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[Sixfortyfive]

Frankly the only game in the series that I can say I definitely rank above this one is Sonic 1, but I'm weird and love Labyrinth Zone.

Finished all Blue Sphere stages. I thought I'd get a Blue Sphere level select from what I'd read, but it seems to be

Spoiler

a button that spawns you into randomly generated Blue Sphere stages? Alright I guess. Also, are the Mania stages exactly the same except they have those green orbs you have to go through twice?

Please do me a favor and let me know if the "Mania" group keeps giving you repeat patterns.

 

[The Stealth Fox]

All the new zones in the game are amazing. Let this team make a sequel with all new zones, special stages, a variety of bonus stages, and consistent zone transitions with an all new story, and call it Sonic 5. Keep the old Sonic physics the same because it's clear that every time someone changes the physics it makes it feel worse. S3Ks physics are near perfect: the sense of speed and momentum is appropriate, there's no standing on sides of walls, and rolling into a ball feels as it should. The drop dash mechanic is awesome but it may need more levels designed around it.

 

[san00ake]

Yes, pretty much. This is my biggest problem with the game.

Sonic Mania is less of a step FORWARD for Sonic as a series than Sonic Advance 1. Those games actually added new things, tried new features. Amy in Sonic Advance 1 was essentially a completely new 2D character that has never been seen again.

My biggest problem with Sonic is how it's clearly chain shackled to nostalgia and its past "glory days". And as a result, even with an effort as amazing as Sonic Mania, it refuses to let it actually surpass anything it's paying homage to.

Everything is too familiar. Even when Mania is at its best, it still just feels like a really good lovechild, not a sequel or evolution. Sonic 2 was not like this. Neither was Sonic 3, or Sonic and Knuckles. The games pushed the formula forward every time.

With all due respect, while I think you're absolutely right, I do think there are reasons for this. Due to the nature of this project, I assume they didn't want to stray too far away from what's safe and has shown to have passed the test of time, but at the same time they didn't want to just limit themselves to remixing old stages, which is why they went for this approach (8 classic stages and 4 new stages, or something like that). You could think of it as they dipping their toe in the water and see what the response is for an eventual Mania 2 with perhaps nothing but completely original stages.

At the same time, they probably didn't want to add too many gimmicks (reversed gravity, underwater gameplay, ice, etc.) as this is supposed to be a a return to form for Sonic and gimmicks like those can be divisive and be perceived as, well, gimmicky. You can tell they wanted to give you bread-and-butter Sonic as much as possible to quench the fans' thirst that has been gestating for over 23 years first and foremost.

I think the future is bright and we'll see a Mania 2 in 2019 that is more expansive than 3&K, whether or not that's a good thing.

Just my opinion, I hope I didn't offend anyone.

 

[Fireblend]

Please do me a favor and let me know if the "Mania" group keeps giving you repeat patterns.

Hmm, doesn't seem like it. I tried it ~10 times just now and I don't think I saw any repeats. I actually saw the same start pattern twice but then noticed the ring count was much higher.

How many stages in are you getting repeats? Maybe those aren't random but actually picked from a pool?

Should note I'm on Switch.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Hmm, doesn't seem like it. I tried it ~10 times just now and I don't think I saw any repeats. I actually saw the same start pattern twice but then noticed the ring count was much higher.

How many stages in are you getting repeats? Maybe those aren't random but actually picked from a pool?

I assume that it's assembling the stages by combining 4 quadrants together that are drawn from a large pool of unique quadrant maps, similar to the way that the original Sonic 1 lock-on did it. What gives me pause, though, is that I have seen very few distinct quadrants in the Mania group so far. After a half-dozen attempts, I started seeing the same patterns over and over again, while the "Original" group (which is actually pulling from the same maps that the Sonic 1 lock-on game used) has 128 distinct patterns.

So I'm wondering if there's just a very small number of stages in the "Mania" group or if the randomizer isn't working correctly for me.

