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Sonic Mania (2017) Online

Sonic Mania (2017) Online
2017 Lynn Harris Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Original Title :
Sonic Mania
Genre :
Video Game / Animation / Action / Adventure / Family / Fantasy / Sci-Fi
Year :
2017
Cast :
Lynn Harris,Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
Writer :
Christian Whitehead
Type :
Video Game
Rating :
8.8/10

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Following the events of Sonic & Knuckles (1994), Sonic and Tails receive a energy reading from Angel Island and board their biplane to investigate. However, Doctor Eggman sends an elite group of EggRobos to reach the signal before Sonic and Tails.

Sonic Mania (2017) Online

Following the events of Sonic & Knuckles (1994), Sonic and Tails receive a energy reading from Angel Island and board their biplane to investigate. However, Doctor Eggman sends an elite group of EggRobos to reach the signal before Sonic and Tails.
Credited cast:
Lynn Harris Lynn Harris - Amy Rose (voice)
Takenobu Mitsuyoshi Takenobu Mitsuyoshi - Announcer (voice)

This game isn't actually being made by sonic team themselves, instead it's being made by Christian Whitehead who is mostly known in the sonic community for his difinitive ports of the classic sonic games to IOS and Android devices.

This game will return to the 2D gameplay.

The game will have a mix of returning levels remixed (e.g. Green Hill Zone), brand new levels (e.g. Studiopolis) and scrapped/unused levels from the classic games (e.g. Mirage Saloon Zone, Formally Desert Dazzle from Sonic CD). The level ratio will be 60-40. 60% returning levels remixed and 40% new or unused levels.

Sonic Mania will have been in Development for 19 months by the time it comes out. This means Sonic Mania started development after Sonic Forces did and will finish before it too.

The PC version of the game was delayed a week later to fix bugs and for optimization, those who already pre-ordered the game on Steam will get a free copy of Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) for Steam.

The Chemical Plant act 2 boss is a reference to an old 1993 Sonic spinoff game called "Dr Robotniks mean bean machine" which is a "Puyo Puyo" styled game. You can unlock a seperate game mode dedicated to this if you collect enough Gold medallions.

There are a total of 12 zones. 8 Zones are remixes of existing zones from the classic games while the other 4 are brand new zones.

If you collect enough gold medallions you will unlock a "& Knuckles" mode which allows Knuckles to be your partner (although you can only do this in no save mode), however you can play as Knuckles while having "& Knuckles" activated causing 2 Knuckles to be on screen. If you beat the game like this you will unlock a secret ending where Knuckles reads a story called "Sonic Mania & Knuckles" to a group of woodland creatures.

The final level of the game, Titanic Monarch, is the longest level ever made in any 2D Sonic game.

Originally pitched under the name "Sonic Discovery." It was Takashi Iizuka, head of Sonic Team who came up with the title "Sonic Mania" stating that the project was "by the mania, for the mania."

Sonic Mania is the highest critically rated Sonic game in the last 15 years.

Sonic's running animation in this game is based on an unused running animation conceived for the original _Sonic the Hedgehog (1991/I)_ (VG).

The mock infomercial video of the Sonic Mania's Collector's Edition is a reference to the humorous television infomercial for a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 console bundle that debuted back in 1993. The fake "suggested price" of $6,231,991 seen in the infomercial is a reference to the North American release date for the original Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) of June 23, 1991.

Once you beat the Studiopolis act 2 boss, the background TV will turn to dtatic and quietly emit an annoying buzzing sound. This is a reference to an official Livestream event to celebrate Sonic's 25th anniversary (where the game was first initially announced) which is infamous for its horrible technical issues, one of the major ones being an annoying buzzing that'll play throughout the majority of the stream. The numbers shown on the TV (072216) are the date of the stream (7/22/16).

Studiopolis Zone, which was also the pitch demo stage, also happens to share its name with the sound recording studio that has handled the dubbing for Sonic games since, Sonikku karâzu (2010). When developers discovered the name similarity they had considered changing the name but Sega insisted it was okay.

Sonic Mania would eventually be rereleased as "Sonic Mania Plus," which features a new game mode "Encore mode," 4 Player multiplayer, A physical release of the game. The biggest new feature in this version was the addition of 2 characters Mighty the Armidillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel, who are characters which were in the 90's Japanese arcade game "SegaSonic the hedgehog." and the former also appeared in Knuckles Chaotix. The two have been absent from the series since, although they did appear in the Archie comics.

