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

[TheOcelot]

11 hours ago, Tenko said:

"Cheese" as in a bit corny or lame. Sonic CD' s might not be to us as fans, but an outsider would probably have a good laugh. Saturn 3D Blast' s vocal outro song "Your My Hero" laid it on thick. Sonic R' s vocal tracks were over the top horrendous and are often used when bringing up cringe worthy songs in the franchise regardless of how catchy they can be.. Can You Feel The Sunshine anyone?

I wouldn't mind if there wasn't a vocal track, it's not at all needed. It was just something I thought of when I was thinking about Sonic and Sonic Teams actual Saturn games, and how Tax/Stealth and the team were trying to go for a Saturn'ish feel, then realizing most of not all of Sonic Teams Saturn games (bar Sonic Jam) had vocal tracks in them as did Sonic CD.

@Tenko "Work that sucker to death! Come on now! Work that sucker to death!"

Cheesy music for me is part of the charm of the classics. Mania' mini-boss theme comes across kinda cheesy just like Sonic 3's Michael Jackson mini-boss track and Sonic CD Jp's boss music. Considering it's looking like Mania's getting Sonic CD-esque cutscenes there must be a good chance of them including a vocal intro and ending, which would be very cool. Extra plus points if they higher Japanese singers to do the vocals. #YouCanDoAnything

[Tracker_TD]

New Flying Battery Act 1 footage. 

[Gemster312]

9 minutes ago, Tracker_TD said:

New Flying Battery Act 1 footage. 

Looks like the tiles of the general terrain have been polished to not look as disjointed as the original.

Everyone who was picky about it can now chill and be satisfied now

Can't wait for this game holy crap!

[Blue Blood]

Screenshots too

 

 

[Daisy-Fan]

Short gameplay, but pretty looking good so far. i did like that remix of Flying Battery.

[Marcello]

It still looks pretty much exactly the same as always. Even Green Hill Act 1, allegedly the tamest of reimaginings, changed more with the inclusion of the caves. I guess second Acts are for the bigger changes. This is really disappointing to me.

Definitely looks pretty, though.

[Radiant Hero Ike]

Hm. I hope it's less annoying to play than the original Flying Battery. I wasn't a huge fan of it back in the day.

It doesn't look all that different. Act 2 will probably fix that, though.

[Gemster312]

9 minutes ago, Marcello said:

It still looks pretty much exactly the same as always. Even Green Hill Act 1, allegedly the tamest of reimaginings, changed more with the inclusion of the caves. I guess second Acts are for the bigger changes. This is really disappointing to me.

Definitely looks pretty, though.

Please tell me where in the original game you saw anything close to this:

Regardless, they haven't even shown much yet.

They are called re-imagined zones, meaning, its the same zone with additions, not suddenly "the battery crashed down and overgrown". It's still supposed to be flying battery zone, just with a lot of changes.

The point is that the SAME ZONE is being RE-IMAGINED. Like, a "what if this zone was slightly re-done?" It's not supposed to be a completely different zone

[Marcello]

Just now, Gemster312 said:

Please tell me where in the original game you saw anything close to this:

Regardless, they haven't even shown much yet.

They are called re-imagined zones, meaning, its the same zone with additions, not suddenly "the battery crashed down and overgrown". It's still supposed to be flying battery zone, just with a lot of changes.

The point is that the SAME ZONE is being RE-IMAGINED. Like, a "what if this zone was slightly re-done?" It's not supposed to be a completely different zone

 

1

I said "pretty much" the same not exactly the same. There's also the trash chute.

And yes, the changes I was hoping for were more along the lines of "the battery crashed down and overgrown" as you put it. I don't want to play the same old levels again in a new game. If I want to play them I can play the games they're from. I was disappointed from the start at rehashed levels, but I still had hope that the changes could potentially make them feel like new stages. I guess not.

[JosepHenry]

2 minutes ago, Marcello said:

I said "pretty much" the same not exactly the same. There's also the trash chute.

And yes, the changes I was hoping for were more along the lines of "the battery crashed down and overgrown" as you put it. I don't want to play the same old levels again in a new game. If I want to play them I can play the games they're from. I was disappointed from the start at rehashed levels, but I still had hope that the changes could potentially make them feel like new stages. I guess not.

The new twists are in Act 2 though.

[Tracker_TD]

3 minutes ago, Marcello said:

And yes, the changes I was hoping for were more along the lines of "the battery crashed down and overgrown" as you put it.

I'm actually pretty glad they didn't do this, because "__________ Zone but abandoned and overgrown!" seems to be the only (relatively predictable) idea anyone can muster up for any reimagined level. Seriously. 

