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

[Tenko]

30 minutes ago, spd12 said:

I find the change in Tails' 'drying' animation in Chemical Plant interesting.

To me, it speaks of a brand/portrayal issue with highers-up, as if to say at the last minute 'we don't approve of Tails doing this while holding his tails in that way,' but at that point it was too late to draw a new animation in time.

I feel that the changed animation now in play reflects this idea/gag done acceptably in the eyes of those in charge of handling this sort of thing.

I was thinking the same thing the other day, why redo an animation, one that the majority of people that mentioned it liked and wanted put back in the game. Extra work for no reason when there was already serviceable content created for the missing animation.

Your conclusion was the same as mine. It makes you wonder what other things might not have even made it that far and been shot down by higher ups. It made me think of Christians comments about seeing that time has passed in the zones, and the breathing real connected life into the classic world etc.

The only area you could potentially see a passage of time in is Flying Battery with its junkyard aesthetic. The rest mainly come off as new areas in existing zones. The transitions too due to a fair few being Phantom Ruby warps don't really convey the open connected world the way it sounded like Christian was going for. It makes me wonder if Sonic Team wanting it connected to Forces got in the way of the original vision for the project. Which would be upsetting.

Let's hope they get greelit for a Mania 2 that isn't connected to whatever Sonic Team decide to do next. 

[Your Vest Friend]

That animation would have probably been shot down regardless of whether it was connected to Sonic Team's project or not. I wouldn't be surprised if it was deemed too cartoony for Tails to do. 

[MainJP]

2 minutes ago, VEDJ-F said:

That animation would have probably been shot down regardless of whether it was connected to Sonic Team's project or not. I wouldn't be surprised if it was deemed too cartoony for Tails to do. 

More cartoony than using his twin tails as a helicopter propeller in the first place?

[Your Vest Friend]

Yep. He can naturally spin them, but he never grabs them to make a handheld fan out of them.

[Sean]

Sonic Team is guilty of even more bizarre usage of Tails' tails when he uses them in SLW to grab objects and type on computers, so it doesn't make sense for them to veto the original CPZ animation for that reason alone.

[Your Vest Friend]

3 hours ago, Sean said:

Sonic Team is guilty of even more bizarre usage of Tails' tails when he uses them in SLW to grab objects and type on computers, so it doesn't make sense for them to veto the original CPZ animation for that reason alone.

I'd attribute that one to Pontac and Graff controlling way more of the story in SLW. 

[superman43]

3 hours ago, VEDJ-F said:

I'd attribute that one to Pontac and Graff controlling way more of the story in SLW. 

Still, they needed an approval for doing that from SEGA bosses.  

[Tornado]

9 hours ago, VEDJ-F said:

I'd attribute that one to Pontac and Graff controlling way more of the story in SLW. 

As opposed to the control that Mania's development team had over the game they developed themselves mostly independently from Sega?

[Your Vest Friend]

19 minutes ago, Tornado said:

As opposed to the control that Mania's development team had over the game they developed themselves mostly independently from Sega?

Yeah? It's well known that Sonic Team were more hand-off on the details in Lost World, while Sonic Mania was probably being more carefully watched as both the potential pioneer to the classic Sonic branch and as a tie-in to Sonic Forces (and had Iizuka and Hoshino there all along the way). 

 

[Tornado]

You have a funny meaning of "well known" for something you're essentially guessing about.

[andrew2]

Let's be real here: the unused animation does look a bit weird, and the new animation looks 10x better. The unused animation didn't make it in because it wasn't up to scratch - simple as that. Now you can be all antagonistic to SEGA, but the fact is there simply was not enough development time to polish everything to the standard the team wanted, and so things got cut. This is normal. This happens all the time. Please stop bashing SEGA; without them we wouldn't have Sonic Mania in the first place! SEGA even let the team delay the game, so cut them some slack. Now, there are other reasons you may wish to beat SEGA up (*cough* everything else *cough*), but doing it because some content got cut from Mania due to time constraints and then improved upon and re-added in a free update to the game really isn't fair at all.

[Ashwalking Bat]

5 hours ago, andrew2 said:

Let's be real here: the unused animation does look a bit weird, and the new animation looks 10x better. The unused animation didn't make it in because it wasn't up to scratch - simple as that. Now you can be all antagonistic to SEGA, but the fact is there simply was not enough development time to polish everything to the standard the team wanted, and so things got cut. This is normal. This happens all the time. Please stop bashing SEGA; without them we wouldn't have Sonic Mania in the first place! SEGA even let the team delay the game, so cut them some slack. Now, there are other reasons you may wish to beat SEGA up (*cough* everything else *cough*), but doing it because some content got cut from Mania due to time constraints and then improved upon and re-added in a free update to the game really isn't fair at all.

Exactly, and like I said before. Mania was a great game out of the gate, despite being a incomplete product. Where time constraints would of normally killed a game of this sort. The fans that built Mania, powered through and gave us a game that re-sparked a thought to be long dead part of our love for Sonic. Sega putting time constraints on it is just typical for a company that deals in games. In fact, it's common to see in all projects, games or nor, that come out of a company.

[TheOcelot]

WARNING "SONIC MANIA PLUS" new screenshot (which features Ray) has appeared in a Famitsu article:

This is for Mania Plus, not the Mania update. 

