Mania as a 'Perfect Dream Game'

[LividOrca]

So, Mania's only a week away and everyone has high hopes for it, myself included!

 

Something I've been trying to come to terms with over the last couple weeks is that Mania, while almost assuredly being one of the, if not *the*, greatest Sonic games of all time, might not include every element that the fans might want or expect. For example, here's a wishlist that I brainstormed on another forum, two days after Mania's unveiling (lol):

+ Online Multiplayer (Sonic 2-based)
+ Metal Sonic as an unockable Character
+ Metal Sonic, Tails Doll, and Metal Knuckles boss battles (for Sonic, Tails and Knux, respectively)
+ Co-Op Mode that is just an enhanced version of Knuckles' Chaotix gameplay
+ Stages that are based on or ripped from Classic-Era spinoff titles (like Radiant Emerald Zone from Sonic R or Dynamite Plant Zone from Sonic the Fighters)
+ Super Tails and Super Knuckles! (+ Hyper Forms?)
+ Boss/NPC Appearances from 'Forgotten Characters' (Mighty, Ray, Fang, etc.)

...Any one of these things making the cut would be AMAZING! And over the last year I've thought of even *more* things that I could add. But I guess the reason I started this thread was to say that even if we don't get that remixed zone you really wanted, or even if that one track isn't quite what you dreamed it'd be, please do not forget: WE'RE IN THE F*CKING MANIA TIMELINE, y'all. If an extremely specific sequence of the Exact Right Things didn't occur we would just be getting Forces and that would be it. CAN YOU IMAGINE?!?

I'm going on a blackout after today, but hopefully this thread will serve as a place to mourn over all the things you wanted to be in Mania that aren't for whatever reason. Just... let's try to enjoy this game on it's own terms and fully appreciate what the Mania team have worked so hard to bring us.

[molul]

+ Online Multiplayer (Sonic 2-based)

I really hope this is included.

+ Metal Sonic as an unockable Character

Nice to have, but nothing really important for me. I'd prefer a Sonic 3 skin.

+ Metal Sonic, Tails Doll, and Metal Knuckles boss battles (for Sonic, Tails and Knux, respectively)

Not sure if Tails doll and Metal Knuckles are claimed by fandom. They're not part of the classics, so it would be fine not to include them here.

+ Co-Op Mode that is just an enhanced version of Knuckles' Chaotix gameplay

There's no way to enhance Chaotix gameplay. It was what it was, and it wasn't that good. Curious, but in the end, annoying. 

 

+ Stages that are based on or ripped from Classic-Era spinoff titles (like Radiant Emerald Zone from Sonic R or Dynamite Plant Zone from Sonic the Fighters)

Hmmm not really interesting for me. Not part of the classics.

+ Super Tails and Super Knuckles! (+ Hyper Forms?)

I hope for this too! I'd also ask for a better design of both.

+ Boss/NPC Appearances from 'Forgotten Characters' (Mighty, Ray, Fang, etc.)

Really nice to have

[LividOrca]

25 minutes ago, molul said:

+ Online Multiplayer (Sonic 2-based)

I really hope this is included.

+ Metal Sonic as an unockable Character

Nice to have, but nothing really important for me. I'd prefer a Sonic 3 skin.

+ Metal Sonic, Tails Doll, and Metal Knuckles boss battles (for Sonic, Tails and Knux, respectively)

Not sure if Tails doll and Metal Knuckles are claimed by fandom. They're not part of the classics, so it would be fine not to include them here.

+ Co-Op Mode that is just an enhanced version of Knuckles' Chaotix gameplay

There's no way to enhance Chaotix gameplay. It was what it was, and it wasn't that good. Curious, but in the end, annoying. 

 

+ Stages that are based on or ripped from Classic-Era spinoff titles (like Radiant Emerald Zone from Sonic R or Dynamite Plant Zone from Sonic the Fighters)

Hmmm not really interesting for me. Not part of the classics.

+ Super Tails and Super Knuckles! (+ Hyper Forms?)

I hope for this too! I'd also ask for a better design of both.

+ Boss/NPC Appearances from 'Forgotten Characters' (Mighty, Ray, Fang, etc.)

Really nice to have

Appreciate the feedback but just a note, the intent of this thread is more 'Here's all the garbage I hoped for but that didn't make it lol, the game's good anyway" than "here's why the thing you really wanted to be in Mania doesn't make sense, objectively".

[molul]

Oh, my apologies ^_^U

[rosedust]

All I want is unlockable Classic Amy.  

[LividOrca]

1 hour ago, rosedust said:

All I want is unlockable Classic Amy.  

Right there with you! Honestly I'm willing to settle for her being exclusive to Competition Mode, like in SA2. It probably wouldn't require as much testing, sprites and whatnot.

