Sonic Mania Is the PS4 Sequel You've Spent Your Adult Life Yearning For

My kids love Sonic and I saw them this trailer.
They were dissapointed, hoping for a new 3D game...
Now they are grounded.

@Melucine

Smart dad, their are types of people in this world, those that prefer 2D Sonic games (logical / sane), and those that prefer the 3D ones (insane / irrational).

Looking forward to it.

Zero interest in this. Not interested in games that instead of moving forward rely on nostalgia to sell.

Dammit. Id much rather have sonic adventure 3.

@naruball
They've been relying on nostalgia to sell Sonic games these last 20 years- all the while pumping out crap games. Certainly weren't relying on review scores to sell them. And they were most definitely moving forward- in the wrong direction.

Sometimes after 20 years in the wrong direction, to move forward, you have to return to the fork in the road where you made a wrong turn.

@KratosMD What irony? Do you mean sarcasm?

@naruball so youd rather have another awful 3d Sonic game than one that the Sonic fanbase has been wanting since the Dreamcast died??

Hyped for this looks great i know itll have remixed levels but its going back to when Sonic and the series was truely great so no complaints from me

@GlynCR Nope. Where did I say that exactly? Why make such an assumption? How about a good modern looking Sonic game?

Look at Super Mario Bros games and Mario Galaxy. They made a modern looking game (at the time) that was a step forward AND a great game.

If they make a Super Mario Bros 4 game with NES graphics I'd feel the same. In other words, good for people who are into retro games, not for me.

@KratosMD I love when you correct someone and instead of admitting they were wrong they come up with something like "you're missing the point". There can be more than one point.

As for the rest of your post, K.

@KratosMD Good idea.

@naruball so cos New Super Mario Bros had nicer graphics it was ok? You say a good looking 3d game so your just saying no cos its not in ultra HD?

Since S&K in 1994 (i think?) Sega have tried to push Sonic into 3d and its not worked better than average (the best 3d game is Colors imo and that was never better than ok imo) in honesty id of liked them to do this on the 2d Generations but thats how it goes

@naruball I understand your point, but as @JaxonH said sometimes a step backwards is needed. I will give Mortal Kombat 9 as a great example imo, they went back to their roots with 2D mechanics and the game was great.

Godawful sonic 4? But... You gave it a 7/10. What changed?

@naruball I get you, but you have to factor in the average age of current gamers (I'm making a massive assumption that you're at the younger end of the spectrum). It's 31 FWIW, and a lot of us (although I have ten years on that) do enjoy retro stuff cos it's what we grew up with.

That said, I think people get hung up on graphics. The reason retro games (IMO) were so good, was because they control so well and Sonic needs to be included in that. Too many modern games feel mushy (whilst still being good games) whereas I feel that older games had much more focus on playability from a control POV due to their arcade roots/influence. Rambling, tired, sorry.

Looks brilliant. I've been waiting for a Sonic announcement and I got two on the same day! Yea boiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!

@Drawfull I'm 30. I grew up playing Mario, Sonic, Mortal Kombat, Castlevania, TNTM, etc. They were great back then, not so much now. Not just in terms of graphics, but in terms of pretty much everything.

Not speaking for everyone, just myself. 8/16 bit music sounded that way because that's all the Ninty and Sega consoles could do at the time. The games were short for similar reasons. There was little to no voice acting. The story was usually basic and cliche. Games evolved and now we get some incredible experiences.

Yes, the latest Sonic games have not been great for a number of reasons. They should identify those reasons and try to make a good game. The problem is not 3d or graphics. The problem was that mediocre teams developed them, that they rushed some of the games, that they made too many and there was little quality control. Had they had gamers properly test them, they would have never released most of the Sonic games that they made.

I don't like the idea of a reset. A reboot like Tomb Raider is fine. But if Final Fantasy XVI were to go back to its Final Fantasy I roots and look like a retro game, I simply would have no interest in it. Sure, most of the Final Fantasy games after VII weren't as well received and all 3 XIII seem to have damaged the brand. Does that mean we should go back 8bit?

