Sonic Mania (August 15th 2017, Christian Whitehead, PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch) - The New Classic

[Zippo]

I'm sure it's been brought up before, but canon wise, I could totally see the Hard Boiled Heavies being a precursor to the E-Series robots.

[StaticMania]

But these guys have more varied weapons, so the E-100 series would've been a downgrade. Which makes sense, because Eggman. 

[Auroxen]

10 minutes ago, Zippo said:

Now that I see this screenshot more carefully, I noticed that one of the eggrobos, the bottom left one, is strangely big, like if it's sprite was enlarged.
What do you think this means?
And is the enlargement of the sprite supposed to imitate the one that was common in the 32 bit era, like the one used in Knuckles' Chaotix?
Idk I really find it strange.

[StaticMania]

It's pretty obvious that's it suppose to mean that particular Egg-robo is closer to the screen. 

 

It's not bigger.

[Auroxen]

Just now, StaticMania said:

It's pretty obvious that's it suppose to mean that particular Egg-robo is closer to the screen.

It's not bigger.

Yeah that's what I also thought, it just seems... weird in execution to me.
I really don't know what rubs me the wrong way about how it looks.
It's also strange that I don't like it considering that I pretty much love everything else about how Mania's looking and I think it's one of my favorite pixel art work ever.

[Chris Knopps]

3 hours ago, YuTwo said:

Not to mention the connection with fans that has been occurring with their social media accounts.

Aaron Webber's antics have definitely made these accounts have more exposure. 

Especially when it reached 1 million back in October of 2016...

...and then managing to reach that same amount in only six months

It's quite amazing to see how much growth it has had in such a small time.

It was also surreal to see them advertise their social media through Adult Swim of all places.

And WHO is responsible for the success of the Sonic franchise?

That's right, SEGA of America.

AGAIN.

Who is continuing to destroy it?

That's right. SEGA of Japan.

AGAIN...

I picture this as their reaction, choking on their pride as it bites them just like it did in the 90's.

 

[Psychicmoose103]

About the sprites in Mania, I really like the new sprite for Egg Robo. It makes them feel more important, like they are eggmans most powerful infantry, and now having different variants (bat egg robo's in studiopolis, gun egg Robo's in sky sanctuary, Hardboiled Heavies leading them) makes them feel like Eggman's strongest troops.

23 minutes ago, Auroxen said:

Yeah that's what I also thought, it just seems... weird in execution to me.
I really don't know what rubs me the wrong way about how it looks.
It's also strange that I don't like it considering that I pretty much love everything else about how Mania's looking and I think it's one of my favorite pixel art work ever.

It could just be since it's a still image. It would probably look much better in motion while playing.

[Cyrus]

4 hours ago, Chris Knopps said:

And WHO is responsible for the success of the Sonic franchise?

That's right, SEGA of America.

AGAIN.

Who is continuing to destroy it?

That's right. SEGA of Japan.

AGAIN...

I picture this as their reaction, choking on their pride as it bites them just like it did in the 90's.

 

Are you a WW2 veteran or somethin'?

[Chris Knopps]

1 hour ago, Cyrus said:

Are you a WW2 veteran or somethin'?

Nah, just reflecting on all of SEGA of Japan's actions over years and throwing it in their face basically.

It's even funnier when you think about just how much they punished SEGA of America over the years, stripping them to a nearly nonexistent degree, only for the American division to STILL utterly defeat them in the end with literally nearly nothing left save for a random indie team tossed together for a cheap 2D title.

It's actually quite hilarious.

[JezMM]

9 hours ago, Auroxen said:

Now that I see this screenshot more carefully, I noticed that one of the eggrobos, the bottom left one, is strangely big, like if it's sprite was enlarged.
What do you think this means?
And is the enlargement of the sprite supposed to imitate the one that was common in the 32 bit era, like the one used in Knuckles' Chaotix?
Idk I really find it strange.

I imagine it's probably coming on-screen close and then quickly moves away from the camera to regular size.  Englarged sprites like that tend to only be used for transitionary effects rather than lingering at that size since, yeah, they look bad.

Personally I don't really care for it though.  The amount Chaotix used sprite scaling really just came off as the developers being desperate to use a new toy in their disposal as much as possible.

 

 

[Shadowlax]

10 hours ago, Chris Knopps said:

And WHO is responsible for the success of the Sonic franchise?

That's right, SEGA of America.

AGAIN.

Who is continuing to destroy it?

That's right. SEGA of Japan.

AGAIN...

I picture this as their reaction, choking on their pride as it bites them just like it did in the 90's.

 

Eh I feel like that's revisionist, East and West Sega have done things that have resulted in franchise fuck ups and not just that company wide fuck ups. Notably recently on the western end, Sonic boom a fuck up that could have been avoided if they had learned from the previous fuck up Aliens Colonial marines , that one so bad they accidentally funded an  other video game ( borderlands 2). Because guess what, video game companies or businesses in general might do shady things or dissolve if you don't actually investigate or keep track of them under contract.

Heck the way the characters act now, the way that annoys so many folks is , if i'm understanding correctly a western sega thing, culminating again with, sonic boom. 

Sega East and West isn't responsible for the success or failure of sonic right now in particular, because with sonic lost world and boom , both of them messed up. Like just because sonic mania exists doesn't absolve them from me watching a spin off actively crash and burn in front of me. 

