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

[Milo]

I remember reading a few years ago at the Sega Forums, in the wake of the aftermath of Sonic 4, when a member (Copley Hill Zone) said that the only way to get a classic Sonic sequel would be to make it yourself and hope that it goes official, with Taxman's Sonic CD re-release referred to as the example.

Funny how that works.

Massive respect to Taxman, Stealth, PadogaWest Games, Tee Loops, and everyone else in SoA that got this off the ground. Save for a few personal nitpicks (digital download project, lack of Nintendo console release --so far--, and use of sprites), this is otherwise virtually everything I've wanted out of a Sonic game in years.

I still can't believe it's actually happening to be honest. I'm absolutely stoked.

Between this and Sonic Mega Drive (and maybe what classic Sonic's appearance in Sonic 2017 may entail --emphasis on the maybe--), it feels downright good to be a Genesis Sonic fan.

[Marcello]

One thing I'd like to see in this but don't think has any chance at all is Sonic Advance's Jump Dash. You just push forward twice in the air and it would give you a small bit of momentum. It wasn't too strong, but it was nice.

 

By the way, I made this so I could have some album art for Studiopolis:

Spoiler

I made it out of Sonic Mega Drive's cover, but removed Amy, since she doesn't seem to be in the game and I needed space for the logo :U

[Mogtaki]

2 hours ago, The Deleter said:

"Bring Shadow back!"

"Make all the games 2D!"

"Remove Sonic's friends!"

These are the kind of things SEGA has received, and listened to in the past. Comparatively, I think it's pretty safe to say which has more actual value behind it, right? :V
 

I'm... Not sure where thanking developers comes in, though. I'm thankful Taxman put his foot out there with the ports and pitched/offered/accepted to work on it, yeah, but getting this game out there officially isn't really a decision that he can make or make any impact with. I'm talking about the way Sonic Team/SEGA may view the Sonic franchise, not who made the game...

Shadow should come back since he is Sonic's rival, honestly, but this also applies for Metal Sonic. Being able to play as Metal Sonic would be pretty awesome mechanically too (and would make Jun Senoue happy, that's for sure).

Been a Sonic fan since the very first game (I'm old D: ) and I gotta say...I like the 3D gameplay. I would rather half the games be 2D and the other half 3D but not switching between the two into 2.5D. As much as I like the old 2D games, they still have heavy flaws that have existed since the first game so making all of them 2D is also something I'd have to disagree on.

Sonic's friends haven't been possible to play in a main storyline since Sonic 06. I'm pretty sure those people who wanted that got their wish for that long. I think the fact that Tails and Knuckles are coming back is what has me really excited for Sonic Mania.

Sonic Team have viewed the franchise as their baby, it's Sega who are the problem most of the time, honestly. Sonic Team really do try hard and you see that in every single game they've made, but Sega are very pushy with dates and demand the games be out by that time rather than doing what Nintendo does and delay a game if it's needing tweaking. That being said, I hope this game doesn't suffer from that problem as there's already a season announced for its release instead of simply '2017'.

[Alice Twilight]

One more neat little thing I found and probably lots of others. Does Sonic's jumping pose at the end of the stage look familiar? Well it shouldn't because it's only in the Sonic the hedgehog beta before it got replaced with how we normally see Sonic jump.

Here's said sprite from the beta.

[Tracker_TD]

12 minutes ago, Komaru Naegi said:

One more neat little thing I found and probably lots of others. Does Sonic's jumping pose at the end of the stage look familiar? Well it shouldn't because it's only in the Sonic the hedgehog beta before it got replaced with how we normally see Sonic jump.

Here's said sprite from the beta.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Here's a handy GIF:

 

[Green Eyes]

I'm  wishing it was completely original rather than reusing assets, the reuse of assets feels a little like shallow pandering rather than genuine content, but hopefully there's plenty of original content involved? Maybe?

I kinda get what some people are saying what with it looking garish or "looking like a fangame", I think mainly in regards to Studiopolis, but it also looks quite a lot like Sonic CD's art style, and I like it.

 

[Jango]

Some sites are saying there are re-imagined zones from Sonic 1, 2, 3&K and CD (!). But if CD happens in Little Planet, it kinda makes me believe the classic zones are just bonuses, not part of the game's plot. Oh, and... HIDROCITY RE-IMAGINED, 'kay thanks.

[Tracker_TD]

Look at the dots on the TVs; it the Game Gear logo dots! 

The attention to detail is insane, and this is ONE LEVEL!

[ChikoLad]

Has this been posted yet?

 

[Kaze no Klonoa]

14 minutes ago, ChikoLad said:

Has this been posted yet?

 

Hopefully this can be done without any major compromises but I doubt it. The Nintendo 3DS is absolutely puny in power/specs even for probably the Retro Engine so it'd need a lot of optimization and code to make it fit.

[Guest]

23 minutes ago, ChikoLad said:

Has this been posted yet?

I've seen him offer to port games to 3DS more often, usually nothing comes from it. I imagine that if Sega wanted to port the game to 3DS, that they'd do it themselves.

[FunkDoc1112]

4 hours ago, Jango said:

JESUS H. CHRIST.

STUDIOPOLIS' MUSIC IS HATAYA LEVELS OF GREATNESS. It sounds like it came straight from Sonic CD. Holy shit, man! HOLY SHIT.

OH MY GOD HOLY CRAP IT IS.  Sounds like Stardust Speedway Present with a side of ORGASM

[Marcello]

Oh man, I just watched some play throughs.

Special Stages are accessed by finding the Giant Rings in the stages like in S3&K. I'm really, really happy about that. I fully expected them to do it like Sonic 1.

