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[Elfforkusu]

First negative feedback from me:

Zone 4 (or is it 5?)

Spoiler

Flying Battery

act 2 is a bad boss.

Spoiler

You have to put yourself in harm's way to hit him (doing it with 0 rings is a feat of skill I'm surely not capable of -- started suiciding once I hit 0, because what's the point?), and half the time you knock him into the spikes he doesn't take damage -- comes across as random. AND 25% of the time the collision detection doesn't register a hit, so you go crashing through into the spikes.

Took 4 minutes. It's not game ruining by any means, but that's a worse boss than anything in S3&K.

 

[Guess Who]

Thanks that's really helpful.

How do you save your progress. I got through act 1 of the first level but if I quit I get taken back to the start of act 1.

Level progress is only saved after each zone, not individual acts. Each zone is two acts. Feels like a somewhat questionable decision to me, if I'm honest - S3K did it the same way, but it was twenty years ago. Particularly for a game on a portable device like the Switch, it'd be nice if they saved every act.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

First negative feedback from me:

Zone 4 (or is it 5?)

Spoiler

Flying Battery

act 2 is a bad boss.

Spoiler

You have to put yourself in harm's way to hit him (doing it with 0 rings is a feat of skill I'm surely not capable of -- started suiciding once I hit 0, because what's the point?), and half the time you knock him into the spikes he doesn't take damage -- comes across as random. AND 25% of the time the collision detection doesn't register a hit, so you go crashing through into the spikes.

Took 4 minutes. It's not game ruining by any means, but that's a worse boss than anything in S3&K.

I died the first time because of a time-out because the level is too long.

 

[The Hermit]

Finished, 3 emeralds to collect now though.

The final stage is insanely creative. I really want more Sonic from this team.


All being said, I still like 3&K more, specially the story and transition aspect.
Gameplay I think Mania is the better one thought.

 

[Elfforkusu]

I died the first time because of a time-out because the level is too long.

Happened to me as well, but I didn't mind that so much as the boss just being a "throw lives at it until the collision detection gods go your way" affair.

(probably could be fixed in a patch if Taxman and co. are so inclined)

 

[jobrro]

The other issue I had is when you have 7 Chaos Emeralds and fight the final Boss,

Spoiler

Every boss in the game is great EXCEPT this one! This is by far the weakest Super Sonic fight in the history of the franchise. I don't understand how these guys got it so wrong. It wasn't epic, it wasn't difficult, they took to many hits, no epic music. Just, wow, how could they get all the other bosses so right and this was so lackluster. Robotnic AND the Robot Bossman shouldve been fighting each other at the same time. So you and every else is going after the Emerald as it gets knocked around. I can;t believe this was it for a Super Sonic fight. I really hope getting the emeralds as Knuckles and Tails will unlock another Final FINAL boss fight of epic proportions.

Spoiler

Really did not like that boss. I prefer Super Sonic bosses that make you feel powerful, this boss was just annoying. Lucky I had about 18 lives saved up because I lost about 10 lives on that boss. Lucked it in the end by trying to stick on the ground rather than flying trying very hard not to dash accidentally. It feels a bit luck based because it is hard to know where the attacks are going to come from, if you accidentally dash and get hit around the same time that wipes out like 15-20 rings.

 

[Blueblur1]

First negative feedback from me:

Zone 4 (or is it 5?)

Spoiler

Flying Battery

act 2 is a bad boss.

Spoiler

You have to put yourself in harm's way to hit him (doing it with 0 rings is a feat of skill I'm surely not capable of -- started suiciding once I hit 0, because what's the point?), and half the time you knock him into the spikes he doesn't take damage -- comes across as random. AND 25% of the time the collision detection doesn't register a hit, so you go crashing through into the spikes.

Took 4 minutes. It's not game ruining by any means, but that's a worse boss than anything in S3&K.

