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Sonic Mania - a new 2D Sonic game that looks like it will be good

Started by Twed, July 23, 2016, 02:07:26 PM

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Consignia

It's really a blast this game. Definitely the worth successor to 3 & Knuckles. I've tried to avoid spoilers, since there's so many lovely touches such as Chemical Plant Zone and Stardust Speedway bosses, I'd love to have come in at those blind. Sadly not, but it's still a joy to play. I've had two game overs which I don't I've had in a Sonic game since the 2D age.

One of the things I love is that whilst the zones may be styled after one from the past, they take elements from other zones. e.g. Stardust Speedway act 1 has loads of Marble Garden gimmicks in it. Flying Battery act 2 cribs loads from Wing Fortress Zone.

Mass_Panic

This is great - exactly what I want in a Sonic game. No obnoxiously talkative furry friends, no stupid 3d gameplay gimmicks, no cringe-inducing pop-punk soundtrack. It's just good old fashioned Sonic, the way it should be and I hope they make more of it.

Jerzy Bondov

This is terrific. However I don't really like having Blue Spheres on the starposts. I spent more time playing Blue Spheres than playing the actual game last night. I know you can just ignore it but I've just got to jump in them portals.

asids

Glad to hear this is getting good reviews. I'll definitely be picking it up when it comes out for PC and when my frugalism dictates what's an acceptable price to pay for it.

AsparagusTrevor

I was a massive Sonic fan when I was a young un and I still fire up the old games from time to time- in fact I played all through Sonic 3 & Knuckles (for about the billionth time) a couple of months ago.

I assumed this was gonna be shit like the last two decades worth of Sonic games but when I read all the positive reviews I jumped straight on Steam and pre-ordered it. Then I realised it was already out for the consoles so I refunded the Steam pre-order and got it on PS4 instead.

I haven't had chance to play yet but I'm really glad people seem to be enjoying it and maybe it might make Sega actually listen up and realise what people actually want from a Sonic game, which is the opposite of what Sonic Forces will likely be.

Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth


madhair60


Twed


Shay Chaise

Thanks to madhair60, brat sampson and people having similar moans to me on Reddit, I've been enjoying this a lot more. I'm now treating it as more like a Mario kind of explore the levels thing, with the slower pace and inertia just a different feel and challenge and with the faster flowing sections there as kind of transition. I've also pretty much ignored coins and powerups and I'm just trying to work my way through the levels and stay as high up as I can.

The zone after CPZ is fucking brilliant, by the way, and I really love the one-time environmental mechanics which seem to be dropped after one Act. Really full of imagination. I prefer the Mario style of exploring and being able to do everything first time but I can see myself replaying this once I'm done as it has its own rhythm and I feel the better I get, the more fun I'm having with it.

JamesTC

The third to last and second to last zones (a remake of a Sonic and Knuckles level and Sonic CD level respectively) are probably the two best zones in the game. I was especially impressed with the second to last level. The way it builds on a mechanic from Sonic CD was wonderful.

I've just finished it now with the no emeralds ending (two different bosses as with Sonic 3 and Knuckles). The last boss is a bit easy to be honest. I was kind of surprised there wasn't a second phase to it.

Replies From View

Quote from: Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth on August 16, 2017, 01:10:55 PM
Sixteen quid?!

I've half-watched a Let's Play type thing on youtube which is roughly how I used to experience computer games in the day - just sat/stood there while somebody else played.  For some reason I always get quite bored when I'm playing them myself and they have to take up all my attention.

I wouldn't have bought this game plus the system needed to play it anyway, but I am interested in everyone else's interest in it.  There's nostalgic value I can appreciate.

I doubt it'll ever come out on the mobile phones, but if it gets a release on iOS the way the classic Sonic games have, I might give it a spin.

Namtab

I swore I'd never buy a Sonic game that made me play a variation of Green Hill Zone again. Guess what familiar tune is coming out of my television right now?

I'm fucking weak.

Consignia

To be fair this is the best Green Hill they've ever made.

I've finished the main game as Sonic, just need to get all those bastard Emeralds. I really don't care for the special stages in this, but that's my experience with every Sonic ever, so a big thumbs up for consistency.

Twed

Quote from: Replies From View on August 16, 2017, 08:45:18 PM
I doubt it'll ever come out on the mobile phones, but if it gets a release on iOS the way the classic Sonic games have, I might give it a spin.
Surely not with on-screen controls? More power to you if you can enjoy that, but eww.

Replies From View

Quote from: Twed on August 16, 2017, 09:39:00 PM
Surely not with on-screen controls? More power to you if you can enjoy that, but eww.

Well I have a SNES controller that I bought so that I can use a SNES emulator for games like Super Mario World on my computer.  Other than that, nothing except keyboard/mouse/touchpad or my phone's touchscreen.

I'm not really a gamer.  Occasionally dig into the SNES and ZX Spectrum emulators, but not for long; I just get bored.

Twed

I do too, despite games being important to me for a good 30 years. I just don't care to play most of them now.

This gets played, however.

JamesTC

Quote from: Consignia on August 16, 2017, 09:37:39 PM

I've finished the main game as Sonic, just need to get all those bastard Emeralds. I really don't care for the special stages in this, but that's my experience with every Sonic ever, so a big thumbs up for consistency.

I've just finished getting the emeralds.

Once you finish you can use the save to go back to previous levels and you can use the same special ring to get them. Act 1 of Press Garden has a special ring very early on. Just after the two crabs throwing the disc at each other go down on the spinning tube and then left and you'll find the special ring. Takes about 30 seconds to get to. Once you get it you can save and exit.

Had a bit of fun running around as Super Sonic.

