Sonic The Hedgehog

[Spark Of Spirit]

There is a quick transition between Press Garden and Stardust Speedway. There just isn't one between Flying Battery and Press Garden, Stardust Speedway and Hydrocity, Hydrocity and Mirage Saloon, Oil Ocean and Lava Reef, Lava Reef and Metallic Madness, and Metallic Madness and Titanic Monarch. Oddly enough there is one for Knuckles after Lava Reef but not for Sonic and Tails even though they could easily have the same one.

They were obviously rushed, but I still hope they're patched. It ruins the flow to have them missing like that.

[gunswordfist]

I beat Mirage Saloon as Knux a few minutes ago. They really have something interesting here with giving Knux a climbing heavy stage in Act 1. It worked out really well, imo and would love to see more like that in my future. So that brings Mirage Saloon up as differently my 3rd favorite all new stage in Sonic Mania.

[Kiddington]

Having a bit more success with Knuckles; already got 4 emeralds up to Press Garden. I still have a feeling I'll strike out on getting all 7 though; for whatever reason I'm just not getting the hang of these special stages.

This is the most fun I've had with a game in quite some time though. They really nailed it here.

[gunswordfist]

I got up to Metallic Madness in Knux Mania. His Lava Reef boss was fun and the little cutscene before it was hilarious.

[Daikun]

Check out Sonic Mania's 3D models (including an unused one) in detail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeRJj2DcXXY

And if you'd like, compare that with the models from previous Sonic games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_Pvr7Cc2Ds

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, I finally go around to starting this and played all the way up through Press Garden Zone (I'm now on Stardust Speedway). I'm pretty much sold at this point. This is not only the best Sonic game to come out since 3 & Knuckles by far, or one of the best Sonic games in general, but so far it's a front-runner for being on a list of my all-time favorite platformers. Admittedly I was a bit disappointed with Green Hill Zone and the first Act of Chemical Plant Zone, which were remixed from their original counterparts, but really ended up feeling like more of the same of those classic games rather than a sequel to them. Once I got to Chemical Plant Zone Act 2 though, in which the game unleashed a ton of new tricks, I was immediately hooked. I'm actually a bit disheartened that most of the game is just remixed from old stages, though, as the new zones like Studiopolis and Press Garden are already among my favorites, and I could honestly believe that if you had an entire game comprised solely of new stages like that, then this would legitimately be Sonic the Hedgehog 4 as if it were released just a year or two after Knuckles on the Genesis. As it stands, though, the game has gotten progressively better so far, as it should, and I have a feeling that the best is yet to come in my playthrough. I'll definitely be going back to this as Knuckles and Tails (solo) after this playthrough (for the record, I'm playing as Sonic and Tails right now).

This is quite easily my second favorite game of the year so far. I can't wait to play more.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Alright, I just finished Stardust Speedway. The level itself was absolutely amazing. Easily one of my favorites so far. The boss fight on the other hand was fucking garbage, IMO. Well, particularly the one gimmicky phase where you had to bounce one of Metal Sonic's imitations into him while he was suspended up in the air with a machine that you couldn't reach. This was just a chore to do, and the worst part is that I at least could have stomached it if the game was liberal enough to give you a checkpoint after completing it. However it went into yet another phase of the fight and if you died on that phase, then you had to repeat that whole entire sequence again from scratch. That's just beyond frustrating, especially since the first fight is a gimmick and can take a while to get through. At any rate, I did manage to finally beat it with just one life left, but I would have been utterly pissed if I got a Game Over to such an irritating boss fight. The boss fight with Eggman in the spider robot was also kind of gimmicky, but at least that only had the one phase to it. I just think that the first phase of the Metal Sonic fight should have been cut out entirely, personally. Either that, or it should have been designed in way in which you could skillfully take him that's guaranteed to not take you more than a minute if you know what you're doing, AND it should have a checkpoint after completing it as you enter into the second phase of the fight.

Sorry for the rant, but that particular bit really got on my nerves, and IMO hurts the replay value of this particular level, which is a shame considering how good the rest of it is.

[Spark Of Spirit]

The boss fight is incredibly easy once you know what to do. I haven't died on it since about my second playthrough.

As for the old stages, most of them have Act 1's that are remixes of Act's 1 and 2 from the original games with new level design while the Act 2s are all entirely new. Even Green Hill Act 2's music has elements from Emerald Hill, Palmtree Panic, and Angel Island. I was blown away by how much they put into this game.

If Sega isn't snatching these guys up for a sequel then they are even more screwed up than people have been saying they are for years.

[gunswordfist]

I think they said they will get to determine the future of Sonic.
I was going through my 5th playthrough of the game and I am really appreciating how great Green Hill is. What a wonderful set of big levels. I love its cross between Green Hill, Angel Island and I think Emerald Hill.

[Foggle]

Honestly, I hope Sonic Forces bombs (or is at least less successful than Mania) to convince them to take the series in this direction instead of in, uh, whatever that thing's trying to be.

One of my biggest gaming wishes right now would be for Sega to release a retail compilation of Sonic Mania, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and the Taxman versions of Sonic 1, 2, and CD for PS4/Switch. Call it Sonic Mega Gems Collection Plus or something.

[Daikun]

The success of Sonic Mania leaves me wondering: Has Sonic been pigeonholed?

It seems like all Sega can do anymore is remake the original Genesis games over and over, or try to go a different direction and fail. It seems like Sonic games can't really be flexible anymore. We'll be playing Green Hill Zone till the end of time.

[gunswordfist]

According to Spark, Mania started out as a remix of Sonic games. I severely doubt they'll give us another Green Hill in Sonic Mania 2 (or whatever they call it, preferably that or Sonic 5). I'm sure they feel the pressure of creating new levels and that's probably the no. 1 complaint by fans.

[Spark Of Spirit]

There's plenty of new places Sonic can go. Mania started out as a compilation by the team before Iizuka had the idea for them to make it what it is now. Considering its success, they would be crazy not to let this team have a crack at a brand new 2D Sonic adventure without the remixes. Sonic Mania is the most well received game in the series since the original Dreamcast releases of the Adventure games.

As for 3D, my unpopular opinion is that the current team either needs to be reshuffled somewhere else in Sega or they need to take a long hard look at how to translate Mania's success to 3D and focus on that.

Sonic Utopia impressed Yuji Naka so much because that was what Sonic Adventure 1 was supposed to be like before they ran out of time and budget. But now they have a clear base for the team to build off of: they know what the audience wants to see from the franchise. A fully 3D game that plays like the original games.

If Mania's success shows anything, it's that Sonic is AAA and up there with Mario. He was never "not good" or overhyped. The problem is that the 3D games have not lived up to where the franchise should be, despite some good titles, due to lack of direction or clear vision. That's exactly what Forces looks like to me, by the way. A bunch of random stuff thrown together without any real understanding about how to make it cohesive.

[gunswordfist]

Damn, I didn't know Naka was impressed by Utopia. Forces just seems like another boost fest to me.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Yes, it was one of the only fangames he ever shared.



He was probably impressed because that was what they were trying to get across when they first made Adventure 1 before they had to change focus. I would kill for a AAA game that takes what Utopia did and gives it a full team behind it.

tbh, that's where I want 3D Sonic to go.