Spoiler

That was an awful awful boss fight. I don't know how that got approved to be in the game. As you described, the gameplay is dreadful and the visuals are poor and confusing; it looks bad and I couldn't tell if it was getting damaged during the first couple of tries.

 

[pretty done]

So the Switch dpad kinda sucks eh

Music is crazy good though, like holy shit soundtrack of the year. And I'm only up to Zone 4!

 

[MrCaliaztec]

BestBuy is holding my collectors edition ransom its been preparing for 2 days and it was suppose to have release day delivery but now its showing Thursday delivery but still feel like it should shipped today then...

starting to get worried, I really want that statue

 

[Neiteio]

So the Switch dpad kinda sucks eh

Music is crazy good though, like holy shit soundtrack of the year. And I'm only up to Zone 4!

Most people here seem to think the Switch pad is fine for this game. Split D-Pad is no problem when you never need to hold diagonal.

I just use the stick, though.

Agreed on the music, it's FANTASTIC. :-D

 

[Waddle Dee]

The

Spoiler

Oil Ocean Act 2

boss isn't good, and it's harder than it should be, but good lord people it's not

Spoiler

that

bad.

 

[dlauv]

Late Game Spoiler:

Spoiler

Oil Ocean

boss gave me no trouble at all, and I beat him my first try. I was expecting something difficult but it just wasn't.

First negative feedback from me:

Zone 4 (or is it 5?)

Spoiler

Flying Battery

act 2 is a bad boss.

Spoiler

You have to put yourself in harm's way to hit him (doing it with 0 rings is a feat of skill I'm surely not capable of -- started suiciding once I hit 0, because what's the point?), and half the time you knock him into the spikes he doesn't take damage -- comes across as random. AND 25% of the time the collision detection doesn't register a hit, so you go crashing through into the spikes.

Took 4 minutes. It's not game ruining by any means, but that's a worse boss than anything in S3&K.

Spoiler

He has a blind spot that can never shoot you to his slight left or right. Bounce into him when he picks up from the ground a bit, rather than when he's grounded or just getting up. He won't take damage if you do the latter. One of the easier bosses in the game. Hope this helps.

 

[NoctisVsStar]

What is this fuckery in the

Spoiler

TMZ

level for the love of god I have no idea where am going lol it's fun but I'm constantly rushing due to the timeout. A lot of platforming involved.

 

[AzureSkies]

but good lord people it's not

Spoiler

that

bad.

Might wanna spoiler tag the Zone.

Either way, I found it to be kinda tough at first but easier once I got the hang of it

 

[foxuzamaki]

Ok, just beat act 2 f chemical plant, this sonic's pretty good guys.

 

[1upsuper]

So the Switch dpad kinda sucks eh

Music is crazy good though, like holy shit soundtrack of the year. And I'm only up to Zone 4!

Yeah, the dpad is basically unusable to me. It's trash with the Neo Geo titles titles too. I seriously hope we eventually get a left joycon with an actual dpad because the dpad on the Pro is awful in a completely different way.

 

[Falk]

Spoiler

That was an awful awful boss fight. I don't know how that got approved to be in the game. As you described, the gameplay is dreadful and the visuals are poor and confusing; it looks bad and I couldn't tell if it was getting damaged during the first couple of tries.

First negative feedback from me:

Zone 4 (or is it 5?)

Spoiler

Flying Battery

act 2 is a bad boss.

Spoiler

You have to put yourself in harm's way to hit him (doing it with 0 rings is a feat of skill I'm surely not capable of -- started suiciding once I hit 0, because what's the point?), and half the time you knock him into the spikes he doesn't take damage -- comes across as random. AND 25% of the time the collision detection doesn't register a hit, so you go crashing through into the spikes.

Took 4 minutes. It's not game ruining by any means, but that's a worse boss than anything in S3&K.

Two pointers:

Spoiler

- Hitting him while its resting on the ground seems to result in less than satisfactory transfer of momentum. When it's at least a tile or two above then it swings

- It seems to have invincibility frames after being bounced (like most bosses, although generally that only applies to doing damage, not bouncing in this case), meaning Sonic can zoom right through if e.g. Tails (NO NOT AGAIN TAILS) hits it right before.

