![]() New stage Studiopolis fills the Casino Night slot, complete with obligatory gambling machines, while Sonic 3’s Hydrocity is the game’s water stage. While it’s arguable that the stage roster isn’t going to be everybody’s taste (we would have swapped Oil Ocean for Hill Top, Aquatic Ruins, or Ice Cap Zone) Mania still ticks all the right boxes, with lava, underwater, snow, airborne, and whirling mechanical stages all present. The result is a game that has far more personality than 2D Sonic games prior, chock full of memorable moments. This trend continues to the very end – familiar stages with new set-pieces intended to catch even long-time Sonic fans off guard. It’s here where the developers start to throw curve balls, with the constantly tight level design presenting dozens of unexpected moments. It starts off with a jaunt around good old Green Hill Zone, before propelling Sonic into Chemical Plant Zone a la Sonic 2. It’s a mixture of new and old, with classic reimagined levels alongside new. This was the best possible move SEGA could have made, and it’s the greatest thing to happen to Sonic in a long time. Sonic Mania is a game both by and for the fans a passion project that has clearly had countless hours lavished on it. Two more Sonic mobile conversions later, Christian was tasked with making a brand new Sonic game, working alongside Headcannon and PagodaWest Games – two other indie studios. The Australian programmer did such a good job at converting Sonic CD to mobiles, thanks to his proprietary Retro Engine, that SEGA not only made the port official but also released it on Xbox 360 and PS3. Sonic Mania is the work of one fan in particular – Christian Whitehead. ![]() It was the fans who stuck by Sonic through thick and thin, the fans who insisted Sonic could be brilliant once more, and the fans that suggested that SEGA take the ‘back to basics’ approach. SEGA’s once proud mascot has lost his way over the years, and Sonic’s sizeable fan base has seemingly taken it upon themselves to get the blue blur back on track. OOZ boss insta-kill is a bug and shouldn't be part of the discussion.Īnyway, I'm sure someone will mod lives out of Mania soon and then it'll be optional.The biggest compliment we can give Sonic Mania is that it feels like it was developed by a team who understands and loves the series more than SEGA themselves. Not a big deal if you beat the game and farm the GHZ rings though, but I learned about that through YT and not the game. I liked Sonic Time Twisted's mechanic of letting you buy more tries in them using your lives. Kinda the same deal with the special stages since you normally go fairly long between being able to practice them and learning to use the analog stick and jump in turns (the first isn't hinted at at all, second is only after a few courses IIRC but it's kinda subtle) makes things a lot easier. ![]() But I also liked the final level a bit more after learning it. Personally I was only frustrated with the real final boss, as I didn't get a chance to get a feel for the controls and patterns and game over'd on it a couple of times, getting impatient and losing lives in the prior level. If an entire zone is super easy and you only have trouble with the main boss though, then that part is simply unbalanced. It also makes exploration more meaningful, for more lives or super transformation besides new gimmicks you might've missed. Lives system adds tension and an endurance element to the challenge, which ideally results in more satisfaction from beating the game. a token you can trade for secrets (the way some roguelikes give you points you can spend on permanent bonuses at the end of a run). Maybe you could get the best of both worlds by making the lives system present but optional, or making 100 rings/1ups award some other benefit so they're still desirable, e.g. I should stress I'm not saying the game should be easier, in fact a more forgiving checkpoint system would mean you could afford to make things more challenging, all I'm opposed to is having to repeat several minutes of gameplay I've already proved I can do in order to get another try at the bit I'm actually having difficulty with. ![]() It could just be that I have less patience for games now I'm older and have less free time but the idea of having to replay a whole level just to have another crack at a boss I'm struggling against feels frustrating and more like artificial difficulty rather than a proper challenge. While I get that the lives system is there for authenticity I find myself wondering if as a mechanic it adds more than it takes away.
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