@@ContextuallyDeContextualized people on twitter are annoying and will pretend that "mania was never actually that good." Sonic discourse is mind numbing sometimes.
I'm gonna be honest, I'm really glad we got Mighty and Ray instead of Amy and Metal. Amy and Metal are cool and all, but it's nice to see forgotten characters (who, yes, do have their fans) get another chance. Plus Ray is so damn fun to play, I hope we get to see them again one of these days.
Yeah I think Amy and Metal were such basic answers when they had the opportunity to add any classic character back into the spotlight. Plus Ive been the #1 Mighty fan since I was 6 so
9:25 I think the main reason why they don’t let you use the drop dash when you have an elemental shield is so that the regular shield wouldn’t be obsolete.
I like it when there's tradeoffs to item pick-ups and they're not just unconditional power-ups. That said, Sonic's shields don't lean into this aspect enough for whatever reason, maybe it doesn't fit the flow of the game, so being disappointed that it's there at all and wanting access to dropdash/instashield at all times makes sense. Mania also places shields in tricky places often, there's a good reward factor there, it's not THAT unconditional I'd prefer it if the basic shield reflected projectiles and elemental shields didn't (if the basic shield _has_ to be in the game)
@@M4Dbratgood idea. making it deflect bullets would be really useful in situations where enemies are almost certain to damage you, like in flying battery.
I still cannot believe that the Knuckles Wall Spindash from Advance 3 is still not a stable of the series. But since it is not a classic thing, it's just forgotten. By the way, isn't it a weird decision to lock the shied abilities to only sonic, you get 5 playthroughs where 4 of them you don't give a f*** for the elemental shields. in 3&K they were a way to compensate for sonic not having a flashy ability like Tails and Knuckles, but now that is not necessary with the drop dash, so there is no need to keep it that way. I feel the same for Knuckles having a short jump, you don't have to keep that anymore. Ray's ability is much stronger and he doesn't get a short jump.
for what it's worth, superstars gets rid of his lowered jump lol id prefer having the elemental shields synergize w diff character abilities rather than copy paste moves that are clearly meant to affect sonic's moveset (fire dash as knuckles would be useless, etc) so maybe fire + glide would give you a stronger push forward, that sorta thing
They should give him Terence's mass from angry birds. That way, knuckles can have that power relevance like the power character that he's supposed to be.
My only gripe with the game is the lack of new levels, bringing back so many old levels just made it seem like an expansion pack or a remake, not a full on sequel. But by that standard, it's a magnificent remake.
Same. And as a Mario fan I like them in my Mario games too, though I won't go into my defense on why I think limited lives don't have to be inherently bad because I'd have too much to say and ramble on lol.
@@kingstarscream320 and overall skill, it encourages the player to get gud at the game through failure, trial and error... most good video games gives players challenge.
Ah, 2017, what an amazing time, i still remember when the game was released, after all this time, after 23 years, Sonic was universally loved again. With one of the most recognizable franchises in the world, you'd expect that to be the standard, but unfortunately that's not been the case, this time however we got a glimpse at that, and oh how it was beautiful. As many people pointed out Sonic is a franchise full of potential, and when you unleash that potential, you get something truly spectacular. This applies to almost all my favorite Sonic media, Archie Sonic, Sonic Generations and Sonic Mania, all achieved masterfully what they were trying to accomplish, when you give Sonic to a creator who truly cares about it, it's a 90% chance it will be something to truly be remembered, and the people who care about Sonic the most are obviously the fans, i've criticized the Sonic fandom in the past, but it's common internet knowledge that every fandom has its bad apples, despite there being Sonic fans who are toxic or even outright disgusting, the good side of the Sonic fandom however is the most fantastic thing ever, shoutout to all the people who care about Sonic enough to make this stuff, i grew up on Sonic fan content, flash games, flash animations and rom hacks, if it weren't for these things i might've not have grown up with Sonic at all. Back to 2017, i still remember that feeling, i don't know how big Sonic was in the 90's since i was born in the 2000's, but just seeing Sonic be so loved and get the recognition it deserved, it felt so good. About the game itself, it improved basically everything from the classic games, the music, the level design, the physics, the only exception to that is the story but who cares about that when just the game itself is this perfect, this felt like a tribute to Sonic, everything from the classics is back and better than ever! I have much respect for the good Sonic fans, and i hope the Sonic fandom only grows better and better from here forward. This is why i love this franchise so much.