[Gemster312]

Just now, Marcello said:

I said "pretty much" the same not exactly the same. There's also the trash chute.

And yes, the changes I was hoping for were more along the lines of "the battery crashed down and overgrown" as you put it. I don't want to play the same old levels again in a new game. If I want to play them I can play the games they're from. I was disappointed from the start at rehashed levels, but I still had hope that the changes could potentially make them feel like new stages. I guess not.

I understand that they are not "brand new" stages, but that was never the intention. And I get your frustration, I'd rather have all brand new stages rather than have half of them be returning stages, but that's not what were getting.

As for what we are getting, the stages are different enough where the levels will both feel FAMILIAR, but the level will play out differently.

I get it, rehashes suck, but at least these aren't copy pasted with a couple badniks moved around. These are like brand new stages using the same coat of paint, and re-using some structure to make it feel familiar.

I really do hope they add more artistic changes into the levels, as the cavern part of Green Hill Zone Act 1, and the overhaul in Act 2, are super gorgeous and a sight for sore eyes, but the majority of the content in this game will still be all classic content with some design changes.

I just don't believe it's worth getting dissapointed about. Is it a brand new stage? No. Is it a copy paste? No also. We knew from the start it would be the same stages with some changes to keep it "new" whilst the same.

Let's just hope they are keeping the juicy changes for a surprise upon release.

[Marcello]

1 minute ago, Joseph Mello said:

The new twists are in Act 2 though.

I said that.

Just now, Tracker_TD said:

I'm actually pretty glad they didn't do this, because "__________ Zone but abandoned and overgrown!" seems to be the only idea anyone can muster up for any reimagined level. Seriously. 

 

Better than being practically the same. But I didn't mean that change specifically. Just something that shows me these places very different than before.

[JosepHenry]

My bad.

I think Act 2 is going to be in a lower and darker part of the stage. Like Sandopolis Act 2, but now in Flying Battery.

[Diogenes]

So long as it looks fun and cool (and it certainly does), I don't mind that it's not radically different from the original. I'm still going to enjoy these levels more than any Sonic game in a long time anyway.

[JezMM]

I will admit, I do feel a little lied to in the sense that they said "Green Hill is the tamest of the changes!" not "Green Hill is the tamest of the changes (as far as Act 2 of each zone is concerned)!"

Granted though, I'm purely talking aesthetics there, we saw like five new twists in that one minute of footage:

0:05 Drilly door/hatch switches are located in places other than directly in front of them (including less instantly obvious locations at 0:30)

0:08 Floaty spinny-bottomed platforms may take you to a path inaccessible by other means

0:13 Mouse badniks are now found on terrain that is non-solid to the player

0:17 Hanging bars are found attached to moving platforms

0:48 Electric ceilings now magnetise the player to create reversed gravity areas when an electric shield is equipped

Which is plenty enough for Act 1 as far as I'm concerned.  Gameplay is definitely more important than aesthetics, and the fact is we'd be getting a smaller amount of gameplay if the team wasn't able to cut development time with remake levels.

So yeah, this is totally fine.  Like, yeah, it does kinda just feel like an "Act 3" for the original in terms of mood... but if someone said "here have a new level of the best Sonic game ever made" it'd be a bit silly to say "no" to that.

[Blue Blood]

4 minutes ago, JezMM said:

I will admit, I do feel a little lied to in the sense that they said "Green Hill is the tamest of the changes!" not "Green Hill is the tamest of the changes (as far as Act 2 of each zone is concerned)!"

Granted though, I'm purely talking aesthetics there, we saw like five new twists in that one minute of footage. Which is plenty enough for Act 1 as far as I'm concerned.  Gameplay is definitely more important than aesthetics, and the fact is we'd be getting a smaller amount of gameplay if the team wasn't able to cut development time with remake levels.

So yeah, this is totally fine.  Like, yeah, it does kinda just feel like an "Act 3" for the original in terms of mood... but if someone said "here have a new level of the best Sonic game ever made" it'd be a bit silly to say "no" to that.

Yeah, it is fairly recognisable as FBZ1, along with some of the other areas that we saw in the previous trailer. But I think that there's plenty there to strike the right balance between new and old. I can understand the complaints and why some people might be bothered or disappointed by it, but I personally quite like it. Still holding out on Act 2 being much more new though. The new zones though... they're always going to be what Mania gets remembered for.

