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Sonic Mania |OT| Dreams Come True
- Thread starter Hot Coldman
- Start date
I'm just gonna make a big-ass post about all the delightful things I remember in Sonic Mania aside from the ones everyone already talks about.
- there is a very short half-measure nod to the sonic 3 data select music in the mania data select music!
- splats the bunny, the formerly cut badnik, now literally splats ink
- the special stage ring hidden under a random-ass set of spikes in flying battery zone in s3k is present and accounted for in mania
- the random sign in studiopolis act 2 you can flip the letters on to say "lock on" and it makes a little tune, which is so pointless and dumb and perfect and exactly like something a classic sonic game would do and i love it
- the reference to fucking japanese master system manuals in the studiopolis act 2 boss, that is some Obscure Shit
- good: the little marble garden wheels you spindash in ssz1 bounce you if you spindash on top of them! bad: they just put you in the regular roll animation, not the spindash animation like s3k did
- all of stardust speedway act 2, I literally paused the game 30 seconds in to the stage to wipe tears from my eyes because it was just wonderful
- when the metal sonic fight started i suddenly found myself being pulled up by tails and it didn't snap to me at first why until i realized that my fingers instinctually started trying to do a super peel-out with up+jump before the fight began hahahaha
- laughed out loud when game gear silver sonic showed up
- metal sonic's energy ball ability is a nod to the knuckles "super mecha sonic" fight in s3k
- the sonic 2 mobile hidden palace underwater badniks appearing in hydrocity!
- the hydrocity act 1 boss basically being an inverse of the original game's act 2 boss. robotnik's animations here are so good
- mirage saloon 1's boss isn't great to play but it's a giant fucking caterkiller and i love that on principle
- i lost my shit when bark the polar bear showed up out of nowhere to take down the tornado
- quartz quadrant treadmills in lava reef act 2! QQ is one of my favorite SCD zones so i'm glad it got a cameo (in another crystal-themed zone to boot)
- i hope someone makes a longer post about this - i was a friend, but there were people closer to him than me that will appreciate this even more than i do. i'm pretty fucking sure the motobug the lava reef act 2 boss rides, and that the digital manual names "jimmy", is an homage to polygonjim, a sonic retro member who passed away in 2013. he made a mod where you play as a motobug in sonic 1, which jumps almost identically to "jimmy" in this game. this is a wonderful thing for the devs to include and i am very thankful to them for it.
- i lost my shit when i approached the giant bomb (nice) enemy in metallic madness and expected it to start ticking only for it to open and reveal a smaller bomb which then opened to reveal a yet smaller bomb. it's so good
- loved the going-into-the-background stuff in metallic madness. it felt like a nice nod to the mini-sonic bits of the original, and then they brought back the mini-sonic bits in act 2 too!
- the sonic 1 final boss recreation at the end of mmz1 got rid of my cheese strat of just standing off to the side by adding an extra crusher, haha.
- the balls from the scrap brain bear fuckers in titanic monarch zone explode after a few bounces instead of bouncing at you from a mile off screen, thank you
- splats the bunny, the formerly cut badnik, now literally splats ink
- the special stage ring hidden under a random-ass set of spikes in flying battery zone in s3k is present and accounted for in mania
- the random sign in studiopolis act 2 you can flip the letters on to say "lock on" and it makes a little tune, which is so pointless and dumb and perfect and exactly like something a classic sonic game would do and i love it
- the reference to fucking japanese master system manuals in the studiopolis act 2 boss, that is some Obscure Shit
- good: the little marble garden wheels you spindash in ssz1 bounce you if you spindash on top of them! bad: they just put you in the regular roll animation, not the spindash animation like s3k did
- all of stardust speedway act 2, I literally paused the game 30 seconds in to the stage to wipe tears from my eyes because it was just wonderful
- when the metal sonic fight started i suddenly found myself being pulled up by tails and it didn't snap to me at first why until i realized that my fingers instinctually started trying to do a super peel-out with up+jump before the fight began hahahaha
- laughed out loud when game gear silver sonic showed up
- metal sonic's energy ball ability is a nod to the knuckles "super mecha sonic" fight in s3k
- the sonic 2 mobile hidden palace underwater badniks appearing in hydrocity!
