releasing soon and knowing the brainy folks from Retro and other Sonic boards, the game will be dissected and searched through thoroughly. However, there is a chance that Team Mania have removed anything they didn't want found or from early in development.
But, I mean, how hard is it to pull up the files from the current console releases? I'm sure some here have already nabbed them in case things have been removed during the time between the console and PC releases.
Personally I'd like to see the Veg-O-Fortress from Spinball done as one big complete "proper" zone, where Act 1 has you in the sewers and the powerhouse, and Act 2 taking in the Machine and the Showdown. Would be a nice in-between for a water zone and a Death Egg-style zone too.
Ultra-excited for the PC version just to see some level maps. Some of the zones like CPZ2 or both acts of SSZ are just mind-bending and seeing them in full would be nuts.
Hmm. I think they'd require a lot of work. The visuals in Spinball were very "off model" compared to every other Sonic game of the era. I would absolutely love to see the Mania team make their own brand new Sonic Spinball game though, with the same aesthetic sensibilities as Mania.
I was also quite disappointed by HCZ and what you've said largely explains why; they definitely shouldn't go new -> old. But also, Act 1, while interesting, breaks the speed-despite-water appeal that always defined Hydrocity in my opinion. As neat as the throwback to MS Sonic 2 is, the act was too pokey for my liking, exactly the kind of thing Hydrocity was about not being. With all acts, revisited zones should celebrate the original's style imo, rather than redefine it. They all pretty much do that too, except HCZ1.
Nothing will convince me that HCZ wasn't thrown in near the end of development to pad out the level list. I mean, it's still a sick as hell level, but Act 2 is like barely changed and the music for each is basically identical to the originals. Actually that's a problem Lava Reef has too. Neither of the Sonic 3 levels have been radically changed very much in music or overall design.
What's funny though is that HCZ reverses the trend. Act 2 is very much the same as the original act 2, but act 1 is very different. Also funny how a remixed act 2 boss is act 1s boss, while a remixed act 1 boss is act 2s boss. And FBZ act 2 mixed things up quite a bit and it's from Sonic 3
Taxman said more than a year before release that both S3 and S&K would have representation in the level list, so if Hydrocity was thrown in at the last minute then what was the plan before that?
There's another Sonic 3 level already (Lava Reef), hell for a long time I think everyone assumed each classic game would get one level (no one predicted Oil Ocean or Metallic Madness). TECHNICALLY Flying Battery is a Sonic & Knuckles level. :v: As a side note I kinda wish they hadn't done the "seperate speed sneakers theme" thing, I've listened to the themes at 1.25x speed on Youtube and they sound SO GOOD, aaaaaugh.
I said what I think about that here: They either would use the song from SK collection or talk with the rights holders for 'Hard Times'.
You're actually right. I actually mistook 'em with Wacky Workbench zone implementation, which are similar.
