Sonic Mania [spoiler-free discussion]

[ScoopJohn]

NO SPOILERS. I'm playing the game yet and it'll take some days for me to finish it because i'm not intending to continue it all the time since i'm in vacation.

Sonic Mania is a really twisting game that was made by a group of Sonic fans and SEGA officially published it to demonstrate how kind fans are to SEGA. I've been playing this game since a week ago after waiting for the PC release to fix the Denuvo offline fix (but the Denuvo thing is still there) and i've got to Mirage Saloon Zone so far.

I've gotta love the graphics, the music and the awesome effort they took to make spectacular bosses. Thought i haven't really played the Sonic classic games, it has really worked for me as a great classic Sonic game for beginners, and it's literally the best old zones mashed up with few originals to this game. I once used to not care about buying the game during the times when Studiopolis Zone's music was around, until the last days before the PC release wanted me to try this game, just because of the amazing soundtrack.

Anyone should feel free to talk about it here, too.

 

[taarna23]

I have it, and I watched a friend play for a few hours. I'm really grateful they fixed the always-online issue, but I have mixed feelings about Denuvo. Just because it doesn't impact my playing of the game does not make it a good thing at all.

However, it's been awesome so far, and I REALLY suck at those collect-the-spheres bonus level things. I haven't finished one yet. =\

 

[Seacliff]

I wasn't worried about the game because I trust Whitehead and his team, but I was worried about the future of 2D Sonics before the announcements because each 2D series Dimps have worked on seemed to be worse than the last (Advance to Rush to Sonic 4)

I REALLY love this game. For some reason, it's not really hitting my nostalgia bone the same way Sonic Generations did (and I grew up with the classics) but it's by far one of the most refined 2D Sonics to date. I own it on Switch and already completed the game with all the Chaos Emeralds as Sonic and as Knuckles.

I'd say my only major complaint like many others have said before me, is the lack of original level themes. Sure, some returning levels are nice. But seeing Green Hill for the 20th time (It was in Sonic 1, Sonic Blast, Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Advance, Sonic Generations... and more not even counting the Green Hill clones like Green Hills Zone, Mecha Green Hill Zone, Turquoise Hill Zone, or Sunset Hill Zone) left a bit to be desired. The selection of old zones is still good, but the original levels in this game are by far the highlights.

Also, if you liked this game @ScoopJohn, I highly recommend following up with Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It's around the same difficulty level, length, and has a similar take on level design.

 

[yajirobi]

curious why the made the game so easy. sonic 1 and 2 were hard games.

 

[ScoopJohn]

I'm not checking out to play 3 & Knuckles because the story of Sonic Mania clearly states that it takes place after the third classic game, but what i've seen is that it basically Sonic travelling to his past locations.

Oh yeah, i forgot to tell that i currently have two chaos emeralds so far, but i am afraid i won't be able to get all of them because i've only found three of the many hidden shortcuts to the chaos emerald levels, two are what i've successfully found two of the emeralds, and one what i've failed.
Hope i'll not get a bad ending if i don't have all the chaos emeralds.

 

[Aoi Ninami]

For my part, I'm really happy they included so many zones from the classic games. I love the original games, but one thing that's a bit disappointing (especially in Sonic 1 and 2; 3 improves on this) is that there are only a few different routes through the zones, and it doesn't take too long before you've seen all there is to see. That's definitely not the case here; even though some levels (like Green Hill 1) are clearly based on the original layouts, they've added so much!

Also, it's just nice to have all the best zones collected in one game, instead of spread across three and mixed in with some less inspired zones (Metropolis....) Sure, there are others they could have included, but it's a really good selection and I'm happy with what we got. I just hope there will be a follow-up with more old zones and more new ones. Or the best thing of all, a level editor

The other thing I'm really happy about is the music. They remixed some of the best music from the original games and managed to improve it. Flying Battery 2 is even more fist-pumpingly awesome, and I love what they did with Oil Ocean.

 

[readydotexe]

I recently bought after playing it with a friend, and it has been real fun
and that multiplayer mode (not the tails one) was awesome, it's really a shame that they put Denuvo on the pc version

 

[ScoopJohn]

Boys i just beat Sonic Mania today... but what i have feared is that i got the memorable "Try Again" screen for when you don't have all the chaos emeradls... i don't have time to get all the chaos emeralds from my save file, but i'll have to look up for the hidden ring teleports for the Emerald stages, and then rebeat the final boss.

The bosses are amazingly vibrating and smooth like i've expected, and i didn't remember Oil Ocean being also a classic zone.
My favourite zone is Green Zone, my favourite bosses are these special EggRobo bosses (i don't remember their actual name), but my worst zone is goddamn Oil Ocean because i keep thinking if the oil was the "lava", and the worst boss is the Act 2 boss in Oil Ocean. Well, let's just say the entirety of Oil Ocean was full of crap even thought i didn't die a lot in there, but i'd remind that i started to die a lot after Hydrocity Zone, i wanted to beat the game without game overs but that has stopped wishing me about it.

Disappointing that i have no Extras unlocked, and i don't think i would plan to replay it with Tails and Knuckles.

When i come back from vacation i'll enjoy the soundtrack!