I'm also playing on Switch.

 

[FSLink]

Just finished my Knuckles playthrough and got all Emeralds on the Switch version. Still need to do Solo Sonic and Solo Tails.

I'll likely redo it again on my PS4 once my stuff gets to my place and I have my 4K TV back.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Looks like Sonic Mania isn't without it's bugs. During the Chemical Plant Act 1 Boss, the frame rate would drop to almost 4fps in spots. For the Act 2 boss, after beating Eggman at

Spoiler

Puyo Puyo

, Sonic was trapped in the chamber, and no matter what I did I couldn't get out. Eventually *something* spindashed him and I couldn't see Sonic at all. Nor could I control him. No sounds jumps or anything. I had to quit and restart both acts. What the hell?

Anyone else run into such bugs?

Loving the game otherwise.

 

[Mr. Smiley]

I mean, this was very clearly a game that was a first for a team that has worked on smaller scale projects, Sega letting fans take reigns on a game, etc. They weren't gonna go all out like hand drawn sprites the first time through and even then, they went beyond from just playing it safe. To say that Sonic is "shackled by nostalgia" when the game was announced as a celebratory anniversary title is also weird.

I don't know. I feel these complaints would hold much more weight if Mania 2/Sonic 5 is more of the same if Mania is really successful, but as of right now? Eh.

Sorry some of you aren't enjoying it, though.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Sonic needed a game as a palette cleanser that didn't try anything majorly new

Sonic and new ideas don't exactly have a healthy relationship. Mania 2 will probably more progressive with new abilities and features.

 

[Aki-at]

Frankly the only game in the series that I can say I definitely rank above this one is Sonic 1, but I'm weird and love Labyrinth Zone.

Finally I've come across a person that can enjoy the true challenge that is Labyrinth Zone!

 

[Berordn]

Yeah, it's pretty clear why Mania isn't a numbered entry. It's both an anniversary celebration and an attempt at recapturing the magic of 3&K, which has been MIA for over two decades.

It's not doing anything new because it's not really trying to be anything but a celebration of nostalgia and what worked in the classic games. And it's great to have after so long.

If we had a glut of new Sonic games in this vein, I'd understand the criticism a little better, but being so long since the last one I can forgive the reused tropes.

 

[OrbitalBeard]

I said I wouldn't get all golds in Blue Spheres.

But I just got all golds in Blue Spheres.

 

[RecRoulette]

Sonic needed a game as a palette cleanser that didn't try anything majorly new

Sonic and new ideas don't exactly have a healthy relationship. Mania 2 will probably more progressive with new abilities and features.

If they do that I'd rather them call it anything else than Sonic Mania 2.

 

[Inuhanyou]

Best sonic game since sonic and knuckles. Tied with Sonic 2 in my mind. But Sonic 3 and knuckles is still higher....if this game had all new levels, it would be almost on par with Sonic 3 and knuckles..cause those original levels are some of the best in the series...that fucking shinobi boss battle with all those references to revenge and 3 is just eye watering and studiopolis zone is probably one of my favorite stages ever....the music they knocked out of the park

 

[Fireblend]

I said I wouldn't get all golds in Blue Spheres.

But I just got all golds in Blue Spheres.

You have my respect and admiration.

Started a Knuckles run and why is this game so damn fun. Finding a ton of alternate routes and gimmicks I'd missed in the Sonic playthrough (some stuff in Flying Battery I had totally glossed over).

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

I think I need to replay S3&K, because I remember it being good - just like all the other titles prior - but not as some leaps-and-bounds better pedestal for which all others are compared. I firmly believe Mania is a good deal better than any other title before it; but maybe I should revisit that one...

 

[dlauv]

I think I need to replay S3&K, because I remember it being good - just like all the other titles prior - but not as some leaps-and-bounds better pedestal for which all others are compared. I firmly believe Mania is a good deal better than any other title before it; but maybe I should revisit that one...

