He’s balanced and I wouldn’t mind seeing more of him.įor five bucks as a digital upgrade all of these Sonic Mania Plus additions are a no-brainer. He’s able to soar to medium heights, and he’s vulnerable while he does it. Ray operates on a gliding principle similar to cape/feather Mario from Super Mario World, and it’s great. Seriously, just one look at his stoic face as he flies through the air and you’ll feel the same. Mighty the Armadillo is mostly Sonic but with a cool jackhammer stomp move, and Ray the Flying Squirrel is a good boy that I’d protect with my life. It’s new characters - fondly or not-so-fondly dubbed “friends” in the Sonic-verse - are fine. I can easily see going back to both the original campaign (which is still alive and not folded into one eldritch horror of a mode) and encore every year or so in perpetuity. Level beats are actually remixed enough to warrant a second playthrough, just keep your preconceived notions of stumbling into Sonic Mania 2 at the door. It’s been roughly a year since Mania‘s initial release, and having beaten it twice since then I’m happy enough with encore. It shows us how to just sit here and that’s what we need. Plus is innocent and insulated from all of that madness. The DLC just sits. This whole Plus-ing up conundrum really drills into the nucleus of why DLC has effectively elevated so many projects amid the storm of greed like Real Money Auction Houses as “ongoing support” and grubby microtransactions that add a gambling element disguised as “games as a service” benefits. It’s exactly the kind of thing you probably pined for during the Genesis days and never got. Rather than one main campaign to replay over and over, you have a remixed new game plus of sorts, dubbed “encore.” Oh, and there’s expanded four-player support for time trials and ghosts. Now instead of three characters you have five. Plus might look like a hard sell given that it’s a minor DLC enhancement (an uber update, really), but given how effectively it gets its tendrils into Mania‘s core and makes everything a little bit better, it more than does its job. Sonic Mania Plus (PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One) Sonic Mania Plus is more of that gooey goodness. To help bolster the appeal of the upcoming physical re-release of Sonic Mania there will also be a five episode series based on the game published on YouTube.Okay well he had a trademark misstep with Forces, but the charm of Sonic Mania and its subsequent cartoon are undeniable: enough to muster an appreciation that will cleanse the world of the fire of 3D Sonics for quite some time. The game mixed in many of the classic levels from the old Sega Genesis titles with brand new levels that seamlessly connected with the classic stages. The original game was a real breath of fresh air, giving Sonic fans a thoroughly enjoyable and high-quality experience with a great soundtrack. There's also the all-new Encore Mode, but Sega didn't exactly detail what you'll be able to do in the Encore Mode. The 32-page art book contains concept art for some of the stages, along with fully colored images for some of the characters and entities featured in Sonic Mania. Sega didn't mention if you'll be able to mix and match the characters in Sonic Mania Plus, such as having Tales and Ray, or Knuckles and Mighty, or Sonic and either of the other two new cast members, but it will be interesting to see how the game is balanced around the new characters.įor those of you willing to spend the extra $10 on the Sonic Mania Plus, you'll receive a holographic packaging and a 32-page art book, along with a reversible Sega Genesis cover, which looks like it comes right out of 1995. This is like the natural evolution over the two-player competitive modes that were introduced in Sonic 2 and Sonic 3. The characters will be able to blast through the campaign mode along with being playable in the all-new four-player competitive mode, which is an upgrade over the two-player mode.
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