rev up the sonic cycle: Sonic Mania

[Goemar]

I think you hit the nail on the head early in your post. Like a horror movie franchise, yes, Sonic is now a paradoy of itself.

Thaf is exactly what this game looks to be.

[Dolphman]

Tee Lopes' 16-bit rendition of Mirage Saloon Zone Act 2.

[Dolphman]

Here is Linkin Pa-er, I mean Infinite's theme song.

Little preview of him.


And now for some heartbreaking news: The Archie comics are dead!  (INB4 blame Ken Penders)
If another publisher picks up the license. Please be either IDW or Boom!

[Dolphman]

Well now. The comics are going to IDW! This excites me very much. (TMNT crossover pls)
Also, this tweet. XD

[miyabi95_]

guh that ken penders drama was a headache and a half. super glad i was too young to notice it back then.

[Kriven]

I wonder what the publisher change means for Princess Sally and the others...

Those are honestly the Sonic supporting characters to me. I grew up with that roster. The games... they were all over the place. Never really felt like I *knew* any of the characters in them. But the Freedom Fighters...

[Goemar]

In all honesty I think a complete reboot would be the best option. If Sally and the freedom fighters are in it, fair enough - but let the writers and artists make that choice.

I just hope this hasn't been done so Sega has more control, comics are always better when left alone...

(And yes, me and everyone else want a Turtles cross-over...)

[Kriven]

I mean, I'm fine with them ignoring the plots that the Archie comics have done. I think I'm pretty fine with them ignoring most of the Archie supporting cast (Mina, Julie-Su, etc.). Just want mah freedom fighters.

Basically, if they want to start the story over from scratch, that's fine. I just want the characters I care about to be in it :p

[miyabi95_]

i really do appreciate the freedom fighters too. they really work well as part of the whole story (including SatAM) as opposed to a bunch of overly-quirky characters who are always the butt-end of a joke. freedom fighters are a perfect alternative for anyone who wants a more serious interpretation of sonic lore.

and i'll shamelessly admit that i sorta like the romance drama that happens among them too.

[Dolphman]

The problem with the romance is that it was too distracting, and in some cases, put Sally in Mary Sue territory.
Doesn't help that most writers treat Sally as their favourite.

If IDW does find a way to use non-game characters, I hope they do their own thing with them rather than copy Archie.
Besides those from SATAM. AOSTH has plenty of characters that, as goofy as they were, have potential.
Though there's low chances of OVA, X, and Underground characters being used. The latter considered an embarrassment.
And the former two have different rights holders. Not quite fully owned by Sega.

Anyway. Here's the special stage theme for Sonic Mania.

[Dolphman]

Bought Mania on my Switch as soon it was midnight. Not long finished it with Sonic & Tails. Now to try and get all the Chaos Emeralds.
Here's a playlist of the OST. (Spoiler warning for those who haven't fully played it yet)

[Cloud6625]

I am so upset right now. I've been super hyped for Mania, constantly watching the opening animation every day leading up to its release, and just about 3 days before it was supposed to come out, the pc version got delayed until August 29. I don't currently own any current gen consoles at the moment and anybody I know that does own one wouldn't be interested enough to get Sonic Mania so I can play it off theirs, so I have no way to play it until August 29...

@Dolphman Thanks, now at least I can listen to the excellent OST until then.

[Kosheh]

Playing it on the Switch and loving every second of it omg. This is a really good game.

One of the game's secret unlockables is hilarious and i wanna talk about it but I'd rather yall play blind and find it yourself

I wouldn't be too upset honestly about the PC delay - I'd rather have a PC game that works great on launch than a buggy release, and that's what it sounds like Sega was trying to avoid. The console releases of the games have some bugs too (my friend somehow managed to get stuck in a wall in a stage) but yeah personally I'm most excited about the PC release because I can play it with a USB genesis controller and experience true nostalgia trippin.

[kadashyto]

I looooved sonic mania its so cool

[DioShiba]

You know, I've been playing this game alot lately and HOLY shit I love it.

I still am kind of griping though that, There aren't a whole lot of original zones in the game. A lot of the zones so far have been re-introduced from the past three games and that's a wee bit disappointing.

Spoilers and context about why I feel a little disappointed.

Actually, I can litterally go off the top of my head on what's taken from what from everything that I've played so far:
Sonic 1: Green Hill Zone
Sonic 2: Chemical Plant Zone, Elements from Mirage Saloon if you count Sonic 2's unused content
Sonic C : Stardust Speedway, Metallic Madness
Sonic 3: + Sonic and Knuckles: Flying Battery, Lava Reef, Oil Ocean

I was already half expecting the death egg to make a come back without half of these levels but given how many I've seen so far make a comeback it's almost easy for me to say that it will and to me knowing that Studiopolis, Press Garden, and Titanic Monarch are the only three fully original zones in the entire game, It's kind of feels somewhat disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I know they put alot of effort into making these zones fresh but with Stealth having worked on this game too, I kind of wished that Chris Whitehead had asked him if it was alright to bring some of the ideas from Sonic Megamix into the game too. Yeah it's a Rom Hack but mind you this is a game made by fans, and given Sonic Megamix hasn't had been heard of in such a long time now because of the heap of issues that stealth ran into back in 2015 it would have been awesome to see some of those concepts in full form.

I mean hell I would have LOVED to see this zone in particular make it into Mania over anything else.



Maybe Stealth could convince Sega and maybe even get Chris Whitehead on this to actually pitch Megamix to them and make it an official game? It's kind of a long shot given legal stuff I'd imagine but I guess this is in part because I feel like so much more could have been done with Mania.

I'm not saying that any of this detracts from the game by any means, but it's just knowing that these guys had a lot of creative opportunities here would have had me playing hours on end you know?

But yeah, other than that this is a game I could see myself playing hours on end.