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Sonic Mania |OT| Dreams Come True

Finshed and enjoyed Mania. Got all the Emeralds (Cleared with 5 then went for the last two).

Holy crap! The
Mirage Saloon Act 2 Boss
was incredible!
 

Ferr986

Member
I'm the only one that feels like (returning stage spoilers)
Hydrocity
and
Lava Reef
felt a little rushed? especially the first one. It seems like they have less changes than other returning stages. Hell, even the music remixes are very basic compared to say, Green Hill act 2, for example.

Right now I'm at
Metallic Madness, love that CD has 2 returning stages, and the remix of the act 1 is nice! (haven't reached act 2).
 

RockmanBN

Member
I FIND it funny how there isn't a speedrun yet of the game beacuse I could REALLY go with knowing the fastest route in this final zone.

Time attack is fun, got one for the final act and another stage. Not many scores so it feels good to be #1 while it lasts.

DHVqfIWUMAEiodx

DHVqk_YUwAACchH
 
Hope the next sonic game has ALL original zones. There is no need to rely on old school stages anymore when new ones are this good.

I like some of the new animations, although i feel sonic looks alot different in the new ones. (better). I hate his serious look when he's doing his normal run.

Game's music cutoff half way playing.

there's 2 intro tunes if you wait.

pressing leaderboards just crashes the game.

great game :D
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
Knuckles route complete.

I certainly was not expecting him to get (stage spoiler)
a wholly unique boss fight in the Hidden Palace emerald shrine of all places
.

Oh, that chemical factor boss sucks if you are colorblind. At first can differentiate between blue and purple. I will try see the slightly different shape.

This is a fair complaint and something that I think devs need to take into account better, especially for that sort of gameplay.
 

Dusk Golem

A 21st Century Rockefeller
Hey everyone, this is Dusk Golem aka AestheticGamer. I have posted on NeoGAF since 2011, and have decided to resign. I have enjoyed posting about horror games here for years, but I no longer wish to support the site and will be leaving for good. I will still be around the internet, I go by AestheticGamer on YouTube, I make games on Steam as Yai Gameworks, and I plan to go by Dusk Golem on other forums. I'll be joining an off-set of the GAF community leaving to try other ventures like ResetEra (Official Twitter for that here: https://twitter.com/reseteraforum ). I hope some of you who read this may consider it, and I plan to try to expose more people to horror games in the years to come. Just not here.

I hope you all are having a good day, and know I always loved the community, and in the end it's the community I'm going to stick with, not the site itself. If you want to follow me, my official Twitter is here: https://twitter.com/AestheticGamer1
 

RockmanBN

Member
I think a lot of people would kill to see how to do that first in less than a minute lol

Time Attack version of the stage must be bugged.
It seems taking the bottom left path and going to the right portal near the end counts as completing the level.
 

Verder

Member
So I'm on the 5th zone now. Few thoughts:

  • Game looks and sounds gorgeous. Loving how rich the backgrounds are.
  • CRT Scan lines is such a nice little touch.
  • Jumping off of a slope is still really annoying
  • I haven't touched a Sonic game in years, and this project made me miss the fuck outta Marble Zone. Wish it was in here as I would have loved to see how they would have remixed it.
  • I really hate that if you run out of lives and die in Act 2, you start from the beginning of Act 1 again. Feels like QoL shortcoming rather than something that contributes to difficulty. Hope they fix this with a patch.
  • The bossfight where you
    have a goddamn Puyo Puyo match against Robotnick
    was incredible. Was grinning from ear to ear.
  • Doesn't deter from actual gameplay at all, but I hope they also patch the Homescreen lag/bug for the Switch
  • The intro animation is so beautiful. Soon as I saw it, I started wishing Sega/Mania-team worked on a new Sonic game where the gameplay looked like this animation. We have the hardware now to make this possible right??
  • Still blows my mind to be playing a full fledged Sonic game on Nintendo hardware. Especially a Sonic game that channels Genesis so much.

Despite some nitpicky complaints here, I'm actually loving this game. Made realize I had forgotten what I loved about Sonic. What an awesome little surprise this has turned out to be. Everyone that was involved with making this game happen should be so goddamn proud at what they've done.

everything you said is what i feel.


fantastic game .

solid 9.5/10 on me once i finish it up
 

Shadio

Member
Hope the next sonic game has ALL original zones. There is no need to rely on old school stages anymore when new ones are this good.

