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Sonic Mania |OT| Dreams Come True

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
I can't beat the 5th chaos emerald stage. Damn UFO seems uncatchable. :|

Also, Mirage Saloon Act 1...How do you end it? I got shot out of the gun and then sat on the plane for over a minute and nothing happened.
 
I can't beat the 5th chaos emerald stage. Damn UFO seems uncatchable. :|

Also, Mirage Saloon Act 1...How do you end it? I got shot out of the gun and then sat on the plane for over a minute and nothing happened.
Returning to the plane is supposed to trigger a boss fight. Odd. Might need to restart.
 

Opa-Pa

Member
I can't beat the 5th chaos emerald stage. Damn UFO seems uncatchable. :|

It's by far the most challenging one IMO, took me around 15 tries.

What worked for me was focusing on avoiding bumping into anything at all costs and trying to skip U turns when possible by jumping and turning around quickly.
 

Branduil

Member
After acquiring the emeralds with 3 different characters, I now feel the 4th emerald is the most difficult one, just due to the lack of shortcuts. The 5th and 6th are much easier once you realize it's better to just take the shortcuts every time.
 
Will there be a physical release for Switch?

I'm hoping they just do the usual get everyone to buy it digitally then announce the physical one later on to get them all to buy it again thing lol, I really want this physical, even more after having played it now, it needs to be physical!

As for the ports of Sonic 1 and 2, I just assumed they were waiting for new consoles so there wasn't any confusion with the old ports. But that doesn't seem to be it, we can even just play the old ones on Xbox One BC!

Maybe some sort of console contract thing with Backbone or whoever did the old ones? But then again Nintendo had their own versions of the old Sonics on VC anyway so there wouldn't be any problems there at least you would think.

Or probably just Sega being Sega. :|
 

nicoga3000

Saint Nic
It's by far the most challenging one IMO, took me around 15 tries.

What worked for me was focusing on avoiding bumping into anything at all costs and trying to skip U turns when possible by jumping and turning around quickly.

I think the most frustrating part is that once I get a rhythm, I run out of time or fall off. And then finding another stage takes forever so I lose that momentum. :|

Returning to the plane is supposed to trigger a boss fight. Odd. Might need to restart.

Yeah, I ended up killing myself after ~90 seconds. Odd little bug.
 

Opa-Pa

Member
I think the most frustrating part is that once I get a rhythm, I run out of time or fall off. And then finding another stage takes forever so I lose that momentum. :|



Yeah, I ended up killing myself after ~90 seconds. Odd little bug.

Oh I feel you, that was the reason I lost so much too. I forgot to say you should focus on collecting as many rings as possible the first lap, and only aim to catch the UFO afterwards.

It's very tricky but it feels so good when you get it right. Don't lose hope!
 
Here's a tip for the 5th special stage: Don't go Mach 3. Every single time I've tried to beat it by outrunning it, it's never worked. However, if you stay at Mach 2, avoiding all of the blue spheres while concentrating on collecting rings, you'll eventually catch up with it. Sometimes the UFO will double back and come right to you. It works on the final Special Stage as well. Sometimes you're better off staying at Mach 2.
 

Falk

that puzzling face
For people still having trouble with Special Stage 5:

REMEMBER:
- bumpers slow you down
- ramps slow you down
- grass slows you down
- chasing shinies instead of choosing the shortest path slows you down (except for the start blue spheres which are necessary)
- spikes will mess you up
- running off the track will mess you up

quick reference video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z2MLbW5AVw

Doesn't require any trickery whatsoever. Simply requires understanding special stage mechanics and some basic hand-eye coordination.

Quoting for quick reference, most unconvoluted way to win.
 

TheOfficeMut

Unconfirmed Member
Said no one ever.

Are the PS4 leaderboards still inaccessible to any of you? I keep getting errors every time I try to open the leaderboard. Happening with a friend as well so I know it's not just me.



Who hurt you?

Every casino/carnival level in Sonic games has been my least favorite, with the exception of the casino level from the very first game. And the music is always terribly unappealing to me.
 

Kalor

Member
The second Oil Ocean boss is the only one that I've had extended trouble with so far. It's mostly because it's difficult to get rings back if you get hit since you usually end up in the oil.
 
I'm pretty terrible at Sonic games, always been more of a Mario guy. I can't for the life of me get to the end of Chemical Zone 1, I always end up getting stuck underwater and drowning and kinda going round in circles. The furthest I've been was to a bonus stage ring but it restarted me back in the same stage afterwards and I can't make any progress. Ugh. I am enjoying myself though!
 

jmartoine

Member
Echoing what has been said above, I've noticed on some of the special stages you have to go out of your way to grab the blue spheres which allows the UFO to get away from you. If you follow it's route closely you should be able to stay near to it and just pick up the spheres near you.
 