Sonic 3 is like half not-great; S&K is consistently great, but probably weaker artistically. The main problem is that, when combined, the game is so long: you're essentially playing two half-games that were converted into full games, back to back; and, the S&K levels are brought down trying to marathon it. The pacing between the two halves simply isn't as good as Mania's.

 

[Owari]

Any other Genesis-era Sonic fans who feel underwhelmed by Mania? Seems to be a lot of love for the game around here. I'm still not feeling it. It's like a slightly mechanically improved Sonic 2 or S&K. It sometimes feels almost exactly like those games. I guess I expected more than that. It's not bad but it doesn't feel like a big step forward for the series. I'm on act 3 now, so maybe my feelings will change as I see more.

You're wrong. It's a giant leap forward. If you disagree you probably haven't played the originals too much.

 

[theaffection]

Do Silver medals acquired in No Save count towards rewards?

 

[RecRoulette]

The

Spoiler

Egg Reverie

music totally has parts of

Spoiler

Fist Bump

in it, right? Or am I just going crazy.

 

[The Xtortionist]

The

Spoiler

Egg Reverie

music totally has parts of

Spoiler

Fist Bump

in it, right? Or am I just going crazy.

It totes does

but no one knows for sure if it's intentional

 

[Poimandres]

Sonic 3 is like half not-great; S&K is consistently great, but probably weaker artistically. The main problem is that, when combined, the game is so long: you're essentially playing two half-games that were converted into full games, back to back; and, the S&K levels are brought down trying to marathon it. The pacing between the two halves simply isn't as good as Mania's.

I always thought S3 was weirdly weak as a game. I only really like half the zones. I loved S&K though. It's hard to argue with the ambition of combining the two games, but one larger game with a few levels culled and a better difficulty curve would have almost certainly been better!

 

[RecRoulette]

It totes does

but no one knows for sure if it's intentional

The way the soundtrack is put together, I don't think anything's in there on accident.

 

[Neoxon]

It totes does

but no one knows for sure if it's intentional

Spoiler

Given the story tie-in with Sonic Forces, I think it was intentional.

 

[The Xtortionist]

I always thought S3 was weirdly weak as a game. I only really like half the zones. I loved S&K though. It's hard to argue with the ambition of combining the two games, but one larger game with a few levels culled and a better difficulty curve would have almost certainly been better!

S3&K definitely gets some bonus points for its presentation and cohesion (especially Lava Reef onward). If its level transitions were as haphazard as some of Mania's, I'd doubt the game would be held in such high regard. But even weaker stages like Marble Garden and Sandopolis can be forgiven, because dammit S3&K makes you feel like you're on an epic journey, and in a 2D platformer that counts for something.

On Mania advances - no way they're merely incremental. I mean, Mania won't change anyone's mind if they're already decidedly against classic Sonic, but it's tough to argue that it doesn't have the strongest set of zones by a good margin. Boss fights are vastly improved over any of the originals, and sprite animations are on a whole different level with numerous added frames. The drop dash is also a huge boon for Sonic, and time trial mode and other unlockables are a great addition. The game may present itself as incremental on the surface due to so many reused zones (and this is ignoring the new idea within them), but in practice it's anything but imo.

 

[dlauv]

But even weaker stages like Marble Garden and Sandopolis can be forgiven, because dammit S3&K makes you feel like you're on an epic journey, and in a 2D platformer that counts for something.

I don't think Sandopolis is even that weak, and it's a pretty good test for insta-shield users. Marble Garden and Carnival Night are worse offenders, and the first half of Ice Cap is kind of bland and linear. Hydrocity has problems too upon enough replays: there isn't enough meaningful exploration with Sonic.

Angel Island and Launch Base are pretty masterful tho, and imo save the game.

