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

[Burning Finger]

Am I the only one who wishes they'd use the Sonic's sprites from Sonic 3?

I've always felt Sonic's model looked better there than the flat looking one used in 1, 2, and CD.

[Tara]

2 minutes ago, Burning Finger said:

Am I the only one who wishes they'd use the Sonic's sprites from Sonic 3?

I've always felt Sonic's model looked better there than the flat looking one used in 1, 2, and CD.

I'm in the position where I'm glad they're finally making new sprites instead of reusing the old ones to represent the classic era.  Feels like an evolution rather than a rehash.

[Burning Finger]

5 minutes ago, Tara said:

I'm in the position where I'm glad they're finally making new sprites instead of reusing the old ones to represent the classic era.  Feels like an evolution rather than a rehash.

Oh I can tell they're new, I just wish it was based more on the Sonic 3 model. Not a deal breaker either way though.

[Mauro Fonseca]

Sonic CD's sprites were always the best ones so this is good, this is good

[TheLaw34]

3 hours ago, Burning Finger said:

Oh I can tell they're new, I just wish it was based more on the Sonic 3 model. Not a deal breaker either way though.

Yep totally agree, It's always sad seeing classic sonic and having it be the sonic cd model. Sonic 3 always looked way better.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

I never liked the Sonic 3 sprites. Am happy they are going with a more Sonic CD look overall. I would say Sonic Mania has the best official classic Sonic sprite style to date.

[Burning Finger]

1 hour ago, TheLaw34 said:

Yep totally agree, It's always sad seeing classic sonic and having it be the sonic cd model. Sonic 3 always looked way better.

Hell yeah, its not even a contest.

Still, I realize we're in the minority for some reason.

[Diogenes]

I used to prefer the 3&K sprites, but at some point my opinion switched, and now he just looks too...bulbous. Big fat hands, big fat shoes, slightly blunted spikes. Admittedly I also feel like the 1/2/CD sprites have slightly too small hands and slightly too long and pointy shoes, but...overall at this point I prefer the relative spikiness they have.

[Marcello]

Sonic 3 is my favorite sprite. I like the roundness and the more simplified coloring. I hate that red in Sonic 1+2's skin and I prefer the blue-ish gray used for the whites in Sonic 3's.

Still hate the shade of blue they're using for Mania. Too bright.

[TheOcelot]

I'm warming to Mania's lighter blue-turquoise appearance.

 

I like Sonic 3's sprite perhaps the most out of the classic designs but I wouldn't want it in Mania. StealthTax are right to try something a bit different-make Sonic feel & look unique. Adapting the design from the Sonic 1/CD sprite kind of feels right as it's a game for the 25th anniversary.

Sonic's sprite in Sonic Crackers (& Mighty in Chaotix for that matter) was also based on the one from Sonic 1/CD.

[TheLaw34]

Just now, BenderMania said:

I'm warming to Mania's lighter blue-turquoise appearance.

 

I like Sonic 3's sprite perhaps the most out of the classic designs, but I wouldn't want it in Mania. StealthTax are right to try something a bit different-make Sonic feel & look unique. Taking the lead from the Sonic 1/CD sprite kind of feels right as it's a game for the 25th anniversary.

Sonic's sprite in Sonic Crackers (& Mighty in Chaotix for that matter) was also based on the one from Sonic 1/CD.

They can make it feel unique and use the sonic 3 sprite as a base. Just cause it's a 25th anniversary game doesn't mean they need to base it off the very earilest one. Anyway people seem to like it so who am I I to complain.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

1 minute ago, BenderMania said:

I'm warming to Mania's lighter blue-turquoise appearance.

 

I like Sonic 3's sprite perhaps the most out of the classic designs, but I wouldn't want it in Mania. StealthTax are right to try something a bit different-make Sonic feel & look unique. Taking the lead from the Sonic 1/CD sprite kind of feels right as it's a game for the 25th anniversary.

Sonic's sprite in Sonic Crackers (& Mighty in Chaotix for that matter) was also based on the one from Sonic 1/CD.

Yeah! I think the Sonic Mania style is just so... beautiful! And as for the subject of it's colors... I love the strong charming saturated colors. I'm not into dull colors nearly as much. It's just so bright and cartoony. x3

The Sonic 3 style just seemed... so plastic and chubby. It's my least fave style of the classics.

[Clewis]

Yeah, at first I wasn't a huge fan of Sonic's color scheme in Mania either, but it's grown on me during the past week or so and I'm fine with it at this point.