[Dannymax440]

I wanted Amy and the Hooligans to take part in the story. Plus an exclusive Amy vs Metal Sonic fight in Stardust Speedway 

[Multikaris]

I'd like cameos from even alternate media characters somewhere. Or even prototype designs. 

[Tracker_TD]

If Sonic Mania has at least one eurobeat track in the OST, then it's my perfect Sonic game tbh.

Jokes aside, the Saturn aesthetic alone practically sells it on that front for me. Maybe something like Honey the Cat as a cameo? That'd be neat. 

[TheOcelot]

Would be nice to have unlockable playable Amy Rose after beating the game. Although, she's more likely to just have a sound-test cameo like in Chaotix 

 

Unlockable Sonic 1&2 Remastered for beating Mania would be a dream! 

 

Actually, I have a suspicion Sonic CD Remastered will be unlocked when beating the game.

[D.K.]

32 minutes ago, Tracker_TD said:

Maybe something like Honey the Cat as a cameo?

want

[Tenko]

Seeing the forgotten characters as more than wanted poster cameos would be amazing, still crossing my fingers that the website that did the review on the slightly bigger press copy was right about the (rough quote) "bad animals in the posters harassing you in the first act", and wasn't just overexcitable nonsense.

Seeing Eggman in his night clothes from the original internal Sega concept art competition, which was also mentioned in the early draft story for Mania, would also be an exciting "ha!" moment for long time fans.

I would also like to see the remastered games included as unlockables, size wise it's been put forward in a few posts over on Retro that with some sensible alterations to Sonic CD they should fit within the reported file size from Steam and still leave enough room left over to make Mania the biggest of the classic games file size wise, which is intriguing. Plus the NEED to be on home console and PC already. More people need to experience these versions, might even help 3K get off the ground.

Metal Sonic and Amy in her classic attire would also be great to see, I'm almost certain that Metal will make an appearance, Amy would be a rather glaring ommision if she wasn't present as at least a cameo, so I'm pretty positive she's going to be in the game in some form. Especially with Sonic CD being represented.

Besides that I think Mania has been slowly checking off all the things I had ever dreamed about for a continuation of the classic branch, the beautiful 2D sprite work, the simplistic 3D, refining elements from previous games and adding new ones, interesting new zones, and while returning ones weren't originally a want, they have remixed them and added all new gimmicks and made it part of the story giving incentive to be more than interested in revisiting these areas. All in all I CAN'T WAIT!!

[Diogenes]

I can't really think of much more I can reasonably ask of Mania. Off the top of my head...

• A Super Sonic final boss that still uses the main gameplay. Not just flying around in a void, have an actual "level" to run on.
• Amy and/or Metal Sonic as an unlockable playable character.
• Unlockable concept art maybe?

Mania's already doing so much right that I'm mostly content to just wait and see what it ends up doing rather than coming up with things I wish for the game to have.

[D.K.]

All the recent Kirby games have this extra mode after you beat the game where you play a shorter version of the whole game as another character with their own unique moveset, blazing through the game in about half an hour and fighting a special surprise boss at the very end.

You see where I'm going with this? 

[LividOrca]

1 hour ago, Dannymax440 said:

I wanted Amy and the Hooligans to take part in the story. Plus an exclusive Amy vs Metal Sonic fight in Stardust Speedway 

I'm expecting that Amy will at *minimum* cameo like she did in Palmtree Panic 1. I mean they've gotta include that, right?

1 hour ago, Miru the Living Planet said:

I'd like cameos from even alternate media characters somewhere. Or even prototype designs. 

I think I read somewhere that Studiopolis is supposed to have nods to the old cartoons, and the FF did appear in Spinball... Also one of the first ideas I had for the game was 'what if the Sonic 1 band cameos with Madonna on vocals'

56 minutes ago, Tracker_TD said:

If Sonic Mania has at least one eurobeat track in the OST, then it's my perfect Sonic game tbh.

Jokes aside, the Saturn aesthetic alone practically sells it on that front for me. Maybe something like Honey the Cat as a cameo? That'd be neat. 

Sonic the Fighters OST has been looping on my computer the last few days lol. The other day I imagined how perfect it'd be if they included Sunset Town as a race track, or something.

40 minutes ago, OcelotBot said:

Unlockable Sonic 1&2 Remastered for beating Mania would be a dream! 

 

Actually, I have a suspicion Sonic CD Remastered will be unlocked when beating the game.

Oh yeah, Generations did do a similar thing with Sonic 1. I'd be down for that! And if not I really hope that Taxman finally gets the chance to make that collection game he's been wanting to. Sonic Jam Remastered!

[Jeffhog]

Seeing as one of the biggest draws to Mania is the use of scrapped ideas and concepts, there are a few more I'd love to see make it into the game.

Namely, this unused behemoth.