 

[The Xtortionist]

I don't think Sandopolis is even that weak. Marble Garden and Carnival Night are worse offenders, and the first half of Ice Cap is kind of bland and linear. Hydrocity has problems too upon enough replays.

I like Sandopolis in theory, but its gimmicks are almost all tedious imo. Rappeling with those ropes takes forever, and is it really necessary to run through the same loop multiple times. Block pushing animations could also be sped up imo.

Act 2 is pretty solid, at least.

 

[dlauv]

I like Sandopolis in theory, but its gimmicks are almost all tedious imo. Rappeling with those ropes takes forever, and is it really necessary to run through the same loop multiple times. Block pushing animations could also be sped up imo.

Ah, that's fair, but try not taking the ropes next time.

 

[RagnarokX]

I like Sandopolis in theory, but its gimmicks are almost all tedious imo. Rappeling with those ropes takes forever, and is it really necessary to run through the same loop multiple times. Block pushing animations could also be sped up imo.

Act 2 is pretty solid, at least.

Some gimmicks are kinda like traps. Like the slot machines in casino night, the bingo tumblers in studiopolis, those awful transporters in death egg. You're supposed to avoid them if you want to go fast. You never HAVE to use the rappelling ropes in Sandopolis. The rising sand gimmick in Act 2 is really good, and the lights going out and ghosts are well implemented to keep you on your toes but never really be at risk unless you are bad at the game. I find Sonic Mania's

Spoiler

implementation of it pretty lackluster, though. OOZ act 2's level design isn't that strong and relies too heavily on the smoke gimmick, and the smoke gimmick isn't as well-done as the darkness gimmick. Sandopolis had torches going out in the background that lit back up when you pulled the switches. OOZ smoke just goes away without explanation.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Really struggling with the

Spoiler

true final boss.

I don't understand what I'm doing. I get that I'm supposed to collect rings to stay alive, but I don't have any idea what button is triggering the "boost," if it's needed, and who I'm supposed to attack. I've burned through six lives, and I'm on a plane so I can't view YouTube clips. Any quick help?

 

[Branduil]

Really struggling with the

Spoiler

true final boss.

I don't understand what I'm doing. I get that I'm supposed to collect rings to stay alive, but I don't have any idea what button is triggering the "boost," if it's needed, and who I'm supposed to attack. I've burned through six lives, and I'm on a plane so I can't view YouTube clips. Any quick help?

Don't use boost, it's shit and it eats up your rings.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Don't use boost, it's shit and it eats up your rings.

How do I avoid using it? Sometimes A jumps, sometimes it boosts; I'm confused how I hit the enemies and avoid using it.

 

[Aki-at]

How do I avoid using it? Sometimes A jumps, sometimes it boosts; I'm confused how I hit the enemies and avoid using it.

Move

Spoiler

Super Sonic into the ground, don't double tap A, just regularly try hitting them with a normal jump, you should have enough height in your jump to hit them. Avoid the Heavy King's orb attacks as you'll lose ten rings from each hit and try to break the orbs floating around him with a jump until you finally get through to and hit him.

 

[Sriracha_X]

How do I avoid using it? Sometimes A jumps, sometimes it boosts; I'm confused how I hit the enemies and avoid using it.

Spoiler

You boost if you press jump while you're flying, if I recall correctly. Basically if you jump from the ground, make sure you only press jump once more to start flying and never hit it again unless you touch the ground again.

 

[sleepnaught]

Can't beat the Oil Zone boss for the life of me. No matter what I miss regaining all of my rings when hit getting tired of replaying this abysmal map over and over again.

 

[GenericUser]

Can't beat the Oil Zone boss for the life of me. No matter what I miss regaining all of my rings when hit getting tired of replaying this abysmal map over and over again.

Spoiler

I jumped into the oil and kept jumping to stay afloat. Only hit the main robotnik and not the arms. You can also land 3 to 4 hits before the real fight even starts

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Thanks guys! As soon as I figured out why I was boosting and other times not, I got it in my second try. Beat it using the Switch joystick on the JoyCon, after 99% of my play through being on the, uhhhh, d-buttons?

