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

[Tenko]

To be honest, Eggman didn't really use the Phantom Ruby much during the game outside of teleporting himself and others all over the show, the new part of the Metal boss fight is very welcome in that respect. It would be neat if it got used on a few more bosses. Perhaps that's what Encore will do? 

[TheOcelot]

There's a new screenshot for Encore mode (credit to @Jetronic for posting this in another topic) on the Japanese site for Mania, which shows off the bad-future version of Stardust Speedway (pretty sure this is for act2) and looks gorgeous:

Using the other time-periods from Stardust Speedway as a different aesthetic for Encore mode makes a lot of sense. Hopefully Sonic will travel to the bad future via a cutscene in Encore mode (like how he travels from the past to present in Mania-mode between acts 1&2).

I'm also pleased they've done this because I always felt it was a missed opportunity that the Metal Sonic boss fight in Mania mode doesn't take place in the future, which would have been a nod to the act3 boss fight in Sonic CD always taking place in the (good or bad) future.

They could be even more clever, in that if you've already collected all seven chaos emeralds Sonic will travel to the good future version in act2 of SS for Encore mode, and if he doesn't have all emeralds he'll travel to the (above) bad future version. Think of it as a nod to the time-stones.

[TheOcelot]

Some new info from an interview with Iizuka-san:

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Famitsu: Please tell us the details on how you get to produce Sonic Mania Plus.

Iizuka: Sonic Mania started as a digital-only title at first, but when we tried creating it, we received a lot of requests from both inside and outside the company to “release it physically as well,” so we decided to release it as a gratitude to everyone.

However, since it would be difficult to sell the physical version with the same price as digital, we’ve prepared something as additional values to compensate the price hike, which turns out to be new characters and the Encore Mode.

Famitsu: How did you decide on the additional features?

Iizuka: Sonic Mania’s lifeline is giving stimulus to fans’ curiosities and expectations, so we thought of something that if added would make it the most exciting, and the results were Ray and Mighty. There were people requesting for them, who appeared in the arcade version, to appear again.

Personally to me, they were supposed to be “sealed characters” that would never be planned to be added to games. But in this title we are squeezing in all series materials aimed for specific manias, so the stage for them to appear has already been prepared. In that case, we should unlock that seal (laughs).

Famitsu: How did you decide on the two’s unique actions?

Iizuka: Mighty the Armadillo has a setting of being a strong guy, and he has a hard shell on his back. By making use of that, we made it into a technique to drop vertically to the ground and make it shake.

Also, he can repel enemy bullets with the shell, and when he’s curled up he can prevent damage once. Doing a sudden drop to the ground is a rare action in the classic series indeed.

Famitsu: What about Ray?

Iizuka: Since he’s a flying squirrel, we instantly decided on a gliding action. Although it may be similar to Knuckles’ gliding, Ray can raise up with effort. Depending on the [player’s] technique, he can fly for very long.

Famitsu: What kind of gameplay will Encore Mode have?

Iizuka: The stages themselves are the same as Sonic Mania, but by re-arranging the objects and gimmicks, you can enjoy them with a different sensation. Besides, it also makes Mighty able to make use of his actions more. For example, we’re adding the ability to open holes in the ground with Mighty’s Hammer Drop.

Famitsu: Finally, please leave a message to the fans.

Iizuka: Thanks to everyone who bought the original Sonic Mania, we’re able to continue it to Plus, and we’re really grateful for that. There may be some impressions that Sonic Mania was aimed for people who knew of the Genesis-era games simply because it is a 2D game that feels like the past, but in actuality, people from a very broad age range are playing it.

Especially outside Japan, the highest user demographics of digital downloads came from grade schoolers. This time we’re selling it in a form and price that’s easy to obtain, so to those who haven’t got to play this yet, please kindly get this. I can proudly recommend this title to Japanese grade schoolers as well.

New screenshots:

https://www.jp.playstation.com/blog/detail/6821/20180426-sonicmania.html?tkgpscom=dc_sonicmania_ps_tw_20180426

Sonic Jp twitter:

[JosepHenry]

I wonder what other pallets other stages will have. My biggest hope is that Oil Ocean gets a Marina Madness makeover. The flying submarines are from Chaotix even. Makes perfect sense.

[mikeblastdude]

That bad future styled Stardust Speedway looks so good! Definitely my favorite palette change out of everything we've seen.

 

Also:

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so to those who haven’t got to play this yet, please kindly get this.

I have to admit that I laughed really hard at this. I mean, I agree with him and think that everyone should totally get Sonic Mania Plus when it comes out, but, that phrasing is just great.

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

3 hours ago, mikeblastdude said:

That bad future styled Stardust Speedway looks so good! Definitely my favorite palette change out of everything we've seen.

 

Also:

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so to those who haven’t got to play this yet, please kindly get this.

