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

No chance of me importing this at the moment (gotta stop spending for a while) so I'm probably gonna miss out on this, doh..

Brilliant to see it topping the best sellers though. Should show Sega just how hungry people are for a physical release.

Your move Sega Europe, if you can be bothered..

 

I'd argue the ball is in Sega's court, and its their game to lose. Sega only has a handful of retail games they publish in the West nowadays (and with the current state of abrasiveness going on with Sega of Europe, that goes double for them). Classic Sonic re-releases and the overall C. Sonic brand has historically proven to be a consistent seller. And Mania itself, judging its background (type of game it is, studio/people involved working on it, etc.) and pre-release reception, looks to be a guaranteed winner. It also has the novelty of being the first Sonic game for the PS4 and Xbox One, if that accounts to anything.

A retail release of Mania at a $20 budget price I'd argue would do solid numbers, if not gangbusters. If they have to be cautious, they could always start small with a limited-print run, and then continue from there.

 

Told my folks about the Sonic Mania special edition, and my dad decided to buy it for me as a Christmas gift. When I was a kid, I got many Sonic games as christmas gifts, including Sonic 1, Sonic 2, and Sonic CD. It's probably been about 23 years since I last got a Sonic game as a Christmas gift. I know the game won't be out by Christmas, but that feels really cool knowing I got Sonic coming from Santa. Yet again.

 

Oh boy, collector's edition. Hopefully I can get my folks to buy it for me.

 

This is exciting news! A new 2D Sonic and it's going physical in some form! If I own a PS4 by the game's release, it'd be tempting to double dip on both a physical copy and digital.

Hasn't Sonic always had a larger following in Europe than other regions? It would only make sense to release a physical copy of Mania, if that's the case.

 

Yeah. Sonic and the Megadrive in particular were super popular and successful over here. Everyone I knew at the time had a Megadrive with Sonic 1 and 2. It was PlayStation levels of successful. As I recall Sonic has always remained popular where the Genesis/Megadrive was successful so NA and the EU.

You're right. Given Sonic's popularity in the EU this CE or a physical release makes sense for the region. Your move Sega Europe.

 

Is it just me, or has SoE (or Japan for that matter) not even made any official comment or news release for Sonic Mania, as it's all come from SoA.

 

It's kind of funny that at least SoJ is promoting the fuck out of Fire and Ice more than the Western franchises. SoA is in love with Mania and SoE...well I'm sure they're doing something?

 

Even SoA and the Sonic website, up until recently, didn't have Mania either in terms of press releases or news. Only with the announced CE have both sites gotten up to speed.

But with that said, I do find the lack of info on Mania from the other branches weird as well; my best guess I can think of is because Mania is largely a SoA project.

Really surprised Mania isn't at TGS in particular, whereas SoA: Boom Toon: Fire and Ice is being showcased there. While Sega America brought it to PAX West; and even Sega Europe had it at EGX, I don't think its been demoed in Japan at all yet. Translation issues shouldn't be much of a problem, since its based on the classic games as it is, which are very light on text and are based on one action button.

I can't help but feel it's Sega's branches still not being on the same page with each other (which is odd considering how they were all in unison talking about bringing Sonic back to his roots in the past months).

 

I knew the pose was familiar !

 

It's a cool piece of art, but it's pretty static. Considering how much character Mania has, the pose they chose for Sonic is a bit dull. Plus his fist is massive and looks odd for it.

 

You know something interesting is that when Sega's marketing director came out and said the new games would be "inspired by the classics" and Sonic would play "more like it did in its heyday" in that interview from several months back most of us interpreted it as white noise and false promises. I was the one who posted the thread and the reaction was overwhelmingly negative with most doubting Sega's words as useless, baseless and empty marketing speak. Fast forward to now and you can't get closer to the classics than an actual classic game in Mania. Also of note is that classic Sonic is returning in Project Sonic too. Sega made good on their promises and their words actually held truth. It wasn't just marketing speak - it was actual and genuine intention. I think this might be the first time Sega has kept a promise like that after decades of Sonic's "going back to his roots" which we usually hear before almost every game release. It's interesting looking back and seeing where we are now with everyone excited for Mania.

The statements from that marketing director were prophetic. First promise Sega has kept in forever.

 

Where is that article so that I may read it please

 

That's mostly because it's just an airbrush painted version of one of those stock images they've made for classic Sonic.



It's pretty amazing how much the coloring changes these images. I hope Sega bothers to do it with all of their "new" classic Sonic images.

 

Your wish is my command: https://www.destructoid.com/sega-sez-new-sonic-to-be-inspired-by-how-it-played-in-its-heyday--318133.phtml

That's a link to a Destructoid article linking to the original interview that was featured in Marketing Week. Here's the quotation in full:

 

I still don't believe him. I don't believe for a second that we'd be getting a game as close to the classics if it wasn't for Taxman, Stealth, pagoda, tee lopes, and co.

 

Agreed. Back during the 90s a lot of artwork had Sonic in action poses. There were a couple where he almost looked like he was going to jump off the page!
But then around the time of Mega Collection they started going for static poses and he's mostly stayed that way ever since.

I wish they would bring back the dynamic action poses.

 

Yep, there have been great poses.





I'd love something like this, too, maybe as the boxart :P

 

.... :v:
But seriously, I kind'a think it fits when you look at the other art that's been used on Sonic boxes (Although I forgot about Sonic & Tails, that's a bit posey) Weren't the more dynamic poses reserved for ads and inside the manuals?

I think it compliments the other ones, myself, but then that's just me.

 

I'm personally a big fan of the pose. It fits perfectly with other Sonic games' box art, the majority of which were, in fact, simple poses.