Sonic Mania: Version 1.04 and Plus DLC PS4 Leaks (SPOILERS)

[Your Vest Friend]

I'd consider tiering more seriously if online multiplayer was a thing for this game. 

[TheOcelot]

Quoting from a post on Retro:

 

"So apparently a guy named LDrifter posted on Garrulous64's Discord server that he has a review copy of Sonic Mania Plus, he posted the following in the chat. These are all seperate messages sent at different times.

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Hey guys, SEGA just sent out their first batch of Plus review codes! The embargo lifts on the fifteenth, but I'll show this since you've already seen it
https://streamable.com/86zj4

No, I'm not going to show more gameplay right now (sorry, I don't want to risk my job) but I can confirm a few things now that I've had the opportunity to play it all:
- Trap Tower isn't omnidirectional like SegaSonic is (but the remix is awesome). It's kind of like the base Sonic 3 Bonus Stage with the gumball machine.
- Mighty and Ray do have super forms (purpleish blue and greenish blue).
- Pinch Mode was added to Egg Reverie featuring the other Hard-Boiled Heavies (Heavy Magician gets a new form that looks like the scrapped Sonic CD 2011 Final Fever boss and the others look the same as they do during the final boss).
- The final boss itself is barely changed that I could notice.

Mighty gets the greenish and Ray gets the purpleish.

I got 14 Blue Spheres finished:

Here are some other things he said in the Cyber's Hell discord:

 

Quote

Quote

 

There's no bumpers and there's item boxes/rings
The layout is different for a lot of them.

*in reference to mania mode:* No, that still has blue spheres

Mighty gets the greenish blue and Ray gets the purpleish blue. Both characters turn Super in Encore. ... I mean, both characters you play as. ... So both Sonic and Tails would turn super if you played as them.

* in rewfernce to M&R being playable in Mania mode:* Oh yeah they're playable ... They're unlocked from the start

It's pinball ... There are other platforms and stuff that you jump to.

No combiring but Mighty can use the shields like Sonic does.

Egg Reverie is different. ... In Encore Mode, it uses the Pinch Mode music when you get near the end and Heavy King/Phantom King calls in the other Heavies. ... Yeah, the Encore palette is blue-ish (like Doomsday?) ...

*in reference to the version number:* 1.04.0558

The layouts are way different though. And everyone gets that new Mirage Saloon since Encore Mode works like that.

*in reference to super forms for the other characters:* Their speeds change for the most part. Mighty's drop is quicker(?)

*in reference to the hydrocity-mirage saloon transition:* That transition was changed, yes (I probably should have said that before) ... They walk into a little hallway and Knuckles crashes in from the roof with the Tornado. ... In Encore, it's whoever you're not playing as from the original trio ... I had Sonic and Tails at the time.

*in reference to mania mode:* Seems like Mighty/Ray and Mighty/Knuckles both exist in the save select. They can also both be alone. ... Sonic flies in Mighty alone on the Tornado in Angel Island. Knuckles flies it with them both. Let me play a bit to see if there's any unlocks"

Sounds awesome!

[Red Hot Jack]

I'm glad for layout changes! This is what sells me Encore Mode honestly, plus the team mechanics.

[superman43]

8 hours ago, TheOcelot said:

The layouts are way different though.

So the PS4 test is not final ? Wow. I hope to be satisfied. And if not... I just might do some wonders with Maniac Editor, if there would be enhancement to support the Plus for it.

[LostPilotZombie]

9 hours ago, TheOcelot said:

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*in reference to mania mode:* Seems like Mighty/Ray and Mighty/Knuckles both exist in the save select.

Isn't that redundant with &Knuckles and &Ray existing in the options menu? Also the reason Sonic and Tails can pair up because Tails can lift Sonic in the air.

[Multikaris]

Am I the only one disappointed by this? What about an Infinite secret boss? Hyper forms? More cameos? 

[Milo]

14 minutes ago, Miragnarok said:

Am I the only one disappointed by this? What about an Infinite secret boss? Hyper forms? 

There's virtually no reason to expect either of these two things from Mania Plus.

[ThePrinceOfSaiyans]

Poor Tails and Knuckles, man. They're the only ones that don't really change color, they just glow, lol.

[Sonicka]

19 minutes ago, Space☆Yeow said:

There's virtually no reason to expect either of these two things from Mania Plus.

Perhaps, but I was rather expecting to be taking on The Titanic Monach as a fully fledged boss at the end of this game.

I expected it originally in the initial release and felt quite let down by The Egg Reverie Boss, it’s just not that fun (more frustrating) and it’s quite anticlimactic for a Super Sonic Finale. Even the previous fight is more fun to tackle.

I’d really hoped we’d take on Titanic Monach in either super / hyper form this time. Considering the giant mech is the end goal for the game in which I’m guessing the phantom ruby is supposed to power it... it feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity if they don’t do it - especially  as their dimension counterparts in forces were just a fancy aesthetic but a waste of time being a one hit QTE KO. This would have made up for it, I mean - you climb the entire thing For two acts - I’d love to take a whole Zone down! We’d finally have something that might just rival Doomsday in that sense.

So, yeah all well and good to have a “pinch” for Egg Reverie - but I’m still gunna hope for something more - even if it’s unlikely.

Other than that - I think what they’ve spruced up over the last year and spent time on is more than worth either a repurchase or just getting the DLC add-on alone. What an addition! Equally great still is the quality of life free update. Crash bandicoot just received its own QOL update and man is it better (and faster to load).

[Multikaris]

On 7/3/2018 at 10:02 AM, Space☆Yeow said:

There's virtually no reason to expect either of these two things from Mania Plus.

Hyper modes? There were new special stages that were much harder.

Infinite? His fate in Forces is never revealed. 