Though I do think it's neat that the colors being used for Sonic are similar to those used in some of Ohshima's art for Sonic 1: 

I'd imagine that's probably what Sega wanted the Mania team to reference instead of utilizing the darker blues found in Sonic's sprites for 2 and 3.

[TheLaw34]

Just now, Clewis said:

Yeah, at first I wasn't a huge fan of Sonic's color scheme in Mania either, but it's grown on me during the past week or so and I'm fine with it at this point.

Though I do think it's neat that the colors being used for Sonic are similar to those used in some of Ohshima's art for Sonic 1: 

I'd imagine that's probably what Sega wanted the Mania team to reference instead of utilizing the darker blues found in Sonic's sprites for 2 and 3.

I was always pretty much on board with the color it's more of the shape and small details that sorta annoy me.

[molul]

6 hours ago, Burning Finger said:

Am I the only one who wishes they'd use the Sonic's sprites from Sonic 3?

I've always felt Sonic's model looked better there than the flat looking one used in 1, 2, and CD.

I totally wish they used Sonic 3 sprites.

[Salamander]

I just think the flat shoes and tiny hands pre-S3 look odd.  I don't like seeing the outline of the back edge of Sonic's head, either; the mohawk interpretation of his spines is hideous to me.  But his legs on his S3 sprite do look a bit stubby, too, so it's not like it's without flaws.  A more synthesised borrowing and merging would have been preferable to just skipping Sonic 3's sprite like it doesn't exist - a fate Sonic 3 is too often consigned to.  But I do like Mania's new lighter shade; it pops out a bit more.

[SpongeX]

IGN were talking about Mania and SP2017....and they also said that we're Sonic fans because we want to have *** with Big The Cat.

[nikfan]

I like the Sonic 3 Sprite, but I do like this game's sprite a lot. For me its a combination of the Sonic 3 and CD sprites. The coloring sits well with me and his running animation looks pretty neat. Overall his redesign is really cool. I don't have any problem with the sprite at all at this point in time. 

[Joellui]

3 hours ago, SpongeX said:

IGN were talking about Mania and SP2017....and they also said that we're Sonic fans because we want to have *** with Big The Cat.

 Don't understand why would someone hire these kind of "journalist". Like please don't speak on a subject when you "journalists" have no interest and no information on the matter at hand. Like really bringing up Sonic 06', like get over it, its done. Has been 10 years of it's release. This video was absolutely disgusting. 

 They sound so ignorant. It's ridiculous and embarrassing.

[Indigo Rush]

Some Sonic Mania details

@5:30

Quote

"Yes. There is a story. We can't talk about what the story is yet, but it is going to be a brand new story. Sonic has a reason for coming back to these original classic zones. We wanted Sonic's classic world to be like a living... you know they're not just fixed in time. They change and that sort of explains why there's new bosses in Green Hill. What you would normally expect to happen in a zone from Sonic 3 and Knuckles, something totally different will happen."

The presence of classic levels like Green Hill Zone are not simply for the sake of nostalgia - there are reasons within the story mode for why Sonic is revisiting them, though the story itself is still secret. Christian mentioned that they opted to include classic levels to help build a more cohesive world, in other words South Island, Westside Island and the like aren't self-contained locations in their own unique canon; the story will help link everything together, it would seem.

This is exciting. At first I was hesitant about the inclusion of Green Hill and such, but from both a marketing and story perspective, this makes sense. Besides which, this isn't exactly "Sonic 4," but a special anniversary celebration-type game. The fact that they're putting even that much care into the story is an absolute treat!

[Tara]

Makes me wonder HOW they're going to deliver the story?  Presumably in Sonic 3 & Knuckles style, but I wouldn't against something a little more complex.

[Joellui]

Maybe they'll try to connect all the past classic games together. 

Or even mention the events of those past games in the story one way or another.

[Celestia]

I assumed the returning levels were just going to be bonuses unconnected to the story, but I'm actually happy to be wrong about that.

I hadn't even thought about what the cutscenes will be like until now...I'm expecting something kinda like the simplistic scenes in Sonic 3, but more complex (i.e. more animations).

[Strickerx5]

Oh, well that's cool! And here I was thinking that this would simply be another "go through these stages because it's a game imo dude" sort of deal. Glad to see that they're attempting something a bit more complex here. Really shows that they want to deliver a full packaged game and not just a bunch of level remakes with a few new zones mixed in.

It's even gotten me a bit more excited than I already was. I'm expecting something a bit more around the area of Sonic 3&K/4 where the story is shown through neat little animations at the end of the stage or something. Hope we hear more soon.

[TCB]

So Mania's story will be in its own little self contained thing?