I have to admit that I laughed really hard at this. I mean, I agree with him and think that everyone should totally get Sonic Mania Plus when it comes out, but, that phrasing is just great

"Would you kindly please purchase this wonderful game friends?"

Spoiler

Fellow Bioshock fans should get that. 

 

[Tenko]

Mighty and Ray being "sealed characters" I mean we had all pretty much assumed as such what with their non use over the last 25 or so years, but reading that still makes me think, Iizuka you bastard

[Jovahexeon Jax Joranvexeon]

21 minutes ago, Tenko said:

makes me think, Iizuka you bastard

He's the last person you want to go after for confrontation on the matter.

[Tenko]

29 minutes ago, Jovahexeon Sonic Heroes said:

He's the last person you want to go after for confrontation on the matter.

Oh I'm not after confrontation, it's just something no fan of any character, old or new would like to hear. That characters you like we're considered to be sealed away and never to be used. They are making a come back and I couldn't be happier, sounds like Mania or at least the classic side of the franchise is getting it's own branch they seem to be wanting to expand on now too, so I'm over the moon about that as well.

It's just you read a comment like that, by someone who is technically in charge of the franchise as a whole, and you can't help but do the comic style finger point followed by a loud "YOU! IT WAS YOU!"

[molul]

7 hours ago, TheOcelot said:

Doing a sudden drop to the ground is a rare action in the classic series indeed

Bubble shield, Iizuka-san.

[StaticMania]

That bounces though...

[MainJP]

1 hour ago, Tenko said:

Mighty and Ray being "sealed characters" I mean we had all pretty much assumed as such what with their non use over the last 25 or so years, but reading that still makes me think, Iizuka you bastard

They were sealed? That's weird, we just got new info on Sonic Heroes development and Mighty and Ray were apparently planned.

[Razule]

7 minutes ago, MainJP said:

They were sealed? That's weird, we just got new info on Sonic Heroes development and Mighty and Ray were apparently planned.

I doubt "sealed" means much other than they don't plan on using the character anymore. Nothing stopping them from "unsealing" if they want to.

[Jango]

9 hours ago, TheOcelot said:

 

Eek. I didn't liked that Plus on the logo xD 

Nitpiiiiiiiiiiiicking xD

[Adamis]

11 hours ago, MainJP said:

They were sealed? That's weird, we just got new info on Sonic Heroes development and Mighty and Ray were apparently planned.

Can you post a link, please ? I'm interested

[MainJP]

7 minutes ago, Adamis said:

Can you post a link, please ? I'm interested

I Sure can:

I know this would have been a lot of characters, but this would've been so hype. We almost had Team Hooligan.

[Your Vest Friend]

Sounds like, if what Maekawa says is right, Metal Sonic wasn't made the villain until later in development. Wouldn't shock me since the main game part has Eggman in all the bosses save for team battles and the final boss. 

But...there's something a bit weird about this. If the scrapped characters were planned for Heroes, why then lock them away with no intention of using them again and make the remaining throwback characters have no actual history with the game that originated them? 

Although it seems even back then there was a conscious move to separate Mighty from the Chaotix. Maybe that's precisely why... 

[Tenko]

Why would Mighty & Ray work with Metal...or vice versa really. That seems really odd. E-102 being back too..

Perhaps it was initially going to have a "hidden" big bad who had taken over Eggman's creations and he ordered Metal and E-102 (presuming its a different/new one to Adventure prior to Omega being created and included) to help them find out who it is, and to secretly get control back or something?

No Shadow too, perhaps at that point they were sticking to his death in Adventure 2 being a lasting cannon thing. 

[Adamis]

1 hour ago, MainJP said:

I Sure can:

I know this would have been a lot of characters, but this would've been so hype. We almost had Team Hooligan.

Thank you !

I vaguely remember a magazine scan talking about more teams, but I can't remember which one.

But it would've been amazing !

[MainJP]

1 hour ago, VEDJ-F said:

Sounds like, if what Maekawa says is right, Metal Sonic wasn't made the villain until later in development. Wouldn't shock me since the main game part has Eggman in all the bosses save for team battles and the final boss. 

But...there's something a bit weird about this. If the scrapped characters were planned for Heroes, why then lock them away with no intention of using them again and make the remaining throwback characters have no actual history with the game that originated them? 

Although it seems even back then there was a conscious move to separate Mighty from the Chaotix. Maybe that's precisely why... 

1

They even neglected to mention Mighty when Vectors comic came out on Sonic Channel  2 years ago when they mentioned Knuckles' Chaotix as the Chaotix's appearance. What's the reasoning behind keeping Mighty separate from the Chaotix? Am I missing something?

41 minutes ago, Tenko said:

Why would Mighty & Ray work with Metal...or vice versa really. That seems really odd. E-102 being back too..