This was one of my least favourite special stages. I much preferred the Sonic CD special stage which I realise puts me in a minority.

Replies From View

This game's great it's everything I expected from Sonic; so many platform games are so predictable, but this one's brilliant.  It's definitely the best game out on the Mega Drive.  At first, Tails really bugged me; I tried to shake him off, but once you get used to him, he's great - he's an ally and not an enemy.  It's amazingly clever how they've done this, to create a second character which follows you around. 

This is a great bit - the animation that's gone into this is fantastic.

This level's great - just look at the background!  It's called the Casino Night; I think it's set in Las Vegas.  It's a brilliant idea for a game.  It's like he's trapped in a giant fruit machine.

I did get to the last level on my first go, but I'd still buy it; it's just a brilliant game.  There's so many different things to see and find.

-----

It's brilliant!!  It's even better than Sonic 1!!  I like the two-player game because you can play with your friends, instead of them just sitting there watching ya!

-----

This isn't my favourite [mumbles] game but it's very well programmed and there's some great ideas in 'ere.  Tez gets on ma nerves a bit but ah'd still definitely buy the game.   

-----

Final scores:

The boys gave it five out of five.

The girls were equally impressed:  five out of five from them too.

It lives up to the hype!!



Kolba

Sonic does get flack because when people realise it's not Mario they think it's an endless runner game. But Sonic is its own beast. It's like being at a theme park. "I feel like having a go on this red spring with a steep slope and 3 loop-the-loops which end with a ramp. Ooh, that was a rush! I need to calm down a bit now. Let's have a slow wander around, explore this alternate path and try and find a giant ring. Wonder where this tube goes..."

Quite soon you begin to be able to "read" Sonic levels and learn which parts are safe enough to just let momentum do its thing, and when you should exercise caution. And it's not about memorising levels, just recognising the placement of elements.

Anyway, a fantastic and worthy follow up to the original Mega Drive games, finally. I know we could go on about how it should have happened 20 years ago, but really I think this game could only exist right now. If it had appeared on the Saturn, Sega would have just been a laughing stock because that was a time for innovating in 3 dimensions. We kind of had to see 20 years of failed experiments of Sonic in 3D, combined with the rise of indie and retro game popularity, in order to breed the perfect environment for Sonic Mania to surface.

I've just finished all the levels on my first playthrough, with 4 emeralds. I really like the new special stages, and happy with the level of challenge they offer. Also pretty impressed with the size of the zones: quite often I came close to getting Time Outs, and I don't necessarily spend ages exploring. The variety of the zones is worth praising as well, going far beyond mere remakes. These are essentially completely new levels with familiar artwork (and even that is remixed heavily when getting to Act 2). The blue sphere special stage was always my favourite of the old games', so it's nice to see them return here (the level of challenge has been upped, I think!).

So many nice little touches and nods to previous games too. Even the idea that they've made a plot which explains why we're visiting zones from previous games is a joy. Makes a much more cohesive game than if the remixed zones were presented in the form of a mere gallery or museum of past Sonics.

Looking forward to my next playthrough already.

AsparagusTrevor

The fucking Flying Battery Zone boss can fuck right off, the bastarding cunt bastard. I got to that bit without dying and then blew 11 lives on that one boss.

Other than that, and me also being shit at the UFO bonus stages, it's a really great game. I was smiling continuously throughout. Except on the Flying Battery boss of course. Then I was swearing a lot.

brat-sampson

The time attack mode was such a cool addition. Not for me, but for people capable of shit like this.

Thursday

Seems kind of weird how some bosses it's really easy to keep reclaiming your rings and others it's very difficult to impossible. You would think it was a simple case of as you get further they try to stop from being able to rely on it, but it just seems kind of random.

There's some fairly rote bosses in here as well, which makes me wonder why they felt they need to put one at the end of every stage rather than just every act.

Let me save every stage and only have a boss every act, they got it back to front!
I realise they put some thought into this and most fans would probably disagree with me so fine.

But I'd enjoying it more that way, I know a common argument would be it let's you discover multiple routes through the levels, but I had intended to play through the game multiple times with tails and knuckles, but that desire has gone.

Kelvin

Quote from: Thursday on August 20, 2017, 02:48:44 PM
Seems kind of weird how some bosses it's really easy to keep reclaiming your rings and others it's very difficult to impossible. You would think it was a simple case of as you get further they try to stop from being able to rely on it, but it just seems kind of random.

There's some fairly rote bosses in here as well, which makes me wonder why they felt they need to put one at the end of every stage rather than just every act.

Let me save every stage and only have a boss every act, they got it back to front!
I realise they put some thought into this and most fans would probably disagree with me so fine.

But I'd enjoying it more that way, I know a common argument would be it let's you discover multiple routes through the levels, but I had intended to play through the game multiple times with tails and knuckles, but that desire has gone.

I haven't played this yet, but it sounds like a "classic mode" would have solved this. Have the main game let you save every stage, and the classic mode let you save every act, or if they wanted to make it really traditional, not at all.

brat-sampson

It has a No Save mode, if you want to be hardcore, or try out some of the weirder unlocks.


biggytitbo

Sega does what Nintendon't. At the very least it was taller



AsparagusTrevor

I've decided I don't like the blue-sphere stages on this game, the design just feels off. They feel like they've been designed to be random and individually practiced and memorised rather than following patterns and relying on quick reflexes like the old games.

popcorn

Quote from: AsparagusTrevor on August 23, 2017, 10:25:15 AM
I've decided I don't like the blue-sphere stages on this game, the design just feels off. They feel like they've been designed to be random and individually practiced and memorised rather than following patterns and relying on quick reflexes like the old games.

Half of them are the original stages.