Sonic Mania SPOILERS/Impressions Thread

[Mogul]

21 hours ago, molul said:

Someone here asked Taxman, but no reply yet.

I personally think that they could add this later. It would be just adding some cutscenes. That would be a very light update (it wouldn't even impact on gameplay; player can do nothing during cutscenes).

I don't think Taxman would leave his "creature" incomplete in this way. They can't make blue spheres a side game and add a new bonus stage, but adding... 6? cutscenes y something totally feasible, and worth it. I wouldn't bet it's being done for the PC release, but I'm positive they won't leave the game with that flaw.

I've tried reaching out to Taxman but no response yet and (understandably) I don't think one is coming. He may be bound by an agreement with Sega not to talk about this kind of thing. Either way, it does seem uncharacteristic of him and Stealth to leave the story in this state. We're talking about the guys who rebuilt and implemented Hidden Palace Zone in what was meant to be a simple, straightforward port of Sonic 2, and wanted to add 2 new zones to the port of Sonic CD. They clearly have a great passion for this sort of thing. My guess is that they wanted to push back the release date for all platforms to add some finishing touches, but were either unable to push back any release but Steam (because of Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony), or Sega wouldn't allow it. My guess is that the Steam release will have the missing cutscenes, and they'll be patched into the console versions, along with some bugfixes. Fingers crossed at least.

[Clewis]

4 minutes ago, Spooky Mulder said:

Since we started revisiting Sonic stages in the last few years I've been desperately hoping for a Sunset Park remake. It seems unlikely to happen given that Triple Trouble isn't that well known outside the fanbase and that Sunset Park itself really isn't that extraordinary of a Zone. The music really makes it, but I still hope it happens eventually. 

That's actually why I think it would be neat to see. For most people it would be something completely new, but at the same time it would also be a nice dose of fanservice for those who actually grew up playing the MS/GG games, kinda like the Knuckles' boss in Mirage Saloon Act 1.

Although I'll admit that I'm more interested in seeing how the Mania devs handle the concept of a theme park/train depot level than seeing a super faithful recreation of the original zone. Having Tee Lopes compose two remixes of Sunset Park's bgm would just be a beautifully added bonus.

But yeah, it's really unlikely. Of course, a couple years ago I also would have said something like Mania was extremely unlikely to happen, so I guess almost anything's possible at this point.

[Red Hot Jack]

I wish they didn't make Mirage Saloon Act 1 a tribute to Sky Chase, couldn't they have done it in a returning zone? Why waste it where there could have been a brand new stage?

[Celestia]

I don't mind it that much, if only because it's not the entire Act. That said, I wish the section on the train was longer / more complex (been a while since I saw footage but I don't remember ramps or anything, etc.) cuz it's a cute idea.

[Mark1]

1 hour ago, Jack the Rookie said:

I wish they didn't make Mirage Saloon Act 1 a tribute to Sky Chase, couldn't they have done it in a returning zone? Why waste it where there could have been a brand new stage?

Same, if it weren't for the second half of the level I'd have felt that space was wasted. 

[Your Vest Friend]

Speaking of that level, it reminds me of a curiosity I have within it; are the colours of the Armadillo Turtloids supposed to be a nod to Mighty, or is that co-incidence. 

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

Urgh, I hate the blue spheres. Loathe 'em, loathe 'em, loathe 'em. They soured any kind of love I had for Sonic Mania. I thought this is like Sonic CD but NOPE.

Nonetheless, I got 15 gold and 13 silver. Once I finish the incomplete ones, I have to redo the silver ones. Must get all gold. Really wish I don't have to, but I'm a trophy huntress.

[HywelAtTheMoon]

Just found a Mean Bean Machine mini game. You can get it by getting 21 medals in the blue spheres bonus stages. I'll try to get a screenshot. 

[NikoS]

Just noticed that during the train sequence in Mirage Saloon act 1 we get a reference to Oil Ocean, the following zone, in one of the containers, nice touch

 

[CleverSonicUsername]

On 8/23/2017 at 4:48 AM, Celestia said:

I don't mind it that much, if only because it's not the entire Act. That said, I wish the section on the train was longer / more complex (been a while since I saw footage but I don't remember ramps or anything, etc.) cuz it's a cute idea.

Yeah I was kind of hoping that the Sky Chase bit was just the first part and the act would dump you out into something more traditional. A train level would have been interesting.

Actually, before I played Knuckle's story, I was kind of upset how short Mirage Saloon was. Was sort of hoping it would have been three acts to compensate for Not Sky Chase, and then it turns out it kind of is, just split between characters.

[Jango]

3 hours ago, NikoS said:

Just noticed that during the train sequence in Mirage Saloon act 1 we get a reference to Oil Ocean, the following zone, in one of the containers, nice touch

 

Neat!

Love that little hint. Also, I think the city in Chemical Plant's background might just be Studiopolis, what you guys think? Seems likely. 

Man, I can't shake the fact that this game has only some awesome zone transitions... FBZ to PGZ would be easy to explain, since the Flying Battery is in motion. I believe Press Garden belongs on Angel Island, tho'. SSZ to HCZ could just be the Phantom Ruby again, but HCZ to MSZ is just "what?", especially because SUDDENKNUCKLES and the fact that MSZ is likely on Sonic 2's island, since it's not too far from OOZ... TMZ is probably on Little Planet, buuuut... Not the same initials :x

 

Lots of abbreviations, hm?

