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

[gato]

EDIT: I had linked some videos from Neo Hazard at Retro playing Green Hill and Studiopolis but they went unlisted so I'm removing them.

But yeah, Green Hill isn't a 1:1 copy.

[Semi-colon e]

This is basically going to be a fangame. But considering it has the actual physics and is actually what people want, it's probably going to be one of the best fangames of all time. Except it's an official game. No issues here, especially as it's not the only game.

 

Also it'd be interesting if they reimagined levels that weren't from the Classic games, like something from Advance or Rush or something. Or just gave Sonic 3 the love Generations didn't.

 

It all hinges on the level design, but it looks great so far.

[TheOcelot]

8 minutes ago, Velvet Reindeer said:

Video confirms it's not 1:1 Green Hill Act 1

And another video:

Both from Neo Hazard at Retro.

 

Well, that answers my question.

Green Hill looks awesome. So vast, so many routes and dem elemental shields! We've now seen footage of two different GH bosses. I'm guessing those large hidden giant rings (which the player couldn't access) are for the special stages.

 

[Kiah]

I am definitely more of a Modern Sonic and modern gameplay fan in the series, but consider me deeply impressed with Sonic Mania! The animations, the graphics, the colors, the music...it's all absolutely beautiful and I am very excited with what I have seen so far.

The detail in this game is incredible! So many visual treats...Even the title screen gives you something to look at with its beauty (gives me Sonic 3 vibes as well) with the island being shaped like Sonic's head:

I've seen the trailers at least a dozen times each at this point and I see something new each any every time I look at it. I can't wait to make more delightful discoveries upon simply looking at the attractive and colorful levels with its vast details.

You know what I am most excited about regarding Sonic Mania? 

Team Sonic-Classic Style!-is playable. Bar the spin-offs and totally unnecessary sub-series games, I've waited TEN YEARS for Tails and Knuckles to be playable! 

I actually don't mind seeing existing levels from the Classic games as they are iconic and the majority of them were a total blast to play through so I'm excited to be able to do that again-with some new twists incorporated in them at that. I'm looking forward to seeing the new levels that will appear for a totally new experience on the Classic side of Sonic.

Looking at the gameplay, I am literally gasping in amazement with Sonic Mania just like I did 25 years ago as a 7 year old with how blown away I was with Sonic 1 when I saw it for the first time. Absolutely amazing and I can't wait to see more but for sure March 2017 needs to hurry up and get here!  

[molul]

6 minutes ago, Semi-colon e said:

This is basically going to be a fangame. But considering it has the actual physics and is actually what people want, it's probably going to be one of the best fangames of all time. Except it's an official game. No issues here, especially as it's not the only game.

Yep, it's kind of an "official fangame". The good from both things (passion and budget).

[Tenko]

Gamespot and some other media outlets are reporting that it will include remixed levels from Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD as well as having its own unique original levels. That seems like a lot of levels...4 or 5 levels depending on if Sonic 3 & Knuckles is treated as one and the same or not, not including the original levels.

So either this game is going to be huge, or those outlets are extrapolating on the mention of remixed levels and the inclusion of Green Hill Zone a little too much.

[Sonikko]

5 minutes ago, Tenko said:

Gamespot and some other media outlets are reporting that it will include remixed levels from Sonic 1, Sonic 2, Sonic 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD as well as having its own unique original levels. That seems like a lot of levels...4 or 5 levels depending on if Sonic 3 & Knuckles is treated as one and the same or not, not including the original levels.

So either this game is going to be huge, or those outlets are extrapolating on the mention of remixed levels and the inclusion of Green Hill Zone a little too much.

I'm not too fond of the remixed levels, taking Green Hill into account it's basically the same level with a new high rout near the end. I would've preferred all new levels, since we got Generations already!

[G-Force]

13 minutes ago, Sonikko said:

I'm not too fond of the remixed levels, taking Green Hill into account it's basically the same level with a new high rout near the end. I would've preferred all new levels, since we got Generations already!

Uh, you do realize that "high route" started right before where the original level would ended, right?  There was at least twice as much level there.

