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

[TheOcelot]

40 minutes ago, Indigo Rush said:

Is this one of the Bonus Stages, actually?

I get the impression it's from act2 of Studiopolis. The background kind of looks like it's inside a studio/factory. Maybe act1 ends with Sonic transitioning inside a large building to act2? Also the Score & Timer shows at the top left which wouldn't normally appear in a bonus stage.

It's a neat little gimmick though. I assume the ball numbers appear randomly depending how quickly Sonic runs, which could mean different rewards (item boxes & rings).

Oh yeah, this background does appear 3 or 4 times in the trailer.

At 1:40 in the video you can also see those red bouncy things from act1 of Studiopolis. So yes, surely that screenshot is from act2. 

[Indigo Rush]

4 hours ago, Barley Fields Is Back said:

That's great, I wouldn't want the game to stagnate too much like Sonic 3 did!

Sonic 2 was at its best. Sonic is always at its best when there's nothing to interrupt the speed!

Sonic 2 can be a blast, but Sonic 3 & Knuckles kept the player engaged with equal measures of platforming challenges and plenty of opportunity for exploration in conjunction with the more speedy sections. If anything, Sonic 2 was the more stagnant one with its bigger emphasis on speed. If there's nothing to interrupt the speed, there's no real challenge. No real challenge, no fulfilling gameplay. The challenge in Sonic 2 is more or less tiered paths where you're punished for not taking the optimal route, with later levels throwing enemies and obstacles at you with little time to react, Oil Ocean and Metropolis being huge offenders in this; and I'm not of the persuasion that's good level design. So as much as I love Sonic 2 as it's great for a quick on-the-go experience, if I want to sit down and take in a more complete adventure, I'll take Sonic 3 & Knuckles over any of the other classic era games.

[Safka]

This game looks amazing, I'm so happy it's pixel! I hope I can bring some contribution to this thread and help make a happy and fun environment on this forum  . 

Sorry guys but I'm kind of a newbie around here. Can anyone forward me to a introduction thread?

[FriendBot]

The Chit-Chat subforum has the Introduction topic pinned there, can't miss it.

As for the topic which Special Stage Mania would have? I personally would like to see a new type of Special Stage but hey, if it's a remixed version of an old one; I wouldn't mind it.

[Safka]

3 minutes ago, Soni.exe said:

The Chit-Chat subforum has the Introduction topic pinned there, can't miss it.

Thanks, sorry I'm a noob  .

But thank you my friend!

[Pixel]

I for one am delighted Sonic has gone back to his REAL 2D roots.

Sonic sucks in 3D, and now we are finally getting a real 2D game. Not shit like Sonic 4, but a real pixel art Sonic game made by a talented team. This is the true rebirth of Sonic!

[Safka]

6 minutes ago, Pixel said:

I for one am delighted Sonic has gone back to his REAL 2D roots.

Sonic sucks in 3D, and now we are finally getting a real 2D game. Not shit like Sonic 4, but a real pixel art Sonic game made by a talented team. This is the true rebirth of Sonic!

Hmm, I wouldn't say Sonic sucks in 3D.

But I am also happy for Mania! I've wanted a Sonic game like this for years!

[JosepHenry]

If the game is bigger than Generations...

 

How many stages the game probably will have?  It will be bigger than the classics?

(2 Acts with at least 5 levels for old levels.... ?)

[Safka]

8 minutes ago, JosepMelloZSM said:

If the game is bigger than Generations...

 

How many stages the game probably will have?  It will be bigger than the classics?

(2 Acts with at least 5 levels for old levels.... ?)

I think it is safe to think it will at least be longer than Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Generations is admittedly not a very long game, so it's not a massive boast that Mania is longer  .

What ultimately matters is how good the game is. Replay value is the ultimate length!

 

[Menace2Society]

10 minutes ago, JosepMelloZSM said:

If the game is bigger than Generations...

 

How many stages the game probably will have?  It will be bigger than the classics?

(2 Acts with at least 5 levels for old levels.... ?)

I expect it to be about as long as Sonic 3 and Knuckles. Maybe slightly longer, with an extra zone or two.

[JosepHenry]

I agree, but still, I'm scared if the lengh of this game will be Sonic 4 like ^^" Nah...

I know it isn't since CW mocked Sonic 4 for being short!

The game is going to be great or a masterpiece. Unless something horrible happens.

[Pixel]

Sonic 4 was terrible. But worst of all, it made people lose faith in Classic Sonic, so we got landed with more rubbish 3D.

At least we have someone competent doing it now. I can't imagine how horrible it would be for the 3D path to continue and get another rubbish Adventure game.

[FriendBot]

Now, now people. Let's not start with the whole 2D vs 3D debate again.

Some 3D games are pretty great and some 2D games sucked. We can live in a world where both 2D and 3D Sonic games can coexist.

[Menace2Society]

Honestly, Sonic 4 wasn't that bad, imo. It's not a very good successor to the classics, but by itself, it's harmless.

[JosepHenry]

15 minutes ago, Pixel said:

Sonic 4 was terrible. But worst of all, it made people lose faith in Classic Sonic, so we got landed with more rubbish 3D.

At least we have someone competent doing it now. I can't imagine how horrible it would be for the 3D path to continue and get another rubbish Adventure game.

I wouldn't say terrible, uninspired is the word. Like every Mario game since Galaxy *runs away*

I disagree with your opinion on 3D Sonic, but is your opinion. And we still have Project '17! Which we don't know anything about.

I hope Mania has more original ideas for levels. Studiopolis is a really good sign.

