Shenmue Dojo

The game blew away me expectations, that's for sure. The boss battles are all so original and fun. It really is a love letter to the old school Sonic fans, of the best kind. Music is great as well. I love the new Zones as well. Taking my sweet time with this, really takes me back and also just feels fresh at the same time. This is the real Sonic The Hedgehog 4.

Yup, I'm on the airplane stage, and it's probably the best 2D sonic made to date.

Even while people were all like "sonic was never good" then comes this little gem.

The only downsides is that it's a little too easy, and some of the bosses just break the flow of the game and are not that fun. Everything else is something like Sonic Greatest Hits.

Holy Mother of Reviews. And Krillin didnt even have to die.

I've been playing Sonic Mania on the Switch and have been loving the retro feel. There are so many references, not only to the main Genesis and Sega CD games but also the Game Gear games like Chaos and Triple Trouble. Even Chaotix from the 32X is referenced. It's a glorious celebration of Sonic's golden era.

I've been enjoying the game so much that I did a mock up of what the box art would look like if it released on Genesis. Let me know what you think.

I've been playing through it in the last two days and it really surprised me with it's size.
Maybe I was just thinking too much about Sonic 4 but I really didn't expect a whopping 12 zones. The acts are also massive, even in comparison with Sonic 3 but I find that to be just a bit too much. It's very easy to get a Time Over when carefully going around to reach the checkpoints with enough rings and looking for special stage rings.
The very last act is really a gauntlet and even just going fast there leaves you with concerns about the time limit.
But they are kind enough to reset the time for the boss.

The graphics, the music, the controls, the general level design... all pretty much perfect. It's really filled to the brim with just about everything from the whole MD lineup. It's amazing how often elements from other stages of the games have been implemented into what they reused. Like conveyour belts and other stuff from Quartz Quadrant in Lava Reef Act 2. Even the remix of that levels tune has strong elements of the former levels US soundtrack.
Of course there are also tons of other details from other games, even other franchises like that Egg Robo that fights like a ninja and uses sound effects straight from Revenge of Shinobi. It's truly a love letter to not just old school Sonic but old school Sega and the developers really did their homework.

What was missing for me personally is a level with switching gravity. With all the things they used it's a wonder they left this out. I really liked how they did this in the Death Egg Zone. While the bosses are extremely creative and diverse I find them to go the Sonic CD route a liiiittle too much. What I mean by that is that they are rather gimicky and less straight forward than the usually much simpler Egg-O-Matics of the first 3 games. I like the diversity but some take too much strategy and too long. I also found the final boss and true final boss to be a bit underwhelming. They are original and nice but they simply don't have the right epic factor, especially compared to what's at the end of Sonic & Knuckles. The music definately makes it seem big though.

I like that they included the Blue Spheres game as a bonus stage and what really neat extra content can be unlocked by finishing them perfect. Getting all of them was a mix of doing it in my sleep and mad frustration on the new ones for me. The bad thing about them is, once all of them are done they don't serve any purpouse in a playthrough any more. No rings, no points, no lives, nothing to keep, nothing that makes them worth the time. From that angle it's a shame they ditched the 3 bonus stages from 3&K and the game is really lacking in this department.

@Telekill: Looks like you left too much of the Sonic & Knuckles blurb and logos. Something humorous about the unlockable "& Knuckles Mode" could go there I guess. And you wrote Robotnik wrong.

Jesus fucking christ the boss is nigh-on impossible with Knuckles.

Time for an update. Sonic Forces is launching on the 7th of November. Sega of Japan just released a nice overview trailer for the game, that the some enterprising Sonic fans have already translated and subtitled:

Just finished Sonic Mania. Loved the metallic madness zone, had me grinning like an idiot throughout the entire thing, especially when it came time to fight the act 2 boss. Titanic Monarch zone was annoying as hell, though. It was the only level that brought back the "lets place an unavoidable enemy here just to frustrate the player" mechanic of older sonic games. I also absolutely hate, hate, HATE those plasma balls because they do nothing but sap time in what is already a long level. Thankfully your time resets when you hit the final boss. I didn't have enough chaos emeralds to unlock the last stage, so I have no idea how that one plays like. I probably never will because I completely suck at the chaos emerald mini-game.

Aside from my hate for that last level, the game was ultra fun, though. Short enough to make me wanna play again even though I probably won't.

If you want a good place to grind for Chaos Emeralds then try Oil Ocean Zone Act 1. At the start of the level, below the fire shield, you'll find a series of fans that take you to a special ring. You can get from the start of the level to the special stage in under 30 seconds with little hassle. Each time you finish the special stage just exit the level from the menu and go back to Oil Ocean Zone Act 1 again, assuming of course that you do have a completed save file.

KidMarine wrote: Jesus fucking christ the

Oil Ocean Act 2

boss is nigh-on impossible with Knuckles.

I know I'm late here lol, but try beating Robotnik in Marble Garden in Sonic 3, with Tails.

I find that much tougher than someone who can't jump high enough, but that's just me.

There's a demo on the switch store.

3 stages, you can only play 1 minute each, and a trailer at the end of each "run".

It's terrible, as expected, like really, almost unplayable. Maybe on a big tv screen is another deal.

How the fuck can they keep fucking 3D sonic ? Re-release fucking generations again with another skin, please, this shit is gag worthy.

shredingskin wrote: There's a demo on the switch store.

3 stages, you can only play 1 minute each, and a trailer at the end of each "run".

It's terrible, as expected, like really, almost unplayable. Maybe on a big tv screen is another deal.

How the fuck can they keep fucking 3D sonic ? Re-release fucking generations again with another skin, please, this shit is gag worthy.

It's like SEGA love bad publicity. I just searched it on youtube and pretty much every result is negative

south carmain wrote:It's like SEGA love bad publicity. I just searched it on youtube and pretty much every result is negative

The reaction from the Sonic fanbase itself has been quite positive. Some speed runners have even been able to complete the modern level despite the 1 minute time limit:



Interesting showcase of the first level, you can even see some branching paths throughout and especially towards the end.

Sonikku wrote:

shredingskin wrote: There's a demo on the switch store.

3 stages, you can only play 1 minute each, and a trailer at the end of each "run".

Gotta go FAST!

Someone should let them know that this isn't a good thing for development