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

[Pixel]

Tee Lopes has done some amazing remixes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQFXa5YeZHw&ab_channel=TeeLopes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TT_b3YU8SRk&ab_channel=TeeLopes

He's great for the job, well-suited to recapture the glorious Classic Sonic sound.

Also see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU2BImK9v9w&ab_channel=TeeLopes

[Lucid Dream]

I think I get it now. When I hear remix I think of something changing wildly, like a rock remix of a piece of classic music. Tee Lopez definitely is much more tame. 

So Tee Lopes basically does something inbetween a remaster and a remix. I guess a re-imagination really is a good description for it. Definitely not my cup of tea, but it definitely works for Sonic Mania, especcially the first act of GHZ. Considering he'll only be composing a few themes, there probably isn't much to worry about consistancy either. 

As long as I get more themes that are Studiopolis level quality, I'm more than happy. 

[JezMM]

While the opening is a fair bit more "remix" than "re-master" I feel his magnum opus is this Labyrinth Zone cover of all things:

Can't believe how well the opening and "chorus" work.  Star Light from this same '12 series is equally stellar.  He knows his way around horns and strings so well.

[Meow]

I think I am one of the few people that really loves Labyrinth Zone a lot, the music especially is amazing to me. That remix you posted is incredible. I have no real doubt that the OST for Mania is gonna be amazing, I am definitely down for things getting the horns and strings treatment as opposed to tons of guitars this time around as far as remasters go. Studiopolis brings a lot of funky goodness to the scene too, so I am really on board with it all.

[FriendBot]

I'm still not entirely sure if this was known but while just screwing around, I decided to listen to the Genesis version of 3D Blast's Credits theme.

And then all of sudden, it sounded familiar.

So I listened to the trailer for Mania and it's pretty much confirmed.

That song that was playing before Checkpoint is a remix of 3D Blast's Credits theme, didn't sounded like Lopes' remix so I'm guessing Hyper Potions did it? Don't hold my word on it.

[Mark1]

23 minutes ago, Soni.exe said:

I'm still not entirely sure if this was known but while just screwing around, I decided to listen to the Genesis version of 3D Blast's Credits theme.

And then all of sudden, it sounded familiar.

So I listened to the trailer for Mania and it's pretty much confirmed.

That song that was playing before Checkpoint is a remix of 3D Blast's Credits theme, didn't sounded like Lopes' remix so I'm guessing Hyper Potions did it? Don't hold my word on it.

That's well spotted. Amazing how fans are still finding references to other games months after the initial announcement.

Have a concern about Mania after playing through Taxman's Sonic 1, 2 and CD ports. It's the trap and enemy placements. Some are so random and frustrating that it's easy to lose rings and/or die (especially CD's level design, very trial and error in the later zones). Can't quite remember Sonic 3&K but recall it having the best level design of them all. 

I've seen this form of placement already in Mania and hope it's just part of the Alpha version. Sonic deserves the best game possible and hope the franchise gets it next year.

[molul]

I knew the music playing at the beginning of Sonic Mania's trailer was Sonic 3D's credits  Sonic 3D is not that bad IMHO. It could have been better, but it's a funny game and it has really good music: Rusty Ruin, Diamond Dust, Volcano Valley...

Heh, I just noticed Sonic 3D Blast zones are renamed like Sonic CD's (two words beginning with the same letter).

[JezMM]

Lol yeah the Sonic 3D music in the trailer isn't a new discovery, I think for the majority of fans we didn't talk about the 3D Blast credits theme in the trailer because we all just knew, it wasn't a hard spot (we were all a bit too busy talking about "holy fucking shit look at this GAME man" instead lol).  I do wonder why they chose that song in particular and whether it was SEGA music staff or Hyper Potions that remixed it, but, well, it worked.

[expansivelovestories]

6 hours ago, Mark1 said:

Have a concern about Mania after playing through Taxman's Sonic 1, 2 and CD ports. It's the trap and enemy placements. Some are so random and frustrating that it's easy to lose rings and/or die (especially CD's level design, very trial and error in the later zones). Can't quite remember Sonic 3&K but recall it having the best level design of them all. 