I do personally disagree with the air levels simply because I think that's an iconic ingredient to the classic Sonic series. To not have it is like not giving Wonder Woman her invisible jet in WW84 or not giving Batman his bat jet in the Flash. That's what made Sonic movie 2 so memorable because they included the tornado or gave Tails an airplane to fly. It's those little things that I admire. What someone may think is a flaw to one person can probably be cool and great to another guy. I like the fact we give Tails a level where he can fly his tornado. Or at the very least, create mini games where you can just use the tornado plane to do other things like an air shooter or ring collector objective in the air.
Pariah! Been following for 2 years now (around your 06 reviews) and you’ve been most enjoyable to listen to! You’re well articulated, and very thoughtful. I’m here for your non-Sonic stuff at this point. Live well.
Sometimes I struggle to justify why I place Sonic 3&K as my favourite over Mania, because Mania is just *so* good. At this point, theyre on equal footing, because if Mania was completely new it would almost certainly be my all-time favourite Sonic game. It has the best level design, some of the best music of the more "classic" style, the best roster of characters with their own movement and level paths, the best Special Stages, and so on. My only major issue is the lack of narrative cohesion with all the reused stages and how I can't even tell what Eggman's plan is supposed to be. The ending is also very anticlimactic, and the final boss stinks. Also, your point about Mighty's Hammer Drop converting into horizontal momentum is exactly how it works in the Chaotix mod for SRB2. Highly recommend.
This was my first Sonic game, specifically Mania Plus on the Switch, I've been a Mario fan my whole life pretty much but had never played a Sonic game before. Saw people talking about it around the time of Switch hype when I was starting to pay attention to RU-vid more, especially with Mario Odyssey being promoted. Funnily enough it was an ad for Plus, replicating the two TVs like the old 90s Sonic commercial comparing Sonic 1 to Super Mario World, that said Sonic Mania was the highest rated Sonic game like ever that won me over to get into the series with this game, since it was finally on Switch. And man, what a great game to start with, initially there was quite a learning curve with the physics coming from Mario, I was confused and didn't like how Sonic can't just walk up slopes like Mario or how when I tried jumping while on a slope Sonic would jump diagonally away from it instead of straight up or the way I was running. But once I got the hang of things, man was it so much fun. Fantastic game, only issues I've really had are some bosses (mainly the Spider boss in Flying Battery, man the collision on that thing feels inconsistent as heck and you can also easily get locked into places where you have to take damage and it's really aggravating) and some collision problems with crushing being WAY too sensitive, a common critique of the Retro Engine Sonic releases (there's an area in Lava Reef where it's literally an open hallway on conveyor belts but if I just run through it normally I suddenly die out of nowhere to literally nothing regardless of ring count because it detects a false crush for some reason), but that's it. And the MUSIC is absolutely fantastic, Tee Lopes killed it, I listen to it on my own time frequently. Haven't gotten around to doing Knuckles' playthrough or Encore Mode yet but I definitely will some day. Want to finish playing the other classics first though kinda, I've now beaten Sonic 1 multiple times and CD, I know people tend to not like them as much as the others (mainly Sonic 1) but idk, I enjoy them quite a bit, I think they're just a bit misunderstood. I've also now beaten Sonic UnWiished (my first 3D Sonic game, was vaguely interested in trying it but didn't want to spend money, but just so happened to find out my uncle had a copy and borrowed it) which I REALLY enjoy playing and time-attacking, and Sonic's story in Sonic Adventure, and recently Gens 3DS (one of the games I picked to test my new modded 3DS I recently got). I have Colors Wii and Frontiers but I haven't opened them yet, also got Forces cheap for a few bucks just to try it lol. And then I've played a few levels of various other Sonic games but haven't beaten them, namely Sonic 2, Advance 1 and 2, Rush, Colors DS, SA2, Heroes, Shadow, Project 06, and Sonic 4 (no I actually don't dislike Sonic 4 so far, believe it or not, I find it fun), but I haven't played enough of them to really count them as games I've played (and definitely not legitimately...shhhh). But it all started with Sonic Mania. And I think that was as good a place to start as I could ask for, definitely one of the games I keep with my Switch when I go places.