Anyway, since it looks like the Bubble Shield takes away the Drop Dash, the Drop Dash is probably just jump in midair.  So, a replacement for the Insta-Shield, I guess.

[Tara]

20 minutes ago, Sonikko said:

I'm not too fond of the remixed levels, taking Green Hill into account it's basically the same level with a new high rout near the end. I would've preferred all new levels, since we got Generations already!

I tend to think they left Green Hill mostly in tact because it's an introductory stage, intended to introduce you to all the new mechanics and physics of the game.  I'm HOPING that the other reimagined stages will be DRASTICALLY different to the point where they're effectively all new stages, but with a familiarity to them supported somewhat by the narrative.

[Sonikko]

12 minutes ago, G-Force said:

Uh, you do realize that "high route" started right before where the original level would ended, right?  There was at least twice as much level there.

Yeah, I noticed, but why not do what Generations did and leave just the first 10 seconds of the level intact? I mean, it's not like we didn't get a reimagining of classic levels 5 years ago. Besides, I'm tired of looking at the classic locations, why can't we just have new ones? The media outlets are saying we get a Sonic 1, 2, 3&K and CD world, and if this game is standard lenght it's basically half of the game with zones we have already seen. I just wish we got more, since it's the first real Classic game in a while, and I'd love for them to experiment and not be stuck in the past!

Anyway I'm super hyped for this, as it looks very tight and fun to play! And it's a joy to look at.

[Hyp3hat]

The sprites in this look delicious. That opening animation is fantastic.

Haven't we all been lowkey hoping for years that Taxman would just cut the shit and make a new Sonic game with the Retro Engine? I have. AND WE GOT IT.

Also Tee Lopes doing the music? THEY DID IT. A shame he's 'constrained' by chiptune, as his horn arrangements are amazing, but he's one of the most talented Sonic musicians around. Poor Falk, though.

Aesthetic quibbles aside - why emulate CD, with its eyebleeding colour scheme - this looks super super super super good. 

 

[Tenko]

I hope they have a few more suprises for us during the 2016/2017 anniversary season. Was kind of hoping Knuckles Chaotix and Sega Sonic Arcade would finally see a re-release since they seem to have failed to incorporate them on collections over the past few years due to what they describe as emulation issues. Not really an excuse back then but even more so now.

Would have been cool to see the original Mega Drive classics remade via this game and have the new game/levels acessable after finishing Sonic 1-3K remakes.

I wonder if Mania will have 16bit level transitions/cutscenes similar to Sonic 3K too.

Edit : Must join those Retro guys on the Mania forum and see if Tax can slip Nack the Weasel into Mania as a boss or something. While your paying homage to past games may as well reference his lost boss cameo in X-Treme.

[Kokoro]

This is what Sonic 4 (as much as I liked that game) should have been. This will be a day one buy for me. I'm hoping one of the remixed levels will be Hydrocity Zone from Sonic 3.

[molul]

Haven't we all been lowkey hoping for years that Taxman would just cut the shit and make a new Sonic game with the Retro Engine? I have. AND WE GOT IT.

+1

One could see kinda sad that Sonic fans can do a better classic Sonic than Sonic Team, but having that assumed, hey, we're finally having a true classic Sonic. I mean, this is a big effort from Sega, not in terms of budget, but in terms of accepting what fans have been telling them for many years. Now that this has been finally solved, I really hope Sonic Mania becomes some kind of new Sonic branch and gets more and more games in the future.

Still, if this is some kind of compensation that means we won't ever have Sonic 3&K remastered, it has a small sad side. But let's sitck with the positive one.

[TheOcelot]

It's so good to see how StealthTax's work on the remasters has led to this opportunity to make a brand new official game.

I did wonder if they had been 'hung out to dry' when their 3&K remaster pitch was declined, and Taxman admitting they had lost contact with key guys at SEGA after the restructuring a few years back. So it's good to see their hard work hasn't been forgotten and it's a great opportunity for them.

Don't forget Taxman is also working on Freedom Planet 2 and has been developing a new 3d engine for his own game. He's a busy guy.

[molul]

I guess Taxman has supplied Retro Engine to Pagoda Games, and is directing the project with Iizuka. I already thought about this (Sega using Taxman's engine having him as a project manager).

