Pawn

They probably had to reshuffle the stages after playtesting them for difficulty. That would explain why most of the latter half's transitions are gone, given how important it would be to get that side of progression right as you approach the end. Maybe Hydrocity and Lava Reef were between Flying Battery and Mirage Saloon? It would make sense given that the first three take place on Angel Island and you do fall into Hydrocity. Taking a plane from the top of a mountain at night, meeting Knuckles and and arriving at Mirage Saloon at dawn makes sense too. Knuckles' fight with the Heavy King would seem a bit early though... but it would mean that you could could be teleported from Oil Ocean to Press Garden (going from an intense level to a more chill one is pretty much tradition) and finally to Little Planet for the remaining zones. Then again, I've just remembered that there's no scene between Metallic Madness and Titanic Monarch. I don't know where MMZ would go otherwise.

No. =P As much as I love the Namekian, the guy's waaaay beyond Piccolo. It was an interesting episode. Although Goku felt a bit shoehorned in there. I feel it would have been believable for Hit to eventually defeat them without outside help, but perhaps this is setting up a return favour for later. Hats off to both Hit and Dyspo, though. They were both entertaining to watch.

The Bean stuff is interesting, but I have to ask... why did they bother to make Nack/Fang a hybrid? What about him is wolf-like? The jerboa makes enough sense on its own:

Yeah, there are too many times where I find myself paranoid about being squished by something not designed to do so... only for my anxiety to entirely justified after all. Chemical Plant is the obvious offender but there is the other odd moment here and there in Mania where it's also an issue.

I'm not sure if I'll bother getting all gold coins in blue spheres. My dad and I played randomly generated versions of these over and over and over and over thanks to plugging Sonic 1 into Sonic and Knuckles. I can play through them easily enough but... they kind of give me a headache now lol. It sucks a bit that they didn't include the slot machine or my favourite, the glowing sphere bonus stages. Although I understand why they didn't use the latter, with the gimmick being a part of a zone itself.

Tell that to Sega.

Here are two of this week's preview images: The other two are just shots from last week's preview.

This feels a lot more in line with the clusterfuck era (2004-2006) to me, throwing in Classic elements and dark characters and all manner of disparate ideas, rather than the Adventures themselves. I guess we'll see for sure when it's out.

Here's the recent image from V-Jump: I had to post for Krillin's face alone EDIT: I just noticed that Gohan is wearing his Piccolo gi. It's a shame he isn't in the anime.

Wha-? They control fine on my PS4?

The two mysterious U4 fighters have been uncovered. Two bugs! Wait what? O: Oh, and the U11 line-up shows Kunshee eliminated, but Dyspo still involved. Check @Herms98 for more.

Well, we have already had a bunch back in a Modern game. Still, if they actually do something interesting with them then it could be a welcome inclusion. Judging by Green Hill though...

Since we now have a topic dedicated to the Hard-Boiled Heavies, I thought it would make sense to make another for discussing our other favourites in Mania. There are a large number of truly clever and amusing twists and references scattered throughout these confrontations, but these are the ones that stood out to me most: Hydrocity Act 1 - The Switcheroo! I'm so glad that I had no idea this was coming. We've seen Sonic in an Egg Mobile before, but complete with weapons engaged and Eggman/Robotnik on the receiving end!? And in diving gear!? Holy shit, this was beyond amazing to experience firsthand. I love how non-chalant the guy is, at least initially. Maybe he thought that the 'hog was destined to fail as he did in Sonic 3? What a delightful goof. This kind of thing really adds to the character of the doc too and is absolutely the way to keep him fresh as arch-nemesis. Stardust Speedway Act 2 - Metal Radness Finally, the mechanical hodgeheg delivers on an epic showdown with his most heinous target. While it does somewhat drag a bit towards the end, seeing the little callouts to Chaotix, Mecha Sonic and Game Gear Silver Sonic (or whatever its name is) - complete with the appropriate sound effects!! Stunning work here. Studipolis Act 2 - Rain or Shine The best are the ones you never see coming, yet make perfect sense. He's got to be filming something there, right? They even got the weathervane-bound Cluckoid to do the forecast! The inclusion of the screen gives me Amazing Arena vibes too, which is a nice bonus. Sadly it's shortlived, being a pretty easy battle with Eggy flying pretty low. Obviously there is a lot more to gush over, the Puyo boss bein a particular highlight, but I want to hear from you guys now. How did you enjoy some of the doc's finest moments?

I don't know how to pick a favourite, honestly. Shinobi's endearing because his body is really not the shape you want for performing ninja tricks, lending a somewhat clumsy edge to his otherwise nifty animation. The Asterons are a great touch and one of the moments that had me react out loud on first encounter. Rider is great for a similar reason with that Motobug, but also for being a beautifully erratic daredevil. They could have easily gone with something more obvious at the top of a volcano and instead went with robot Evel Knievel. Fantastic. Magician is a showstopper for many reasons, not least for the cameos she brings with her. Her transformation sequences are super cool, in the air or on the stage. Like Mechano said, the fact that she shows up more than once on her turf makes it a lot easier to get attached to her. Gunner's awesome for his moments of anxiety as he realises he's massively fucked up. That makes him super relatable, hah. The fact that he uses his entourage to protect himself shows some smarts, though. It also makes him a massive bastard. I love him. That leaves King, the Heavy I was certain was called Monarch for obvious reasons. Oh well. King will do. He's got good fashion sense and a dramatic flair for interior and exterior design, but is an absolute shitter to fight with that ruby. Enjoy floating as scrap metal in the ocean, you jerk. Ugh... This is as hard as choosing between the new zones. These are seriously the best henchmen and I hope they return (in a Mania sequel no less). I'm going to go with Shinobi for now, mainly because I like how you have to fight him. Rather than being protected in the air like Sonic is in a ball, this is actually him at his most vulnerable. It still catches me off-guard, as I instinctively avoid him when he's flipping and go for him when he's grounded. I find the others a bit more straight forward, I suppose.