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

[Joellui]

This is more like a pipe dream but, maybe the cutscenes can be something like the fan games of Sonic Before and After the Sequels.

[TCB]

I too think cutscenes ala Before/After the Sequel would be ideal for the stylish choice of what Mania is showing us.

[Tenko]

Would have been cool to have an animated opening and closing ala Sonic CD, but I'm also totally down for the Sonic 3&K treatment with zone interludes and short but expressive "cutscenes" using the sprites.

[Diogenes]

Man (B/A)tS's cutscenes might be fine for fanwork, but that's really not what I want to see out of a professional game. And I don't just mean the amateur quality art and animation, but the ratio of "meaningful information conveyed" to "I made them do a cute/funny/exciting thing!" is not good and even otherwise a lot of it seems like bloat. Also there's like, Johnny Test whipcrack levels of "woosh sound with movement" going on.

I'm not trying to slag on the guy's work or anything, but I really don't see it as something to imitate.

[Swiss]

Major Magnet (Padoga West's mobile game) had some really nice little animated cutscenes ala S3&K so I wouldn't be surprised if we saw the same here!

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

2 hours ago, Indigo Rush said:

Some Sonic Mania details

@5:30

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!

AWWWWWWWWWWW YIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Seriously I could not be happier with this new revelation, I mean I was already hyped for the game and everything about it seemed amazing but this? This is just everything I could ever want and then some. Seeing the zones of the games as forming an actual coherent world as opposed to more or less just being "levels", actually acknowledging the canon of the classic games such as the existence of specific islands, the promise of a story...wow. This is some sweet, sweet stuff. Mania may just end up being the Sonic game that'll truly have it all. I just hope some of the awesome ideas it revisits, refines and introduces end up having a ripple effect on the main series games as well. As totally awesome as it will be just being what it is, a true "new classic" game, so many of these concepts would be great in a modern, 3D, big-budget environment too.

[Tenko]

All it needs now to be my fantasy ultimate classic style follow-up game, is after 20 odd years, have part of the story revolve around searching for Mighty & Ray, with Fang as a boss in the same vein as Knuckles was in Sonic 3K, showing up and meddling in the crews progress.

Then I can die a happy man

[molul]

I was thinking about the special stages. They could add another connection to the classics here: Sonic Spinball. Wouldn't that be cool? I've always wanted a sequel to that great pinball game

[Burning Finger]

8 hours ago, molul said:

I was thinking about the special stages. They could add another connection to the classics here: Sonic Spinball. Wouldn't that be cool? I've always wanted a sequel to that great pinball game

As someone who sucked at Sonic Spinball, this would make me very upset. I like the throwback, but if its the only way to collect the Chaos Emeralds count me out.

[Jango]

15 hours ago, Indigo Rush said:

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!

HELL. YEAH. Man, I can't wait for this story, I'm really curious about how they will explain why Sonic needs to visit Little Planet again! Could the re-imagined CD zone feature time-travel?! Oh shit son, this is gonna be soooooo good. Fuck Sonic 4 and it's stupid "story".

Also, I want a Collector's Edition soooo bad. Like a physical copy that mimics the Genesis cartridge case, toped with a classic styled manual and everything [emoji7]

[TheOcelot]

Yeah it's gonna be interesting to see how the reworked zones will be integrated into Mania's story. The way Taxman was talking about it makes it sound like Sonic is coming back to the previous zones after the events of the classics. So the zones will have changed/aged, hence they will look different with new layouts. Makes me more curious as to how the other reworked stages will look.

Telling the story through the cutscenes and level progression like they did with 3&K is a no-brainer. It worked so well in 3&K. You'd expect the cutscenes to look better/should have better animations with the 32bit look. An intro like Sonic CD's would be awesome. 

I'm hoping in Mania that Tails & Knuckles playthroughs will be treated as 'canon' along with Sonic, instead of just Sonic's story being canon like in the classics.

[___-_]

I'm curious exactly how they're going to connect some of these zones together from other games considering they're most likely Sonic 3 & K-ing it. I'm pretty sure it won't just transition from Sonic 1 - CD zones in that order and then just slap new zones afterwards since that'd be pretty boring, imo, and possibly not even make sense.