It's very, very quick to breeze through once you figure it out but yeah, it can be a little frustrating due to how long FBZ can get, if you game over.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Spoiler

He has a blind spot that can never shoot you to his slight left or right. Bounce into him when he picks up from the ground a bit, rather than when he's grounded. He won't take damage if you do the latter. Hope this helps.

Yeah, noticed both of those things. I think it would've been better with a more generous hitbox.

Two pointers:

Spoiler

- Hitting him while its resting on the ground seems to result in less than satisfactory transfer of momentum. When it's at least a tile or two above then it swings

- It seems to have invincibility frames after being bounced (like most bosses, although generally that only applies to doing damage, not bouncing in this case), meaning Sonic can zoom right through if e.g. Tails (NO NOT AGAIN TAILS) hits it right before.

It's very, very quick to breeze through once you figure it out but yeah, it can be a little frustrating due to how long FBZ can get, if you game over.

Spoiler

Was only hitting him in the air after I noticed how useless the ground hits seemed to be. Problem might be that unless you hit him square, it doesn't want to register the spikes as a hit because eff you that's why probably the QA testers never complained? idk

 

[GenericUser]

Expected to plough through this game in a single sitting, hit the wall in zone 3.

Quite difficult for a sonic game isn't it? Not that it's a bad thing, quite the contrary. I will have a ton of fun replaying, exploring and perfecting this gem of a game.

 

[Technosteve]

Press up 500 times on the title screen and then press A, B, and +. Make sure you don't do it 501 times though or else you'll play as Silver instead.

Playing on my switch feels like i'm playing sanic on a sega nomad.

 

[Onaco]

It's definitely a Sonic game. I gave up in the fourth zone after getting a Game Over. Why is there a life system in a game released in 2017? This baffles me to no end.

 

[Velocity:Design:Comfort]

How do I retry a special stage after I've been in the giant rings in both zones (and lost?) Do they come back if I beat the boss?

 

[foxuzamaki]

So the Switch dpad kinda sucks eh

Music is crazy good though, like holy shit soundtrack of the year. And I'm only up to Zone 4!

Eh, I havent had any trouble with it so far

 

[The Technomancer]

Anyone got any advice for

Spoiler

Metal Sonic? I just cannot get the timing down for either bouncing off the heads of roboSonics or bouncing them into him

 

[Ponchito]

I can't get past zone 2 damn it. I'm struggling. I just don't get the controls.

 

[Guess Who]

Anyone got any advice for

Spoiler

Metal Sonic? I just cannot get the timing down for either bouncing off the heads of roboSonics or bouncing them into him

time to repost that gif

http://i.imgur.com/lKQfPW3.gif

 

[jasminlovesyoux]

How do I retry a special stage after I've been in the giant rings in both zones (and lost?) Do they come back if I beat the boss?

They're gone for good unless you gameover or restart. However, there are more of them than there are emeralds to collect. So its ok to lose. Further more, if you beat the game you can go back to stages and they'll be back, so you can infinitely try them at that point.

 

[Falk]

How do I retry a special stage after I've been in the giant rings in both zones (and lost?) Do they come back if I beat the boss?

They repop after you clear the entire game.

They're gone for good unless you gameover or restart.

I'm 95% sure if you game over and then continue from your save data (beginning of zone) they're still gone for that runthrough, until clearing game.

Anyone got any advice for

Spoiler

Metal Sonic? I just cannot get the timing down for either bouncing off the heads of roboSonics or bouncing them into him

http://i.imgur.com/lKQfPW3.gif

 

[theaffection]

HOLY FUCK


MSZ is a completed version of the infamous Dust Hill Zone


Mind blown

 

[Mutagenic]

Yeah, the dpad is basically unusable to me. It's trash with the Neo Geo titles titles too. I seriously hope we eventually get a left joycon with an actual dpad because the dpad on the Pro is awful in a completely different way.