RRockman

Banned
I'm pretty terrible at Sonic games, always been more of a Mario guy. I can't for the life of me get to the end of Chemical Zone 1, I always end up getting stuck underwater and drowning and kinda going round in circles. The furthest I've been was to a bonus stage ring but it restarted me back in the same stage afterwards and I can't make any progress. Ugh. I am enjoying myself though!

You should try to stay on the high route. If you are getting rekt where I think you are getting rekt, you have to take that vertical area slow and steady, and jump to where the moving stairs is going to be, rather than where they are currently. That area was super annoying for me as a kid, but it's easy peasy when you pace yourself.
 

Haines

Banned
Is there a thread or info...

What's best system for this game?

I have them all except a PC.

I'm guessing i have to decide between 4k on pro and portability on switch.
 

Shadio

Member
I'm pretty terrible at Sonic games, always been more of a Mario guy. I can't for the life of me get to the end of Chemical Zone 1, I always end up getting stuck underwater and drowning and kinda going round in circles. The furthest I've been was to a bonus stage ring but it restarted me back in the same stage afterwards and I can't make any progress. Ugh. I am enjoying myself though!

If the bit you're struggling with is climbing up that underwater shaft, you can just do this to skip it:
xpXw3KZ.gif
 

Haines

Banned
Found digital foundarys video

Going to grab the pro version for that 4k mode.

Portability is nice on switch but gotta make use of owning a nice 4k tv

Played all of the sonic growing up so this should be a good time with my kiddos
 

choodi

Banned
Chemical Plant Zone 1 pretty much encapsulates everything that I always hated about Sonic games.

Cheap insta-deaths, no logic to the pathways, leaps of faith without anywhere to land, getting squashed between two moving platforms even when there is plenty of space for sonic to stand.

I don't think I can stomach any more stages like that.
 

Fireblend

Banned
Chemical Plant Zone 1 pretty much encapsulates everything that I always hated about Sonic games.

Cheap insta-deaths, no logic to the pathways, leaps of faith without anywhere to land, getting squashed between two moving platforms even when there is plenty of space for sonic to stand.

I don't think I can stomach any more stages like that.

That's nothing. Just wait til you get to M
etallic
M
adness
.
 

Berordn

Member
That's nothing. Just wait til you get to M
etallic
M
adness
.

Given it's point in the game, there was really nothing about MM that felt cheap. The closest you've got are the Tetris blocks and those are very clearly telegraphed.

TM however was awful about pinching you, in both acts.
 

Vidiot

Member
I love this game. One of the best classic style Sonics, but if they get to make another it really needs to have all original zones with a complete set of stage transitions.
 

Weiss

Banned
I love this game. One of the best classic style Sonics, but if they get to make another it really needs to have all original zones with a complete set of stage transitions.

Yeah the new zones are far and away the highlight of the game, even as someone who doesn't have much memory of Sonic 2 and 3&K.
 

GenericUser

Member
I finished my first playthrough on Saturday and started a knuckles run yesterday. The first playthrough was a joy, but the second feels even better. Once you have a basic understanding of how the zones are designed, the game just flows so much better.
 

Bladelaw

Member
Finished with all Chaos Emeralds last night. I love this game. It's everything I wanted in a Sonic game. My only very minor complaints:
-No stage transition for all zones, just some.
-The Chaos Emerald stages are too floaty/slippery
-Fuck the
Oil Ocean Act 2
boss.
-Unclear what you need to do to unlock Extras
-Some unlocks are unclear in how you access them (ex. Sonics standing dash) It says I've unlocked the ability but damned if I know how to use it.

Am I just slow or are the last two acts really long? By the time I was done collecting emeralds I was just trying to blast through the acts but those two still took almost 4 minutes each to clear before the boss fights.

I still need to go through the game with Tails and Knuckles.

The level design is fantastic, there's multiple paths, plenty of secrets, the occasional reflex check and a great sense of speed.
 
-Unclear what you need to do to unlock Extras
-Some unlocks are unclear in how you access them (ex. Sonics standing dash) It says I've unlocked the ability but damned if I know how to use it.
All unlocks are acquired using medals from Blue Spheres. The extras menu literally shows you your current medal count. (They could make this more clear by also showing the count at each stage clear...) You don't need to perfect clear every stage to get every unlock (though it is a trophy/achievement).

Gameplay modifier unlocks are only available in No Save mode. Highlight No Save and the button that normally deletes a save will instead activate the Secrets menu.
 

FSLink

Banned
Anyone ever catch the Special Stage UFO at Mach 2 instead of 3? Had it happen twice the last time I was getting the emeralds.

Yeah, multiple times on probably like 3 of the 7 Special Stages. As long as you focus on chasing the UFO and just getting any Blue Spheres/Rings on the way (as opposed to trying to get extra time + speed and then chasing the UFO) it can happen.
 