Part of me has been thinking that maybe some of these new zones are supposed to fill in the gaps between the re-imagined zones to really bring the world together seamlessly. Like for example, with Studiopolis Zone being a city level, with the subway trains referencing CPU/ COPE and it being demoed along side Green Hill Zone, that maybe its an area that actually resides in South Island and transitions to or from Spring Yard Zone (whether for gameplay and/or for story purposes only)?

Where ever how it goes, though, I'll be perfectly fine with a Sonic 3 & K esque story telling. I'd be hyped for some mini animated FMV's, though, considering it looks like they wanna take advantage of the Saturn era capabilities (hopefully Sonic CD standards if so =P).

[Jango]

I wonder tho, which period of time the re-imagined zone from Sonic CD will be set? The game's manual states that the rules of time are not applied to Little Planet, so it could be any? Well, propably the present that we know of, since Mania is not AGES into the future, and when Sonic arrived PPZ it was the present... one thing we know is that the Time Stones can not only control time (like changing the future), but also perform miracles:

Quote

An event in which the Time Stones caused a miracle to occur, was when it would transform the polluted water, and the surrounding desert around it, into a beautiful lake.

Sonic CD Japanese manual.

 

Perhaps Sonic needs to gather the Time Stones again to revert some real damage Eggman has cause?

So many questions, so many possibilities!

[Tenko]

That's a good point about the zone transitions. Especially if he's visiting zones from each classic "main" game as mentioned in the interviews and press releases so far.

The original takes place on South Island, Sonic 2 on Westside Island, Sonic 3 & Knuckles on Angel Island, and then the one that would cause the most issue, Sonic CD on Little Planet.

So will the story or in game cutscenes explain how he is getting from place to place? Hopping in the Tornado at the end of each zone? How's he getting to Little Planet this time without it being tethered? 

Previous classic games were basically situated in one area, this one will be very spread out. Now I'm wondering how it will be handled. Good point guys!!

[The drunkard from space!]

Little Planet may not be the only classic title outside the numerical titles to be involved. For all we know carnival island/newtrogic high zone may also be a location in the game. I would love to see locations from Chaotix make a return! Albeit with cohesive level designs.

[molul]

15 hours ago, Burning Finger said:

As someone who sucked at Sonic Spinball, this would make me very upset. I like the throwback, but if its the only way to collect the Chaos Emeralds count me out.

D'oh! I'd love a Sonic Spinball with the sonic engine, not the one they used for sonic spinball. 

At least we got one of the best basslines for the Genesis:

 

[Salamander]

14 hours ago, StriCNYN3 said:

I'm curious exactly how they're going to connect some of these zones together from other games considering they're most likely Sonic 3 & K-ing it. I'm pretty sure it won't just transition from Sonic 1 - CD zones in that order and then just slap new zones afterwards since that'd be pretty boring, imo, and possibly not even make sense.

While it doesn't necessarily mean anything because a demo was always going to show us both an old and a new level, the presentation of Green Hill and Studiopolis so far kind of makes me think that maybe new and old levels will alternate.  Piling up consecutive classic levels may be less exciting for the fans who know them too well.

I agree that it's difficult to imagine how some of the zones could link up, but the nature of some of the zones might help; for instance, if they took Flying Battery from S&K, then that could show up just about anywhere.  Gimmicks from the new and old zones might also be helpful; remembering that some of the S3 transitions involved teleporters (at least on the Knuckles side), isn't it possible that one of those warp vans from Studiopolis could warp Sonic to the Little Planet, or Floating Island?

14 hours ago, Jango said:

I wonder tho, which period of time the re-imagined zone from Sonic CD will be set? The game's manual states that the rules of time are not applied to Little Planet, so it could be any? Well, propably the present that we know of, since Mania is not AGES into the future, and when Sonic arrived PPZ it was the present... one thing we know is that the Time Stones can not only control time (like changing the future), but also perform miracles:

Tough question.  On the one hand, the "present" versions of the Sonic CD stages are always going to be the most recognisable, because that's the state you begin them in and which most players will have spent most time in... but on the other hand, by the time Sonic leaves each CD zone, it's transitioned to the Future.  Possibly we'll get a mingling?  The present, but with areas resembling past and future, and the boss especially taking place in a future-themed arena?

Another thing I've been thinking about: The choice of classic levels from each game will probably be interdependent, as well as relating to the themes of new levels.  I'm not the only one to say that Studiopolis probably means that we won't be getting Casino and Carnival Night back, but I also think that we're unlikely to get, say, both Tidal Tempest and Hydrocity, as they're so similar in theme.