- the hydrocity act 1 boss basically being an inverse of the original game's act 2 boss. robotnik's animations here are so good
- mirage saloon 1's boss isn't great to play but it's a giant fucking caterkiller and i love that on principle
- i lost my shit when bark the polar bear showed up out of nowhere to take down the tornado
- quartz quadrant treadmills in lava reef act 2! QQ is one of my favorite SCD zones so i'm glad it got a cameo (in another crystal-themed zone to boot)
- i hope someone makes a longer post about this - i was a friend, but there were people closer to him than me that will appreciate this even more than i do. i'm pretty fucking sure the motobug the lava reef act 2 boss rides, and that the digital manual names "jimmy", is an homage to polygonjim, a sonic retro member who passed away in 2013. he made a mod where you play as a motobug in sonic 1, which jumps almost identically to "jimmy" in this game. this is a wonderful thing for the devs to include and i am very thankful to them for it.
- i lost my shit when i approached the giant bomb (nice) enemy in metallic madness and expected it to start ticking only for it to open and reveal a smaller bomb which then opened to reveal a yet smaller bomb. it's so good
- loved the going-into-the-background stuff in metallic madness. it felt like a nice nod to the mini-sonic bits of the original, and then they brought back the mini-sonic bits in act 2 too!
- the sonic 1 final boss recreation at the end of mmz1 got rid of my cheese strat of just standing off to the side by adding an extra crusher, haha.
- the balls from the scrap brain bear fuckers in titanic monarch zone explode after a few bounces instead of bouncing at you from a mile off screen, thank you
NoctisVsStar
Member
Coins are so generous this time around, just replaying GZ I got 17 1ups granted I'm doing all the emeralds at the moment. Let's see how the final one is.
BassForever
Member
I only need one more gold in blue sphere, how are you supposed to get all the coins in the stage that is 4 blue sphere and 8 coins where the level is basically a square?
Edit, figured it out, jank ass cutting through the middle among a thousand bumper hell
Edit, figured it out, jank ass cutting through the middle among a thousand bumper hell
FleetingFlowAir
Member
That Blue Sphere stage where you have to follow the loop of jumping and then going left took me too many tries. At least they just toss you a gold medal for it, and I've cleared all of the Blue Spheres since I don't care about gold medals as this is the Switch version.
I Wanna Be The Guy
U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!
I hate that Switch doesn't have trophies.
StarCreator
Member
It's not too laggy doing that? Last time I tried to play a rhythm game via remote play, it was barely playable due to the introduced lag.
celsowmbr
Banned
Thanks for the hint!
I wish my memory was weakened over time already, as I think I'm the only one not in love with this game right now.
It's not bad but I remember too much of the older games that when mechanics return, I am not wowed but kind of underwhelmed. This hit peak meh for me with Stardust Speedway, mixing that messy Sonic CD level design feel with my most disliked Sonic 3 stage, Marble Garden mechanics of pulleys and such.
It's well made, but like..I dunno. I'm not trying to hate on it, but I'm not in love with it. And I usually love platformers.
It's not bad but I remember too much of the older games that when mechanics return, I am not wowed but kind of underwhelmed. This hit peak meh for me with Stardust Speedway, mixing that messy Sonic CD level design feel with my most disliked Sonic 3 stage, Marble Garden mechanics of pulleys and such.