And I also hope Sonic 3&K remastered is not left for dead. It's the first thing I'd ask Sega, Aaron and Taxman if I had the opportunity.

[E-122-Psi]

It looks like a fan game, but only because fan games have evolved to the level of Megamix and Before/After the Sequel where they look like actual MD/Genesis instalments. The graphics look great and very true to the original style without just recycling the official sprites.

Not positive about the drop dash though, there's loads of cooler attacks I'd have picked for Sonic and this looks like something that could get inadvertently spammed and activated at frustrating times if the control scheme isn't elaborate enough.

No Wii U port? D:

[Mogtaki]

It looks like a fangame because Taxman has been making fangames for a while. He's proven himself to Sega through the mobile ports and now he's made it into the big leagues because of his game making experience.

[Mel]

What do you guys want to see remastered?

I would like Death Egg from Sonic 2, Ice Cap from Sonic 3 and Stardust Speedway from Sonic CD.

[Tenko]

I guess my list would be as follows. Mystic Cave from Sonic 2 (mainly because of the music and how awesome a remix could be), Hydrocity from Sonic 3 (missed opportunity when it wasn't in Generations), Lava Reef from Sonic & Knuckles (two cave levels is probably a no no though) and Stardust Speedway from Sonic CD (personally I enjoy seeing Metal Sonic, his new theme from Sonic 4 : Episode II is pretty kick ass too).

Would love a Sunset Park remixed level with Nack as a boss on the train, but that won't happen ;_;

[PickleBrows]

Been doing some snooping on Retro. Someone from the party explained how the new Drop Dash works:

Quote

Drop dash works by pressing the jump button twice and holding it the second time. As soon as Sonic lands, he's in a spin dash. Excellent for speedruns and time trials.

Note though, it does not work when Sonic has elemental shields. These all override the drop dash. 

 

[Marcello]

This is gonna sound dumb, but I'm glad they're using the correct jump sound. Generations' use of CD's bothered me :U

[The Deleter]

Oh man when this thing was unvieled I was in utter hysterics. Partially because of the tension of the audio not working right when they were unvieling it, but mostly because they did it.
 

They actually, finally did it

They listened to the fans who actually have worth behind their ideas. They hired a studio that actually knew what they were doing when they admitted they didn't. They made a new actual classic Sonic game out of it. They evolved it even further than before. They brought back the feeling of the mega drive games in full force. They added the multiple characters. And if the game's direction is anything to go by, they understood what the series was built on at long last. That's crazy, and might just mark a new era of competency from SEGA in terms of hedgehog handling.

Very excited to see where the series will go from here, gripes with the 2017 trailer notwithstanding.

 

OH yeah, and the game looks downright amazing, too. :Y

The new level design looks great and feels like a mix between CD and Sonic 2, the art style, Sprite work, and animations are all spectacular, the physics look (imo) even better than the classic games, music is by the guys who started out the stream which is just what I wanted right now, the fact that it's new and reimagined stages is cool by me and fixes my problem with Generations by a lot, multiple playable characters, and oh my stars that landing-dash. Everything about it is perfect, and just might be the secret ingredient to making the classics truly flowing, imo. Plus it just makes so much sense, it's odd that the series hasn't had it in some shape or form yet, at all.

Not the big game I was expecting, and thank goodness we're still getting one of those later on in the year, but overall I am extremely hyped for this game, which is a huge surprise to me considering my tastes, and can't wait till it releases.

[Mogtaki]

4 minutes ago, The Deleter said:

They listened to the fans who actually have worth behind their ideas.

Hey hey now. Who is they? Every idea is worth listening to as well.

The game isn't Sonic Team, the game is more of a commission involving several indie developers so you should be thanking those indie developers. The ones you are probably referring to as 'they' are working on Sonic 2017.

[RK64]

We finally got our new Classic Sonic game! I love the look of the game so far and it has all the right people working on it. Stealth & Taxman using the Retro Engine, Izuka overseeing production, Tee Loops making some music for the game, tons of SEGA references in just the announced zone; I love Sonic and its great to see Classic fans get the game they have been asking for happen.