Duffk1ng

Member
Given it's point in the game, there was really nothing about MM that felt cheap. The closest you've got are the Tetris blocks and those are very clearly telegraphed.

TM however was awful about pinching you, in both acts.

I liked TM, found MM just annoying though. Mainly due to the enemies that are in that stage, they're just there to get cheap hits out of you unless you go really slowly.
 

Fireblend

Banned
Given it's point in the game, there was really nothing about MM that felt cheap. The closest you've got are the Tetris blocks and those are very clearly telegraphed.

TM however was awful about pinching you, in both acts.

For some reason I beat TM in my first attempt (not the boss, the Zone), so I can't relate to people complaining about it at all. I actually thought it was a very neat concept.

MM on the other hand I had to restart ~7 times because I would always get crushed somehow by those stupid press things. I was ready to quit when I finally finished it.
 

Bladelaw

Member
All unlocks are acquired using medals from Blue Spheres. The extras menu literally shows you your current medal count. (They could make this more clear by also showing the count at each stage clear...) You don't need to perfect clear every stage to get every unlock (though it is a trophy/achievement).

Gameplay modifier unlocks are only available in No Save mode. Highlight No Save and the button that normally deletes a save will instead activate the Secrets menu.

I figured the medals were tied to the extras but I wasn't sure if I needed all of them to unlock anything or whether I needed gold to do so. I'm on Switch so I'm not worried about achievements. Thanks for the info!
 
No I'm talking about the act 2 boss. I'd have to plow through both acts again and I really really hate those gravity fields.
Oh well. Resetting with knuckles I think.

As I mentioned, the criticism doesn't make sense for Act 2 - the timer resets to 0 for the boss. I made it to the boss with over 9 minutes on the timer and still finished the fight just fine.
 

Opa-Pa

Member
Said no one ever.

Actually I think Studiopolis is the first "casino level" to not piss me off.

Ironically it might be my favorite level in the game too.

For some reason I beat TM in my first attempt (not the boss, the Zone), so I can't relate to people complaining about it at all. I actually thought it was a very neat concept.

MM on the other hand I had to restart ~7 times because I would always get crushed somehow by those stupid press things. I was ready to quit when I finally finished it.

Yeah I found TM fairly easy too, just a bit long. MM I found easy as well but I got crushed like thrice... God I hate that. I think it's the only classic annoying 2D Sonic thing that Mania has, it happened more often than I anticipated, and not even with predictable ones.
 

The Hermit

Member
gonna replay again this week

then I will rank my fav stages.

Man, I wanted to play 1-3&k so bad on the Switch, I loved playing this in portable
 

13ruce

Banned
The soudtrack of this game is legendary good sometimes, i just replay stages just to hear the music.

The 16 bit music remasters are insanely good. They sound like how they would have sounded like without sound limitations of those sound chips back then.

My favorites are:
flyin battery, lava reef (that one especially), chemical plant, green hill, metallic madness and stardust speedway
and metal sonic
.

Hopefully someone remixes ice cap zone to sound "Mania" like.
 

jefpet

Member
As I mentioned, the criticism doesn't make sense for Act 2 - the timer resets to 0 for the boss. I made it to the boss with over 9 minutes on the timer and still finished the fight just fine.

I know :) But I meant I simply don't like going through the whole thing again to beat the game.
 

Branduil

Member
Managed to beat every blue sphere stage finally...
fuck that spiral one, it took me like 10 tries before I finished it.
 

Bladelaw

Member
Are any of the blue sphere stages new? I've recognized all of them so far. With the &Knuckles cart you could plug in any Genesis cart to play more blue sphere stages than was in the original and I'm remembering a lot of these.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Special stage 7 is like a joke. Its ss1 with some pit falls and a shitload of rings. Just follow and you get it at mach 2.

5 and 6 require you to follow the ufo route at all costs.
 
I was wondering why so many people are having trouble with the orbs in the final act, then I remembered it took years for me to master them in S3...
 

Berordn

Member
Special stage 7 is like a joke. Its ss1 with some pit falls and a shitload of rings. Just follow and you get it at mach 2.

5 and 6 require you to follow the ufo route at all costs.

6 still lets you deviate a little or take the ramps to grab rings just because it takes such a long route.

5 is just diabolical.
 

muteki

Member
I was wondering why so many people are having trouble with the orbs in the final act, then I remembered it took years for me to master them in S3...

All you need to do is press left or right to change where you are aiming, and press jump when you want to release.
 

Yukinari

Member
Are any of the blue sphere stages new? I've recognized all of them so far. With the &Knuckles cart you could plug in any Genesis cart to play more blue sphere stages than was in the original and I'm remembering a lot of these.

There are new layouts in the main game but you can unlock a bonus mode with new blue sphere gimmicks exclusive to Mania.
 
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