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

[Marcello]

For Special Stages, for years now I've been imagining something in the vein of the game Crush, but with more of a streamlined focus.

[SilentDoom]

One thing that's been sort of bothering me is just why was this game not revealed for any Nintendo platform.  Not so much that I'm too fussed about it not being on one (after all it should be easy enough for basically anyone to just run on Steam), but I'm simply curious as to why.  Could it be a possible implication of the game containing quite a bit in terms of content?  How many zones shall the game contain and what will their be in terms of additional content?  Art galleries?  Sound test?  Seems fairly likely to me.

[Mel]

I reckon the reason it hasn't been announced yet for NX is because Whitehead and his team don't have the NX prototype, and so don't know how the Retro Engine will work on it. Sonic Team are important enough to get a proto, but I imagine SEGA won't have sourced one for an indie team.

My two cents.

[Nast]

It's kinda hard to see here but I love how bouncy the end of the looking-up animation is. It's a very small detail but it really goes to show that they're going all out to make the game look really alive. xP

[molul]

On 25/7/2016 at 5:01 PM, MetalSkulkBane said:

 

31 minutes ago, WakanoBaka said:

 

Oh God, does this mean we ain't getting Taxman's Sonic 3&k remake?

Never.

Say.

That!

>_<

Edited July 27, 2016 by molul
Couldn't delete this autosaved content on my tablet. Please delete the post.

[Sonikko]

7 hours ago, TheLaw34 said:

Fake? I totally disagree. I and my friends act like that all the time when something big and exciting get's announced. Raising your voice a little and messing around for fun is not what I would consider fake. Now if he obviiously pretended to cry then sure but shouting a bit is just having fun.

I'm not talking about that one in particular, just most of the youtube reactions are not genuine, or I feel like they aren't. Anyway this is really off-topic!

Back on topic, I really wonder where in the canon this is taking place, and I really hope they get to make some sequels, with unique levels, I mean, the look and level design in Studiopolis is so unique, it already has me wishing we had a lot more, and I've not tried the game yet!

And that S3&K remaster. And the PC/Console release of the previous remasters.

[goku262002]

On 7/22/2016 at 9:03 PM, Kabalni said:

This is music used for the trailer, papa bless!

Can someone do me a huge solid and splice the beginning part of the trailer with the full theme of this track? I really like the slow medley the trailer starts off with.

[Wraith]

 

8 minutes of gameplay featuring elemental shields.

[WarioBone]

Wow, this really caught me off guard.  I'm absolutely blown away.  I'm not so big a Sonic fan these days, but I am H-Y-P-E-D for this game.  I've been saying for years that they need to let Whitehead do his own classic game -- he's like the Ian Flynn of the games, you can tell he loves the source material and puts everything he can in it to make it fun for old fans.

But this, THIS...I'm like a hardcore Tumblrite at this point, folks:  I cannot even.  The animations and sprite work are BEAUTIFUL.  The stages are full of life and color, interesting level design, you got the elemental shields in there, and even THEN, it's not just a retread of old stuff.  You've got new things like the Drop Dash, the Big Rings that drop from you when you have tons of rings, and, well, that's it so far, but it's the smaller tweaks that always end up making a big difference.

I'm praying they really go all out on content with this game.  A set of classic and new stages would be fantastic, and unlockable characters like Metal Sonic would probably push me over the edge into pure orgasm territory.  All in all, gotta say, I'm impressed, which is really fucking saying something when it comes to Sega and Sonic.

EDIT: The Sonic 3&K influences are a huge turn-on for me, too, as it's my favorite Sonic game (and one of my favorite games, period).  I hope we see Super Knuckles and (maybe) Super Tails again.

[Sonictrainer]

1 hour ago, Wraith said:

 

8 minutes of gameplay featuring elemental shields.

I didn't know the subway cars in the background of the Studiopolis Zone, have graffiti spelling out the word COPE.

This is a reference to the Spring Yard Zone.

[Meta77]

5 hours ago, SilentDoom said:

One thing that's been sort of bothering me is just why was this game not revealed for any Nintendo platform.  Not so much that I'm too fussed about it not being on one (after all it should be easy enough for basically anyone to just run on Steam), but I'm simply curious as to why.  Could it be a possible implication of the game containing quite a bit in terms of content?  How many zones shall the game contain and what will their be in terms of additional content?  Art galleries?  Sound test?  Seems fairly likely to me.

No surprise at all. Not all sonic games are always on all systems. And probably cause they want to try to push more units on current gen systems.

[Tomzilla98]

2 hours ago, Wraith said:

 

8 minutes of gameplay featuring elemental shields.

The hidden lightning shield popping up at the end of Green Hill Zone Act 1 all but confirms the S3&K-like transitions between acts (which I LOVED)  

[Guest]

[TheLaw34]

12 hours ago, TimmiT said:

Cool, I wish they would give classic sonic this much appeal in the 3d games. Compared to this he just looks derpy. The gameplay of 3d may be way superior but I can't deny this looks real nice and never has a problem looking natural in 2d.

[Agie]

While I'm dreading Sonic 2017, I'm actually looking forward to this game.