I don't think so. If others do, then good for them. They have their opinions and I'm not going to attack them like some people are doing here.

@naruball Final Fantasy works in 3d so that not a great comparison, if Sonic had mastered 3d they probably wouldnt be going back to 2d and if your stating graphics over gameplay your gaming for the wrong reason imo
Sonic doesnt need voice acting to make it better or prettier graphics it needs to go back and re capture the sense of speed the older games had which has been lost in the 3d games, barring the odd section when its like a race track

Yeah, keeping an eye on this. Looks like a great debut for Sonic on PS4.

@naruball Sure, all those series have been doing badly in recent years, but just last gen, they were getting games like New SMB Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Castlevania The Adventure Rebirth, Order of Ecclesia, Sonic Colours, etc. Those are some great games. They are high points in their series, and whether it's 2D, 2.5D or 3D, a great game is a great game. Sonic Mania looks great, and it's a Sonic game unlike what we've had for 20 years.

Now Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is promising a return to the Castlevania style, Sonic Mania looks really good, and even Mario's next game on NX is supposed to be something different, and not a dud like Mario 3D World. The names and consoles may change, but there are still great games to be had in those styles and series.

@KratosMD I made an account just to tell you how awesome you are LOL 😂

Can't wait for this game. Way more excited for this than Project 2017.

After the godawful Sonic 4 Boom: Rise of Lyric. There fixed it for ya.

I can't wait for this! My only gripe is I prefer the sonic 3 style gameplay rather than sonic 1/ sonic CD. But if this does well then you never know!

I think this looks amazing, the simple fact is Sega has never been able to translate the look and feel of a Sonic game into 3D the way Nintendo so spectacularly achieved with Mario 64. From his whiny voice to his frankly dumb teenage attitude, I'm glad they've gone back to his roots with the looks and if they have any sense they'll use this as a new starting point and we can forget the last 15-20 years ever happened.

@naruball Dont mean to jump on the hate train but New Super Mario Bros sold more than Galaxy (not that that's necessarily a barometer for success) Regardless how good Galaxy was and the accolades it achieved. Its not as playable to the general public. 2d Mario is king. Its playable, 60fps, fun, easy to play hard to master and has a huge amount of hidden depth. I'm a Mario 64 / sunshine / galaxy fan btw.

Your analogy for final fantasy also falls flat, I am setsuna and the bravely series are old school offshoots in many ways typical final fantasy games, the latter has performed amazingly well.

As for the new sonic, this really is new, absolutely fed up with whimsical pathetic variations on the 3d platform game - due to the limitations of current tv tech and as you rightly mentioned the lack of quality control you constantly fall off ledges, misjudge jumps, camera is all over the place, shoehorning gameplay types in and its just not fun. We all love a great 3d platform game, unfortunately Sonic is better in 2d.

If Mr Whiteheads reading the comments a zoom out button would be cool to see oncoming hazards and plan speed runs.

@themcnoisy Yeah, and New Super Mario Bros. Wii is simply better than Galaxy. It's more playable, more fun, and a more polished experience from both game design and technical viewpoint.

@themcnoisy Thanks for your reply. Always interested in civil conversations.

I, too, prefer 2d Mario. it's not just about 2d and 3d or graphics. I think newer games play better than old ones. I prefer New Super Mario bros to Super Mario Bros 3. I would have no interest in a Super Mario Bros 4 game, but would play New Super Mario Bros 2 in a hearbeat.

As for I am Setsuna and the Bravely series, I don't think they are doing as well as Final Fantasy mainline games (and I think comparing FFXIII-2 or 3 with Bravely Default 1 is a bit unfair - I've seen it brought up several times). I plan on playing both, but I'm way more interested in XV.

@naruball Maybe with Sonic the brand it doesn't hold the allure as it could / should / will to a 30+ someone if they roll it back. I think colours or whatever the last one was called sold terribly so they had to do something. It will be different, new animations and I reckon 40 or so levels!