I don't mind old levels, but I don't think we need to see previously revisited levels. I'm happy to see
Oil Ocean and Lava Reef[/SPOILER since it's been over 20 years since either of them were used.

But we just saw Green Hill, Chemical Plant and Stardust Speedway not long ago. In fact only two new games have been released since then. There's like 40 other zones they could have picked from instead, maybe even double that considering all the nods to the GG/MS games there are.

Chemical Plant in particular I don't think offers much in this game. Its role in showing off ridiculous speeds is covered by more than enough of the other zones. Most Sonic games usually only have one of that type of level.
 

LordKano

Member
And just completed my first run, with Sonic & Tails. The last level what hella hard.
Is there a super secret boss with Super Sonic ? I thought it ended kinda abruptly.
Gotta find all the chaos emeralds now.
 

Robin64

Member
I don't mind the old zones in this so much because their Act 2 is like a whole new thing just based on the original zone's theme. They work beautifully.
 

Ferr986

Member
Just finished. Maaaan the last boss dragged, and last stage act 2 level layout was a little weird.

But overall a worthy entry for the Mega Drive games. 9/10 stuff, only some nitpicks here and there (of course, wish there were more new stages, and some returning stages have not as much work done to remix them as others).

Still have to get all emeralds, and secondary characters playthroughs!
 

Mark1

Member
I don't mind the old zones in this so much because their Act 2 is like a whole new thing just based on the original zone's theme. They work beautifully.
I mostly agree with this except for
Hydrocity, didn't feel there was much new or different in it
.

How would you guys rank the classic trilogy after completing Mania (if you have already)?
 

Kinsei

Banned
I mostly agree with this except for
Hydrocity, didn't feel there was much new or different in it
.

How would you guys rank the classic trilogy after completing Mania (if you have already)?

From best to worst.

Mania
3&K
2
1






CD
 

Aki-at

Member
I mostly agree with this except for
Hydrocity, didn't feel there was much new or different in it
.

How would you guys rank the classic trilogy after completing Mania (if you have already)?

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 > Sonic 3 and Knuckles > Sonic 1 = Sonic Mania > Sonic CD

Though if we split Sonic 3 and Knuckles into two games, the Knuckles portion I enjoyed more but the 3 levels get trounced for the most part.
 

Sixfortyfive

He who pursues two rabbits gets two rabbits.
How would you guys rank the classic trilogy after completing Mania (if you have already)?
1
Mania
CD
3K
2

I need to play Mania more. There's a chance it'll drop further because I see myself having the same issues with it as I eventually did with 3K (too long, too easy, too auto-pilot).

As a complete Somic noob, what exactly is the purpose of Tails? He just seems to follow me around. Do something cunt!

Little brother co-op.

A 2nd player can control him and help out with things like bosses since he can never die. He can also fly and lift you to places that Sonic can't reach alone. There's a method to control his flight even when a single player is playing but I don't recall what it is.
 

Kinsei

Banned
As a complete Somic noob, what exactly is the purpose of Tail? He just seems to follow me around. Do something cunt!

His purpose is to hit bosses before you do so that you pass through them and fall in a bottomless pit. Fuck Tails.

In all seriousness he's there for Co-op. If you connect a second controller that person can control Tails. If you're playing solo then it's best to play only as Sonic instead of Sonic & Tails.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Right now:

CD > 3K > Mania > 2 > 1
As much as I enjoy CD (which I would personally rank below Mania), it's hard to give it full credit due to its poor performance on original hardware. Yes, Christian's version is top notch but it sucks that the Sega CD version is so poor. The frame-rate is really lousy.
 

I Wanna Be The Guy

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Mania lacks the storytelling and quality zone transitions of Sonic 3K. That's the main thing that makes it hard for me to put Mania above 3K right now. That was a really underappreciated aspect of 3K and you really felt like you were on this adventure. Mania lacks that.
 

RockmanBN

Member
Trying to find special rings now. Found 2 on Green Hill Act 1 and 3 in Act 2. Will make it easy to become Super X as fast as possible.

I have a complaint about the Super forms. First it replaces the current music theme and you can't use your characters abilities without triggering it. Wish it was similar to Sonic 3 Complete where you press a different jump button to trigger the transformation and using a sped up version of the level theme instead of an annoying super theme.
 

