In order to retrieve the Phantom Ruby and defeat Doctor Robotnik, you must travel through 12 different zones with wicked speed, collecting rings and defeating enemies. Sonic Mania strips away the more modern mechanics and features that have dominated the Sonic franchise and opts for a retro gameplay formula instead. As the robots attempt to bring the ruby back to Doctor Robotnik, Sonic, Tails, and their pal Knuckles give chase. By the time the pair reach Angel Island, the robots have already discovered the source of the energy, a crystal of immense power known as the Phantom Ruby. On the way, their trip is delayed by Doctor Robotnik's evil horde of robots, who attempt to stop their arrival. One day, Sonic and Tails hop on their plane to investigate a curious energy reading from the nearby Angel Island. They started out easy, but grew satisfyingly challenging, and completing them all perfectly took quite a bit of time and practice.Like in the early Genesis games, the story in Sonic Mania is straightforward and appropriately retro in nature. These stages don’t unlock emeralds, but do unlock bonus features once you’ve completed a set number of them, like a sound test, a debug mode, and even hidden sub-games. Also returning are bonus stages from Sonic 3, which you’ll find at the checkpoints scattered across the zones. Making matters worse, colliding with a bomb can start a chain reaction that sends you careening uncontrollably into other sets of obstacles, which can make otherwise good runs turn bad very quickly. It’s a fun concept, but it can be tough to see barriers that block your way on the ground, and collision detection on some objects seems off.
In special levels, you chase a UFO through a 3D landscape by collecting speed-enhancing blue spheres and rings. And there is incentive to replay these stages, as there are numerous hidden special levels you’ll need to conquer to collect the Chaos Emeralds and see Sonic Mania’s ‘true’ ending. I replayed many of these stages over and over, finding little nuances and secrets that eluded me the first, second, and even fifth time around. Sonic Mania has all the the crucial elements that go into making a great Sonic adventure: big, elaborate stages, responsive controls and movement physics, interesting and engaging tricks and traps, lots of hidden nooks and crannies to discover, and hazards that challenge you to stay alert and act fast. One route might have you thrust into the guts of a popcorn machine after being beamed around like a satellite signal, while another will send you speeding through the city’s underground subway passages. Take, for example, the glittering neon lights and electronic contraptions of Studiopolis, an area themed after a television studio in a big city. These new zones are particularly impressive: the theming and level design in each is colorful and creative, and I was eager to run around and explore, finding all sorts of challenges (and easter eggs) within. You’ll see classic zones from Genesis-era Sonic games, like Chemical Plant, Stardust Speedway, and Lava Reef, alongside all-new areas like Studiopolis and Mirage Saloon. Sonic Mania is proof that no matter how much time passes, great gameplay is always in style.Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are back to fight Eggman’s forces the best way they know how: running, jumping, spindashing, flying, and gliding their way to victory across twelve zones. With Sonic Mania, Sega brings Sonic back to his classic 2D sidescrolling roots, taking direct inspiration from the 16-bit games that originally propelled Sonic and friends to superstardom. He’s had his fair share of ups, downs, and loop-de-loops, but Sonic has proven to be one of gaming’s most beloved and enduring icons.
0 kommentar(er)
