CleverSonicUsername

I don't know his channel, is there a link to the archive? Would love to see one of the devs play their own game. And yeah the story is the weakest part by far. I'm a little bummed that Blue Spheres wasn't relegated to a bonus mode with more traditional bonus stages in place, but oh well. I think if we ever get a Mania 2, and given the reception I'd have to believe that's likely, the team would probably improve on that aspect. Both have been brought up a lot as being some of the weaker parts of the game.

Of course Forces is a follow up to Mania. It's keeping with Sonic Team's tradition of following a hit with a miss.

They were likely very limited in what they could take from 3, considering the legal issues with half the music tracks in that game, and Angel Island being somewhat redundant as it's another opening level. The choice was always going to boil down to Hydrocity and Marble Garden, realistically. Also most of Sonic 1's tropes were taken, or done better in other classic stages. Spring Yard and Starlight are both too close to Studiopolis, Marble Zone is outshined by Lava Reef, just as Labyrinth is by Hydrocity and Scrap Brain by Metallic Madness. The problem with Sonic 1 is that almost every idea in that game has been iterated on and done better even within the other classic titles. Personally I'd even say Palmtree Panic and Emerald Hill are better than Green Hill.

I felt this at first too, but the more I've played the game and explored/retained each level's layout, the more I've developed a familiarity that immediately tells me what path I'm on. It's been so long since I played the classics with a fresh mind, but I'd have to believe this is similar to my first experiences with Sonic 3 and Knuckles, which also had very dense layouts with intersecting and winding paths. Edit: I will say though that Flying Battery Act 2 is the most nonsensical to me still, but that fucker is huge. My first time through I remember thinking "wow this is still going on" as I reached the 8 minute mark.

Don't know if it's really a concept so much as a byproduct of the team behind the game and potential of current technology, but I adore how much character was packed into this game. I was constantly finding myself surprised and amused as I made my way through Mania. Characters are incredibly emotive (Robotnik's animations are just the best, and Knuckles has some really amazing ones too), references don't feel overbearing, reused mechanics compliment the levels they were implemented in well, Hesse's animation is so fluid and fun.

Echoing the lack of a second button thing. It's actually an odd step back since I think the modern games just map it to its own button. I loooooooove Blue Spheres, like so fucking much it's actually shocking to me to see how many people find that mode repulsive. That said, I don't think they function well as bonus stages. Bonuses in Sonic 3 were very short diversions, and benefited you by providing you a quick opportunity to gain a shield, 1-ups, or some more rings. Blue Spheres doesn't serve that function, it's just there to unlock additional modes, and while that's neat, its main drawback is just how long it takes to beat a Blue Spheres stage. The reason those were paced as they were in Sonic 3 was because they were special stages, which require more effort on the player's part considering what they unlock.

So I suppose if I really wanted to make it all work in my mind, Sonic and Tails are teleported via the Ruby to Stardust Speedway in the hopes that Metal would stop them (though idk why Robotnik wouldn't then just teleport himself to the Titantic Monarch), they try to get back on the trail by returning to West Side Island, which would require the Tornado, which was left at Angel Island Zone which is located near Hydrocity. They go back to West Side picking up Knuckles at some point we never see, then their trip just... loops them back around to basically where they were when they were last on the Little Planet. And idk that just seems so clunky to me and like not enough was done to communicate what was happening, and perhaps it's just a stupid thing to complain about, but Sonic 3 did a fine job giving even a loose thread between levels, and it's very odd to see Mania lacking in any way when it otherwise is so damn good. Still just seems like something went down with the level order and they can't really talk too much about it.

Yes, you can do it this way. Unlike The Doomsday however, you can't pick the true final boss from the save select screen. You'll have to play through all of Titanic Monarch and its bosses to reach it. Also, man, I love Blue Spheres, but I kind of wish the bonus stages were handled a bit differently. Playing through bonus stages for unlocks is a concept i'm 100% down for, but Blue Spheres is rather time consuming and messes with the flow of a level. I think it would have been cool as a stand alone mode with something smaller in place of the bonus stages, wherein you earn shields, 1-ups, continues, etc. That said, nothing is forcing you to play them so that's good. And, again, I really do love me some Blue Spheres.

All of those are great tracks, though it's a shame it doesn't include the remixes for returning zones. Namely Edit: You know, now that I think about it, you could pick pretty much any selection of tracks from Mania and I'd be all over it, I don't think there's a single bad song. TeeLopes smashed that ball so far out of the park, that fucker is in orbit.

Yeah, I'd also say Modern should be kept Modern. I'm ok with two different types of Sonic games releasing in tandem, but I'd prefer to let them sink or swim on their own.

I had the same thing happen on the same special stage. I cannot seem to register a clear time for Studiopolis Act 1 in Time Attack. It just restarts the stage after yelling "GOAAAAL!" Act 2 and Stardust Speedway Act 1 both register times just fine, so, dunno what that's about.

By the way, I was able to pick up my PC edition CE so in case anybody here had that on pre-order, check around if you haven't recieved yours. Still not sure if Best Buy shipped them by mistake or what. As for it being more broken, I'm not sure. I'd have to assume it wouldn't be, and that it would benefit from fixes for bugs currently found on all platforms. On the other hand, stuff like Arkham Knight will always make me question the quality of a PC release until it's out in the wild. The only reason I was comfortable with pre-ordering Mania on PC was because I figured it could run on a toaster, and because I wanted to secure a CE.

I tweeted Taxman but doubt I'll get a response. Regardless of the reason, the game is still really solid.

I really do think that the levels may have been reordered at some point to account for difficulty, and in doing so they had to scrap transitions that no longer made sense. I thought about it a bit and I think this is the order I'd go with if rearranging them for narrative consistency. Spoilered because it's the long winded ramblings of a mad man who cares too much about this shit: Obviously the difficulty would be all kinds of fucked if that's how the levels flowed but the story would at least make a bit more sense. Edit: Also I thought it was pretty cool that the Master Emerald returned after I don't know how many years of being completely irrelevant and forgotten.

Mania is an all around great game and one that I'd place close behind S3&K as my favorite, but if I had one major complaint, it's the story. The manual seems inaccurate, for starters. It would have you believe Robotnik sent the heavies and now you're racing to stop them from delivering the phantom ruby. As the game itself tells it, the heavies were Eggrobos transformed by the ruby. They deliver it to Robotnik in Green Hill, and the rest of the game is chasing Robotnik across multiple islands (and Little Planet) to stop him from reaching his base. Cool, great, that's a totally fine story and I like it. Problem is, numerous levels lack transitions and it starts to get a little confusing just what's even going on. In particular, there's a stretch where you're transported to Little Planet (which the end of the game would have you believe is the location of Robotnik's base/latest mech), then just wind up on Angel Island, then are somehow on West Side island from Sonic 2 for a couple stages before yet again going back to Angel Island with zero transition, then once more to Little Planet with, again, nothing to bridge the gap. One of the stranger bits is how Knuckles apparently joins Sonic and Tails at the start of Mirage Saloon, but they never meet prior to this in the story. Feels like their narrative was supposed to intersect in a more meaningful way but that story beat was dropped. It almost feels to me like levels were rearranged and they didn't have the time to sort out new transitions, but it results in a story that's more than a little clunky.