Sonic Mania SPOILERS/Impressions Thread

[expansivelovestories]

10 minutes ago, Sonicfan287 said:

Damn sorry to hear that's fake because it looked excellent. I wouldn't be surprised if at least one Zone has 3 acts

It is from a real already released fan ROM reworking so you can play it right now!!   See my above post.... if this is not on the next page for you; otherwise: Markey Jester 's The Next Level, one of the most interesting, highly creative ROM reworkings in existence, from autumn 2015!

https://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?s=6f7ebaeac03969cc0c966aa5c7681391&showtopic=34835&st=0

http://mrjester.hapisan.com/01_Public/S1NXL.bin

 

  it is actually a great one to play in the days before Sonic Mania.  

[Sonicfan287]

37 minutes ago, Zippo said:

Comes from someone on /V/ as well.

Yawn.
Speculation of new characters on /v/ is driving me nuts, as I would much rather people discuss their opinions on the games mechanics, and just adhere to funposting. 
I work in a large development studio in the UK (not going to tell you which), and have met a few people working at PagodaWest. I've discussed the game, and have swapped a few NDAs for NDAs. I'll tell you what I'm aware of. This was back in September of last year though, so it's likely I don't know everything.
Medals straight up unlock new content. 
I'm aware that Metal sonic and Amy Rose (CD) are two of the unlockables. I have been told they are for unlocking all medals of a particular checkpoint stage, I was told they had already intended to have 30 unique blue sphere stages which can all be used toward unlocks.
Additionally, Blue Sphere can be selected from the main menu, with procedurally generated stages. These do not unlock medals, they're just a bonus.
So there's silver and gold medals. I was never told about bronze, but apparently they're a thing, according to people who have played it recently. From what I gather, there are also unlockables tied to completion with different characters, and finishing the game is a very short space of time. Apparently you unlock something if you can beat the game in less than 45 minutes total, not sure if it's a separate mode. (Boss rush maybe?)
Hydrocity Zone is in the game.
First act is as normal. The second act is a blend of Hydrocity and Marble garden, which leads straight into Mystic cave zone, with the second act blending straight into Hidden palace. Most of the old zones show up in one way or another. There are no recycled bosses. They wanted to play with people's expectations. Part of the reason they haven't publically talked about the zones in the game, of which there were 17 of when I asked about it, but they delayed it significantly, so they've probably added more since then."

I'm hoping at least some of this to be true and it seems oddly specific in some ways so maybe some of it is. What's strange to me is he mentions the possibility of 17+ zones but then says there's an achievement for beating the game in under 45 minutes?? There's virtually no way to do that unless the zones are really short (without glitching the game somehow) 

im kind of curious what "Hydrocity mixed with marble garden" would look like or entail. I was never a big fan of Marble Garden but maybe this is their way of bringing back more stages without bringing them back fully. I would've preferred having the water elements get frozen in Act 2 essentially making it an Ice cap hybrid. This does open the possibility of mixing stages and hopefully the game will use its "Mania" moniker to the fullest and give us some crazy mash ups like that. 

I definitely hope the Mystic Caves rumor is true and if hidden palace is in as well I hope they use the original Sonic 2 (sound test #10) song that was intended to be used for it. As a kid that song had a lot of significance to me for some reason. I didn't know hidden palace was a scrapped Zone because I was 5 the first time I played sonic 2 so i always thought there'd be a way to find the level with that music and never could find it. It wasn't until years later I learned the song isn't in the game and is from a beta version. 

Long story short my younger self and I would love to play a full stage with that music 

[Tenko]

I don't know if I would believe that post about the zones blending into each other. Sharing elements to make you go, "oh that was from that zone originally" yes, as we have seen this already. But moving into a zone in a totally different game location like Hydrocity into Mystic Cave "seamlessly" rings alarms bells.

Especially when we have been told they wanted to make the game world into a living breathing place, using the classic lore from the manuals etc. Also we know there will be in game cutscenes likely showing how they get from place to place. So unless that counts as "seamless" then I call shenanigans.

Unlocking stuff with the medals seems likely, as does Hydrocity being in the game, and elements of Marble Garden due to the manual thing and retracted artwork etc. Sounds like this person is just making educated guesses. 