New SMB is great, loads of fun and has the hidden coins for hardcore players. SMB3 is awesome, love that game and its really difficult. But yes I agree with a heavy heart, New SMB is the better game when you remove nostalgia. I wouldn't mind a SMB 3 lost levels game though!

@naruball new super mario bros is SMB4 (or 5 if you wanna add Mario World in) in all but name

@themcnoisy it does for me the mega drive Sonics are the reason i got into gaming in the first place

@GlynCR I still see NSMB as progress. Anyway, with so many people liking the idea of Sonic Mania, it seems to have been a good idea for the brand. Just not a game I'm interested in.

2D Mario and Sonic is better than 3D. That's my opinion. That doesn't make all of the 3D games bad. Tho. Sonic just had to deal with more garbage. Unfortunately. This is all I ever wanted. Don't mind a new GOOD 3D title tho. Colours and Generations wasn't terrible. Why did it take them so long to understand that's what most people want? I'm so sad Boom sucked. If it was good we would have Sonic covering more types of gameplay than just running and jumping. But no. That wasn't meant to be.

@Riririn Sega probably saw Wii U's sales, looked at their exclusivity deal with Nintendo, and cut Sonic Boom's budget from what it could have been.

I feel like sonic is one of those franchises that will never be able to surpass what it was in the Genesis days. I am perfectly fine with them going back to that, its the first time I have been excited in a Sonic game in a very long time. I did enjoy the Sonic stages in Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, but the other characters stages I felt were terrible.

i'd seriously buy a ps4 to play this

This has made me SO ridiculously happy. Really hope this is a starting point for some completely new 2D adventures and reaaaally hope there is some kind of physical, special collectors edition version of this!

I've long maintained that Sonic was always about momentum, physics and clever level design, something that even the more recent 2D games have failed to recognise. And was primarily the reason why I wasn't bowled over by Sonic Generations/Colours/etc, as they just missed the point, IMO. But from the look of this trailer they've got those elements just right, and I can't wait!

One thing I'd say is that I really hope this has a price tag that fits the tiny budget. This will cost a small fraction of the time and money to make as a more modern style Sonic game. If not it'd be akin to a taxi that takes you 500 metres charging as much as one that goes 500 miles.

Something that can be lost in terms nostalgia is that a 2D platformer is cheap as hell to make, along with the presumably short playtime, synthetic music and so on. Companies would LOVE to make games like this and still charge full price since the profit margin would be insane; it's just that traditionally they could only have so many products on store shelves at one and retailers may even refuse something perceived to be so niche. With digital, though, this thing becomes way more viable and even more profitable with no real upfront cost.

Also, I do have to say in reference to an earlier point that an overwhelming majority of retro games have totally horrendous controls. It's just cherry picking to focus on Mario or Sonic, especially since the latter only had 1 button, effectively.

It's not just what buttons did what, it's how menus worked. I'm playing Phantasy Star 2 now and the menus are a nightmare - almost anything you do quits you all the way out of the menu. Have 5 items you want to transfer from one guy to another? Be prepared to be booted all the way out the menu 5 times. Healing is the same and most healing spells only do 20hp out of over 100 total health. Each use knocks you put of the menu. It's so tedious I end up wasting loads of expensive healing items that do more hp per use - it still takes 4 trips through the menu every few minutes for the duration of a game that lasts dozens of hours.

In earlier Dragon Quest games you didn't talk to people with a single button press, you had to open the menu and choose talk every time. It wasn't even the first thing highlighted IIRC. They'd also have a knack of stepping away at the last minute, meaning you'd have to close the menu, step forward, open the menu again, reselect talk and press A again each time that happened. Such fun.

I love it! But if they charge anything over £15 for it then they're cheeky bar stewards.

I MISSED THIS NEWS!!! SHAME ON ME! IT`S AS IF SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 4 DID RELEASE FOR THE SEGA MEGA DRIVE IN 1995............!!!!