An animated Spinoff series named Sonic Mania Adventures began to be released by the official Sonic YouTube channel March 29th 2018. The series is 2-5 minute long shorts which follows Classic Sonic returning to his world after the events of Sonic Forces. There will 5 episodes which will release monthly on the official Sonic YouTube channel

The story for Sonic Mania is a direct tie-in to the next upcoming Sonic game "Sonic Forces"


User reviews

Paxondano

Paxondano

With two Sonic games coming out this year, Sega starts off strong with Sonic Mania, essentially a love letter to the Genesis titles made by fan-game creator Christian Whitehead and using his Retro Engine. Basically, this game is what Sonic 4 Part 1 and 2, which were average games at best, should be.

The first thing I have to say is the level design is superb. They provide a nice balance between platforming and speed, and even with levels that were simply reused themes, such as Green Hill Zone, have some sort of twist. Controls are also nice and responsive (as far as gameplay is concerned) and works well with either single or duo Joy-Con play. The graphics also receive an upgrade from the Genesis. In fact, I could go as far as to say it's more like a 32x, maybe Saturn, game, and the animation is pretty fluid and bouncy. In the special stages, it goes into an Emerald Stage, which is chasing an UFO to catch get the Emerald, goes into a Saturn like style, which keeps use with the classic aesthetic the game has.

If there are some issues I have, they're small, but they are noticeable. First of all, this is the Switch version I'm reviewing, and these problems seem to be exclusive for the platform. Also, from what research I've did, the port to Switch was done by Tantalus Media, who were responsible for many licensed games, though they do port jobs such as Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD, Zombi (which is basically Zombi U for PS4, Xbox One, and PC), and the soon to be release Rime for Switch, so I can't blame the main devs themselves, and I can only imagine the company will do a better job with Switch games in the future. Anyway, one of these two issues is that the special stages, which I'm sure isn't that demanding on the Switch, does drop frames. They're not big dips like 60 fps all the way to 15 fps. It just drops down to the 50s for a second and that's it, and that's if you experience it. Another, more noticeable issue is that the Home and Screenshot buttons have a delay. Yeah, you heard that right. These two buttons have a delay on the Nintendo Switch, and sometimes, they don't even work. Again, they're not gamebreaking bugs, easily overlooked even, but it's kind of disappointing that they exist. They should be fixed whenever they release a patch though.

Simply put, this game is a love letter to the classic games of the Genesis, and whatever system you want it for, it's a must have, and even with the Switch version's problems, it's still the version I recommend getting, if you have one. It's simply that much of a blast, even without Blast Processing.

UPDATE: Due to a recent patch that was FINALLY delivered. Not only did they fix the Home button issue, but they added a separate button for Super Form, which is now X instead of tapping jump twice, so no accidental transformations.
Velellan

Velellan

(Review based on Steam PC version) After the mediocre two-episode "Sonic 4" I was more tempered with Sonic Mania. Even though Mania looked to be taking a few more pages from the classics on the Genesis era I still went in largely skeptical and a bit blase about it if only for the fact this looked to be another heavy embankment on nostalgia more than trying anything really new. Returning levels had been done and not done well prior and I was mostly set up for an average experience. Still the development team lead by Christian Whitehead who helped port many classics and made a name for himself in the ROM hacking community did give me some encouragement.

After three plays of Mania (Sonic+Tails, Tails, and Knuckles) I can say it's a worthy callback to the classics made by the hardest of hard core fans getting a sense more what made the originals good and not relying heavily on nostalgia. Besides Sonic 1-3&K we have homages and little hints towards every game in Sonic's long history. Sounds and nods to even the 8Bit Sonic games, Sonic CD, Genesis era games, a little of the 3D era and even Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine are all represented here and it works. Sporting new level aesthetics and character animations add extra touches and magic, such as lighting the oil on fire with a flame shield! Brilliant! Designs are like the classics (though let's not dig up the trivial "Waah Sonic has Green Eyes" nonsense) controls are like the classics everything is tightly focused and well polished as games that came before it.

The music is better replicating the old 16bit soundtracks, better than Sonic 4's bland midi synth. Tee Lopes makes fantastic new tracks and great remixes of old stages too, but nothing musically will ever beat Sonic 3 & Knuckles but this comes pretty close. Still I didn't care for the mini boss music or the renditions of Stardust Speedway, which was based mostly on the Japan tracks which personally I found inferior to the U.S. Mixes and to the original. The original stages shine brightly and my praises there. My personal favorite has to be Lava Reef Zone 2 with the added guitars.