[Tracker_TD]

10 hours ago, Auroxen said:

Now that I see this screenshot more carefully, I noticed that one of the eggrobos, the bottom left one, is strangely big, like if it's sprite was enlarged.
What do you think this means?
And is the enlargement of the sprite supposed to imitate the one that was common in the 32 bit era, like the one used in Knuckles' Chaotix?
Idk I really find it strange.

It's the latter, yeah. Background objects in Studiopolis display rotation effects that were common in games (particularly those by Treasure imo) from that era, so I'm fine with this. Can see why the still may be off-putting though; I imagine it'll look stellar in motion much like Treasure's games do.

Maaaan, I love Treasure. 

[TheOcelot]

10 hours ago, Auroxen said:

Yeah that's what I also thought, it just seems... weird in execution to me.
I really don't know what rubs me the wrong way about how it looks.
It's also strange that I don't like it considering that I pretty much love everything else about how Mania's looking and I think it's one of my favorite pixel art work ever.

Considering this HBH uses missiles to attack and the larger Egg-Robo appears to be carrying a missile, it must be about to attack Sonic which is why they've made it seem temporarily large (closer to screen) to indicate the immediate threat this Egg-Robo poses. It's a busy screen there are lots of Egg-Robo's, so it's smart to indicate which one is going to attack you directly (throw the missile) to avoid any confusion.

I know what you mean though, it looks weird. Will probably look fine with actual gameplay when you see it moving.

[Psychicmoose103]

7 minutes ago, Tracker_TD said:

It's the latter, yeah. Background objects in Studiopolis display rotation effects that were common in games (particularly those by Treasure imo) from that era, so I'm fine with this. Can see why the still may be off-putting though; I imagine it'll look stellar in motion much like Treasure's games do.

Maaaan, I love Treasure. 

Treasure is awesome. My favorite game from them is Dynamite Headdy. 

Before I get off topic, the large egg robot seems to be holding the rocket launcher Heavy Gunner uses in his art. Perhaps he is delivering it to him?

[Guest]

8 hours ago, Chris Knopps said:

Nah, just reflecting on all of SEGA of Japan's actions over years and throwing it in their face basically.

It's even funnier when you think about just how much they punished SEGA of America over the years, stripping them to a nearly nonexistent degree, only for the American division to STILL utterly defeat them in the end with literally nearly nothing left save for a random indie team tossed together for a cheap 2D title.

It's actually quite hilarious.

While Sega Japan and Sega America used to have a pretty shitty relationship, there hasn't really been anything indicating that that's true today. If anything, it's likely that they're more working together now than they used to. After all, Sega America was turned into the centralized hub for the Sonic brand last year. And they have Takashi Iizuka and Kazuyuki Hoshino working there as well. Maybe they don't really do huge stuff outside of Sonic games anymore, but still if anything they have gotten more power over how Sonic stuff is handled in recent years.

Also, are you seriously just calling the Mania team a "random indie team"? I can easily believe the game being low budget, but it's pretty crazy to assume that they randomly happened to pick a team filled with Sonic community members with a history of developing really good Sonic fangames and romhacks. :V

[Blue Blood]

I know we've seen Mania pop up on a few different websites for retail release before, but has anyone mentioned that it's on major UK retailer GAME, and only for Switch?

[Badnik Mechanic]

I really wish Sega would just come out and say if this is getting a retail release or not since this is getting beyond stupid now.

[Blue Blood]

3 minutes ago, Mayor D said:

I really wish Sega would just come out and say if this is getting a retail release or not since this is getting beyond stupid now.

It wouldn't surprise me if it is getting a retail release, but only in a limited run, only in certain territories and not on every platform. Right now it's looking like a PAL region Switch exclusive, but the lack of clarity could be down to it not being finalised yet, with attempts being made to release it elsewhere as well. 

[Psychicmoose103]

Made this really quick just for anyone who would like an image showing the similarities between the shadow, mirage saloon portrait, and animation design.

As you can see, The animation has the spikes from the shadow's legs, the ball joints from the shadow on his arms, and even the bolts on the front of him.

So either this person is making heavy assumptions and looked very deep into the shadow and portrait, or this is a legit scene, the person was given the art early, and CD style cutscenes will probably be getting in mania.

[SallesTH]

Christian Whitehead, main developer of Sonic Mania himselft, that Palmtree Panic, Chemical Plant and Angel Island are NOT confirmed for Sonic Mania.

 

 

 

[Zaysho]

I felt this was a better fit for the general Mania topic, especially with the current discussion of those levels and the possibility of them being included (which appears to not be the case anyway), so it's been merged.

[Chris Knopps]

Okay guys and gals, for the final zone of Sonic Mania if it was to be a remake, take your pick.

Scrap Brain Zone - S1

Wing Fortress Zone - S2

Death Egg Zone - S3&K

Metallic Madness - SCD

[Sega DogTagz]

Doomsday.

A whole zone of nothing but Doomsday.

[Wraith]

15 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

Okay guys and gals, for the final zone of Sonic Mania if it was to be a remake, take your pick.

Scrap Brain Zone - S1

Wing Fortress Zone - S2

Death Egg Zone - S3&K

Metallic Madness - SCD

A giant 20 minute long Death Egg level would be really fun to me idk. Probably not speedrunner friendly or anything but I've been craving something like that to cap off a game like Unleashed did.

[Psychicmoose103]

17 minutes ago, Chris Knopps said:

Okay guys and gals, for the final zone of Sonic Mania if it was to be a remake, take your pick.

Scrap Brain Zone - S1

Wing Fortress Zone - S2

Death Egg Zone - S3&K

Metallic Madness - SCD

Probably Death Egg. The song is awesome and so is the concept.