 

For the last one, at least we have TSR.

[Psychicmoose103]

53 minutes ago, Son-icka said:

Perhaps, but I was rather expecting to be taking on The Titanic Monach as a fully fledged boss at the end of this game.

I expected it originally in the initial release and felt quite let down by The Egg Reverie Boss, it’s just not that fun (more frustrating) and it’s quite anticlimactic for a Super Sonic Finale. Even the previous fight is more fun to tackle.

I’d really hoped we’d take on Titanic Monach in either super / hyper form this time. Considering the giant mech is the end goal for the game in which I’m guessing the phantom ruby is supposed to power it... it feels like a bit of a wasted opportunity if they don’t do it - especially  as their dimension counterparts in forces were just a fancy aesthetic but a waste of time being a one hit QTE KO. This would have made up for it, I mean - you climb the entire thing For two acts - I’d love to take a whole Zone down! We’d finally have something that might just rival Doomsday in that sense.

So, yeah all well and good to have a “pinch” for Egg Reverie - but I’m still gunna hope for something more - even if it’s unlikely.

Other than that - I think what they’ve spruced up over the last year and spent time on is more than worth either a repurchase or just getting the DLC add-on alone. What an addition! Equally great still is the quality of life free update. Crash bandicoot just received its own QOL update and man is it better (and faster to load).

A fight against the Titanic Monarch would have been awesome. Like most sonic games, I expected the Phantom Egg to be the Titanic Monarch act 2 boss, and then the Titanic Monarch to be the normal final boss 

[Tracker_TD]

GAME OVER, YEEEEEEEEAH

http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=37969&view=findpost&p=929584

[TheOcelot]

Well, fak.

The whole Heavy Magician having a new boss form from the Sonic CD (2011) cancelled R9 Final Fever stage seemed far-fetched, but I liked the idea of an &Mighty and &Ray mode.

 

Anyway, only two weeks until MP. Not long now.

[Your Vest Friend]

Thank christ, those colour schemes for the theoretical Super Mighty and Ray sound horrid. 

[SupahBerry]

Didn't the Trap Tower song already confirm that the new special stage is a pinball minigame, not the gumball machine game?

[Sonicka]

Ooo! So a Titanic Monach Final Boss may yet come to pass. *fingers & toes*

[LostPilotZombie]

13 hours ago, TheOcelot said:

https://streamable.com/86zj4

How about the above stuff linked? Did the modder accurately recreated the save select graphics too? (Also no save being in the left, not the right)

[Multikaris]

54 minutes ago, Tracker_TD said:

GAME OVER, YEEEEEEEEAH

http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?showtopic=37969&view=findpost&p=929584

Hurray! I was very disappointed by the initial leak fake. 

[superman43]

Nevermind, I didn´t really care for anything from the fake leak, except for the changed level design. But LOL, that cannot be as the Encore Green Hill shown by Aaron and co. = Encore Green Hill hidden in the PS4 1.04.

 

Nothing will likely change, considering the Hydrocity - Mirage Saloon transition is fake too. Ehm... I still just don´t know why they haven´t referenced the original transition leading to Angel Island + sequence similar to "Special Stage" Tornado takeoff in Sonic 2 Recreation by redhotsonic. That would be neat and add to the story.

The same goes for the custom animation of Green Hill - Chemical Plant cutscene. It would feel much more expressive than it is.

[Psychicmoose103]

Part of me still hopes for changes to the final boss, but part of me worries that we wont get any changes at all, and the hydrocity transition will stay bad, no final boss changes at all, etc.

 

Although that's my cynical side, I could be very surprised too!

Something that confirms this quote was fake, he says he doesn't want to break embargo by showing gameplay, yet breaks the embargo anyway by telling us about it. A little hint that this was fake I guess you could say

[superman43]

I expect nothing beyond what we have seen. And if there is something more, then I will be surprised by myself. After 10th I will try to avoid possible "spoilers" (if there will be any, though)

[Jambone]

I'm honestly surprised Mighty and Ray weren't all you get for $5.  I think people set their sights a little too high for Plus if they're expecting anything especially substantial.  Any reason to go back to Mania is good enough for me!

[TheOcelot]

Thought I'd post the IGN review youtube video here because it briefly shows some of the new bonus stage for Encore mode (at about 1:03):

 

 

Also, from another review I found this description:

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Special stages have been overhauled, and are now pinball sections calling back to titles like Sonic Spinball. As a fan of pinball, I found these to be a welcome and fun distraction and way to earn back characters, even if characters’ 3D models could occasionally get stuck in corners for a couple seconds. It also made me more conscious of the number of coins I was carrying at any given time, as you have to be holding 50 to access this.

 

So, you need 50 rings to enter and can earn elemential shields or earn-back characters you had previously unlocked but had died.

 

Edit:

This is better footage of the bonus stage:

Nice nod to the Knuckles Chaotix "character catcher (selector)". You can also earn continues.

[Your Vest Friend]

You know what's kinda funny? Looking at Super Mighty and Super Ray, I think there is legitimately a weird version of "Only Sonic can go super" going on. Like, the other characters get the power for balance, but all that happens visually is a pulsating glow for all of them (Tails being retconned from also turning yellow, and Knuckles  being retconned from being super pink). As a result, Sonic is the only one who can be said to go truly super. The rest get a power boost.

At least it clears up what any other super form looks like in the classic verse (ie it doesn't look like anything). Makes having characters like Amy in it easier too!

[Diogenes]

Hm, can't say I'm really feeling the pinball bonus stage. It might be worth jumping into once in a while to try to get a character, but otherwise it seems a bit slow and not particularly rewarding. Plus I suck at pinball anyway.

I do like how the higher flippers retract into the board when you're below them, though.