And I wonder if the Green Hill theme is also the tamest remix of the game.... I would love Tee Lopes just copied and pasted his 2009 Hydrocity remix. If Hydrocity isn't in this game I will get really salty.

[Pixel]

Well, I think Sonic '17 looks like the same old nonsense edgy 3D shit. But yeah, I'm happy to get Sonic Mania so I'm not complaining!

Another true Sonic game!

[Mad Convoy]

Umm... Pixel, you are aware that the Adventure formula has been dead since 2008, right? The closest we've got to an Adventure formula title in recent years is Rise of Lyric, and that's still pretty distant from the format established by SA1 and SA2, not to mention that its been implicitly retconned and was only a spinoff in the first place. In regards to 3D Sonic nowadays, complaining about Boost and Parkour is where its at.

And how do you know that Sonic 2017 is going to be same old nonsense edgy stuff? (Especially since mainline Sonic hasn't actually tried to be edgy since 2008)

Sonic 4, despite being ok on its own, was a pretty terrible successor to Sonic 3-- which admittedly is a difficult act to follow but it still should have been better. But I feel that's ultimately irrelevant to Sonic Mania because despite sharing a similar concept, Mania is leagues away from and above 4 in almost every category.

[JosepHenry]

Wow, it just looks like you want to piss off 3D Sonic fans! ^^"

Sonic Advance is Sonic 4 for me at least, but let me stop getting out of topic.

[Pixel]

I can tell Sonic '17 will be edgy by the stupid trailer and it's 'ow edge' atmosphere. And as for Adventure, I was worried they would go back to it, as it should just stay dead because it was always terrible.

I'd love for Sonic '17 to be good and actually resemble a real Sonic game, but my expectations are very very low!

Sonic 4 was just fucking atrocious, a technical mess, and it almost killed the series for good. Generations was ok, even though the Boost is a terrible mechanic. Generations' Classic Sonic had terrible broken physics, but at least it was a step up from anything before it.

I don't want to piss of 3D fans, I'm just expressing my disdain for the 3D titles. They suck. If someone thinks Classic Sonic sucks, cool. I won't get offended, it's just opinions.

[FriendBot]

I personally had some fun with both episodes of Sonic 4.

I won't pretend I was very disappointed knowing that the game was supposed to be the sequel game to 3 & Knuckles, you know the best Sonic game ever? But despite that, in it's own it's an alright game. Had more fun with Episode II then I. I mean, the fact that each act of a zone had something that made it unique was a nice design choice imo but yeah, this is Mania. Not the Sonic 4 thread, we have plenty of those in the past.

Still gonna repeat what I've said many times before, Mania is going to be a really good game; no doubt about it. StealthTax and PagodaWest have plenty of experience making games of the Classic era in the past, Tee Lopes is an amazing composer so without a doubt we'll hear many more awesome musical gems like Studiopolis. Mania is without a doubt the biggest passion project in gaming ever and I do wish it's a big success, critically and financially. Because if that's the case, then it will convince SEGA to make a series of Mania-styled games and who knows what they'll add in possible future installments? More playable characters like Amy? New mechanics? The possibilities are never ending, my people!

So yeah, Mania is a cool game.

[Pixel]

I'm most interested to see how they remix the stages. The team are incredibly talent. It's going to be exciting to see how they reimagine the classic levels.

I'm hoping for Lava Reef, some remix of that chase scene would be really cool!

[JosepHenry]

Meh, I will keep this discussion. If I get too out of topic the staff will let me know

I think Sonic '17 will be the same lighthearted experience as Sonic Unleashed but with higher stakes feel this time. What the new games needed I tell you! PLEASE BE IAN THE WRITER PLEASEEEE

... I'm sorry.

[Pixel]

What Sonic '17 needs is no plot :p . Sonic games and plot are disastrous. At the most, a silent plot. Sonic and talking is a big no no and cringe for everyone involved.

[Mad Convoy]

But how are you defining "ow edge"? Besides, we don't know much about the game-- I could easily take a picture of Crisis City from Sonic Generations or Asteroid Coaster from Sonic Colors out of context and claim that those games are edgy BS, even though anybody who's actually had some experience with those games could clearly see that's wrong. While I agree that a lot of Sonic plots are terrible, I don't think that's because Sonic Team puts too much plot but rather because it tends to handle its plots poorly. The potential is there for a good Sonic plot, and I don't think every one now and in the future should be dismissed because some happen to suck.

But I can guarantee you that, like it or not, it is going to resemble a real Sonic game, because its an officially licensed Sonic the Hedgehog product by Sega.

I recall Sonic 4's physics needing serious work, but besides that, it didn't really have a lot of technical issues. Even then, the physics are manageable and the game didn't even come close to killing the franchise (in fact, people then were inclined to point to Colors and claim that Colors saved Sonic from the horrors inflicted by Sonic 06, so you could say that 2010 was overall a really good year for Sonic). And do explain how Gens's classic physics are "broken"-- inaccurate is one thing, but when I think broken, I tend to think more "Sonic can jump over dash panels and stand on the top of the inside of a loopdeloop in defiance of gravity".

[Diogenes]

3 minutes ago, Mad Convoy said:

And how do you know that Sonic 2017 is going to be same old nonsense edgy stuff?

The trailer, I'd guess.

Honestly, and at the risk of going off topic, I think a fair argument could be made against there being some "great" 3D Sonics. I'd say even the best 3D games the series has put out have some pretty severe flaws and fall far behind the series' best 2D games. That's one of the reasons I hope Mania is a success, so maybe Sonic Team wakes up and takes some hints from it, rather than stumbling from one disastrous impulse to another.