It's well made, but like..I dunno. I'm not trying to hate on it, but I'm not in love with it. And I usually love platformers.
balladofwindfishes
Member
Is there some trick to
That was half an hour down the drain
the Titanic Monarch boss? There appears to be several times when damage feels unavoidable. Like if he fires missiles right before he charges electricity
That was half an hour down the drain
Just beat Sonic CD and my Final Ranking of the classic games is:
Mania > CD > Sonic 3 + K = Sonic 2 (version with playable Knuckles included) > Sonic 1.
Really enjoyed playing through CD moreso than i expected the past and future stuff is pretty cool imo and i liked it alot how it changed up the stages + music etc. And dat Metal Sonic fight was awesome as heck so was that stardust stage + metalic madness.
I can see why the taxman remaster got such high scores game is damn good and i loved the super peel out ability.
Mania is my no 1 Sonic game that game is amazing and after playig CD the stages kinda are like that game a bit and i like that alot. Last time i played CD was as a kid and i think i got to that pinball boss and never got any further.
But anyway i like all classic like games tbh they are so good and i grew up with modern Sonic and always was more of a fan of that but now that's changed i prefer the classic gameplay now but i don't mind the modern sonic games i also like those quite alot.
Dat CD intro was hype tho and so was the ending same case for Mania
Mania > CD > Sonic 3 + K = Sonic 2 (version with playable Knuckles included) > Sonic 1.
Really enjoyed playing through CD moreso than i expected the past and future stuff is pretty cool imo and i liked it alot how it changed up the stages + music etc. And dat Metal Sonic fight was awesome as heck so was that stardust stage + metalic madness.
I can see why the taxman remaster got such high scores game is damn good and i loved the super peel out ability.
Mania is my no 1 Sonic game that game is amazing and after playig CD the stages kinda are like that game a bit and i like that alot. Last time i played CD was as a kid and i think i got to that pinball boss and never got any further.
But anyway i like all classic like games tbh they are so good and i grew up with modern Sonic and always was more of a fan of that but now that's changed
i prefer the classic gameplay now but i don't mind the modern sonic games i also like those quite alot.Dat CD intro was hype tho and so was the ending same case for Mania
NoctisVsStar
Member
SSJ-Sonic is OP Lawd.
Stay in the corner when the electricity comes.. once it's over, attack.
Stay in the corner when the electricity comes.. once it's over, attack.
you can avoid the missiles by staying put, they track you so dash away
Jaded Alyx
Member
Arguably my favourite zone from Sonic 3, I spent the entirety of Act 1 wondering wtf they did to it. Very much disappointed.
Then Act 2 came and I was like, "....oh!".
Poimandres
Member
Right, so this game was barely on my radar. I grew up with Sonic 1 through S+K (with Master System 1 and 2 for good measure). After that, I've never really enjoyed a Sonic game and basically lost interest in the series. With the great reviews and impressions I suddenly became hyped and picked it up.
This game... is superb! I didn't realize how much I missed classic Sonic, and the new elements are inventive, surprising and very well integrated. Great music too. Can't wait to play more.
This game... is superb! I didn't realize how much I missed classic Sonic, and the new elements are inventive, surprising and very well integrated. Great music too. Can't wait to play more.
balladofwindfishes
Member
evilromero
Member
Are the special stages unlocked in Time Trial like in CD?
Khaos Kontrol
Banned
Titanic Monarch Act 2 has to be the worst designed level in the entire Sonic series. Holy shit on a stick.
Just get in the middle area on the opposite edge to him, he can't hit you when he expands as it won't reach to the edge
TheCongressman1
Member
There are parts of act 1 that are really cool, but the level doesn't flow quite right. Act 2 is better, even if it's not much different than the original Zone. Pretty let down on that, it's the one I wanted to see the most.
OrbitalBeard
Member
I wouldn't go that far, but it's the only level in the game I don't love.
valinthyne
Member
LordKasual
Banned
I enjoyed that level better than most of the others.
Because it was fresh. And the boss was actually pretty sick.
And because it fiercely reminded me of a Megaman X game
It's probably my favorite stage in the game honestly.