[StratusAsterion]

20 minutes ago, Sonicfan287 said:

I definitely hope the Mystic Caves rumor is true and if hidden palace is in as well I hope they use the original Sonic 2 (sound test #10) song that was intended to be used for it. As a kid that song had a lot of significance to me for some reason. I didn't know hidden palace was a scrapped Zone because I was 5 the first time I played sonic 2 so i always thought there'd be a way to find the level with that music and never could find it. It wasn't until years later I learned the song isn't in the game and is from a beta version. 

Long story short my younger self and I would love to play a full stage with that music 

I 100% agree I LOVED that song and also spent many a time as a kid trying to find it in game! (I even self taught how to play it on piano :P) I would LOVE to see Hidden Palace re-imagined in full with that music.

[Psychicmoose103]

Some of this seems fake. Unless the plot is about the islands merging, it's physically impossible to go to Hydrocity to Mystic Cave

[Sonicfan7]

4 pages in and we don't have any definitive spoilers. Well done, Sega.

[Sonicfan287]

13 minutes ago, Sonicfan7 said:

4 pages in and we don't have any definitive spoilers. Well done, Sega.

Yeah I'm not really sure how to feel about that now. Originally I was leaning towards avoiding spoilers but now that we're not getting any I'm kind of like "what gives?!" 

 

 

31 minutes ago, Psychicmoose103 said:

Some of this seems fake. Unless the plot is about the islands merging, it's physically impossible to go to Hydrocity to Mystic Cave

About as physically possible as going from a carnival to an arctic region or Hydrocity to Marble garden lol 

[Tenko]

46 minutes ago, Sonicfan287 said:

I definitely hope the Mystic Caves rumor is true and if hidden palace is in as well I hope they use the original Sonic 2 (sound test #10) song that was intended to be used for it.

Not to be pedantic, but that tune wasn't intended to be Hidden Palace' s music. Masa's track notes from the original production, that Taxman/Stealth were privy to when they were working on Sonic 2 Remastered put that one to rest a while ago now.

It was intended to be used for a cutscene in Hidden Palace, assumidly to do with Sonic changing into Super Sonic, as Yuji Naka mentioned Sonic was originally intended to "warp" to Hidden Palace on collection of all seven Chaos Emeralds to gain his new ability but the idea was scrapped.

The reason they used Mystic Cave' s two-player competition music in the remaster was due to other following builds using it in place of track #10.

I like the haunting melody as much as the next guy, and myself spend many many hours trying figure out how to get to this level or get this tune to play legitimately, but sadly its original purpose, the lost cutscene, will likely never see the light of day.

[Sonictrainer]

Sonic Mania now appears on the "Coming Soon" Page on the Nintendo Switch eshop.

Says the File Size is 186MB

[Sonicfan287]

8 minutes ago, Sonictrainer said:

Sonic Mania now appears on the "Coming Soon" Page on the Nintendo Switch eshop.

Says the File Size is 186MB

Cool! Although I feel like we've heard a few different file sizes for the game. I suppose the different platforms versions will have different sizes 

[Tenko]

25 minutes ago, Sonicfan287 said:

About as physically possible as going from a carnival to an arctic region or Hydrocity to Marble garden lol 

Not really, Carnival Night and Ice Cap, as well as Hydrocity and Marble Garden are all on Angel Island. While the way you travel may be unconventional in some cases it's all locations on the same island.

Mystic Cave is on Westside Island, as is the original Hidden Palace. So traveling to either of those two, from say Hydrocity or Marble Garden, wouldn't make sense if its done "seemlessly". They are on totally different islands.

One which is presumably still floating since it was restored in 3K, and the other which should be drifting around in its illusionary fashion. 

[Sonicfan7]

1 hour ago, Zippo said:

http://m.neogaf.com/showpost.php?p=245793334

Reviews drop on Monday. Expected. 

I expect a couple criticisms to be about the lack of original zones and no online co-op. Other than that, the gameplay, presentation, music, etc will be likely universally loved. 

I'm expecting a solid 9/10, 4/5, A+ from most. 

[Zippo]

Not sure if he's a reviewer or just someone with connections, but a Sonic Retro user now has the game.

[Sonicfan287]

3 minutes ago, Zippo said:

Not sure if he's a reviewer or just someone with connections, but a Sonic Retro user now has the game.