Anyway, coo cool! 8 emerald true ending with Sonic and Tails. Not a single blue sphere unlock or gold, though.

Probably gonna start up a Knuckles save first, though.

I thought defeating the final boss

Spoiler

triggered a 13th zone?

what am I missing there?

 

[big_z]

Frankly the only game in the series that I can say I definitely rank above this one is Sonic 1, but I'm weird and love Labyrinth Zone.

Im with you, sonic 1 is the best. The mix of platforming and speed(which is slower) is better and the levels are more straight forward. Sonic 2 they started to branch out and sonic 3 took on the maze level design which I don't like. Sonic mania sits somewhere between those games. Some levels are too maze like but better designed than 3 and the gimmicks make things more interesting. So mania is better than 3 but im not sure if it ranks above 2 or not yet. Still the best sonic game since the genesis days though.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Thanks guys! As soon as I figured out why I was boosting and other times not, I got it in my second try. Beat it using the Switch joystick on the JoyCon, after 99% of my play through being on the, uhhhh, d-buttons?

Anyway, coo cool! 8 emerald true ending with Sonic and Tails. Not a single blue sphere unlock or gold, though.

Probably gonna start up a Knuckles save first, though.

I thought defeating the final boss

Spoiler

triggered a 13th zone?

what am I missing there?

Spoiler

The true final boss is considered its own zone, I believe

 

[The Xtortionist]

Thanks guys! As soon as I figured out why I was boosting and other times not, I got it in my second try. Beat it using the Switch joystick on the JoyCon, after 99% of my play through being on the, uhhhh, d-buttons?

Anyway, coo cool! 8 emerald true ending with Sonic and Tails. Not a single blue sphere unlock or gold, though.

Probably gonna start up a Knuckles save first, though.

I thought defeating the final boss

Spoiler

triggered a 13th zone?

what am I missing there?

Spoiler

The secret final boss doesn't get its own zone title card like Doomsday in S3&K, but it can be individually selected in level select. It's called "Egg Reverie".

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

Spoiler

The true final boss is considered its own zone, I believe

Spoiler

The secret final boss doesn't get its own zone title card like Doomsday in S3&K, but it can be individually selected in level select. It's called "Egg Reverie".

Hmmm.... it's not showing up in my level select. Just TMZ.

 

[The Xtortionist]

Hmmm.... it's not showing up in my level select. Just TMZ.

The level select accessed by enabling

Spoiler

debug mode and inputing the code - press start on the "no save" file while holding left face button and bottom face button

 

[NoctisVsStar]

Second act of boss

Spoiler

Oil level

is impossible with knuckles low jump I'm getting annoyed cause I can't cheese it like I do with sonic.

 

[ffvorax]

I think I am at the last 2 stages.... I lost yesterday and give up, I was playing by a couple of hours, it looked harder, maybe I was also a bit tired.

Can't wait to end it to play it again.

And I lost 7 times the 4th Chaos Emerald... the previous ones were far more easy to get... :\

Will try to get all on the next playtrought

 

[emiliano]

Second act of boss

Spoiler

Oil level

is impossible with knuckles low jump I'm getting annoyed cause I can't cheese it like I do with sonic.

I lame it out by

Spoiler

standing mainly on the central platform, beating the two shooting spheres one beat at time then quickly jumping on the remaining platform to easily avoid the projectiles. Once the two spheres are gone, it is relatively simple to beat the defenseless robotnik

.

 

[NoctisVsStar]

I lame it out by

Spoiler

standing mainly on the central platform, beating the two shooting spheres one beat at time then quickly jumping on the remaining platform to easily avoid the projectiles. Once the two spheres are gone, it is relatively simple to beat the defenseless robotnik

.