Of course, this is because it's outsourced to a guy with a reputation for knowing what he's doing, and that's something worthy of applause. I mean, he knows his stuff and he's proven it.

It shouldn't be the only upcoming Sonic game I have any real faith in, but unfortunately, it is. Which is sad.

[TheOcelot]

1 hour ago, Tomzilla98 said:

The hidden lightning shield popping up at the end of Green Hill Zone Act 1 all but confirms the S3&K-like transitions between acts (which I LOVED)  

I'd imagine that as the finishing-post fell from above, Sonic will be able to jump up, hit it, move it across screen just like in 3&K.

In the video you can see more parts from Green Hill act2 (Sonic 1) which have been implemented. Don't think I've seen any designs from act3 of GH (Sonic 1) yet. Perhaps that will be evident in act2 on GH in Mania.

The invincibility animation looks gorgeous.

Studiopolis really feels like a mash-up of Sonic CD stages. You've got the wacky color backgrounds, bouncy lollipops, those pinballs and lots of vertical routes which allow Sonic to gain crazy speed. Other gimmicks like the popcorn machine. Gives a Collisions Chaos, Wacky Workybench and Metallic Madness "Good Future" kind of vibe.

[goku262002]

2 hours ago, TimmiT said:

Fluid, don't think even the genesis sprites were that fluid. the level of detail going into this is very nice .

[StaticMania]

That fluid? That's based off the Sonic 1 ledge leaning sprite, it literally only had 2 frames.

[goku262002]

1 minute ago, StaticMania said:

That fluid? That's based off the Sonic 1 ledge leaning sprite, it literally only had 2 frames.

Yeah well, thats more then 2 frames. and I already knew what it was based off of.

[molul]

The animation is gorgeous. The frames increase in every animation is noticeable.

I'm liking more and more the new Sonic sprite. I'll still miss Sonic 3's serious look, but this one is really good too.

They should add a falling animation instead of leaving that "walk in the air" animation when falling, which never made sense.

Shall we open a "Feedback for Sonic Mania dev team" thread?

[Potada]

One thing occurred to me in regards to gameplay: are they sticking to the "one button" gameplay of the classics, or will they implement more than one button? That'd make a huge difference in how they approach a potentially playable Amy.

[ThePrinceOfSaiyans]

GameXplain did another analysis.

 

[Dantemustdie00]

11 hours ago, TimmiT said:

That's some Neo Geo/ SNK tier fluidness that you would find in Metal Slug, can't wait to see Knux's and Tails,

Also not only do the have the 3 Elemental Shields, but they have the regular Shield as well. 

[TheOcelot]

3 hours ago, Potada said:

One thing occurred to me in regards to gameplay: are they sticking to the "one button" gameplay of the classics, or will they implement more than one button? That'd make a huge difference in how they approach a potentially playable Amy.

I think they will definitely make use of all buttons. This way the problem of accidently transforming into Super Knuckles and Tails (when you have collected all emeralds) and you don't want to - i.e. you just want to glide or fly - can finally be avoided. The super transformation should be mapped to a separate button, which is one of the things Sonic 4 did right! I also want to see the ability to transform back to normal Sonic from the Super form, like you can do in Sonic 3 Complete.

 

28 minutes ago, Dantemustdie00 said:

That's some Neo Geo/ SNK tier fluidness that you would find in Metal Slug, can't wait to see Knux's and Tails,

Also not only do the have the 3 Elemental Shields, but they have the regular Shield as well. 

In Sonic 3&K, Tails and Knuckles could not utilise the full abilities of the elemential shields like Sonic could (lighting shield double jump, fire shield dash, bubble double bounce), due their respective flying and climbing, and how these abilities were not mapped to a separate button.

I want this fixed as well. Yeah I know Tails & Knuckles can fly and climb/glide which makes the additional abilities of the elemential shields kind of redundant for them. Still, it would be nice all the same.

I also thinks Tails & Knux should have the new drop-dash ability. 

 

2 hours ago, ThePrinceOfSaiyajins said:

GameXplain did another analysis.

"Mania level design make it look at feel like Sonic CD 2".

That's a good spot at 11:40 which pretty much confirms the chaos emeralds are back.

I would be happy with Super Sonic, Super Tails and Super Knuckles (we don't need Hyper forms). StealthTax will probably make the super form animations look even better than Hyper Sonic in 3&K.

[nikfan]

1 hour ago, BenderMania said:

In Sonic 3&K, Tails and Knuckles could not utilise the full abilities of the elemential shields like Sonic could (lighting shield double jump, fire shield dash, bubble double bounce), due their respective flying and climbing, and how these abilities were not mapped to a separate button.

I want this fixed as well. Yeah I know Tails & Knuckles can fly and climb/glide which makes the additional abilities of the elemential shields kind of redundant for them. Still, it would be nice all the same.

I also thinks Tails & Knux should have the new drop-dash ability. 

Tails and Knux don't need elemental shields or the new drop-dash attack thingy. I would like them to stay on Sonic, it is a way to make him different from the rest, since he always kinda was the lamer character in the classics, since... He couldn't fly or glide. The only plus he had at that time is just the ability to use the elemental shields. I think the Drop Dash should stay a Sonic only feature to get him up there with Tails and Knuckles.