Sonic Mania Reviews/Impressions Thread

[PKGaming]

On 8/18/2017 at 0:01 PM, Jeffhog said:

So here's the thing:

For the most part, I hated writing in university and pretty much loathed all the writing assignments I kept getting stuck with. Maybe it's the complete lack of interest or it's oversaturation, but I didn't look upon these times favourably as I pretty much only remember me forcing myself into doing it.

But goddamn it, I'll write 3K+ word-long manifestos about Sonic the Hedgehog without skipping a beat or breaking a sweat.

My review for Sonic Mania on Gamnesia is done, and it is just that lengthy. Also doesn't use the expected "Sonic games have had their ups and downs" lines! Thank me.

______________________________________

Sonic Mania is a Lovingly Crafted Mega Collection of Classic Sonic's Finest Moments and More

A true return to the bygone era of Blast Processing, spearheaded by the dream team of Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, and PagodaWest Games.

Link: https://www.gamnesia.com/reviews/sonic-mania-is-a-lovingly-crafted-mega-collection-of-classic-sonics-finest-

You write for Gamnesia? That's pretty sweet! I actually write for a gaming site too, although it just recently opened up and not nearly as well known. I just got my Sonic Mania review published too. Help a dude out and give it a quick. 

Link: https://sickcritic.com/2017/08/22/sonic-mania-classic-2d-sonic-is-back/

[Inkling Cooper]

Bump. So, Mania Plus reviews are starting to come in. Here's some of the reviews I've found so far:

Metacritic: 91

Opencritic: 87

 Gaming Trend: 95/100

Ars Technica: Buy

Destructoid: 8

IGN: 7/10

EGM: 90

Twinfinite: 80

RGT 85

Dualshockers: 9.5

Gamespot (Not entirely a new review, updated version of old Mania review)

Nintendo World Report: 8.5

 

 

[Feanor]

Looks like Sonic Mania is GOTY again lads. 

[Jango]

Deserved. It is the best game ever in this franchise, personal opinions aside. 

Mania 2 when?

[superman43]

38 minutes ago, Jango said:

Deserved. It is the best game ever in this franchise, personal opinions aside. 

Mania 2 when?

Even if there will be a sequel, it won´t be called Mania 2. 

[TheOcelot]

Mania Plus Metacritic score currently stands at 84 for PS4 and 86 for Switch (86 was the final score for Sonic Mania on both platforms last year). 

It's a good start.

I'm hoping Mania Plus gets a slightly higher score then Mania. With all the additional content, it's deserves to. 

[Meta77]

Best in the franchise.  no I'd still say sonic 3 was the pinnacle of 2d with maybe adventure 1...in terms of 3d. 3d needs to step it up. Is this a update if you already own it? Mania base? I see no reason to buy it a third time  fully?

[PickleBrows]

29 minutes ago, Meta77 said:

Best in the franchise.  no I'd still say sonic 3 was the pinnacle of 2d with maybe adventure 1...in terms of 3d. 3d needs to step it up. Is this a update if you already own it? Mania base? I see no reason to buy it a third time  fully?

It's a £3.99/$4.99 DLC to upgrade an existing copy or you can buy the physical edition if you were so inclined.

Keep in mind there IS the separate free 1.04 update that adds various quality of life improvements and alterations. Those of us that have it, and thus shown it, seem to have an incomplete version so we've yet to see the full extent of that too I imagine.

[BlueFlare]

Reviews looking good and I'm hyped af to play Mania again at least twice, or maybe twelve more times.

For sure Sonic 3 was the peak of the franchise as an original title but personally I find Mania the best in the franchise overall.

[Meta77]

1 hour ago, The Loudest Loud said:

It's a £3.99/$4.99 DLC to upgrade an existing copy or you can buy the physical edition if you were so inclined.

Keep in mind there IS the separate free 1.04 update that adds various quality of life improvements and alterations. Those of us that have it, and thus shown it, seem to have an incomplete version so we've yet to see the full extent of that too I imagine.

Sounds fair priced

[Tracker_TD]

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2018/07/10/sonic-mania-plus-review

IGN has actually updated their review, to clarify that the focus was solely on the Encore DLC rather than as a whole package. Fair does! 

[TheOcelot]

Meanwhile the Switch version now has a score of 90! 

This brings the overal score to 88 (the PS4 version still at 86). Now that's more like it!

12 hours ago, Tracker_TD said:

http://uk.ign.com/articles/2018/07/10/sonic-mania-plus-review

IGN has actually updated their review, to clarify that the focus was solely on the Encore DLC rather than as a whole package. Fair does! 

Having a few lower scores isn't the end of the world. Game Revolution gave it a score of 70 and no one seems to be complaining about them, just IGN. Perhaps trying to establish exactly which content in Mania Plus is new (tweeks for Mania mode, the menus and Encore mode etc) may have caused some confusion as to what the guy from IGN thought he needed to review, because solely concentrating on the Encore DLC is not a fair review. He should have reviewed the full package, otherwise it's not a fair representation. If he's not happy with Encore mode that's fine, but it should correctly reflect in the overall score when taking into account Mania mode and the other stuff. Strange how the IGN review for Mania Plus which was showing on Metacritic yesterday seems to have disappeared...