I Wanna Be The Guy

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
His purpose is to hit bosses before you do so that you pass through them and fall in a bottomless pit. Fuck Tails.

In all seriousness he's there for Co-op. If you connect a second controller that person can control Tails. If you're playing solo then it's best to play only as Sonic instead of Sonic & Tails.
I will not accept this Tails slander.
 

Mark1

Member
I'd go with the following order (from best to worst):

Mania = 3K > 2 > 1 > CD >>> 4(Sega seem to be making it non canon anyway lol)
 

Kyzon

Member
So I beat it twice today. Once as knuckles and again as Sonic
& Knuckles
. I also beat all of the sphere stages. They got pretty difficult in the end. Not gonna bother perfecting them though.


Overall, I think this may be the best sonic game yet.

I'm gonna go and get all of the emeralds now and try to do the complete ending.

Also, I love how there are some alternative stages with Knuckles vs Sonic or Tails.
 

Mark1

Member
Mania lacks the storytelling and quality zone transitions of Sonic 3K. That's the main thing that makes it hard for me to put Mania above 3K right now. That was a really underappreciated aspect of 3K and you really felt like you were on this adventure. Mania lacks that.
Yeah I actually thought this was a glitch in the Switch version at first, was definitely disappointed how it wasnt as fully fledged out. Nearer the end you could see a bigger story was unfolding but it felt too mashed together.
 

I Wanna Be The Guy

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
Tails is great when you play as him. Not so much when he's AI controlled.
But he saves you when you get grabbed by grabbers and does extra hits on bosses for you. He's a kill stealing motherfucker but that's ok. He's helpful. And he's the most adorable.

Tails rules. In Miles we trust. It is law.
 

nightfly

Member
Haven't played this yet, but I have noticed in the reviews something that really upsets me. People saying "Sonic is all about going fast, yet many times you are forced to stop, change direction, platforming" etc. Now I realize that may be the case in the old commercials and I have beaten all of the classic Sonic games probably over a dozen times each but I think it's a criticism that is very unwarranted.

In the classic Sonics sure in parts you could go fast but in all the games there was always parts where you had to stop, look around, find the correct path etc.

Heck, even though they weren't bad it was one thing I didn't like regarding the Sonic Rush games; that being "going fast" was pretty much all you did. I don't get those that complain about the aforementioned, would they honestly really rather have a game where literally all you do is hold right and occasionally jump?
 
Mania lacks the storytelling and quality zone transitions of Sonic 3K. That's the main thing that makes it hard for me to put Mania above 3K right now. That was a really underappreciated aspect of 3K and you really felt like you were on this adventure. Mania lacks that.

It does have SOME of that, like popping out of the pipe into Studiopolis Zone. The nature of its time travel plot makes those moments more difficult, naturally.
 

Ferr986

Member
As much as I enjoy CD (which I would personally rank below Mania), it's hard to give it full credit due to its poor performance on original hardware. Yes, Christian's version is top notch but it sucks that the Sega CD version is so poor. The frame-rate is really lousy.

Yes, can't disagree with that. Especially Special Stages, ran badly.

Tails is great when you play as him. Not so much when he's AI controlled.

He can actually be useful for bosses when you lose rings. Sometimes he may grab that last ring you would never be able to get it.
 

Aki-at

Member
You know what I absolutely hate most about Mania? When you jump from the top of the loop and land on the slope of it you don't get your speed boost like in the classics.

Why you got to nerf my play style? :(
 

MrBadger

Member
This is the best Sonic game. The only thing it doesn't have is the story progression of Sonic and Knuckles, and considering the mandate to use old zones, it'd be hard to pull that off. It's leagues above Sonics 1, 2, CD and 3

I think boss fights are both a strength and a weakness. They're all really creative, entertaining fights but I think some of them are a bit too creative and can be a real pain in the ass until you figure them out.
Oil Ocean's revamped boss fight
gave me a really hard time. Flying Battery's boss did too at first but it turned out to be a satisfying fight once I had it down. You can tell they had a lot of fun making these bosses but I'm not sure they designed all of them around Sonic's physics. It's a bit like Freedom Planet in that regard
 
Fuck the damn
octopus
boss in
Oil Ocean Zone
. So many game overs.

I keep getting crushed by the platforms when they move below the level.
 
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