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

[Maxtiis]

I can only assume that gumball looking machine shown in the reveal trailer for Mania is one of the bonus stages. I think everyone expects the special stages to be in the Blue Sphere format or something similar, but the bonus stages could be complete wildcards.

[Psychicmoose103]

1 hour ago, Maxtiis said:

I can only assume that gumball looking machine shown in the reveal trailer for Mania is one of the bonus stages. I think everyone expects the special stages to be in the Blue Sphere format or something similar, but the bonus stages could be complete wildcards.

That's defintally a gimmick in Studiopolis Act 2. You can tell by the backround

[Maxtiis]

It's certainly a very peculiar gimmick though isn't it? I've been wondering what the heck the deal with that is since Mania's reveal and I can't really think of anything off the top of my head. Ah well, I'll just wait until Mania releases to find out. Who's willing to bet Sega will release it on June 23? Wouldn't put it past them to do something like that.

[CleverSonicUsername]

4 hours ago, expansivelovestories said:

Sergio and Aaron did specify later in the stream (I need to remember that it is actually 2PM PDT !  Thank you Tails/OcelotMania for posting!!) I think more directly than in the past that parts of zone layouts may be very different in the final game.  They also described the build they are playing as an alpha, which they may have done previously?

 

 

Some months ago they referred to the first public build (I think?) as being as far along as the Nick Arcade version of Sonic 2. Thing about throwing the word "alpha" around in this day and age is that it more accurately means "beta."

[Chris Knopps]

6 hours ago, TailsMania said:

The stream is go:

 

Wait...

Holy crap...

Is it just me, or is Knuckles more red than pink now...?

Has my ONE issue been resolved?!

Or is it just the lighting of the stage that determines how pink he looks...?

[Maxtiis]

Wasn't sure where to post this but since it has what appears to be one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies in it this board seemed appropriate. Props to the artist whose name I believe is maxjcollins. Unfortunately he seems to have taken the post down from his blog so I can't link a direct source so I'll just leave the gif here:

Apologies for the compression. But it really makes me wish we could see more like this in an official capacity.

[CleverSonicUsername]

3 hours ago, Maxtiis said:

It's certainly a very peculiar gimmick though isn't it? I've been wondering what the heck the deal with that is since Mania's reveal and I can't really think of anything off the top of my head. Ah well, I'll just wait until Mania releases to find out. Who's willing to bet Sega will release it on June 23? Wouldn't put it past them to do something like that.

It's part of Act 2. The full HUD is shown, and if it's anything like Sonic 3 & Knuckles, bonus stages would exclude your point counter and time. Plus the background is consistent with other parts of Studiopolis.

Edit: That gif just makes me want them to put in some animated sequence during the credits like they did in CD. Obviously there's people out there with the talent to pull it off.

[Milo]

31 minutes ago, Maxtiis said:

Wasn't sure where to post this but since it has what appears to be one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies in it this board seemed appropriate. Props to the artist whose name I believe is maxjcollins. Unfortunately he seems to have taken the post down from his blog so I can't link a direct source so I'll just leave the gif here:

Apologies for the compression. But it really makes me wish we could see more like this in an official capacity.

Absolutely amazing animation, love it. It's like the Sonic Mega Drive comic got animated. Official stuff like this for Mania would be incredible.

By the by, that Hard-Boiled Heavy looks like the one hiding in the background for Mirage Saloon, you can tell by the helmet shape and the cape.

The tumblr blog the animation is sourced from belongs to Max Collins, who according to his bio is an animator for Studio Yotta and a storyboard artist at CN (A lot of his recent sketches/artwork are for the network's O.K. KO! Let's Be Heroes, formerly known as Lakewood Turbo Plaza).

Something worth pointing out is that the design for the Hard-Boiled Heavy looks pretty complete, even though the enemy hasn't been officially revealed in full yet. Did he do some guesswork / take creative liberties? Or is this animation part of something bigger yet to be revealed (especially given that he took the original post down)?

May be wishful thinking, but you never know...

[CleverSonicUsername]

19 minutes ago, Gabe said:

 

May be wshful thinking, but you never know...

Their animation has a LOT of charm, so in my own ideal world it would definitely be part of the finished product. But yeah, who knows.

[Zippo]

The fact that he took it down is telling. Could it be that we're getting an animated intro similar to Sonic CD? Who knows, but I certainly hope so. 

[-Ace-]

From what I can hear GHZ act 2 is sounding cleeeeeean!

[Woun]

Sonic Mania japanese official site sucefully updated:

http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicMania/

 

http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicMania/image/main_sonic.png 

http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicMania/image/main_tails.png 

http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicMania/image/main_knuckles.png 

[D.K.]

1 hour ago, Maxtiis said:

Stop reminding me that there will never be a full series based on CD's cutscenes.

[CleverSonicUsername]

25 minutes ago, -Ace- said:

From what I can hear GHZ act 2 is sounding cleeeeeean!

Welp there you go. This would be a fresher build than what we've been seeing. GHZ Act 2 music is included, as is star portals appearing above sign posts. Also if this is anything to go off of, Act 2 remixes will be wildly different from Act 1.