[Remy]

36 minutes ago, Jango said:

 

Man, I can't shake the fact that this game has only some awesome zone transitions... FBZ to PGZ would be easy to explain, since the Flying Battery is in motion. I believe Press Garden belongs on Angel Island, tho'. SSZ to HCZ could just be the Phantom Ruby again, but HCZ to MSZ is just "what?", especially because SUDDENKNUCKLES and the fact that MSZ is likely on Sonic 2's island, since it's not too far from OOZ... TMZ is probably on Little Planet, buuuut... Not the same initials :x

Needed the classic "kick the door off of the airship and snowboard down a mountain" transition Ice Cap was supposed to have. I think they probably ran out of time and had to cut it. 

[sonicdudeatdawn]

3 minutes ago, Remy said:

Needed the classic "kick the door off of the airship and snowboard down a mountain" transition Ice Cap was supposed to have. I think they probably ran out of time and had to cut it. 

beautiful shout out to city escape right there, however since we start at the press rather than the garden that wouldn't work. maybe if the acts were reversed it might

[Jango]

It would be both a nice nod to the unused transition and a cool way to start Press Garden. Then again, snowboard in what snow? XD There's snow in Act 2, but not 1.... ^^' 

I think the Flying Battery could just crash through the roof of Press Garden, as it looks like a huge factory anyways.

I'm thinking on how Sonic went from OOZ to LRZ now...

[Remy]

I guess you are indoors in act1. Maybe you could have started on a mountain and crashed through a window or something to the press interior???????????? or something?????????? it's all just thereticals now isn't it????????????????????????????

[CleverSonicUsername]

1 hour ago, Remy said:

Needed the classic "kick the door off of the airship and snowboard down a mountain" transition Ice Cap was supposed to have. I think they probably ran out of time and had to cut it. 

So this reminded me, they put out that animation that was the cut surfing animation from Sonic 3's intro, but as far as I'm aware it never shows up in game.

Edit: That said, given the opening, they could have intended to restore that to Sonic arriving at Angel Island and it was cut yet again. ~It is a mystery~

[superman43]

7 hours ago, Jango said:

It would be both a nice nod to the unused transition and a cool way to start Press Garden. Then again, snowboard in what snow? XD There's snow in Act 2, but not 1.... ^^' 

I think the Flying Battery could just crash through the roof of Press Garden, as it looks like a huge factory anyways.

I'm thinking on how Sonic went from OOZ to LRZ now...

Have you seen the Eggman things in LRZ 2 ? I believe that it is actually a gas transportation tube to OOZ. Seems logical as Eggman needs to set up the oil in fire for his machines to work. So Sonic could transport from OOZ to LRZ and shoot up to the top of the volcano in act 1.

 

7 hours ago, Remy said:

I guess you are indoors in act1. Maybe you could have started on a mountain and crashed through a window or something to the press interior???????????? or something?????????? it's all just thereticals now isn't it????????????????????????????

I don´t know why but I think the Ice Cap was intended on the first sight. The transition used in Sonic 3 from Ice Cap to Launch Base would be instead finding a secret entrance to Press Garden. Press Garden itself seems to be near Ice Cap, Launch Base and Mushroom Hill.

[Tenko]

Maybe it's just me nitpicking but anyone else think compared to his Triple Trouble animations that Nack' s tail bounce in the Mirage Saloon boss fight is less...springy..like his tail doesn't curl up, it's more straight when he bounces on it.

Anyway to counter my minor visual complaint here's an interesting episode of Did You Know Gaming on Sonic Mania, which we all likely know everything in anyway.

 

[CleverSonicUsername]

Edit: Nevermind, don't want to seem overly pessimistic and downright rude.

[molul]

I just want to say: FINALLY, ONLY ONE DAY LEFT TO PLAY MANIA (on PC)!!!

Gosh, these must have been the longest 14 days of my life XD

[BlueFlare]

@molul you're right, what torture have these two weeks been.

Gladly I have no work tomorrow so I can workout today and comfortably spend tomorrow enjoying Mania.

[molul]

Lucky you! I've told family and girlfriend not to disturb me tomorrow evening lol

I'm curious about what changes might come with the PC release. Looking forward to Taxman's post on Twitter.

[BlueFlare]

The Steam countdown has begun. 21 hours to go. I was dreaming of playing it tonight but motherfudge, we Scandinavians have to wait for almost another day until it unlocks. 

[molul]

It will be tomorrow 18 in Spain then. Good that I'll be sleeping a few hours ^^

[TheOcelot]

On 8/22/2017 at 10:23 AM, molul said:

Someone here asked Taxman, but no reply yet.

I personally think that they could add this later. It would be just adding some cutscenes. That would be a very light update (it wouldn't even impact on gameplay; player can do nothing during cutscenes).

I don't think Taxman would leave his "creature" incomplete in this way. They can't make blue spheres a side game and add a new bonus stage, but adding... 6? cutscenes y something totally feasible, and worth it. I wouldn't bet it's being done for the PC release, but I'm positive they won't leave the game with that flaw.

I also hope they patch the missing cutscenes or at least a few of them. The story feels incomplete which is so disappointing. It sounds like in order to meet Mania's release window they needed to prioritize polishing the gameplay over the cutscenes. 

It's only feasible to add missing cutscenes if they are already more or less finished, otherwise it would take too long to add them. I'm not getting my hopes up.

 

 

Thought I'd post this excellent review of Mania. I agree with just about everything he says. Conveys a lot of things I like and irks I have with the game:

 

28 minutes ago, molul said:

It will be tomorrow 18 in Spain then. Good that I'll be sleeping a few hours ^^

I'm gonna 100% the Steam version just like I did with the PS4 release. Yikes!