Nah, it's not as bad as Wacky Workbench. That said the type of level Titanic Monarch Act 2 is does not belong in a Sonic game.
OrbitalBeard
Member
Dr. Kitty Muffins
Member
DLC alternative music tracks would be great.
LordKasual
Banned
The original stages were all awesome.
It took me a while to notice WTF was going on in TM Act 2, but once I did i was all over it.
balladofwindfishes
Member
It wasn't too bad if you have experience with Sonic 3's bonus levels.
Strangely it took me less time to do Act II than Act I.
It's like an unholy love child of Sonic CD and Sonic 3's two types of bonus stages.
That's pretty cool hopefully that means other platform releases later, I'd love to pick up the soundtrack it's pretty amazing.
I share the same complaint. The stage music of most levels shits all over the super theme.
LordKasual
Banned
This has been a problem since f o r e v e r with sonic games
Sonic Generations is the ONLY game to fix this
It was a good idea in Sonic 2, when the SS theme was entirely unique and activating it means you're usually going to beat the stage in less than a minute.
But ever since Sonic 3 & K, you're stuck listening to the same 9 second loop for like 4 minutes
Act 2 is way too fucking long, in a game where I already expected most levels to be a little overdoing it. Easily the worst level in the game - people saying it's better than CD levels, yeah, that's because CD is garbo.
This is Ball Hog. He is a pig.
You are correct, but for some reason my brain has always registered it as a teddy bear since I was a kid.
I didn't get the complaints about special stage 5 until I went back and tried it again as knuckles
I must've gotten really lucky the first time cause this shit feels unfair
I'm trying to keep my thoughts about sonic CD positive thanks
I must've gotten really lucky the first time cause this shit feels unfair
I'm trying to keep my thoughts about sonic CD positive thanks
yeah that zone kinda sucks tbh and the boss is really annoying. I was stuck there this morning.
Waddle Dee
Member
Hydrocity
besides maaaybe Flying Battery Zone since that stage is also godlike in 3&K and the spider boss in this version wasn't executing well imo
I think the stages that benefited the most from the remixed designs were
Chemical Plant and Metallic Madness
NoctisVsStar
Member
You have to get the power-up in order to beat that stage.
Vegetable Lasagna
Member
I hope they patch it soon. If I receive a notification or access the OS on Xbox the game fps drops to the teens and never recovers. If I receive any other notifications after that it will dip to single digits. Once that happens every game (e.g. Overwatch) is also a stuttering mess until I reboot the system.
It's straight up unacceptable having to turn off my notifications and then avoid accessing the OS just to play a game. And even then that lasts 5 minutes until I instinctively tap the Xbox button to check my friends list etc. I could use the Xbox app on my phone, but screw that. Going to shelve this for a bit unfortunately.
Come on Sega... and even MS. How did these issues get through QA and the cert process? Shit happened to me within 2 minutes of playing when an achievement notification popped. meh.
It's straight up unacceptable having to turn off my notifications and then avoid accessing the OS just to play a game. And even then that lasts 5 minutes until I instinctively tap the Xbox button to check my friends list etc. I could use the Xbox app on my phone, but screw that. Going to shelve this for a bit unfortunately.
Come on Sega... and even MS. How did these issues get through QA and the cert process? Shit happened to me within 2 minutes of playing when an achievement notification popped. meh.
Waddle Dee
Member
Sonic CD is amazing visuals (love the trippy look to everything) and a great soundtrack regardless of what region you play it in, but the level design is often very sloppy. Not terrible by any means, and there are some really cool hazards in each zone, but the level design itself is cluttered and lacks any sense of focus.
Mania mixes a lot of the best of CD with the best of 3&K, though I think 3&K is a stronger game overall.
balladofwindfishes
Member
I like the (mostly) lack of bottomless pits in this game
Shil Pencer
Member
Came in to talk about the insane performance issues on Xbox one I guess this is known? The game is unplayable for me