I would LOVE if Might and Ray were unlockable characters in these games. Ray in particular because he's my favorite playable character in Mania and second most played in the game (Sonic and Tails combo will always be #1). Hope that's one of the things you can use coins to purchase.
Considering we also saw some shots of things like Amy being kidnapped by Metal Sonic and Sonic vs Knuckles, I think we're getting animated cutscenes for all the cutscenes.
Considering that Amy was featured pretty heavily in the trailer I think it'd be cool if she was unlockable. She probably won't be because figuring out and designing how she would even play is probably too much hassle.
Now, in fairness, Knuckles would be more work. Of course, I'm no expert, but I doubt it'd just be as simple as copypasting some code and being done with it. Knuckles would also needs new sprites, at least for the special stages, and likely some other instances (such as the Palmtree Panic ramps). I'm disappointed that Knuckles won't be playable in CD and I do think that SEGA should've provided whatever was needed to get him in there, be that more time, additional hands to craft specific resources such as sprites, but at the end of the day it's a bit of a false equivalence.
Way more extras than I would have expected. I love the idea of taking a closer look at the islands, the pinball fortress looks dope in 3D no matter what it's there for, and the animations are glorious. And a mission mode? Sweet. I Pre-ordered the Digital Deluxe version for PS5 (I prefer PlayStation's D-Pad and its placement for stuff like this), but I will certainly get it on every platform over time, same as I did with Mania (and have done with most other titles since I'm a crazy consumer whore).
I never appreciated the logic much behind "buy this thing you don't want to get this thing you want" lol. If it's a product that appeals to you and is of a competent quality, then yeah, get it. I don't think anyone should be buying this just on the premise that Mania 2 is a slam dunk (or even slightly more likely) if it does well. That being said, can't really imagine someone who's in the market for Mania 2 wouldn't be interested in a compilation of the classic series brought up to more modern standards anyway.
Its not like I don't plan on purchasing it at all, just not immediately. I just can't justify it right now. I'm all for supporting my favorite developers and all, but as I said, this is just more money in Sega's pocket first and foremost. And honestly, while this isn't the worst offenders and it's certainly a step up from the Colors port, it's still not really enough for me to wanna invest. If my nieces want it, sure. But I'm fine with waiting for a sale. The content is certainly interesting but not worth $40 to me.
I’ll pick this up day one but I am a little letdown over the deluxe edition and the current price point ($45 USD feels really steep considering how many times I’ve bought these games). However, it’s kind of expected considering that nearly every new Sega/Altus release has a Digital Deluxe edition with something cut off. But on the other hand these do seem like neat extras and not too expensive versus the base price. Now very torn between buying this on Switch or PS4.
Very nice to see this, especially after a lot of people were getting so upset recently in the Mania thread about things like Sega not caring about classic Sonic anymore. I admit, I had my doubts about this collection as well, but it's clearly being given a lot of love now, so I hope this lifts those peoples' spirits.
I certainly hear and understand people saying that this is a little bit on the expensive side. Considering that S1, S2 and SCD are the existing mobile versions and are already on various non-console/non-PC platforms for ~£7 in total (or free with ads), those comments aren't without merit. £40 for this collection of 4 old games is arguably a bit steep. S1 and S2 are already available on all current platforms in at least one other package. Heck, S2 is on Switch in 3 separate forms already. These aren't hard-to-find games that have been lost to time, except 3K kind of. SEGA should have added in simple, emulated versions of the 8bit titles, Spinball and 3D Blast as simple emulations. They'd be bonus titles. Maybe they could have even worked with John Burton to officially release his Directors Cut version of 3D? Any of these things would have added a great deal of value to the package with minimal effort. Personally though, I'm okay with the price. And if you're not okay with the price, the fanbase has you covered with S3AIR and the ports of S1/2 mobile to PC which are all inclusive of extra content. The addition of a Mirror Mode, the lives system replacement, ranked missions and the animated content all make this a winner in my books. The only thing that I really dislike is the absolutely hot garbage practice of breaking up content into separate, confusing tiers.
Famitsu Article screencap of the Veg-O-Fortress 3D render for those who haven't seen it yet. Also, Knuckles in Death Egg Zone! (Which looks to be a hard mode bonus mission challenge...) And Classic Mode shows the Retro Engine Sonic 1 title screen, which seems to confirm it isn't Emulated: Full article here: https://www.famitsu.com/news/202204/20258988.html
I actually disagree with this. It's bothered me for actual years that I couldn't play the mobile remakes (and thus their extra content - like HPZ!) on PC or anything with actual buttons - and the mobile versions have been full of ads for years now. The Sonic CD remake is old enough that you need to do outside hackery to not get it to run at like 500% speed on modern hardware, which is outside the ability of normal people to fix. Speaking of normal people, try convincing them that to play the definitive versions of the games, they have to go to github, navigate that confusing-ass interface, and then also pirate the mobile game data to plug into it, to then get greeted with a black-and-white menu that wouldn't be out of place on MS-DOS to start the game. Of the fan disassemblies/remakes, Sonic 3 AIR is the only one I've played that is The Full Package, and you can get the data you need for that by buying Sonic 3 on steam for 99c. I also don't really care for..."extras" like the 8-bit games or the Genesis-era spinoffs, especially since 3D Blast has had a ROMHack director's cut (made by Burton no less) for a few years now. And those Genesis ROMs can also be bought on Steam for 99c, so in terms of flat money calculations, they wouldn't add that much. I have Sonic Mega Collection and Gems Collection, and quite literally the only games I ever played with those were the main titles and CD, nothing else. Well, maybe Flicky once. The same was true of the Game Gear games included with SA:DX, and I've never seen those used as a sales point for that title. God I really hate Sega. A few of their series are great, but Sega as a company is so consistently bone-headed...
Welp. Looks like I'm only getting this on Switch then. ...For now, anyways. No doubt that we'll manage to get these running off-engine eventually. Could possibly be rather quick if the wrapping engine is Unity.
This is more than I expected, finally we get news on this game after 11 months. Here's hoping Knuckles is playable in Sonic CD.
I didn't have problems with Denuvo for Mania, honestly I don't think I've ever had a problem with it unless it messed with game performance for everyone in general, but it's a collection of pre-existing games even if it's updated ports that Sega refused to release on anything but phones until now. It genuinely baffles me that yet again, for every good thing Sega does, there's always a catch, always a "Sega moment" with it.
Seems odd to me they'd whip up a 3D render of Spinball's setting and not include it as a game in the collection?
Seeing Sonic 3 & Knuckles finally on wide-screen brings me so much joy. I was not expecting to see more animation and man, those are so good! There's more content than I expect, which makes me glad. The only thing I deslike is thar weird DLC / Deluxe thing, but the rest is perfect for me. I'm so happy that SEGA decided to call Stealth to work with Sonic 3 & Knuckles ramaster / remake. Feels like we've come on a end of a journey.