The physics in Mania seem much more fluid here, idk if the animation makes it feel like that, but it feels much more buttery smooth then the remakes for instance
I think it's worth mentioning how much exactly of Mania is "reused"; though the old levels have their names and looks, a lot of their level design is actually wholly original. Even the old acts that reuse things stitch together old level design or sprinkle in new bits and pieces entirely. Based on how generous or strict you are on what constitutes an "old level", you're still looking at between 15 to 20 mostly original acts in the complete Mania plus package of 24 normal acts, and even those old levels are unique experiences to how they were in the classics. It's still missed potential that much of the game has these levels dressed up as old acts, but they're still a blast to go through. I think your issue with the time attacks feeling samey is that Ray and Mighty were pretty much dropped in the game after all the levels were designed, meaning there was less opportunity to make their runthroughs unique. Encore Mode Mirage Saloon does make a little use of their abilities as it's the new act for that mode. I do echo your sentiment that Mighty's Hammer Drop should've reacted to slopes. I honestly think you could've just had it function pretty much similarly to the Bubble Shield without issue. I guess this is also a point in favor of the opinion that "multiple playable characters are bad" and just having only Sonic be playable in these games...with one fixed, complex moveset, you could make use of all of these moves in one run at once, rather than each character just being Sonic with minor differences. Titanic Monarch was my favorite zone in this game, I really love how unique each of its acts are from the typical Sonic level with Act 1 being the rare vertical level and Act 2 having choices in how you can progress. I really loved how imposing the level felt, and the return to that one Sonic 3 bonus stage's gimmicks was very fun to play with. Yeah, this game kinda suffered from boss bloat a lot, with it sticking to 3&K's one-boss-per-act rule. The bosses do tend to be better than average than your typical classic Sonic game, and in the five seconds you usually fight them, they are creative .but they all melt like butter. The Puyo Puyo boss was adorable but that's something that only has its appeal the first time you see it. Shoutout to the Oil Ocean Act 2 boss causing this game's first leaker to die 27 times. I'm of the opinion that I do not mind how pink Knuckles is in the game. The game is clearly leaning very hard on extremely saturated Knuckles Chaotix look, and that means colors like Knuckles' red may become a bit pinkish. As I might say, it's their Artistic Vision™ and it has SOUL. Also this game's soundtrack is god tier but everyone literally agrees with that, so I'll say that my favorite songs from it are Green Hill Act 2, Flying Battery Act 2, the Metal Sonic theme, Metallic Madness Act 2 and Titanic Monarch Act 1. But yeah, not much to say. Sonic Mania is essentially a dolled up level pack for 3&K Now Featuring The Drop Dash. Which isn't a bad thing, at all. Sonic Mania was what the series needed at this point in time, a revisit to the golden era. It doesn't do anything substantially new, but by god it was refreshing having a game that was just a love letter to that era of Sonic that looks, plays, and sounds beautiful. After it, everyone and their mom just wanted a Sonic Mania with only new zones, with new mechanics, and keeping that same classic essence. I wonder if they ever made that game? They actually did! It was called Penny's Big Breakaway and it was great! And it's a shame that some Sonic fans don't wanna play it because it doesn't have the blue cartoon rat. (thankfully saved this comment from your first upload)...
its not that penny doesnt have the blue rat, its just designed a lot more like the modern 3d marios than the old sonics which makes its primary selling point as sonic mania 3d a bit disingenuous
@@Soufonsynth Penny’s big breakaway plays more like classic sonic in 3d than any 3d Mario game. There’s so many segments in levels where you use slopes and terrain to build and maintain speed in Penny’s big break that you honestly can’t compare it to a 3d Mario.
