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

I loved the chibi sprites and music in Metallic Madness as well. My biggest caveat is that, overall, it's not as significant of a visual upgrade as the other zones; probably the least colorful of the bunch. Again, the thoughtfully used gimmicks and layout saves it.

As for Wacky Workbench, I really liked that level's music and its overall theme of a gemstone mine. (Sonic Rush Adventure's Coral Cave re-explored the idea quite nicely.) I didn't mind the layout much either, once I understood what made Sonic CD's levels tick. It's a serious missed opportunity, I think. The end result could have been a lot more colorful than Metallic Madness. And possibly more refreshing, thematically, seeing as Mania had four other factory/plant themed stages before that.

Granted, what we have been told so far is SEGA/Sonic Team had more creative control in what was included or not, so it wasn't entirely up to the devs. And mods are happening, so eventually, everybody will get their favorite stage rep if they're willing to do it themselves.

We haven't seen the first official post-launch patch for the game yet, so I assume Overlord is sticking to his position until it happens. Pretty nice list of bugs, though.

 

I have no idea what the hell happened. My family were heading out for the day, and since I was already all set to go, I figured I'd replay Green Hill Zone to try and get at least one Chaos Emerald that I had missed. Had to leave, so I paused the game and turned off my PC screen. Well, I've been having to keep my sister's cats in my room, and apparently one of them climbed on my desk. I have no idea what it did, but...

(Spoiler tags for large image. It's late, so I did a straight screen-capture with no editing.)

Spoiler

Apparently, Sonic Mania can even run on something like an Atari, I guess?

 

You're not wrong... https://www.youtube....h?v=Ckn-48rW87Q

 

Is it bad that I miss the Sonic 3 sprites enough to of done this?


Now if only I stuck with the PC version instead of letting my hype get to me and buy it on the PS4 instead.

 

That's awesome. Sonic 3 sprites are also my favorites and this is really cool.

 

The Sonic 3 sprite was always my favourite for Sonic, he always looked a bit more natural to me. I would have been very happy with this!

Whilst I grew to dislike the original sprite in 1, 2 and CD, I did quite like it in Mania, I think it was probably because of all the new animations and how smooth they are all are.

I really liked this fan character too (never thought I would hear myself say that!), I wouldn't mind seeing her make an appearance. As you say a mid boss could work quite well for her. Just don't let Sonic Team have anything to do with her, keep her as part of the classic series and far away from their clutches!

 

Same here. This game has already positively smashed my expectations and is a critical darling. We've got to know at some point.

I'm just really hoping that SEGA uses this as positive inspiration for the main series games. That's my one and only personal "agenda" so to speak. Mania 2 should be obvious but I'd more than anything else love to see the 3D games regain their "classic inspiration" ala the original Sonic Adventure and get a Mania-level gameplay quality treatment. And this is something SEGA has said they have been trying to do for years.

P.S. I can't stop gushing over Knux Mirage Saloon Act 1. Perfect Level. Now one of my favorites all time.

 

You and me both. It's the first time ever that I've seen a fan character that I want so much in an official game. I guess I'm seeing it from a selfish position though. I have a niece who looks up to me with her and mine sense of humor bouncing off one another so I would find Eggman and Eggatha relationship to be charming and endearing if done in the same manner.

I agree with her just existing in the classics however, if she becomes popular she will end up in a Sonic Team game but by then Mania 2 (hopefully a reality) would be out and Eggatha won't have the shit writing and dialogue weighing the character down.

 

I can't bring myself to buy this on PC, Loved it on PS4 had a great time playing through with exception to one or two of the emerald bonus stages, My question is this, how would you guys go about archiving this game? Since it's only digital download on console (AFAIK) and because that bloody DRM has to call home every couple of days, will it be playable in 20 years time outside of being ported? Kind of heartbreaking.

 

I hate how this is happening with Mario and I'd hate to see this happen here. Rather than ever returning to Adventure styled platforming, I'd prefer an evolution of what Heroes or LW3DS did right. Better yet, I'd prefer we get a game that actually plays like the classic 2D games, but in 3D, like Super Mario 3D Land/World.

Either a DRM-free version gets released or you get a cracked version. For consoles, you hope that the homebrew scene for your platform is active, which it seems to be for Nintendo and Sony's platforms.

 

More of my silly videos:
https://www.youtube....h?v=fLDqH2v1tXw
https://www.youtube....h?v=5BplCcF-Ie8
https://www.youtube....h?v=ErDmCTkN9bQ
If posting these here is annoying anyone I'll stop.

Edit: And yet another one https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2P4kx15Kjk

 

I remember thinking how would I ever get through them... they seemed so hard. Then you git gud and they turn out to be the easiest of all special stages.

Still the funnest though. I'm sure that apparent increase in skill we experience contributes to how fun they feel.

Whaaaaat they blocked Knuckles glitch into GHZ?

Seriously why. Why fix the bugs people enjoy. This + no random/tele in debug = console versions superior.

 

I don't know if this has been answered yet but has there been any maps of Sonic Mania's stages that have been uploaded? One of my favorite things to do is to look at past sonic games and to see all the level maps. My favorite maps being S3&K. From what I have seen Mania seems to have very big and expansive levels much like CD and I like that.

 

Tmk there isn't anything with any objects or items shown, just a couple tilemaps floating about.

 

Yeah, this is the first time I've ever tried to go on a no-emerald run, and ended up with all the damn things anyway because the Special Stages are just too fun.

 

I took twice as long at Mach 3. At Mach 3, it kinda makes sense that this is the final special stage. It's funny how much longer it ends up taking when prioritizing blue spheres early on.

On my second go through the game, I had the Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1 boss permanently disappear on me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsvEFunmfvA

 

Yeah, I showed it happening in Lava Reef earlier.

 

I don't know about that one, but the Lava Reef one was actually fixed in the PC version.

 

So they've fixed some bugs that don't matter.

 

They've fixed some that do matter too :v:/> and they fixed the Super Transformation to be less bullshit.

They're working on it. Console patches take a while (trust me the ps4 leaderboards crashing pisses me off)