I have spoilered tagged it and linked the article. You have been warned!

Spoiler

Sonic & Ray in Angel Island zone?!

This must surely be Encore mode.

 

LOOKS FUCKING AMAZING!!!

https://www.famitsu.com/news/201804/24156205.html

There are other screenshots, but they're too small:

 

Getting a Sunset Hill (Advance 3) vibe from one of the new Green Hill screenshots.

 

Mania has sold over a million copies, apparently.

This is the spoilers topic so don't expect posts after this one to be spolier-tagged.

[Blue Wisp]

Spoiler

HEAVY MAGICIAN IS ALIVE.

YES.

Best Hard Boiled Heavy. Seems she's the main antagonist of Encore Mode?

Love it. Angel Island is back, which means other zones might return for sure. I'll bet on Wacky Workbench and Marble Garden returning as remixes of Chemical Plant and Stardust Memeway.

 

[Feanor]

Spoiler

Are we actually gonna get to play Angel Island Zone or is it going to be a cutscene again?
It's hard to tell but it looks like the timer, ring count, lives etc is visible in one of the AIZ screenshots. 

Definitely a shot of Green Hill during sunset there though. I'm stoked for Mania Plus now it looks like there's gonna be a lot more content to it than I originally thought. 

 

[Polkadi~☆]

Spoiler

i want this expansion pack and i want it yesterday

Playable angel island zone, baby!

 

And is that a sunset Green Hill Zone I see?

 

[Jango]

Over a million copies, SEGA. Over a million.

[Blue Wisp]

23 minutes ago, Feanor said:

  Hide contents

Are we actually gonna get to play Angel Island Zone or is it going to be a cutscene again?
It's hard to tell but it looks like the timer, ring count, lives etc is visible in one of the AIZ screenshots. 

Definitely a shot of Green Hill during sunset there though. I'm stoked for Mania Plus now it looks like there's gonna be a lot more content to it than I originally thought. 

 

Spoiler

Looks to be a remake of Green Hill so I guess it'll be playable. Maybe a single act.

What caught my eye is that the Phantom Ruby is still around. And by the Heavy Magician there, it takes place after the Titanic Monarch falls and after Sonic returns from Sonic Forces.

... Will we see Infinite's fate?

 

[Tracker_TD]

Spoiler

 

 

Seems like Mighty and Ray get captured... in one of the capsules from Chaotix.

 

 

 

[TheOcelot]

1 hour ago, Tracker_TD said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

Seems like Mighty and Ray get captured... in one of the capsules from Chaotix.

 

 

 

Yep, I spotted that as well. Nice to see so many Chaotix references (I'm not spoiler-tagging anymore. There's no need to in this topic).

So, some thoughts:

1) The main screenshot suggests it takes place after the end of the main story due to the pile of HBH's. Perhaps the Heavy Magician is the only one who survived and she brings the other HBH's back to life using the Phantom Ruby?

2) In one of the other Angel Island screenshots you clearly see at the top-left corner a score, time and rings counter which indicates it's more than just a cutscene. That it's at least a fully playable act-hopefully a full zone with two acts. The original AngeI Island intro cutscene in Mania of course does not have a score, time and rings counter. This only appears once Sonic, Tails or Knuckles arrive at Green Hill.

3) I wonder what the purpose of the purple "portal" in one of the new AI screenshots is for (which is the same type of portal as the one which sends Sonic to Sonic Forces at the end of the game)? Perhaps this is how Sonic returns after the events of Forces?!  I appreciate this theory probably would clash with Sonic Mania Adventures interpretation.

So maybe Encore mode takes place after Forces, where Sonic arrives in Angel Island, rescues Ray & Mighty, then encounters the Heavy Magician who brings the other HBH's back to life and they (using the ruby) force Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Ray or Mighty to play through all zones again, which this time have visual changes and new routes.

4) One of the normal GH screenshots does show Ray. So hopefully Ray & Mighty are playable in both Mania mode & Encore mode?

5) The split-screen screenshot at the top right. Which zone is that? Is it Mirage Saloon at night?

[NegaMix]

It's only a minor detail, but I like that the deactivated HBHs are still in their 'Phantom' forms from the final boss(es).

[Signmeup]

So then... sonic mania adventures isnt canon?

[Jango]

What if Mighty and Ray are illusions created by the Ruby? Imagine that D:

You know, I've never quite understood Mania's story... The manual says one thing, but the first cutscene shows another. In the manual, it says that Eggman has sent the HBH to find the Ruby, but in the intro there are 5 regular Egg Robots...? The Ruby does its thing and suddenly they turn into the Heavies. I assume the Heavies are, in the end, illusions. Especially now, because...

 

...when not-Metal Sonic Kai is defeated, there's a shatter effect before he transforms back to his original form, meaning it was indeed, a fake form created by the Ruby.

 

Anyways. Can't wait for this. GOTY again.

[Sonictrainer]

6 minutes ago, Signmeup said:

So then... sonic mania adventures isnt canon?

There's nothing that says that events in Mania Adventures take place exactly the same way as Mania and Mania Plus.

[Lord-Dreamerz]

3 hours ago, Tracker_TD said:

  Hide contents

 

 

Seems like Mighty and Ray get captured... in one of the capsules from Chaotix.

 

 

 

So that's where Mighty & Ray been stuck for the past 23 years... They must be hungry.