Damn bro, might as well record your own review. But agreed. 8 stages are re-used, but they beefed up those levels to be more fun and exciting than the OGs. Mania really is THE 2D Sonic exp of all time.
Easily my favorite Sonic game. Even if they reuse stage themes from past games, they're really just a nostalgic coat of paint for the amazing level design of this game.
I think having the drop dash and elemental shield ability would be really OP or would make both functions colide Double jump+drop dash Fire impulse would be obsolete by drop dash Water Shield+Drop dash would just give you no reason to bounce with the bubble
Surprised you didn't mention the Advance games more in this video and Mania runs back all the cool new additions in those games. Great vid as usual though, feels crazy that we're nearly at the end of official Sonic games!
I always liked this game less than the classics, but to be fair, I haven't played it or analysed it nearly as much as the rest, a serious playthrough of it may change my mind, especially watching the footage here holy shit you're SHREDDING these stages.
bold of you to say nobody cares about mighty and ray when all I ever heard was people askin for them, especially from being teased through missing posters like the ones found in mania. its nice to have em back in this form and now as well comics through IDW
Was not expecting this video today. I was thinking for a second that you skipped a game, but then I realized that after Lost World, Sonic games stopped being pumped out as often. And you also aren't covering the Boom series either. (don't blame ya)
Mania is one of the best Sonic games, definitely a smoother ride than any of the Mega Drive games, but I just can't put it over S3K, at least not S3 AIR. Not with that game's aesthetic, meaningfully different campaigns and actual attempts at storytelling. Mania feels overly sanded over, it's more of a "best of" album than a true successor. Also, finally someone else who doesn't just gush about Mighty and Ray for being a "deep cut". Never understood the extreme love they got in the fandom when announced.
Hey pariah, may I ask where you're from? Your english is so clear to me and I always like to turn captions when I watch content in english, but when I watch your videos I don't really need to!
2 imperfections with Sonic Mania: Tails and Knuckles (both should have been updated) Point is, Sonic with the drop dash becomes way too much of a joy to use; not only he has the shields, but he is also perfectly "fused" with the types of momentum the game demands of the player Now tails and knuckles...not so much. Knuckles has way too many nerfs insofar as momentum is concerned: Smaller jump, total loss of momentum after gliding or falling from a glide (can't even immediately spindash from a curl like in S3K). Tails is just too "square" of a fly-type character unlike ray: Flying with Tails just has no interesting mechanisms, you're left mostly unprotected, and you need to patiently wait until you fall you the ground or tails gets tires -- not fun I'd say both tails and knuckles needed 1 extra momentum-based mechanism that made them more fun. I'm haven't thought things through fully, but something simple like letting tails cancel his flight and turn into ball so he can attack enemies from above, or like, having knuckles be able to do a vertical spindash while grabbing onto a wall or like being able to do a super high jump if you pressed jump with the right timing after he crouched after landing (just tentative examples out of the top of my head) would do a lot to make the gameplay with these 2 take more advantage of the physics and momentum based gameplay. Heck, the other characters take a lot of advantage from momentum (even Mighty, if you time the ground pounds correctly), and are much more of a joy to play. Knuckles in particular is too much of a chore, seeing as his type of exploration doesn't take much advantage of things you could potentially do with the physics
I believe that lives systems in 2d sonic need to stay because it encourages exploration that you would otherwise not do and it also creates a learning curve where you have to go back and master that part of the level which makes you better at the game and making the achievement of the zone much more satisfacting
Mania is definitely a great game, and one of the best Sonic games. However, for some reason, I can't really get myself to play the game again (I played a run with all characters + Encore). Compared to S3K for example, I always prefer to just play that game despite the gameplay being overall inferior. Most likely, it's the other stuff outside the game that really makes it for me. But even Generations, the game I compare most to conceptually, I prefer to play and it's certainly not for something like story - it's probably because I enjoy the way they remix old levels in a way Mania doesn't. This is also a bit of a pointless thing to say too, but in my eyes, Mania is more like an official fan game, with some restrictions put on by Sega. And Sonic fans have done a very good job making Sonic fan games that typically do really well in one way or another. So in my head, I'm just like "Of course Mania is one of the best games because a lot of Sonic fan games, especially by these guys, are super good" - the last great Sonic game was essentially a fan game, is the way I look at it.
