Sonic Mania SPOILERS/Impressions Thread

[Celestia]

4 hours ago, Stasis said:

Were the HBH's normal Egg Robos who were transformed by the Phantom Ruby? The online manual says Eggman dispatched the HBH's to retrieve the Ruby but clearly he sent normal Egg Robo's?

I think that wording was just for the sake of simplicity, he definitely sent them when they were normal EggRobos. It's like, let's say you gave someone a new nickname, you'd probably refer to them by that even when speaking of past events.

[Spooky Mulder]

The Oil Ocean Boss is killing me.

Also, has anyone else hit a major bug at the end of Hydrocity Act 1? After beating Scuba Eggman, I think I launched out of the hovercraft too quickly and Sonic sped past he point where the Act transition should occur. Sonic went off screen and Tails got stuck at the edge of the invisible wall between Act 1 and Act 2. Couldn't do anything, not even pause the game. Had to completely close the software and replay Hydrocity.

[Ellipsis-Ultima]

So I've seen screens of Press Garden Zone and good god it's so pretty.

It's a mix of a garden with ice elements and the colors work really well.

Another favorite new zone for me!

[Chooch]

I just finished the true final boss and I'm honestly so goddamn confused. Why are people saying this has explicit ties to Sonic Forces' plot? I never even would have even tried to make any sort of connection to the two if it weren't for thread titles pretty much telling me this was the case before I even saw the ending myself.

[Shiny Gems]

4 minutes ago, Chooch said:

I just finished the true final boss and I'm honestly so goddamn confused. Why are people saying this has explicit ties to Sonic Forces' plot? I never even would have even tried to make any sort of connection to the two if it weren't for thread titles pretty much telling me this was the case before I even saw the ending myself.

I was thinking the same thing. I don't see the connection between this game and Forces at all. Just because there was a portal Sonic was sucked into doesn't mean he was sent to modern Sonic's world. I am not seeing why this is connected to Forces, after having beaten the game and all.

[Meta77]

The sounds are literally infinite sound effect. Not hard to understand how some think that. Being " tossed through " time with a boss that has help from last enemies you fought

[Bobnik]

1 minute ago, CrystalStorm51 said:

I was thinking the same thing. I don't see the connection between this game and Forces at all. Just because there was a portal Sonic was sucked into doesn't mean he was sent to modern Sonic's world. I am not seeing why this is connected to Forces, after having beaten the game and all.

There are several reasons why:
1) When Phantom Ruby is being used, the sound it makes is nearly identical to the sound Infinite makes in the E3 trailer

2) The pose of Sonic at the end is the same as the pose of Classic Sonic in the reveal trailer (which, granted, was the pose from one of the old concept arts iirc)

3) The music that plays during the fight has some notes that are very similar to Fist Bump.

4) When you look carefully at the Ruby, it sort of glitches. (here's a gif of that)

5) this may be just me, but the ending is too ambiguous for it to not be some sort of a prelude to Forces.

[Doctor MK]

1 hour ago, Spooky Mulder said:

Also, has anyone else hit a major bug at the end of Hydrocity Act 1? After beating Scuba Eggman, I think I launched out of the hovercraft too quickly and Sonic sped past he point where the Act transition should occur. Sonic went off screen and Tails got stuck at the edge of the invisible wall between Act 1 and Act 2. Couldn't do anything, not even pause the game. Had to completely close the software and replay Hydrocity.

Yep, this literally happened to me earlier today. I even took video evidence!

 

[Shiny Gems]

2 minutes ago, Bobnik said:

There are several reasons why:
1) When Phantom Ruby is being used, the sound it makes is nearly identical to the sound Infinite makes in the E3 trailer

2) The pose of Sonic at the end is the same as the pose of Classic Sonic in the reveal trailer (which, granted, was the pose from one of the old concept arts iirc)

3) The music that plays during the fight has some notes that are very similar to Fist Bump.

4) When you look carefully at the Ruby, it sort of glitches. (here's a gif of that)

5) this may be just me, but the ending is too ambiguous for it to not be some sort of a prelude to Forces.