 

Anyway, like I said it's no big deal. I just ignore IGN scores when it comes to Sonic.

[Meta77]

I mean most games with DLC add ons are reviewed as separate entity's,  sometimes.  like sfv it gets reviewed as a whole each time while say destiny is rated by each add on. 

[Milo]

9 hours ago, TheOcelot said:

Meanwhile the Switch version now has a score of 90! 

This brings the overal score to 88 (the PS4 version still at 86). Now that's more like it!

Having a few lower scores isn't the end of the world. Game Revolution gave it a score of 70 and no one seems to be complaining about them, just IGN. Perhaps trying to establish exactly which content in Mania Plus is new (tweeks for Mania mode, the menus and Encore mode etc) may have caused some confusion as to what the guy from IGN thought he needed to review, because solely concentrating on the Encore DLC is not a fair review. He should have reviewed the full package, otherwise it's not a fair representation. If he's not happy with Encore mode that's fine, but it should correctly reflect in the overall score when taking into account Mania mode and the other stuff. Strange how the IGN review for Mania Plus which was showing on Metacritic yesterday seems to have disappeared...

 

Anyway, like I said it's no big deal. I just ignore IGN scores when it comes to Sonic.

Should note that the Switch version rose to 90 on Metacritic (and GameRankings) because the aggregate sites refactored IGN's review. Since IGN clarified it's review was specifically for the DLC, and not evaluating Plus (original game + DLC [+ retail packaging materials]) as a whole, their review now counts towards "Sonic Mania: Encore Pack" on both sites.

[Wraith]

This hand wringing over the score(including Aaron stepping up to wag his finger) is kind of embarrassing. Reviewing Sonic Mania Plus as an individual package is the proper way to do it from my perspective. I'd like some perspective for people who already have Sonic Mania on how much the game is actually changing. 

[Diogenes]

Considering you can get Plus either as DLC on top of the digital version or packaged with the base game in the physical version I'd say it makes sense to review it both ways.

[Jango]

IMO, then review it as the definitive version of the game. IGN gave the vanilla Sonic Mania a 8.6 IIRC, logically, Plus' score should be even bigger (or did the reviewer though the new content made the game worse? LMAO). Didn't they did the same with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (but in that case, the Deluxe version did got a higher score)? The Switch port is basically a DLC that makes that version the definitive experience. IGN makes no sense. Biased, biased, biased.

[Meta77]

It's not biased. Your example is a full game. If you already owned 8 you could not plug it into your switch and play it.hence it's a new game so its rated as new. Plus is dlc on top of a current sonic game unless you did not buy it. It's not the first time most game sites have rated DLC separate from the main game.

[Tracker_TD]

22 hours ago, Jango said:

IMO, then review it as the definitive version of the game. IGN gave the vanilla Sonic Mania a 8.6 IIRC, logically, Plus' score should be even bigger (or did the reviewer though the new content made the game worse? LMAO). Didn't they did the same with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (but in that case, the Deluxe version did got a higher score)? The Switch port is basically a DLC that makes that version the definitive experience. IGN makes no sense. Biased, biased, biased.

Different reviewers have different approaches. The reviewer for Mania decided to review it solely on the new content pack. The Deluxe content for MK8 wasn't available separately from that game, you can only buy MK8DX altogether.

This isn't biased, you're just overly concerned about a Metacritic score. The writer of the Mania and Mania Plus reviews triple-dipped on Mania's original release for Christ's sake, if anything they'd be biased in favour of the game! 

[Blue Blood]

So I got Mania Plus today on Switch (and PS4 but haven't played it yet). I ordered from ShopTo. Reall pleased to have gotten the game so early. It's fantastic. I might post a full review later, might not. Here's a summary of my thoughts for now though. I've beaten Encore Mode. All I need to do now is collect the remaining Emeralds.

• Mighty isn't what I was expecting. I'm pleasantly surprised by his missing wall-jump, since the levels aren't built in any way to benefit from it. Not having it also limits his vertical movement, like Sonic, so he's keeping the cast a bit more balanced. His stomp is surprisingly very, very useful. It brings him to an almost dead stop, which is great for careful play, and also defeats enemies in a short radius. Plus the quake that it causes will make any hidden item boxes fall to the ground. It's very useful. I had thought about how they could use Mighty's shell, but couldn't come up with anything concrete. The decision to give him semi-immunity to spikes and projectiles while in a ball is genius. He is able to briefly traverse spike traps that other characters would be vulnerable to, but it's not permanent. It also makes the GHZ2 and FBZ2 bosses way easier. His sprite work is really nice too, although I'm kind disappointed about the fact they they went the Knuckles Chaotix route and used Sonic as a base. Many of his animation are totally original, but his standing sprite is obviously recycled. A bit of a shame, that. But there are several call-backs to his Chaotix appearance in his animations, which is also nice to see.
• Ray is also really good. He's very similar to the cape or racoon suit in Mario, but it far easier to use. He can build up a lot of speed very easily in the air. But unlike Tails and Knuckles, he lacks much recovery, to ensure he's not too over-powered (in some levels though he is totally OP and it's ridiculously fun as a result). Once he hits a wall of cancels his glide, he can't start gliding again he's landed. His sprites are lovely too. He can't ascend as easily as Tails in narrow areas, but on the whole he's much more fun than Tails to play as.
• The Encore Mode setup with two characters and the full cast replacing the traditional lives system is genius. I absolutely love it. Having two characters to swap between at any point and plenty of monitors to completely change your team at any time means that you're constantly on your toes and the game is always switching up how you play. This was a total surprise to me and I love it. You also instantly respawn as a new character upon death (provided you have any left), rather than have the screen fade to black. It's a nice way to keep the pace going.
• The Encore levels are okay. If you're not overly familiar with Mania, you might not notice much different apart from the palettes and...