[Salamander]

2 hours ago, Gabe said:

Absolutely amazing animation, love it. It's like the Sonic Mega Drive comic got animated. Official stuff like this for Mania would be incredible.

By the by, that Hard-Boiled Heavy looks like the one hiding in the background for Mirage Saloon, you can tell by the helmet shape and the cape.

The tumblr blog the animation is sourced from belongs to Max Collins, who according to his bio is an animator for Studio Yotta and a storyboard artist at CN (A lot of his recent sketches/artwork are for the network's O.K. KO! Let's Be Heroes, formerly known as Lakewood Turbo Plaza).

Something worth pointing out is that the design for the Hard-Boiled Heavy looks pretty complete, even though the enemy hasn't been officially revealed in full yet. Did he do some guesswork / take creative liberties? Or is this animation part of something bigger yet to be revealed (especially given that he took the original post down)?

May be wishful thinking, but you never know...

A professional animator puts up clearly unfinished, nonetheless high-quality CD-style animation, featuring currently unrevealed design elements of a known character, for a retro Sonic game which is embracing the best of the classic series, and then immediately takes it down...  Everything about this points to it very possibly leaking the existence of a CD-style animated intro for Mania, or some similar promotional device.

We probably aren't paying enough attention to this.  But on the other hand, it might actually be better to keep quiet about it, not just in case the speculation is wrong but because it would be an amazing surprise.

[Auroxen]

2 hours ago, -Ace- said:

From what I can hear GHZ act 2 is sounding cleeeeeean!

Oh god this is amazing, I think this may become my favorite rendition of Green Hill's theme (I'll wait for a high quality version before being sure)

Really hyped to hear Flying Battery's Act 2 theme now

[Psychicmoose103]

I actually thought we were gonna see the boss. God Dangit!

the remix is sounding amazing !

Also, the heavy in the animation looks a lot like the Mirage Saloon Heavy

[Sega DogTagz]

That act two video actually showed me something interesting. 

I don't know why, but I never considered that the Drop Dash could be used to propel Sonic in the same direction he is already going. The thought never crossed my mind that you could use it like a speed boost when you hit the ground. I feel a little silly that I didn't wrap my head around that, but seeing it in motion is something else.

Spamming that sucker would make for some interesting speedruns...

4 hours ago, Woun said:

Sonic Mania japanese official site sucefully updated:

http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicMania/

 

http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicMania/image/main_sonic.png 

http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicMania/image/main_tails.png 

http://sonic.sega.jp/SonicMania/image/main_knuckles.png 

 

Man the Mania site is stylish. Thanks for the update Woun.

You guys should check it out. There is even a Studiopolis screenshot showing off the Police themed Hardboiled Heavy in action.

[FReaK]

every new update we get is making the waiting game even worse. I really dig that GHZ2 mix, you can really tell who made it.

[TheOcelot]

18 minutes ago, FReaK said:

every new update we get is making the waiting game even worse. I really dig that GHZ2 mix, you can really tell who made it.

God yes.

With that gorgeous sounding remix and maybe Sonic CD inspired intro/ending animations, every bit of new info leaves me hungry for more. We may have to wait a couple of months before we can play it but boy it's gonna be worth the wait.

 

[TB100]

Dat Green Hill Act 2 remix.

IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!

I'm really loving the palmtree panic vibe. it fits the level very well. Though I will admit, I am a tad bit disapointed that the commentary couldn't let us hear the whole song.

But the music we did get to hear was definitely amazing, and now it's already up there alongside Sunset Hill and Modern Green Hill as my favorite remix of the song. 

Oh yeah and the Japanese site looks amazing as well.

[FriendBot]

4 hours ago, FFWF said:

A professional animator puts up clearly unfinished, nonetheless high-quality CD-style animation, featuring currently unrevealed design elements of a known character, for a retro Sonic game which is embracing the best of the classic series, and then immediately takes it down...  Everything about this points to it very possibly leaking the existence of a CD-style animated intro for Mania, or some similar promotional device.

We probably aren't paying enough attention to this.  But on the other hand, it might actually be better to keep quiet about it, not just in case the speculation is wrong but because it would be an amazing surprise.

....oops

Spoiler

I haven't got any sleep because my notifications blew up that much

Like holy shit man!

 

[Jango]

I must not hear the remix because I'm going spoiler free.

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AH WHO AM I KIDDING GIVE IT TO ME!

 

It's Green Hill GOOD FUTURE! I LOVE IT!

[Sonikko]

I ripped the art from the website and made a little something!  

By the way, that Green Hill act 2 sounds great. Very nice music, I love Tee!

 

I ripped the renders from the website, they are different images composed by the website itself. For the backdrop objects, I had to recreate the rectangles and the circles! It was fun! 

EDIT: Just uploaded the lossless versions on MEGA, since imgur was doing some compression, have fun!

https://mega.nz/#!p0ojQA4K!-MDvy28kzJBcAIka4xw5fIQof0KxuIG-sQycIHRbPJg

[Jango]

By the way, can someone translate the site? Prettyplease ?