Sonic Mania Plus: Official Reveal (Coming July 17th) - NO SPOILERS

[Stasis]

So stoked for Mighty and Ray! Maybe now we can get some merch.

[Badnik Mechanic]

We're getting a physical copy of Mania.

It comes with a reversible cover.

It is a localised cover.

It comes with an artbook.

It's cheaper than a 'new' game.

It has two new playable characters.

New modes.

And if you already own it the update is there for free day 1!

 

 

And it costs less than most new retail games!

 

There is.... It's... Just the best!

[Tenko]

Hmm..can Mighty, Ray, and Fang and crew get Sonic Channel official art now please Sega/Sonic Team!!

Kinda surprised they didn't change Mighty's shoes that much, yeah it's got the singular stripe designed a tad different but it's still all red. Ray getting his comic colours/design on the shoes was an interesting touch.

[Almar]

8 minutes ago, Mayor D said:

We're getting a physical copy of Mania.

It comes with a reversible cover.

It is a localised cover.

It comes with an artbook.

It's cheaper than a 'new' game.

It has two new playable characters.

New modes.

And if you already own it the update is there for free day 1!

 

 

And it costs less than most new retail games!

 

There is.... It's... Just the best!

Watch it still sale about as well as Forces or better.

[Psychicmoose103]

Im extremely curious if we are going to get any new zones or not. I know they didn't say anything on the subject, but they didn't exactly deny it either. Either way i'm stoked to play as Mighty and Ray! I was hoping that they would make their return eventually. Im very curious about what this "Encore Mode" is. What do you all think?

[Harkofthewaa]

And now we wait, once again. 

[Strickerx5]

Honestly, like most of my feelings towards Mania, I'm a bit hesitant on this. It's nice to see the game get a physical release with all the little bells and whistles for those that really wanted it (plus that price is great too) and getting new characters at all looks neat but that's about where my positive feelings on this end.

Like, why Mighty and Ray? I know they're neat from a callback perspective and I'm sure you can do some new stuff with them (you kind of have to if you want to make them remotely interesting) but I'm going to be honest here... would've preferred just about anyone else over them, especially Amy. She is a classic character. Why opt for these two over her? Personally, at the end of the day I have no connection to these two so seeing them in here doesn't do much for me.

Not to mention the other modes which I'm honestly going to have to see footage of before I swoon or anything. They sound to be either interesting or incredibly tedious. Also, the further lack of online play is kind of starting to get on my nerves. Like, Speed Battle is able to do it so why not the actual games?

Now of course I'd be singing a slightly different tune here if this was all being included in a free update but from what I heard in the panel, that doesn't seem to be the case.

[superman43]

1 minute ago, Psychicmoose103 said:

Im extremely curious if we are going to get any new zones or not. I know they didn't say anything on the subject, but they didn't exactly deny it either. Either way i'm stoked to play as Mighty and Ray! I was hoping that they would make their return eventually. Im very curious about what this "Encore Mode" is. What do you all think?

My only hope is something small to be with Sonic Mania Adventures shorts, like Angel Island and sort of stuff. There are 5 shorts, so maybe, just maybe, if we use this, it could make 5 zones appear.

[E-122-Psi]

One possibility is that this Encore Mode is an extra little bit of story with more stages, so as not to interrupt already completed saved games. Granted I feel like if there was gonna be more stages, they would have advertised it as a key selling point.

 

22 minutes ago, JezMM said:

The first screenshot reveal for Sonic Mania Plus showcases the new 4-Player Competition mode, looks great!

Sweet crap I hope not. One benefit of 4 player split screen in a game is that it evens back the screen ratio when done 2 by 2.

[Blue Wisp]

New content is great and all but SEGA, I already bought your game full price, if you expect me to fork more money for two characters which might probably be reskins of Sonic and Tails and a new mode which might be just a Hard Mode or something like that, then no, I'm sorry. 

Call me entitled but this should be a free update. 

[Tracker_TD]

1 minute ago, Blue Wisp said:

New content is great and all but SEGA, I already bought your game full price, if you expect me to fork more money for two characters which might probably be reskins of Sonic and Tails and a new mode which might be just a Hard Mode or something like that, then no, I'm sorry. 

Call me entitled but this should be a free update. 

They'll just be reskins based on... what? Even in Chaotix, Mighty had aspects like his wall-jump to set him apart from Sonic. That, and we don't even know the extent of Encore yet.

So yeah, I will call you entitled. Extra development costs extra money, and money doesn't grow on trees, even bearing in mind how well Mania's seemingly done. If the DLC version turns out to be $30 then I'll sing a different tune, but we both know that's not going to happen. 

[TheOcelot]

8 minutes ago, Psychicmoose103 said:

what this "Encore Mode" is. What do you all think?