 

Mirage Saloon Act 1 as it's totally new.

• They're mostly pretty tame changes to existing layouts to challenge your muscle memory. Fun, but nothing groundbreaking. I can understand why some people would be disappointed. Bosses have been rebalanced  where necessary (and one changed entirely), but are otherwise identical to the originals. They didn't ever modify the arenas to add a bit of challenge. Definitely the weak-point of Encore Mode. Oil Ocean 2's boss went from being borderline unfair to one of the easiest in the game.
• The new palettes for the Encore levels are very hit and miss. A few of them, like Oil Ocean, Flying Battery and Mirage Saloon 2 are really wonderful. Then you've got things like Press Garden 1, Lava Reef 1 and Stardust Speedway 1 which are basically just off-hue versions of the original and look a bit ugly. Then there's real disasters like Hydrocity 1, Lava Reef 2 or Studiopolis 1, which just look bad. The new palettes seem to favour dull colours with hues of yellow, orange and brown and colours that generally clash. The levels that try to change the entire atmosphere (Oil Ocean, both acts) tend to come out the best. The new bonus stages are perfect. The higher ring requirement to enter them makes them more of a reward than Blue Sphere, plus you now can earn items or extra characters in them. They're a lot of fun, and don't outstay their welcome.
• The new Special Stages are haaaaaaaard. All of them are entirely new layouts with new challenges. I only managed to get three Emeralds in my playthrough. They're tough, and 90% of the Big Rings have been moved.
• I'm in love with the newly added level transitions. One of the still doesn't make sense unfortunately, but it's nice regardless.

 

Hydrocity and Mirage Saloon don't really connect at all.

• The art book is absolutely bloody wonderful. And, slight story spoilers here...

 

it establishes that Sonic Arcade is canon

Encore Mode won't be enough for everyone and may even disappoint some, but the meat of this new content is the two new playable characters and the team system that it adds in. If Mania wasn't already the best Sonic game ever made, it certainly is now.

[Barry the Nomad]

Here's the SEGAbits written and video reviews (same content): http://segabits.com/blog/2018/07/14/sonic-mania-plus-review-worthy-of-an-encore-ps4-xbox-one-switch-pc/

I gave it an A+........ out of A+.

[Blue Blood]

Something that I've not really mentioned yet, but is definitely important in regards to Mighty and Ray. When they are first revealed, people worried that they were going to be reskins of the existing characters. Mighty was quite literally a reskin of Sonic in Chaotix, and everyone played identically in Arcade. Design wise, there wasn't a huge lot to differentiate them from the existing characters either. Mighty was another strong red guy with "long hair" similar to Knuckles (with Sonic's face), whilst Ray was a cute, yellow sidekick with a big tail and the ability to fly. It would have been so easy for these two characters to have been half-arsed.

But just like with the rest of the game, that couldn't be further from reality. Mighty and Ray have both had their designs tweaked subtlety, and their sprites ooze personality. Mighty remains quite serious or calm in his animations. Even his depiction of super-strength is very different to Knuckles'. Ray's personality is big goofy smiles and loads of energy. They're both pretty unique in the Sonic series. And this is to say nothing of their special abilities that aren't really that much like anything else we've had to use before. 

The team did good.

[Badnik Mechanic]

I have a feeling there might be a few negative impressions when this goes live... due to this.

I cannot figure out where to go. I'm right at the start and I know I'm missing something but no idea what.

I also can't pause the game at this screen to quit out.

I'm completely stuck.

 

Edit: right... after 6 min I finally figured it out.. But... Yeah... that's a problem area they need to fix, mainly that there's no way to quit back to the main menu or move list so you can figure out how to 'fly' as ray.

[Your Vest Friend]

Isn't that meant for Ray's ability?

[MainJP]

4 minutes ago, Mayor D said:

I have a feeling there might be a few negative impressions when this goes live... due to this.

I cannot figure out where to go. I'm right at the start and I know I'm missing something but no idea what.

I also can't pause the game at this screen to quit out.

I'm completely stuck.

 

Aren't you supposed to use Air Glide?