Still think 3K is better. The forced waiting in bosses brings Mania down, and the CD style level design without the extra objectives just results in lots of interesting ideas being wasted on the slower routes.
You make a solid point about Mania feeling like it borrows too much from previous Sonic games with stuff like the lives mechanic still being intact. Honestly though, I like lives. Having infinite lives kind of feels like the game is holding my hand a bit too much, y’know? It never bothered me a whole lot. Sonic Origins should have had the option to switch lives on and off, maybe Mania as well.
Its nice that Pariah gets to talk about a Sonic game that he actually likes after a while. Mania reminded me "Oh yea, this series used to actually have amazing gameplay" and it makes me a little sad that it's already been seven years and we haven't reached anywhere close the same heights. But I will always appreciate Mania for what it is. A rare lightning in the bottle scenario for this franchise that is unlikely to be replicated again any time soon.
I still like sonic 2 more because it has more acts in a row that I do enjoy, I only stop having as much fun by oil ocean and metropolis. In mania though, I quite dislike chemical plant act 2, flying battery act 1, hydrocity act 1 and the sky chase mirage saloon act 1. I don't know what it is about chemical plant act 2 honestly, just that it somehow feels linear yet confusing at the same time? Maybe I just dislike how vertical it is? The original flying battery is one of my least favorite zones. Act 1 being a remake of the act 1 is not something I enjoy, even if it's improved. It's not just the bubble I dislike in hydrocity act 1, it's the entire process. You may be going fast, but then you gotta stop, hit a switch, don't get crushed by slow moving blocks, manuever in a bubble, ride a boat and dodge labyrinth tridents. Not so fun. Mirage saloon act 1 is just of course sky chase but it's not bad because of it. It just feels like a less fun gamemode. The knuckles/encore act 1 though is great. Mania has some of my favorite zones, it made metallic madness which is my least favorite classic zone into one of my top 5 zones. I go back to it as much as sonic 2, but I end up finishing entire runs of sonic 2 more without quiting.
Mighty's Hammer Drop is also weird because it seems to be an easy way to descend to the lower path... which is, if you know Sonic level design, is undesirable because it's slower than the higher paths. Also, smooth transtitions at 15:08 and further, lol
When I played this game, the recurring thought in my mind was, "This is neat, but I'd rather play the classics." The same thought occurred when I played Generations, too. I haven't played either of them once since, and I have no intention of returning to them.
The one exception to Mania’s improving of every classic level is Hydro City, that one was easily worse than how it was on Sonic 3 purely because of the additional terrible gimmicks that killed the pace of the level compared to the original
Very nice hearing your thoughts on this game tho at the same time the lingering dread of what comes next hangs above this video like a piano tied with a bad rope. Sonic Mania really is just like the one fluke in post-Gens Sonic its insane how they dropped this 3 months before Forces. It's like getting a delectable 5 layer cake before dollar store pie is thrown at your face.