I'll do this then.

 

[HeresSomeWeapons]

I actually think they're the best special stages in the entire series. I love them.

Mania's special stages are a blast, standing head and shoulders above the others imo. Chasing an object down is thrilling in itself (especially when you're close and the timer is getting low), and there are a ton of things to consider: jumping to tighten Sonic's turn radius, going for blue orbs vs. rings, taking shortcuts, cutting corners through the grass/dirt, etc. They're the only Sonic special stages I actually look forward to playing.

Once you know the little tricks they become quite enjoyable, emerald 5th is the hardest but once you get the power up it's a breeze.

Well, you guys were right. The special stages totally grew on me once I started to get the feel for them. 5th stage is not nearly as hard as people make it out to be though. After just a couple of tries I got the emerald, at mach 2 even. I think 6 was the hardest for me, by far.

 

[jmartoine]

You're wrong. It's a giant leap forward. If you disagree you probably haven't played the originals too much.

This is pretty much a 2D Saturn Sonic game we never got. Everything from colour palette, frame rate, quality and range of animations, even the music is more advanced than what the Genesis could do. Mechanically the game might be very similar to the Genesis titles but everything else under the hood is a huge improvement.

 

[Outtrigger888]

Second act of boss

Spoiler

Oil level

is impossible with knuckles low jump I'm getting annoyed cause I can't cheese it like I do with sonic.

This boss is actually easy, don't stand on the middle platform and when the laser gun comes out of the water jump over to the furthest platform and dodge his lasors.

 

[McNum]

So I beat the game with Sonic and Tails last night, and overall, I'm impressed. But some of those bosses... I won because they died first, not because I knew how to beat them.

So, just curious, how are you supposed to win these? i mean a win is a win, but there's got to be a cleaner way than "Hit them, get hit, grab rings back, repeat." for most.

CPZ Act 2:

Spoiler

Mean Bean Machine

Spoiler

I suck at Puyo Puyo. I am also colorblind. Any tips for sucking less? I didn't win as much as Eggman just sucked more. Do you want to make many matches in a row or big matches? And is there a non-color way to tell the difference between the blue/purple and the green/orange ones? Winning with only red as the confirmed color to match is... trouble.

MSZ Act 1:

Spoiler

Giant Caterkiller

Spoiler

Poor plane controls aside, can you even hit it when it attacks from the back or front of the screen? And can you tell when it attacks from the front?

SSZ Act 2:

Spoiler

Metal Sonic

Spoiler

How do you avoid his Homing Attack in the first part? That thing is awful to be on the receiving end of. Also the third part. I need to hit him and not lost momentum. How? I basically just had Sonic get pushed forward by the spikes most of the time as any hit on Metal Sonic sent him flying into the wall-o-spikes.

OOZ: Act 2:

Spoiler

He's an Eggman, he's a Squid, man

Spoiler

My cunning plan was "Bring a fire shield, duck in the middle of a platform when there's no squid, jump for ground laser, tackle stuff with the fire attack." How do you win without a fire shield? I get a feeling Knuckles will be hell here. Tails will be hilarious.

LRZ Act 2:

Spoiler

Heavy Rider

Spoiler

Is there a certain time to hit her? Timing a front hit with that huge ball and chain swinging is ridiculous, but hitting Jimmy bounces Sonic off. Too high, you get hit. Too low, it bounces off. Is there a setup for "just right" for her?

TMZ Act 1:

Spoiler

That thing from Sonic and Knuckles

Spoiler

I powered through. Hit it all the time, grab rings when it hits back. blunt, but effective. But Knuckles can't jump that high, so what do I do when it's his turn? He explicitly cannot fight that thing in Sonic and Knuckles and trying via level select is... painful. So what do?

I haven't done the true final boss yet. But it's

Spoiler

Super Sonic

. Can't be too bad. Unless there's a crush death trap. Can't rule that out in this game.