[Milo]

While it does sport some new paths intertwined throughout, it's worth pointing out that the layout definitely looks more closed and linear in direction compared to Green Hill and Studiopolis. Granted, a lot of this can be chalked up to what we've seen being based on the original layout, but I think it's still worth pointing out, in light of some fears I've read around the web about all the zones' level design being some sort of Sonic CD 2.0.

Also really like the background in the interior of the plane. You can tell it has something of a 3D effect going on for the giant square holes moving overhead.

That said, I'm still not a fan of the drip-feed style of information used for this game (again, just one minute of footage and some screenshots), and I do see the disappointment some have about the layout still looking very close to the original. It still looks like it will be really fun to play though, so I'm not too fussed. Maybe Act 2 will turn the zone on its head, but I do hope other remixed zones have more radical changes than what we've seen so far.

EDIT: Also, probably would had been nice if they had a fade effect for when you transition in and out of the battery ship. I get the quick switch was in the original, but it kinda looks a bit dated here.

[JezMM]

I'm still loving the drip-feed to be honest.  Is there any doubt in anyone's mind as to what sort of experience Sonic Mania will be at this point?  We all know what we're getting, the majority are happy about it.  We've seen footage from four different zones which is pretty much about what you'd get out of watching the attract mode demo on any of the original games before diving into them.

[Blue Blood]

Just now, JezMM said:

I'm still loving the drip-feed to be honest.  Is there any doubt in anyone's mind as to what sort of experience Sonic Mania will be at this point?  We all know what we're getting, the majority are happy about it.  We've seen footage from four different zones which is pretty much about what you'd get out of watching the attract mode demo on any of the original games before diving into them.

Pretty much. Do we need to know any more about this game? Hell no. It's going to be amazing and it'll be even more amazing if I experience everything when I've got the controller in my hands rather than through previews and videos. I think I might reinstall my spoiler blocker extension so that I don't have to see any new news.

Now Forces? Yeah, SEGA's got some splaining to do.

[Milo]

I wouldn't be bothered with the drip-feeding style of information so much if it wasn't just small tidbits in droughts. I'm not looking for the whole game to be spoiled, but I'm still rather miffed we still don't know even some basic details like the story or other gameplay modes almost close to a year since the game was announced. If we were getting small tidbits about the game every one-two weeks or got information blowouts in-between drought periods; I would appreciate those methods much more compared to what we're getting now.

Moreover, Sonic Forces is also engaging in drip-feeding information, and from what I've seen around here; a fair amount of people aren't exactly fans of that approach either. Though I will recognize that a huge part of that is because Sonic Team arguably has a lot more to prove than Taxman and his team do, so complaints with Forces' marketing approach don't necessarily translate to Mania for most people.

[JezMM]

To be honest not knowing the story is one of my favourite things.  If we're getting S3&K-esque cut-scenes again, it'll be kinda cool to see how well they do on it without any pre-existing notions in the player's head about "what the story is".  I really wanna see it play out and unfold before me with my full involvement from start to finish.

[Gemster312]

4 minutes ago, JezMM said:

To be honest not knowing the story is one of my favourite things.  If we're getting S3&K-esque cut-scenes again, it'll be kinda cool to see how well they do on it without any pre-existing notions in the player's head about "what the story is".  I really wanna see it play out and unfold before me with my full involvement from start to finish.

I agree with this, but also like S3&K, there is a bit of story in the manual that reveals stuff about the story before the game (such as that the death egg landing on the island, and eggman fooling knuckles into thinking sonic is a threat).

I wouldn't mind a little "pre-cursor" story bit revealed (as long as it doesn't give away the whole story of the game, just some vital information about why the game is even here).

[JezMM]

38 minutes ago, Gemster312 said:

I agree with this, but also like S3&K, there is a bit of story in the manual that reveals stuff about the story before the game (such as that the death egg landing on the island, and eggman fooling knuckles into thinking sonic is a threat).

I wouldn't mind a little "pre-cursor" story bit revealed (as long as it doesn't give away the whole story of the game, just some vital information about why the game is even here).

Depends if the story needs it really.  While that would be a nice throwback to the old days, I'd rather ALL the story be in the game itself, if it's possible with a dialogueless presentation at least.

[Gemster312]

Just now, JezMM said:

Depends if the story needs it really.  While that would be a nice throwback to the old days, I'd rather ALL the story be in the game itself, if it's possible with a dialogueless presentation at least.

That's true.

I just want to be able to jump into the game without a full length "movie" going on at the start. Even S3&K I feel almost had too lengthy of a beginning. I want to be able to start it up, and just GO (maybe a 5 second cutscene?) but also want to know the story. Maybe it can happen in the background?

It was just one of those charms of S1 and S2. You start the game up and BAM, you are going.