I've seen this form of placement already in Mania and hope it's just part of the Alpha version. Sonic deserves the best game possible and hope the franchise gets it next year.

Sometimes, the ring counter can be distracting in combination with this: It is almost like a mental game/illusion that can hide that each character is very strong as long as they have at least one ring.  It would be interesting for there to be a rom hack where the ring counter is hidden and see that people would play differently.  

Unless 50 rings are trying to be retained, being hit is also a temporary invincibility power up.   It is still definitely confusing because one has to quickly realize in that short time that they have an advantage, in between recovering from if they have been thrown somewhere by the impact, and trying to recollect lost rings if there are no ones known on the path ahead. 

[YuTwo]

With some people wanting to see Hydrocity return I think it would be an excellent idea to implement how it looked in the prototype.        

It could work out like if the zone has grown vegetation as time has passed.

[JezMM]

The only issue with the "overgrown" aesthetic is that the timeframe between this and previous games is not exactly going to be huge.  If we're caring about lore here at all it kind of makes no sense for the ancient ruins of Angel Island to have no plantlife for thousands of years then suddenly become overgrown a year or so later lol.

But of course if the value of cool aesthetics trumps sense-making then by all means.

Personally though I'd say that feels like the obvious thing to do with a watery ruins stage so I'd hope they'd be cleverer than that?

[Indigo Rush]

The Death Egg crashing back into Angel Island causes a quake on the Sonic 3 half of Angel Island, causing the ceilings to collapse in Hydrocity, giving it the necessary sunlight to grow some greenery. The Master Emeralds power enhances this perhaps. There's a secret passage in the ruins that leads to the Hidden Palace maybe. idk

[JezMM]

Interesting, but part of the appeal of Hydrocity's aesthetic for me was it's dark but warm (not dank looking or anything) enclosedness, so no sale!

[PickleBrows]

Just another idea for Hydrocity, maybe a few of the above-water sections could have water spilled on them making them slippery to run on. This could even affect any ground-based badniks in these sections which now behave slightly oddly since it's probably not in their programming to handle anything other than regular friction.

You'd obviously have to somehow convey the start and end points of this obviously or the player's just going to assume the whole stage has it in order to try and stay safe. You could maybe darken the ground colours slightly in the same way they would when a piece of fabric gets wet.

[Indigo Rush]

Something to keep in mind is that the Mania team can take any level and make it into what they need it to be, so I don't know if a level being weak in comparison to other levels would stop them from using it. Ice Cap is not a particularly intricate level, but it's well loved to the point where they would certainly give it the makeover it needs.

[TheOcelot]

6 hours ago, Indigo Rush said:

Something to keep in mind is that the Mania team can take any level and make it into what they need it to be, so I don't know if a level being weak in comparison to other levels would stop them from using it. Ice Cap is not a particularly intricate level, but it's well loved to the point where they would certainly give it the makeover it needs.

I like to think of this is an opportunity to take some of the least popular zones such as Marble, Labyrinth, Hill Top, Sandopolis and turn them into fun stages. What about Wacky Workbench, maybe the most disliked stage due to the bouncy gimmck and go-slow layout? Could they find a way to make it an enjoyable and flowing level whilst keeping the bouncy gimmick? I'd like to see them try!

I'm hoping they tackle a mixture of popular and unpopular zones and make them all popular.

As for Hydrocity, easily my favorite water stage. For me it has an "old ruins/building/temple kind of vibe. There are ornate windows with candles in the background and really tall pillars and structures. It almost feels like a massive ancient temple, which thousands of years ago would have been populated by the Echidna tribe where they performed, I dunno, weird rituals and shit 

Hydrocity in terms of color and (maybe) atmosphere is probably the closest zone to Hidden Palace. Perhaps StealthTax could go deep underground where there are ancient crystals. I like the idea of Hydrocity having suffered decay and as a result some parts are now out in the open with marsh growing as it gets closer to Marble Garden? 

I'd love it if they referenced the PROPHECY which foretold the dreaded barrel!!! 

It's a great stage and deserves to be in Mania.

 

EDIT:

 

[RubyEclipse]

On 10/4/2016 at 10:12 PM, Soni.exe said:

I'm still not entirely sure if this was known but while just screwing around, I decided to listen to the Genesis version of 3D Blast's Credits theme.

