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

[molul]

Have you seen those gimmicks? Especially the water. Tails inyected some green stuff into the blue fluid and made him jump higher. Then those purple moving platforms, the Carnival night spiral, the new tubes in which you can choose your path, the balls at the beginning that lift you up... Way better than Generations, imo.

[JezMM]

Oh yeah if we're keeping count of gimmick re-use as a means to deconfirm stages, Metallic Madness is out due to the usage of the criss-cross zoom tube style in Chemical Plant.

[DarkRula]

20 minutes ago, Diogenes said:

Right above the grass? Those are the "fins" of a totem pole, not a waterfall.

Ah. That explains it.

[Mark1]

That is insane level design. Loving it. They almost (not quite) made that look like a different level altogether. Can see the influence from other classic games here too, namely Sonic CD.

The music is godlike too. Just WOW. 

I don't even care if it's Chemical Plant again - this is one amazing looking level.

[molul]

5 minutes ago, JezMM said:

Oh yeah if we're keeping count of gimmick re-use as a means to deconfirm stages, Metallic Madness is out due to the usage of the criss-cross zoom tube style in Chemical Plant.

And Carnival Night. 

[Stasis]

I'm guessing that boss is based on Generations Death Egg Robot with the arm thing and jumping on it? 

[molul]

We have video for the first act too:

 

[Sonicfan287]

I'm not really sure how to feel about Chemical Plant being the Sonic 2 stage (assuming it's the only one) as it's my favorite level from that game but I also love the majority of the levels and would've loved to have seen mystic caves or oil ocean, something different 

but then seeing this stage (and it's Act 2 so I figure Act 1 will take place in the more traditional setting) I can't believe all the new gimmicks we saw. They're getting very creative here and that's so important at this stage of Sonics career. We've seen almost everything when it comes to sonic games so I'm thrilled to see new gimmicks even in a returning stage. 

1 minute ago, molul said:

We have video for the first act too:

 

Aww man... they brought back the staircases getting submerged in chemicals from Act 2. I always hated that part lol 

[FReaK]

today is thursday. arent they streaming again today? could get interesting.

[DarkXZA]

I feel a little disappointed since Chemical Plant count as a water level which means Hydrocity probably  won't make it?

[mikeblastdude]

Wow. Wasn’t expecting anything so soon after the last trailer, but hey, I always like seeing more stuff.

First off, the music is amazing. Tee Lopes continues to deliver.

As far as Chemical Plant returning, my feelings are a bit mixed at the moment. Chemical Plant is one of my favorite zones from Sonic 2 and from the classic games in general, so I definitely love seeing it back again with new twists and stuff. On the other hand, since we just saw it in Generations, I was sort of expecting to see another zone like Mystic Cave or Oil Ocean in Mania, so I’m slightly let down in that regard, but not enough to lower my excitement of seeing one of my favorite classic zones returning in Mania. Can’t wait to play this!

[Indigo Rush]

38 minutes ago, Sonicfan287 said:

Aww man... they brought back the staircases getting submerged in chemicals from Act 2. I always hated that part lol 

It's kinda the most memorable bit from the original, makes sense it'd come back. 

[LukA8]

Chemical Plant is indeed the typical Sonic 2 pick next to Casino Night, but seeing what they made of Act 2 I don't understand how one could even be mad about it. Heck, if this was Sonic 4 EP2 again they would probably promote it as an all-new zone called "Chemical Factory" : P I do wonder why they revealed that zone now, though, considering we haven't even seen Flying Battery Act 2 yet, other than knowing it may include some scrap metal, and they generally used to be so secretive about the game.

Still excited for their Sonic 3 pick considering that music copyright mess surrounding that game might prohibit them from using certain zones. By being featured in the Mario&Sonic games, I know they are allowed to use Flying Battery and Angel Island Zone, but another zone sure would be nice...(Edit: Hydro City and Marble Garden tracks were also in Generations)

I hope that if Mania is indeed successful enough to warrant a sequel (you never know with Sonic sales numbers nowadays, especially when digital-only), they will reimagine more uncommon zones like Scrap Brain/Star Light, Quartz Quadrant/Tidal Tempest, Oil Ocean/Mystic Cave, Hydrocity/Launch Base and Lava Reef/Sandopolis. Because a Mania sequel would obviously have returning zones again, if only because Sonic Team demands it. Who knows, it might even feature Green Hill again.