Yeah, I know that, but still, that doesn't mean this is a prelude to Forces. Maybe the portal Sonic was sucked into lead to another part iof his world somewhere. That may be just me, but I am not convinced.

[Your Vest Friend]

As FatPanda pointed out, there's a separate ending for Knuckles & Knuckles mode. 

The music is Just Another Day from Chaotix, bringing the references to that game into the double digits. 

[Bobnik]

5 minutes ago, CrystalStorm51 said:

Yeah, I know that, but still, that doesn't mean this is a prelude to Forces. Maybe the portal Sonic was sucked into lead to another part iof his world somewhere. That may be just me, but I am not convinced.

We're not saying it's 100% confirmed, but the clues the game gave us are pretty convincing that the connection is there. Hell, I'll be surprised if Phantom Ruby doesn't play any sort of role in Forces.

[DiamondX]

2 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

As FatPanda pointed out, there's a separate ending for Knuckles & Knuckles mode. 

The music is Just Another Day from Chaotix, bringing the references to that game into the double digits. 

Classic Knuckles in Forces?

 

Not gonna lie, I'm not 100% sure if that's real.

[Shiny Gems]

4 minutes ago, Bobnik said:

We're not saying it's confirmed, but the clues the game gave us are pretty convincing that the connection is there. Hell, I'll be surprised if Phantom Ruby doesn't play any sort of role in Forces.

We'll see. They said we'd get more news on Forces after Mania was released, so I wouldn't be surprised if the Phantom Ruby was part of the news.

[Meta77]

7 minutes ago, Bobnik said:

We're not saying it's 100% confirmed, but the clues the game gave us are pretty convincing that the connection is there. Hell, I'll be surprised if Phantom Ruby doesn't play any sort of role in Forces.

And the clues given are pretty big I mean glaring unless your wearing glasses

[Your Vest Friend]

6 minutes ago, DiamondX (Trunks) said:

Classic Knuckles in Forces?

 

Not gonna lie, I'm not 100% sure if that's real.

Seems to be a real ending, but a joke ending. Which fits because the entire & Knuckles thing is one big joke. 

Apparently this ending is for beating either final boss so might be possible with just the regular final boss. 

[superman43]

1 minute ago, VEDJ-F said:

Seems to be a real ending, but a joke ending. Which fits because the entire & Knuckles thing is one big joke. 

Apparently this ending is for beating either final boss so might be possible with just the regular final boss. 

I think that you can only get it when you select true final boss with Knuckles in Level Select.

[___-_]

Whoa... so that whole talk before about the Super Emeralds not being in Mania and with other interviews about the return of Hyper forms, I thought they actually retconned that whole aspect out of the lore, but with a secret Knuckles pathway I've  justfound shows they do show up, (yet they're defunct this time around for whatever plot reason). That was a really hype moment for me. I'm glad they're just not written out and can regain hope that one day they'll show up in story form one day.

[Your Vest Friend]

31 minutes ago, superman43 said:

I think that you can only get it when you select true final boss with Knuckles in Level Select.

Nope, saw it tested since and you get the same ending with the regular final boss.

It's actually even funnier because during the escape after you get THREE Knuckles at the same time. 

[Psychicmoose103]

57 minutes ago, StriCNYN3 said:

Whoa... so that whole talk before about the Super Emeralds not being in Mania and with other interviews about the return of Hyper forms, I thought they actually retconned that whole aspect out of the lore, but with a secret Knuckles pathway I've  justfound shows they do show up, (yet they're defunct this time around for whatever plot reason). That was a really hype moment for me. I'm glad they're just not written out and can regain hope that one day they'll show up in story form one day.

They seem to be some sort of rock. Maybe perhaps after the events of 3k, they dissipated, and their power left behind statues of them in their place

[Your Vest Friend]

Oh yeah, and if you do the Egg Reverie boss as Super Tails in debug mode, you get sucked into the void...but Sonic's true ending plays out instead. 

[Azure P]

6 hours ago, DiamondX (Trunks) said:

Both Forces and Mania are great games made for different audicences.