It's basically why I won't purchase it on the Switch, even despite owning a pro controller. It's amazing how badly they messed up controls for classic games.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Expected to plough through this game in a single sitting, hit the wall in zone 3.

Quite difficult for a sonic game isn't it? Not that it's a bad thing, quite the contrary. I will have a ton of fun replaying, exploring and perfecting this gem of a game.

I haven't found it all that difficult, which has been a pleasant surprise -- it's one thing that's very hard to get right, and I have the fangame/romhack scars to prove it.

The one boss I've been complaining about aside, I'd say it feels comparable to the Sonic and Tails paths in S2 and S3&K difficulty-wise. Those games had their tricky parts.


Maybe I'll regret these words, but I've liked the lack of smashy things in this game so far. I've only been crushed to death once, and that was a flukey thing in the Chemical Plant part we all have PTSD from

 

[foxuzamaki]

A bit surprised that Sonic Mania Switch is the current bestselling version on Amazon US.

Really? I expected it.

 

[dlauv]

Anyone got any advice for

Spoiler

Metal Sonic? I just cannot get the timing down for either bouncing off the heads of roboSonics or bouncing them into him

Spoiler

Spindash babyRobo when he spindashes.

I was stuck here too.

 

[Elfforkusu]

I can't get past zone 2 damn it. I'm struggling. I just don't get the controls.

Not sure how much this'll help, but here's my summary of the design philosophy of these games:

I think it's certainly true that classic Sonic has a more punishing initial learning curve than most other 2d platformers.

[...]

Anyway:
1. Sonic levels are a series of newtonian momentum puzzles/set pieces. They are sprawling to the extent that you'll usually take a different path through the level each time through.
2. The challenge comes from learning the optimal speed to take set piece A which leads into B which branches to C and D ... to the end of the level. If you fail one, there's always another challenge waiting -- and the punishment for failing is usually minor annoyance, not death.
3. Rolling has subtly different acceleration and jumping physics, effectively acting as a transformation you can toggle between with a button press (down to start, jump to get out)
4. Play how you want to play

"when in doubt, roll" is probably a good starting point. Also, if you're getting fed up a bit, easy mode (Tails) might be worth a shot. Also also, if you have somebody to local co-op with, you can try the easiest mode, which is Sonic + invulnerable 2P-controlled Tails wrecking everything in sight.

 

[MiamiWesker]

11th place in chemical plant zone act 1 sonic. 46"65.

I have no clue how some are getting 40 seconds. There is either some trick to jump through the level or there is some method to move faster using the peel out I haven't mastered.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Decided to stop for tonight because I'm apparently tired enough to spend 2 minutes watching Sonic and Tails head bob in rhythm with the Stardust Speedway music.

 

[The Technomancer]

Spoiler

Hydro City

fuck yes!

 

[jasminlovesyoux]

I'm 95% sure if you game over and then continue from your save data (beginning of zone) they're still gone for that runthrough, until clearing game.

Just tested this out. You're right, they never come back until you beat the game.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Two characters down.

Might take care of Knuckles tonight too.

 

[Branduil]

Anyone else find the final Special Stage surprisingly easy after the 5th and 6th ones? Those two took me 5 or 6 times, but the last one I finished on my second try, after getting damn close the first time.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Anyone else find the final Special Stage surprisingly easy after the 5th and 6th ones? Those two took me 5 or 6 times, but the last one I finished on my second try, after getting damn close the first time.

5th stage was definitely the main hurdle.

The only real challenge in the 7th is the threat of falling off the stage at high speeds. The UFO seems strangely slow in comparison.

 

[SomeOneInaHat]

First negative feedback from me:

Zone 4 (or is it 5?)

Spoiler

Flying Battery

act 2 is a bad boss.