I feel like this would be an easy screenshot to forge (just put that install box in) although who would bother going to the trouble? Eh, either way, it's exciting even knowing that the game is out in some capacity even if it'll be 5 more long days before I can play it ... 

[Sonicfan7]

Apparently that dude was trolling. 

Quote

 

Psshh, it's not like I have a review copy. You can do this with any unreleased Steam game easily, it just doesn't get you anywhere. Throw steam://install/584400 into your browser. I was just having fun /> 
 

ms.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=35709&st=7230&p=902233&#entry902233

 

[Sonicfan287]

I figured as much 

[Zippo]

Collector's edition just broke street date, apparently. 

[Sonicfan287]

7 minutes ago, Zippo said:

Collector's edition just broke street date, apparently. 

Seriously? Wow... that looks like a Best Buy. Hmm, but I bet the download code won't work until the 15th 

[Zippo]

https://ninmobilenews.com/news/2017/08/10/sonic-mania-collectors-edition-for-nintendo-switch-spotted-at-best-buy/

Apparently, it's at a Best Buy, but the seller was denied the opportunity to buy it.

[Sonicfan287]

3 minutes ago, Zippo said:

https://ninmobilenews.com/news/2017/08/10/sonic-mania-collectors-edition-for-nintendo-switch-spotted-at-best-buy/

Apparently, it's at a Best Buy, but the seller was denied the opportunity to buy it.

Is it really sad that I'm tempted to swing by my Best Buy sometime soon just to look at the box? I doubt they'll have it out even but still... wouldn't mind seeing that box in person lol 

[molul]

4 hours ago, StratusAsterion said:

I 100% agree I LOVED that song and also spent many a time as a kid trying to find it in game! (I even self taught how to play it on piano :P) I would LOVE to see Hidden Palace re-imagined in full with that music.

+1. That has to be the weirdest "easter egg" I have seen in my life. I loved playing track 10 for a long while, figuring out where would that zone hide xD

[Barry the Nomad]

Having played (nearly) the full game, I can say that most are likely not spoiling because a lot of the fun comes in the surprises. I urge people to ignore spoiler reviews and especially those channels, like GameXplain, that try and post the "every easter egg" videos as soon as embargo is lifted. 

I was debating how much I'd reveal in my review, but after the end of the second zone I decided to not spoil a lot in my review.

[Red Hot Jack]

I decided I don't want to spoiler the game for myself... It's just that... I don't know if I can resist until I return home on the 21st.

[Psychicmoose103]

12 hours ago, Sonicfan287 said:

Yeah I'm not really sure how to feel about that now. Originally I was leaning towards avoiding spoilers but now that we're not getting any I'm kind of like "what gives?!" 

 

 

About as physically possible as going from a carnival to an arctic region or Hydrocity to Marble garden lol 

Not really, sonic 3 gives us explanations as to how they get there, and they are on the same island. Walking from a level on angel island into a level on west side island is physically impossible, since they want to make the world feel like a real place.

57 minutes ago, Barry the Nomad said:

Having played (nearly) the full game, I can say that most are likely not spoiling because a lot of the fun comes in the surprises. I urge people to ignore spoiler reviews and especially those channels, like GameXplain, that try and post the "every easter egg" videos as soon as embargo is lifted. 

I was debating how much I'd reveal in my review, but after the end of the second zone I decided to not spoil a lot in my review.

Zone Count? :3

 

anyways I hope you had fun. Can't wait to play on the 15th!

[Sonicfan287]

13 minutes ago, Psychicmoose103 said:

Not really, sonic 3 gives us explanations as to how they get there, and they are on the same island. Walking from a level on angel island into a level on west side island is physically impossible, since they want to make the world feel like a real place.

Zone Count? :3

 

anyways I hope you had fun. Can't wait to play on the 15th!

I get what you're saying, I just don't know how committed the team is when it comes to explaining locations on Angel Island vs some other location. Technically wouldn't that mean Stardust Speedway is on another planet? 

I hope there's some cohesion but I also wouldn't be surprised to see Sonic just show up in other places without much explanation, especially since the nature of this game is a compilation of levels from different games and worlds. They may explain it by having Sonic take the tornado to these different islands but I also wouldn't be shocked if it's much simpler than that. 

Heck, up until Sonic 3 we never got an explanation for how Sonic gets from Zone to Zone. It was just "poof, here you are"