Just because you don't like one of the games, doesn't mean that the game is bad. Maybe you are not part of the target audicence for that game.

Mania = Classic Sonic/Older fans

Forces = Modern Sonic/Younger fans

Wouldn't say Forces is targeting younger fans. Rather Mania is just full on pandering to nostalgia. Force is a little guilty of this too by keeping classic Sonic around along with the dreaded green hill zone looming about still.

[Sonicfan7]

3 hours ago, Chooch said:

I just finished the true final boss and I'm honestly so goddamn confused. Why are people saying this has explicit ties to Sonic Forces' plot? I never even would have even tried to make any sort of connection to the two if it weren't for thread titles pretty much telling me this was the case before I even saw the ending myself.

Do you fight another final boss if you get all the Chaos Emeralds? I finished the game last night but hadn't gotten them all, I need to go back and do that. I thought the ending was just different. 

[Zippo]

That Knuckles one is hilarious.

Also, I got another Sonic CD Steam Code of anyone wants it, first reply wins it.

[Your Vest Friend]

Okay, so in order to keep track of myself, I've made a list of all the Chaotix references I've seen from other plays so far. This may not be complete, but eh. 

1. The most obvious Chaotix reference is the blue ring item box, which stores your total ring in larger, easier to retrieve rings (it works differently though; in Chaotix it was just one ring with all of them, in Mania it's different numbers depending on how many rings you're carrying). 

2. The fact the giant rings that take you to the special stage start polygonal then go wireframe when you're done with them is a reference to the Chaotix special stages, which are polygonal to start with then become wireframe versions if you go back to it once you've collected all the Chaos Rings. The giant ring itself is an S3&K idea. 

3. Within the special stage, the fact the timer is dictated by the number of rings you have is lifted from the Chaotix special stages (again with a difference; in Mania you will always start with a set 30 rings, in Chaotix you start with however many you entered the special stage with, although due to the requirements for entering the ring the minimum is always 50). 

4. Knuckles' climbing sprites (both ascending and descending) are based on his Chaotix sprites. 

5. In the alternate opening animation with different music and SFX, the sound that plays when Sonic goes into the Studiopolis ring is the same sound as when you get a Chaos Ring in Chaotix (dubious, this one; it's definitely the same sound, but I don't know if the sound is Chaotix-exclusive). 

6. Speaking of Studipolis, the Sonic 1 starpost bumpers have the same SFX as the piston springs in Amazing Arena. 

7. The doors taking you outside and inside in Flying Battery are based on similar doors in Botanic Base. 

8. Carry, a Badnik found in Press Garden Act 2, is lifted directly from Chaotix, where it's found in Techno Tower.

9. In the second phase of the Metal Sonic fight in Stardust Speedway Act 2, Metal Sonic attaching to a machine to activate the attack mechanism is a callback to the Metal Sonic fight in Chaotix after all attractions are beaten. 

10. The SFX used when the Heavy Magician is transforming in her box and revealing her current form in Mirage Saloon Act 2's boss is taken from the SFX of the combi-catcher releasing the partner character. 

11. The submarines in Oil Ocean Zone Act 2 are based on the boats found in Marina Madness, although the Marina Madness boats weren't nearly as complex. 

12. The new flying Badniks found in Titanic Monarch have the wings/engines of Pata-Bata's Chaotix version, also known as Hoverby Mk II. 

13. The music that plays in any & Knuckles mode ending is from Chaotix (Not sure if it's a direct remix of Take a Nap or if it's remixed from that segment that remixed it in Just Another Day). 

The screen projectors dotted around Studiopolis may be based on a mini-boss in Amazing Arena that had a projector gimmick, but that one's more iffy. 

[Blue Blood]

I'm very interested in the fact that the Super Emeralds make an appearance in Knuckles' Hidden Palace. They're greyed out and made of stone like they are in 3K when you first enter HPZ and "give up" the Chaos Emeralds, but there's no doubt that they're there. The Super Emeralds are a minor thing here. It's cool.