Spoiler

You have to put yourself in harm's way to hit him (doing it with 0 rings is a feat of skill I'm surely not capable of -- started suiciding once I hit 0, because what's the point?), and half the time you knock him into the spikes he doesn't take damage -- comes across as random. AND 25% of the time the collision detection doesn't register a hit, so you go crashing through into the spikes.

Took 4 minutes. It's not game ruining by any means, but that's a worse boss than anything in S3&K.

Easy Boss

Spoiler

Stand slightly to his left or right and keep your eye for on of those swing poles. Get on the pole aim for the spiders bumper butt. One jump off the pole equals spike contact.

 

[Babyshams]

Bought it on switch to play at work during nightshifts.

I feel like my memories of Sonic are better than the actual gameplay.

It's good, not great.

 

[jasminlovesyoux]

Anyone else find the final Special Stage surprisingly easy after the 5th and 6th ones? Those two took me 5 or 6 times, but the last one I finished on my second try, after getting damn close the first time.

5th stage was definitely the main hurdle.

The only real challenge in the 7th is the threat of falling off the stage at high speeds. The UFO seems strangely slow in comparison.

Fifth was the toughest for sure. Also, for whatever reason I caught up to the one in the 7th going only mach two. It's probably possible to do that in the other ones, but I thought it was funny that the final emerald was somehow easier to catch.

 

[moeman]

Holy shit at the boss in zone 3 being a throwback to

Spoiler

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

lol. I'm loving the little touches like this they have in the game. Though I do agree with others that this game seems quite a bit more difficult than the originals.

 

[Sixfortyfive]

Though I do agree with others that this game seems quite a bit more difficult than the originals.

Unless we're talking about Sonic 1, I don't agree.

EDIT: Wait, I got that backwards. Sonic 1 is easily more difficult than this, and I'd argue Sonic 2 as well (Metropolis Zone difficulty spike + no rings for final boss + limited continues).

 

[Mr. Smiley]

Anyone else find the final Special Stage surprisingly easy after the 5th and 6th ones? Those two took me 5 or 6 times, but the last one I finished on my second try, after getting damn close the first time.

Haha yeah, the 6th especially had me sweating.

Spoiler

The lack of bumpers makes cutting corners easy.

 

[The Sum of Zero]

Quick question. I'm up to Mirage Saloon and have only been able to find two of the Special Stage Rings. Once I finish the game, can I go back with level select to get the rest or do I need to start over on another save?

 

[Falk]

Anyone else find the final Special Stage surprisingly easy after the 5th and 6th ones? Those two took me 5 or 6 times, but the last one I finished on my second try, after getting damn close the first time.

5th stage was definitely the main hurdle.

The only real challenge in the 7th is the threat of falling off the stage at high speeds. The UFO seems strangely slow in comparison.

I think what makes 5 difficult is related to what makes 7 easy.

I think 5 is counter-intuitive that there are a few longer routes with close to no benefit (woop de doo, you picked up ~12 blue spheres) that set you back a ton - it's better to just take the shorter route and get those spheres further down the track while also being closer to the UFO (which, thankfully or horrifically depending on your POV, doesn't have rubberband AI).

Shortening your locus in 5, avoiding grass, avoiding bombs, and picking up as many blue spheres on that route makes it consistent.

On the flipside, Stage 7 has a shit ton of corners you can cut and it's completely possible to easily nab the UFO at Mach 2.

edit: The relationship being the way the pickups are positioned in 5 (longer routes) puts you at a disadvantage, while the way pickups are placed in 7 (especially the bubbles) teach you to cut corners.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Easy Boss

Spoiler

Stand slightly to his left or right and keep your eye for on of those swing poles. Get on the pole aim for the spiders bumper butt. One jump off the pole equals spike contact.

Spoiler

I was using the poles.

One hit does not equal spike contact, the collision detection is very finicky about how you hit him vs where he tilts vs where he hits the spikes, and I'd say on average, half my hits were duds. Maybe more.

Oddly enough, my first run was going swimmingly until I got the timeout...