"Collect Yoshi's to keep the time running." .... wut? "No one cares about Mighty and Ray." Ahh, yes, makes complete sense. Why else do ya think Archie Sonic kept them alive for years and were featured in so much fan art, fan videos, and fan demand for their return? I guess now I've found the source of where all this recent Mighty slander is coming from. The same JP Sonic purist that sparked alot of drama from the US Sonic vs. JP Sonic crowd.
an earlier form of the dropdash was introduced in Lost World, you can't charge your dash in the air but you just while dashing and jumping you keep the dashing momentum and return to dashing as soon as you hit the ground
I personally have Mania at no 4 in my 2d Sonic rankings right behind the rush games and Advance 2 (yes DIMPS is my favourite Sonic dev, how did you know?) But it is absolutley thr peak of the genesis style of Sonic game
I respect other’s opinions, but I will never wrap my head around how someone can prefer Sonic Superstars over Sonic Mania. Mania just had the best level design for 2D Sonic imo, like you said the level design here in GENIUS! Superstars hardly even approaches the greatness of Mania’s stages in my opinion, and is packed with more cheap shots than Sonic 2 ever had lol. And artistically, I think Mania looks and sounds amazing and Superstars is just kinda plain looking and sounding. I appreciate them going for all brand new zones, but the zones in Superstars all feel either derivative or cobbled together. Again that’s just my thoughts on it, but if you genuinely prefer Superstars I am curious what you think about it!
I personally prefer Superstars. Doesn't mean that mania is bad tho. But mania is both better and worse than Superstars. And it's the same for Superstars
i like superstars more just because of the fact it's not only new, but pretty damn good. sonic mania is better but superstars does more "new" things, i specifically like trip a lot not only for her story but also how her campaign just makes superstars a much better game imo. mania is better, but superstars is something i find more motivation to come back to.
I just wanna play Amy really cause I like her, if she was in Mania, screw Superstars. Other than that I still dislike Superstars, but at least I get to play with Amy. also I am not paying for Sonic Origins to play her there
Mania will always be my GOAT but I think the level design in Superstars holds up quite well, it's like an S3K-ified version of Sonic 1 where more of the speed in rooted is quick platforming, rather than simply running fast.
I think it would have been interesting to elaborate on the level design. Analysing the level design thoroughly probably takes a lot of work and if you say it's amazing, maybe you've done your research.
9:20 The only shield I find useless is the bubble shield. The fire shield technically works as a dropdash as it still has a similar function, and the electricity shield allows you to go to higher places, and both are useful for time Attack, but the bubble shield suffers from the same problem of the spindash, and it slows you down, specially under water, I hate the bubble shield, it is completely useless to me.
Bubble shield lets you go much higher than lightning shield if you pop off a badnik. Basically, bubble shield is a tool for getting Sonic on higher paths without Tails.
@@Nickika Somewhat. But there are usually badniks nearby. I have to emphasize that the pop really is HUGE if you never tried it. Bounce off a badnik with the bubble shield and Sonic will shoot 50 million feet into the air. Plus, I just really enjoy the dribble.
@@Nickika -_0_- fair enough. The only places I can remember specifically where it is useful for shortcuts is Hydrocity. There are multiple parts where you can get atop the loop-de-loops by bouncing off the drill badniks. Impossible to get atop the same loops with the lightning shield. There are also a few underwater areas that allow you to immediately bounce onto dry land - bypassing intended platforming - by popping off those water badniks with the spikes that pop-in and out. Of course the underwater sections are mostly bypassed anyway with skilled platforming.
I love how you just canonically say go play Penny's Big Breakaway at the end lol. But yeah some decisions for this hurt it a little, like because of the one button mentality Sonic loses a part of his abilities when he get's a instant shield. Similar to why I don't like the capture mechanic because Mario's core movement options are restricted when he captures an enemy and lots of the sections in the game are designed for those captures, Thankfully some can be skipped if your skilled enough and that's the fun for Some of Mario odyssey. As a console player it also sucks I can't utilize mods like combining Mania, CD, and 3&K's movement at once which looks like a ton of fun. I might have to invest in getting it for PC as I'm sure my crappy laptop can at least run this game. This will forever be one of Evening Star's greatest works and I'm excited to see what the future holds for them
Nice, someone who agrees with me on Odyssey's capture mechanic. So many people saying it's infinitely superior to Mario's power-ups and should just replace power-ups altogether and whatnot when the game came out and just...no, please? You've got this amazing movement and then this main gimmick centers around constantly taking that movement away and replacing it with very limited one-note (and even less polished sometimes) controls instead, while many power-ups retain all or most of Mario's core movement and just add to it. Not to mention it stops enemies from being actual enemies and challenges and just turns them into glorified power-up dispensers, which messes with the obstacle/difficulty balance. Yeah there's fun in the initial novelty of controlling classic enemies and seeing what can be captured, but that wears off after only a couple minutes and in my opinion is not worth the trade-offs I mentioned. Oh also, you CAN combine Sonic's different abilities on console, it's a cheat code to unlock Full Control Mode.