And then all of sudden, it sounded familiar.

So I listened to the trailer for Mania and it's pretty much confirmed.

That song that was playing before Checkpoint is a remix of 3D Blast's Credits theme, didn't sounded like Lopes' remix so I'm guessing Hyper Potions did it? Don't hold my word on it.

I can shed some light on this.

The opening 3D Blast theme was done by Hyper Potions. When we came up with the trailer concept, we felt this was an important easter egg, because the more dedicated fans would recognize it pretty quickly.

In particular, we chose the ending credits from Sonic 3D Blast as, following the timeline of Sonic games on the Genesis/MD, that would have been one of the last songs a player heard before moving on to the SEGA Saturn. And so, we open with that song, and then lead right into the new evolution of that classic formula following that timeline. It was a little touch, but I thought it was important, and hopefully those of you who spotted it appreciated it!

[FriendBot]

Wow, that's a really awesome touch I never even though of the symbolic message with the song pick but it's very fitting!

[Badnik Mechanic]

So you've seen this?

At the end when they say 'These subtitles are totally real' 

Are they? Are they actually what he's saying? Or is it... more clues?

 

... ... and if you think I'm paranoid or looking too deeply, please blame this man.

[molul]

11 hours ago, RubyEclipse said:

I can shed some light on this.

The opening 3D Blast theme was done by Hyper Potions. When we came up with the trailer concept, we felt this was an important easter egg, because the more dedicated fans would recognize it pretty quickly.

In particular, we chose the ending credits from Sonic 3D Blast as, following the timeline of Sonic games on the Genesis/MD, that would have been one of the last songs a player heard before moving on to the SEGA Saturn. And so, we open with that song, and then lead right into the new evolution of that classic formula following that timeline. It was a little touch, but I thought it was important, and hopefully those of you who spotted it appreciated it!

Very thoughtful. I like it

I'm playing Sonic 3D Blast this evening.

[Milo]

11 hours ago, RubyEclipse said:

I can shed some light on this.

The opening 3D Blast theme was done by Hyper Potions. When we came up with the trailer concept, we felt this was an important easter egg, because the more dedicated fans would recognize it pretty quickly.

In particular, we chose the ending credits from Sonic 3D Blast as, following the timeline of Sonic games on the Genesis/MD, that would have been one of the last songs a player heard before moving on to the SEGA Saturn. And so, we open with that song, and then lead right into the new evolution of that classic formula following that timeline. It was a little touch, but I thought it was important, and hopefully those of you who spotted it appreciated it!

Interesting to know. Did Hyper Potions only do that opening segment, or did they redo the entire song? If it's the latter, any chance we'll hear it in full in the future? (Really curious as I've recently grown a huge soft spot for that track in particular, and I hold an interest for trailer music in general.)

[FReaK]

58 minutes ago, molul said:

Very thoughtful. I like it

I'm playing Sonic 3D Blast this evening.

well..but the saturn version and OST is far more superior. :>

[Zippo]

Eh, I don't know what I'm more antsy about: More Sonic Mania trailers/footage or that NX reveal. Both have my absolute, undivided attention, and there hasn't been any substantial information in months for either, we still have no clue when more information is coming. This news drought, at least for myself, has been arduous at best.

That backlog is looking more and more appealing by the day.

[Jango]

I think the NX might get a port of Mania after its release. Right now Nintendo is most likely only letting first parties work with their new system.

[Tenko]

2 minutes ago, Jango said:

I think the NX might get a port of Mania after its release. Right now Nintendo is most likely only letting first parties work with their new system.

Not true, there have been a couple indie developers and smaller studios that have either announced their latest titles as coming to NX or in some cases heavily hinted at it. So it's clear some of them either have information on what the guidelines are for shifting the games over to the NX, or outright have dev kits. 

That's not to say it won't come to NX in the future, but at this time it hasn't been announced for it. Otherwise like those indie games, and Sonic 2017 it would have an NX logo in its trailer or be mentioned in its press release.

Nintendo and Sega have a pretty good friendship these days tho, and Tax/Stealth have no issues getting the Retro Engine working on numerous devices so if either party wants it to happen I'm sure it will.