New Badniks  I saw some bat camera paparazzi thing that tries to take pictures of Sonic and gets in the way, a microphone that drops down and some snail that shoots things out of it's back. Looked like cards, but that doesn't really fit to the film theme like the other two. Orbinaut looks different, too. He spins his balls really fast, but when he's not, you can actually destroy them.

When you lose a large amount of rings they come out as larger rings that give you ten each.

Studiopolis is absolutely gorgeous.

[TKD_Tarantino]

This is what Sonic 4 SHOULD have been. This looks like the game I've been waiting for over ten years.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

Am I the only one also hoping for a return in some shape or form of the super peel-out as well? 

[TKD_Tarantino]

Just now, Jovahexeon Undyne Phoenix said:

Am I the only one also hoping for a return in some shape or form of the super peel-out as well? 

Like in Sonic CD? If so.. I'm with you

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

6 minutes ago, TKD_Tarantino said:

Like in Sonic CD? If so.. I'm with you

Yes,  albeit, if possible also give it cool new more versatile feature. 

[Chooch]

The second the trailer went to gameplay footage I literally screamed. Then it said "3 playable characters" and I screamed again.

Knuckles is playable in a traditional Sonic game again. Finally my husband favorite character is playable.

[Underground123]

This is amazing honestly, an officially licensed fan game. I've been wanting Christian Whitehead on a game since playing Sonic CD remaster, and honestly, I love the game more and still try to beat my timescores on a constant basis, something I hardly ever do and something I would never have felt compelled to do on the clunky original :')  Let's hope this becomes successful enough to lead to some kind of Classic sub-franchise. 

I only have one complaint and 2 wishes: 

Complaint: Rename this Sonic 4. Something like Sonic 4: Complete Edition or Sonic 4: All Episodes. I'm being genuinely serious. Sonic Mania just sounds too fan gamey 

Wishes: 

-A stage creator 

- 16-bitify the sonic cast, with a roster size on the scale of that sonicworld/ fan game, with each having one special move and slight differences in playability eg. Blaze having a flame dash similar to the Fire shield and impervious to fire but being slightly slower, Shadow being able to pause time at the cost of rings but having a much longer to charge spindash etc.  From popular modern era characters to really obscure ones, the sky is the limit

 

10 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Undyne Phoenix said:

Am I the only one also hoping for a return in some shape or form of the super peel-out as well? 

I may be remembering wrong but I think I saw some gameplay that showed off the peel-out

[TheLaw34]

15 hours ago, Soniman said:

we got sonic 4 in all but name so theres still time for a SA3 in all but name!

We got that. it was called sonic 06

[ChikoLad]

Pasting from another forum, but here's what I thought of Sonic Mania:

It's literally my dream Sonic game as far as Classic Sonic goes. I've wanted Taxman and Stealth to make an original Sonic game since their Sonic CD remaster. I've wanted Tee Lopes to compose music for an official Sonic game ever since I first heard his Splash Hill Zone remix in Sonic GDK's test level. I've wanted more crazy, Sonic CD-esque environments for so long in a 2D game. I've wanted multiple playable characters. I've wanted elemental shields. I've wanted more frames of animation with old an 16-bit style, like certain ROM hacks and Freedom Planet have done. I've wanted the twirl animation from Sonic CD when you bounce on a spring to return for a classic game. I've wanted to have to explore to find Special Stages like S3&K.

Literally ALL of these things are in Sonic Mania. Every one of them, even something as small and insignificant as the Sonic CD spring twirl. It's ****ing insane and I still can't believe it. They could have ended the stream right after this and I would have been happy. Like what? Do SEGA have a wireless connection to my brain or something, where they can see everything I think? Because I feel like this was MADE for me. Like someone has paid attention to every single thing I want.

This game is also ground breaking for Sonic fans with an interest in game development, like myself - it means that, if we have a good enough idea that SEGA would like, we may get to work on a game for our favourite franchise one day, like Taxman, Stealth, and Tee Lopes. Hell, the game even has former Sonic 2 HD developers on the team. This is insane. I have never seen a video game company just GIVE a game to fans, for them to make it. Mega Man X Street Fighter and Big's Big Fishing Adventure 3 are one thing. They get a bit of promotion from the company on social media but that's it. But SEGA is literally trusting fans to make a mainstream Sonic product, that will be officially published and sold by SEGA. That's an amazing step forward for the industry, and for Sonic.

[molul]

20 minutes ago, Underground123 said:

Complaint: Rename this Sonic 4. Something like Sonic 4: Complete Edition or Sonic 4: All Episodes. I'm being genuinely serious. Sonic Mania just sounds too fan gamey 

Well, I agree that Sonic Mania totally sounds amateur, but renaming it to Sonic 4 is just impossible. 

Sprint 2017 is still far away. Maybe if they get enough feedback about the game name, they change it.

I'd like to open a "Wishes for Sonic Mania" topic in which we only suggest things to Taxman (the less debate the better in that kind of topic), but I don't know if it would get closed.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

12 minutes ago, Sam Sanderson Sandleberger said:

We got that. it was called sonic 06

Before that,  it was called Sonic Heroes,  nowadays some call it Sonic World Adventure: Unleashed. 

[molul]

10 minutes of game play. I don't think it has already been posted:

 

[Muscles Maximum]

I'm just realizing that Knuckles is finally playable again. Though this makes me wonder if we'll see Super Knuckles again. Or if he'll just get shafted. Iizuka did say only male hedgehogs, well other than Blaze, can transform. So I wonder what they'll do.

Maybe they'll just omit chaos emeralds all together just to avoid the situation. They probably wouldn't do that though.

I really want to see my glowing pink Knuckles again. Please.