The game's fault lies in the fact it had to go back to old stages again, 60% of the game is remade old stages. The stages do have many new added gimmicks and aesthetics to shake it up, more original stages. The ideas are there and whether by over cautiousness or executive meddling to much of this game is the old with a new coat of paint. Nevertheless I didn't find them boring or uninteresting so there is that.

Mysteriously, moves like the Insta-Shield from Sonic 3 are absent from the main game. They are in the game but they're unlockables if you collect all the medals and only works in the No-Save game. This begs the question as to why something that should be in theory a standard move is behind an unlock wall and only in the No-Save game. There's also the super-peel out from CD though I didn't miss that much, I hardly used it in CD beyond the need to time jump but it's a fan favorite so I feel it should have been included.

Sonic Mania is terrific even though it relies heavily on the old to give us something new it still finds ways to innovate the old without reinventing the wheel.
Thordibandis

Thordibandis

Congratulations to Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, and PagodaWest for somehow making a far better Sonic game than the actual Sonic team themselves in 2017, as this game is just fantastic in almost every way. The visuals are vibrant, colorful, and just full of life while staying true to the classic visual formula. The level designs are great and offer plenty of challenge while also being creative. Despite most of this game consisting of previous stages, this game has 4 new ones, which each are amazing and look fantastic while staying true to classic Sonics level design. The music in this game is fantastic as well, as it takes some classic music from the Sonic games on the Sega Genesis and adds a more updated sound, while also being fresh, yet still nostalgic with new themes for new stages in this game as well. The boss battles are also great, as not only do they take some elements from previous great boss battles from the Genesis games, but they also feel fresh as most of them have a new twist on them that are very creative and fun. The special stages for collecting Chaos Emeralds are very fun, as they are very similar to how Sonic CD worked, while mixing it with the Sonic 3 and Knuckles special stages with having to pick up blue balls, but only this time, the blue balls make you faster and the rings give you more time. It's an overall very fun and somewhat challenging special stage that really works. Speaking of the special stages from Sonic 3 and Knuckles, they are fully in this game as well, but instead of going after Chaos Emeralds this time, it's for tokens that unlock amazing stuff in the extras. I won't go to into what it unlocks so that I don't spoil anything, but the things that you unlock with these tokens are very worth it, and the more you collect, the more you unlock. This adds a lot of replay value to this game and I think that this was a great idea. Overall, this is just a fantastic game that stays true to the classic sonic formula, while adding so much more to make this game a truly unforgettable game that will live on as one of the best 2D Sonic games ever. And the fact that a group of Sonic fans can make such an amazing game like this while the Sonic team made the okay at best Sonic Forces is very dissapointing to me, as it shows how much the Sonic team has lost their touch of what made Sonic games so great to begin with, while this game emphasizes it to the extreme, as, again, this game is epic. Don't get me wrong. The Sonic team has made many great games after the Genesis era, like Adventure, Adventure 2, Heroes, Unleashed, Colors, Generations, etc., so I know they can do it. But the fact that this game is still much better than some of those examples is honestly kind of mind boggling. Anyways, I recommend this game to everyone who is a Sonic fan, as this has all the fundamentals of classic Sonic games while adding a ton to it for a nostalgic, yet fresh and amazing experience, as this is everything that a 2D Sonic game should be, and more.
Wat!?

Wat!?

I will start of by saying I am not a fan of sonic the hedgehog. The series has always had a lot of misses for me which is why I never got into it like many other people did. But I won't say the series as a whole is bad far from it. There are games In the series I really like such as Sonic 2, 3&Knuckles, Generations, Mania (which is what I reviewing right now), Rush, Unleashed, All stars racing Transformed, Sonic CD, Colors, Advance 1, Pocket adventure and sonic Riders which is a guilty pleasure of mine. This is one of the best games in the series that's not even made by Sonic Team. The people who made this did a fantastic job with it's soundtrack, visuals, controls, Content, level design, gameplay, and everything that makes an excellent 2D platformer. It's also full of refences to other games in the series which is great for long time fans and even to non sonic fans like myself. It has the save system from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, The ability to play as five characters if you download the DLC which is worth it by the way. The games bonus stages are fun as hell and the levels themselves are fast and well designed. It's basically like 3 & Knuckles but with more expanded on it. It's also one of the more challenging games in the series as well as having fun boss fights and some of them are creative. I may not be into sonic like a lot of other people are but I won't lie in saying that this game is amazing and is worth any gamers time/money.
Centrizius

Centrizius

Get this game, it is truly one of the very best, in the entire series and in the platform genre itself.