[Jango]

Yeah, zone transition in Sonic 3&K was never WOW SUPER REALISTIC, I mean, Sonic enters a cannon in a carnival at night that sends him to an ice mountain at day. And he freaking lands exactly on a snowboard lol

I don't mind if the transitions in Mania aren't super realistic, as long as they're fun and make a little sense, it's cool

Also, could one of these zones be acessed the same way Hidden Palace is in Sonic 2 remastered? [emoji102]

[molul]

I'm not sure yet if I want to know the remastered zones. It will be a surprise when they announce them, but it would be a bigger surprised discovering while playing... Shit...

About the CD zone, it would be really cool if they did something like Mushroom Hill (I mean, changing the backgrounds during the act) with the Past, Present and Future thing.

 

[PickleBrows]

With the way Little Planet kind of fades into Sonic's world when it arrives, I'm wondering if it's possible for the planet to materialise too low to the ground and become partially embedded in the terrain. Sonic could finish a zone and then wind up literally running into Little Planet's atmosphere.

[molul]

Is it Spring 2017 yet? No?

Taxman, can you release the current demo for us little junkies? T_T

[Spooky Mulder]

Assuming CD is included in the remastered zones, maybe each act could take place in a different time period with Sonic running past a timepost at the end of the act?

[Jango]

34 minutes ago, Joy said:

With the way Little Planet kind of fades into Sonic's world when it arrives, I'm wondering if it's possible for the planet to materialise too low to the ground and become partially embedded in the terrain. Sonic could finish a zone and then wind up literally running into Little Planet's atmosphere.

The manual says it always materialises above the Never Lake. In Sonic CD, the Planet is only very close to Earth because Eggman chained it to a mountain (which was convenient to Sonic). Once the chain was broken, Little Planet ascends very quickly before vanishing. But yeah, I don't think it materialises say, outer space, since the legend states that it appears above said lake... then again:

In Sonic 4, Little Planet IS outer space. And it isn't little at all. But let's forget about Sonic 4, it never existed.

 

One thing I was wondering is how the Sonic 3&K zones will look like, since their art-style was very different from Sonic 1, 2 and CD, it's much more plastic and detailed. Mania Team will probably re-draw everything to match with the rest of the game.

[___-_]

4 hours ago, FFWF said:

While it doesn't necessarily mean anything because a demo was always going to show us both an old and a new level, the presentation of Green Hill and Studiopolis so far kind of makes me think that maybe new and old levels will alternate.  Piling up consecutive classic levels may be less exciting for the fans who know them too well.

I agree that it's difficult to imagine how some of the zones could link up, but the nature of some of the zones might help; for instance, if they took Flying Battery from S&K, then that could show up just about anywhere.  Gimmicks from the new and old zones might also be helpful; remembering that some of the S3 transitions involved teleporters (at least on the Knuckles side), isn't it possible that one of those warp vans from Studiopolis could warp Sonic to the Little Planet, or Floating Island?

Yea, I was kinda thinking some of the level ordering may go from re-imagined -> new -> re-imagined just to help better convey how Sonic got from a Sonic 1 level to a Sonic 2 level that a simple end-of-zone-jump-off-screen transition may not best explain considering all of the classic games takes place on different islands, with one taking place on a whole different planet.

But yea. I'm not going to hold onto them if the transitions aren't super signified. Just as long as they don't have Sonic going "I'm outta here" off a Green Hill Zone cliff and then end up on Lava Reef Zone in Angel Island or something crazy like that, haha. 

3 hours ago, Jango said:

Also, could one of these zones be acessed the same way Hidden Palace is in Sonic 2 remastered?

You know, I did notice that pretty much every player on Green Hill Zone kept going that bottom route to fight the boss (Although, that top route where the last known loop with the yellow spring that everyone's been missing could just as easily be an item box dead end area or a shortcut leading to the boss). That'd be super interesting if altered or even completely different zones were chosen based on what route you took in zones.

[expansivelovestories]

Some posts have mentioned Little Planet / zones from Sonic CD; is there an interview or something where this was described as being in this game? 

The press release after the game announcement did not mention Sonic CD. 

That being said, i do think that the full extent of this project would not necessarily be told straight away!