Just like Dust Hill and Desert Dazzle found new life in Mirage Saloon, I'd love to see what the cancelled Final Fever could be like in Mania.

To those who are unfamiliar, Final Fever was another stage that Christian Whitehead planned on including in his Sonic CD remaster but never made it in. It was conceived as a final zone that could only be accessed by acquiring all seven Time Stones before Metallic Madness Act 3. Its main mechanic was that it was nigh invincible and impossible to damage, but the one way Sonic could was by running fast and turning back the clock. Granted, this was a boss for a game whose main draw was a time-travelling feature, which Mania sorely lacks... The concept could still make for a neat Super Sonic showdown though.

Alternatively, seeing as we do presumably go back to Little Planet for Stardust Speedway...

R2.

Ever found it strange during the Sonic CD ending where it features a scene with Sonic going through an unseen area, featuring an antlion badnik? That was likely yet another stage that never saw the light of day.

Here's the thing: there's no spoken rule where any of the new levels aren't new regions on previously established settings. Mirage Saloon could still be on West Side Island like Dust Hill was originally intended to be in Sonic 2, just like "R2" (which would have turned out to be not too unlike Aquatic Ruin) could be on Little Planet. Rainbow waterfalls over mossy ruins would make for quite the sight!

[rosedust]

7 hours ago, LividOrca said:

Right there with you! Honestly I'm willing to settle for her being exclusive to Competition Mode, like in SA2. It probably wouldn't require as much testing, sprites and whatnot.

Same! I don't really care how she appears as long as I can play as her in something. Though it would be nice to see other classic characters playable too, I honestly don't mind, I'll enjoy Mania either way.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

Only extra things I really want is playable Amy & Metal Sonic... Hopefully in a Mania 2... I mean they wouldn't just repeat themselves if they made a Mania 2 right? D:

[Multikaris]

Modern character cameo/reference as a bone thrown to newer fans.

 

An assist item that calls one of the many non-playable classic characters to aid. Even fills up the Wisp quota! 

 

A snide pot-shot at the Wisps. They really need one after their sheer overuse.

 

A changeable moveset for Sonic to add the Super Peel-Out and Insta-Shield.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

i would like to see a modern sonic mode like put in the homing attack but as a bonus if you collect all the chaos emeralds

[Sega DogTagz]

Hmmm, I think stage selection is whats gonna do it for me.

Despite getting a raging hard-on from what we saw out of CPZ, I can't help but regret that they didn't choose to go after a stage that hadn't been recently recreated. Sonic 2 features gems like Mystic Cave, Oil Ocean, Sky Chase and Aquatic Ruin. Even if Mania delivers a second stage from Sonic 2, CPZ is still taking up real estate that could have been devoted to something else. Feels bad bro.

I mean, GHZ is one thing. Even if we are getting it for the billionth time. But there is no real reason to double dip into anything else. Just leaves a hint of regret behind for me is all.

Much like how Gens got some points docked for its city heavy stage choices, Mania will be held to the same standard. A more "perfect" game will need to walk the tightrope of choosing great stages to bring back. I think that no matter what, I'll be able to say that there was goodies left on the table (there are just too many great stage tropes to represent) but CPZ is low hanging fruit. Its an easy target. The same goes for any stage used in Gens (and its 3DS version too). Great as those  stages were, I don't want to see mushroom hill or sky sanctuary again.

 

I think Carl Carlson said it best though

 

 

[molul]

I'd like some kind of item that unlocks the final zones, like DKC2 and DKC3.

About Sonic 1, 2 and CD remastered included in Mania... I mean, I wouldn't complain, but it doesn't make much sense to me.

[Detective Kaito]

• 2 player versus and co-op mode, both locally and online.
• Super Tails and Super Knuckles.
• Entirely original zones.
• New moves/abilities for Tails and Knuckles.

Mania will great, but there's always room for improvement for its inevitable sequel!

[LividOrca]

Lots of great replies!

 

Thinking about all the stuff I haven't even considered that'll blow my mind when I finally get my hands on this game, overpowers any reason I could possibly find to be disappointed in Mania. Plus, y'know, the fact that this game shouldn't even exist.

 

Anyway I've got this very cozy rock I'll be living under for the next week, so I should scram. Just seven days left, guys! We almost made it!! MANIA!!!

[Natie]

On 8/7/2017 at 8:29 AM, rosedust said:

All I want is unlockable Classic Amy.  

I guess I'll never understand this. I always thought her Sonic Advance gameplay was clunky worked against the level design. Unless they let her be able to roll (she's a hedgehog for god's sake) and make the hammer attacks more satisfying and less delayed, I couldn't see myself enjoying that.

 

As for me:

• All new levels
• New bonus levels instead of blue spheres
• Enhanced Sonic & Tails co-op (Button that lets tails insta-warp to Sonic)