[Chris Knopps]

I did a little quirky promoting for the zone over on TSOS.

"Maybe with a little effort we'll find out the formula necessary to make a few Artificial Chaos of our own!"

"Or... Maybe we'll just turn Sonic and co. green and muscular by accident... "Sonic smash!" anyone?"

[Person]

Wow, at first I saw the news of Chemical Plant and was like "Goddammit, we just had this in Generations!"

Then I watched the video, saw the actual level design, the gimmicks, and new mechanics, and I'm in love. I cannot wait to play Chemical Plant again.

This is how you do it, this seems like a totally new level. Excellent job, guys, seriously.

[Shiny Gems]

2 hours ago, Forte-Metallix said:

From this angle, it looks like the Death Egg Robot's been upgraded with the power of Pingas.

 

Snooping as usual, I see? Sorry, but it had to be done.

[TheOcelot]

On phone so will post more thoughts later.

Love how different CP act2 looks. Now that's what I call a reimagined stage!

Also, why does the Egg Robot boss have a giant penis :v

 

[Spooky Mulder]

First reaction to Chemical Plant is that I'm pretty disappointed we're getting a stage we already just saw in Sonic Generations. Would have loved to see Mystic Cave....

That being said damn it looks good. Looks like the stage got a massive overhaul and I think that fantastic! Taxman and co are really outdoing themselves. 

[Potada]

Gonna be honest, as much as I love spoilers most of the time, I'm kinda hoping the reveals slow down or stop soon. Like others have said, it feels like we're getting a little too much info, and I'd like to be surprised a little lol. (In before "just do an internet blackout" comments)

[Indigo Rush]

At this rate, in about two months time the whole game will be available for everyone to play. Mark my words! 

 

 

 

 

/this is a bad joke

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

Image if the boss fight could be a throwback to the labyrinth zone boss with the rising purple water and all. Then you fight the real boss fight at the end.

[Kuzu]

Really hope the remaining Zone picks aren't as obvious as this one.

 

So, in terms of representation we got

Sonic 1 (Green Hill)

Sonic 2 (Chemical Plant)

Sonic 3 (?)

Sonic & Knuckles (Flying Battery)

Sonic CD (Stardust Speedway)

And two original zones atm

 

[Celestia]

27 minutes ago, Indigo Rush said:

At this rate, in about two months time the whole game will be available for everyone to play. Mark my words! 

The worst spoiler of all. SEGA's marketing is just getting worse and worse. :///

I'm going to predict Sky Sanctuary just to be safe. And on top of that I think only that and maybe one more new zone will be revealed before the game comes out; that way we'll still have a few new zones to see and (if people are right about this) the second returning zones from each game will also go unrevealed. But that's just a guess, a GAAAME guess

[molul]

Let's see...

-Angel Island, very unlikely.

-Hidrocity, very likely

-Marble Garden... I'd say "hopefully unlikely"

-Carnival Night: unlikely (gimmicks in Chemical Plant and also we already have Studiopolis and Mirage Saloon, which are not the same but rekinds me of).

-Ice Cap: hopefully likely. With Hidrocity, I'd say it's the most iconic zone.

-Launch base, likely. Not my favourite, but nice anyway.

[G-Force]

Hmm, it's kinda interesting.  It looks like they're setting it up so that Act 1 of each classic level is focused on recreating what the original Zone felt like, while Act 2 focuses on putting a major twist on it.  Green Hill Act 1 had the original's music and background, and it stuck to level elements that already existed in the original.  Act 2, in contrast, has a new background, new music, and threw new elements like the zip lines and the pools of water at us.  Chemical Plant Act 1 looks super tame, Chemical Pant Act 2 looks wild and innovative.  Flying Battery Act 1 looks tame...you see where I'm going here?

Incidentally, this makes me think that Stardust Speedway Past might actually be the Act 2 of that particular level, because those robotic vines are something that never existed in that Zone before.  Or, really, in any classic Zone that I can think of.