my wish came true edit: i was disappointed that you didn't call the rings totino's (the joke is that there's a mod that replaces every song with totino's and replaces the rings with totino's)
I'm surprised how Pariah didn't talk about how Knuckles plays different in Mania. He has a delay when he drops and doesn't have the "super glide" move. And I agree in 14:50.
Mania's nostalgia pandering is not only a flaw in itself, but executed poorly as well. I don't like the fact that they reuse level designs and mash them up for every first act, I think that it sucks just re-playing through old level design when I could be playing new level design that is exponentially better. This has gone into the modding space of Mania as well, every single level mod that takes levels from the Classics suck too. I'd think people would be smarter and not go down that road. And the fact that they reuse bosses, their designs, their mechanics, stage assets, gimmicks, level art... feels really shallow, even if it looks and plays good. And as the video states What I perceive as good examples of this is Chemical Plant and Hydrocity. I never liked those levels in the original games, I think they rely too heavily on automation and never let you experience much with the physics or platform much, which for the first couple of levels is still inexcusable. And they've made both levels way too long to merit this amount of automation and holding left and right. I would consider these way better levels if they had platforming that wasn't inserted in forcefully, like the elevator section in Chemical Plant Act 1 or Hydrocity Act 2, and if there was less automation. I would argue that Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 2 8-bit have better nostalgia pandering due to them doing a lot to completely change the gameplay of the level and/or location and almost not resembling the original in any way possible (Prison Island to White Jungle and Central City to City Escape/Radical Highway). I like especially that Green Hills and Mecha Green Hill doesn't resemble in gameplay the first Green Hill from either the Mega Drive or the Master System, and they don't suffer from automation (except in the loops). I consider Mania to be a better game than Superstars, but taking in what was stated in the video and what I wrote, I think that Mania could be WAY BETTER than Superstars.
Honestly. It's the final boss of Mania that is the biggest flaming trash disaster in Mania. It practically punishes you for flying as Super Sonic. Just play the triple trouble 16 bit fan remake if you want a cool Sonic experience.
Pariah covering my favorite game ever :) It seems like a blessing that this was my first sonic game I could actually remember playing because whenever someone talks about mania they always mention the unoriginality but for me everything in mania is fully original since I played it before the classics
you have a sage scholar's understanding of the tiny psychological minutiae which makes 2d sonic's game-feel pop (ie. spindash's flow tradeoff, the moveset having a lot in common w/ how pinball is played)
I'm gonna be honest, I'm tired of fans constantly using the mania style. It's made it feel stale and boring, which is why i was kinda exited when superstars was shown to have a different style. The fact that fans keep trying to mimic the music too doesn't help. Mania's music is pretty good, the miniboss music just doesn't hit it for me (same thing goes for superstars). But the fan-made ones feel like they're trying to make you feel exited about doing literally anything, but it ends up making me feel bored instead. But whenever someone who's made music for the series since 3, they apparently don't know anything about classic music since it's not Tee Lopes or actual genesis. Can't really complain about people copying Mania gameplay, since it's literally just classic sonic.
As someone who only played Mania last year... It was a disappointment. I had played the 16 bit triple trouble fan remake before this and that does nearly everything this game does except better. Though i havent time attacked either so there's that. But can we take the time to talk about how horrible Mania's final Super fight is? It practically punishes you for flying. Yes. Punish you. For flying. as Super Sonic. And the narratives stakes are zilch in that fight. Just play Triple Trouble if you want an awesome Sonic experience.