Perhaps it was initially going to have a "hidden" big bad who had taken over Eggman's creations and he ordered Metal and E-102 (presuming its a different/new one to Adventure prior to Omega being created and included) to help them find out who it is, and to secretly get control back or something?

No Shadow too, perhaps at that point they were sticking to his death in Adventure 2 being a lasting cannon thing. 

This might be a stretch, but it probably would've been Chaos Gamma from Battle. Heroes and Battle released around the same time. 

[TheOcelot]

With the stages getting visual changes for Encore mode, I wonder if Super Sonic will get visual changes and be made to look like Hyper Sonic or something similar? Of course I'm assuming we'll have to collect the chaos emeralds again from the beginning.

I'm not expecting the super emeralds to make an appearance as Iizuka-san has made it clear they don't want to bring them back, nor am I expecting there will be new special stages for Encore mode, perhaps reviving the "time to escape" UFO cancelled concept. However, I think giving Super Sonic visual changes more akin to Hyper Sonic (which I would have preferred in the original version of Mania) would be very cool and a nice nod to 3&K. They could give back Tails his "Flicky army of death" for Encore mode. At the very least I hope Ray and Mighty get super forms.

 

What other visual changes would you like to see for Mania's other zones for Encore Mode? We've already had footage/screenshots of the new visuals for GH, CP, SP, SS and MS.

Maybe Hydrocity could perhaps be given a color more akin to Labyrinth/Tidal Tempest, whilst Metallic Madness could be given a Scrap Brain makeover?

7 hours ago, MainJP said:

 

I know this would have been a lot of characters, but this would've been so hype. We almost had Team Hooligan.

It's interesting that they considered make even more characters playable.

Can you imagine if we had been forced to beat six stories in Heroes before we could play the "Final" story. This would have been pure torture XD

Anyway, I think this Sonic Heroes news is deserving of it's own topic? I'd rather not see this Mania thread derailed any further with talk about Heroes.

[MainJP]

1 minute ago, TheOcelot said:

With Mania's stages getting visual changes for Encore mode, I wonder if Super Sonic will get visual changes and be made to look like Hyper Sonic or something similar? Of course I'm assuming we'll have to collect the chaos emeralds again from the beginning.

I'm not expecting the super emeralds to make an appearance as Iizuka has made it clear they don't want to bring them back, nor am I expecting there will be new special stages for Encore mode, perhaps reviving the "time to escape" UFO's cancelled concept. However, I think giving Super Sonic visual changes more akin to Hyper Sonic (which I would have preferred in the original version of Mania) would be very cool and a nice nod to 3&K. They could give Tails back his "Flicky army of death" for Encore mode. At the very least I hope Ray and Mighty get super forms.

Below is unused stuff from Mania:

 

What other visual changes would you like to see for Mania's other zones for Encore Mode? We've already had footage/screenshots of the new visuals for GH, CP, SP, SS, MS?

Maybe Hydrocity could perhaps be given a color more akin to Labyrinth/Tidal Tempest zone, whilst Metallic Madness could be given Scrap Brain visuals?

 

2

Yeah, I guess we still won't see Hyper forms. If Mighty's hammer drop is going to cause tremors imagine how op his Super form would be.

I wonder what the chances are of seeing unused objects and decoration for stages like the big printer, paint or the big TV in Studiopolis?

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Anyway, I think the Sonic Heroes news is deserving of it's own topic. I rather not see this Sonic Mania thread derailed any further with talk about Heroes.

Good point.

[Salamander]

The Sonic Heroes concepts sound wild - but they aren't what we're here for, so:

30 minutes ago, TheOcelot said:

What other visual changes would you like to see for Mania's other zones for Encore Mode? We've already had footage/screenshots of the new visuals for GH, CP, SP, SS and MS.

Maybe Hydrocity could perhaps be given a color more akin to Labyrinth/Tidal Tempest, whilst Metallic Madness could be given a Scrap Brain makeover?

I really like the idea to recolour Hydrocity to look more like the levels it's referencing; and while I would have expected the new take on Metallic Madness to follow Stardust Speedway and take on the colours of a different time period, considering that Scrap Brain must have stayed in their plans for quite a while (as it still has assets in the game) then I think that idea is on the table too.  I feel like one could probably go pretty crazy thinking up overtly allusive colour schemes like this - Marble Zone for Lava Reef, for instance - but we should probably be prepared for things to be pretty without being derivative, too; which is to say, unpredictable.

[molul]

I wonder if Mighty and Ray are only playable in Encore mode, and Encore mode has only a few zones, some new like Angel Island and the other just modified versions of the game's stages.

[Jango]

I don't think so, there's a screenshot of Mighty running on what appears to be the regular version of Studiopolis Act 2. 

I doubt they'll be Encore exclusive.

I also don't think Encore will have only a few zones, it will most likely be all zones. This is Team Mania we're talking about. I wouldn't be surprised if there's an Amy Rose tease somewhere even.