My guess is a New Game Plus mode. Unlocked after beating the game on a normal playthrough. Perhaps NGP will offer tougher bosses and reworked-more challenging level design?

[Badnik Mechanic]

3 minutes ago, Blue Wisp said:

Call me entitled but this should be a free update. 

It is.

Isn't it?

 

Also I've just realised... doesn't this open the door for Mighty and Ray merch?

Also I wonder what's going to happen when you face 'that boss' you know the one.

 

And also... Super Forms? Possible alternative endings?

[Wraith]

It's not confirmed to be free. I didn't hear it during the panel but people are saying they said the opposite.


I'm not fussed either way. It'd be nice if it was free but I'm not surprised it isn't.

[Blue Wisp]

1 minute ago, Mayor D said:

It is.

Isn't it?

Webber (?) said that they'll talk about pricing soon. Which I thought meant that it'll be paid DLC. 

 

[Bobnik]

1 minute ago, Mayor D said:

It is.

Isn't it?

It isn't, but they didn't announce the pricing at all, said "we'll talk about it at a later date"

[Badnik Mechanic]

Just now, Blue Wisp said:

Webber (?) said that they'll talk about pricing soon. Which I thought meant that it'll be paid DLC. 

No I thought they said in the stream that if you already owned the game digitally the update was free. I'm certain they said that. 

I thought pricing was if you wanted to buy Mania Plus digitally and didn't own it already. 

Or reference to the EU price for the physical edition.

[Tracker_TD]

Re: Plus for digital owners:

 

[JezMM]

Note as well that the price for the retail version was on-screen and made a big deal of by Aaron beforehand, so there isn't feasibly anything else other than the DLC update version that they could have been referring to with the "pricing announced at a later date" line. Never mind, the tweet Tracker shared makes it clear.

6 minutes ago, TheOcelot said:

My guess is a New Game Plus mode. Unlocked after beating the game on a normal playthrough. Perhaps NGP will offer tougher bosses and reworked-more challenging level design?

I really hope Encore mode is unlocked from the start as a courtesy to veteran players, I've played through the vanilla game enough times already lol.

Edited March 16, 2018 by JezMM

[Detective Kaito]

I don't understand why some people are disappointed cause there are no new stages. If they're ever gonna add new stages, I'd rather they keep it for Sonic Mania 2. The addition of 2 playable characters, 4 player mode, and Encore Mode are good enough for me.

[Badnik Mechanic]

5 minutes ago, Tracker_TD said:

Re: Plus for digital owners:

 

Well... there it is...

I want to say this is ok. Because in theory it should be, they're adding so much and even changing the network multiplayer. 

But then on the otherhand... games like Strafe did this for free...

 

Hmmmm I think it's going to have to very much depend on the price. But honestly... leaning more towards the side of this being ok.

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

23 minutes ago, JezMM said:

The first screenshot reveal for Sonic Mania Plus showcases the new 4-Player Competition mode, looks great!

Me playing four-player mode:

[Milo]

A physical release of Mania is the only real remaining sore spot I've had about the game, so I'm purely estatic with this news on that principle alone (as well as what it could mean on vanilla Mania's sales performance, even though we weren't given any hard numbers). The artbook / reverse cover that comes with it and the $30 price is just pure gravy to the pile. Will definitely be picking it up; and I hope many, many people who have and haven't bought Mania already do so as well.

Ambivalent on Mania Plus / DLC. I've said it before, but I think new content would be better suited towards a sequel; but I'm not inherently opposed to it. Will be interesting to see how Encore Mode turns out. Also can't lie, as a fan of multiplayer games, the idea of a 4P Classic Sonic game sounds really neat. Also hope Plus rounds out the remaining edges to the vanilla/core game, such as adding more/missing level transitions and bugfixes. May be more on the unlikely side, but QoL changes such as Sonic's insta-shield/Super Peel-Out to be playable in save modes and increasing the time limit (or allowing you to live after the 10 minute time limit) would be great as well.

Mixed on Mighty and Ray (or at least Ray, I have a more of a soft spot for Mighty thanks to Chaotix). Cool to see obscure classic characters getting limelight, but so far I've only really known them as clones of Sonic; and it IMO is a bit odd seeing them get in over Amy. I'm with those on giving their inclusion the benefit of the doubt that the Mania team can do something fresh with them; as well as seeing if this means anything for the future of other classic characters.

Overall though, this news combined with the Mania Adventures miniseries really makes me happy that Mania and the classic direction isn't going to be a one-and-done deal after all.

[DaddlerTheDalek]

Mighty the Armdillio and Ray the Flying Squirrel ... That's one hell of a comeback for them! Cool!

[Blue Wisp]

Standard Mania costs $20 for Americans right? And Physical Mania Plus is $30 I think.

I guess part of the extra $10 is all the goodies that come with the physical version, but if the DLC for standard Mania is ten bucks for two characters and a new mode...?