#Simon Thomley

[bltngames]

There's a new video review! After the last Sonic Origins video, I figured I needed to follow through with a proper video review, solidifying my thoughts about the final product.

As I explain at the start, I technically made a significant portion of this video twice, with the first version running in to trouble due to Sonic Origins receiving a patch. You can listen to the original, pre-patch audio track for this video on Patreon as a podcast. It's pretty different! The post also goes in to some of the writing process.

[tailschannel]

The developers at Headcannon confirmed their involvement in Sonic Origins Plus.

Many of the new features you'll see in Sonic Origins Plus were developed by the team at Headcannon, the team confirmed on Twitter late Wednesday.

The developers promised a few "updates and enhancements" to complement the classic collection, which will feature a playable Knuckles in Sonic CD, and classic Amy in Sonic 1, 2, 3&K, and CD.

After expressing unsatisfaction following the original release of Origins, Headcannon developer Simon Thomley said they "all want the best for Sonic's future."

"I’m grateful to have had the chance to work with them in bringing Sonic Origins Plus to life as well as other past titles," said Thomley.

[blazehedgehog]

why do you think sega keeps making ports/versions of classic sonic games instead of just porting the mobile ports to consoles , like sonic 1 and 2 have atleast 4 ways to play it on modern systems yet none of them are the mobile port wouldnt be easier to just port that version instead of making yet another version of these games ??

There are a lot of different reasons.

For one, those mobile ports were written in something called "The Retro Engine." Retro Engine is proprietary code, and Sega may not have easy access to that. I don't know about their archival policies or contractual stuff, but it may not have been their responsibility to have that raw source code on hand. They would have to contact Evening Star/Christian Whitehead for it.

Depending on how Retro Engine is written, they would need to consult Christian Whitehead and probably even Simon Thomley about their work on it, which then costs time and money and maybe they aren't available to offer their services at that specific point in time.

They also almost exclusively speak English, which, depending on which branch of Sega is spearheading the effort, presents another very large barrier. If the person at Sega heading up this project can't speak English (or doesn't like speaking English), they are going to avoid contacting English-speaking developers. That would add extra time, extra hassle, and extra cost.

On the other hand, most of the recent Classic Sonic re-releases have been handled by M2. That's a company local to Japan, they've worked with Sega for literal decades (since the 16-bit era), and they're deeply familiar with the inner workings of the Genesis. At this point, they straight up have Sega Genesis emulator code just lying around, ready to go, basically all the time now (M2 calls it their "GigaDrive" emulator).

It is faster, easier, cheaper, and less effort to just have M2 do it again.

And, for what it's worth, M2 does good work. They are basically Japan's gold standard in emulator development.

If we don't get M2, it's usually for something like the Genesis Classics Collection, a project by Sega of Europe, which covers way more than just the Sonic games. They developed their own in-house emulator for that, not related to M2's GigaDrive at all, and it is kind of bad. But, they wanted something they could just plug Genesis ROMs in to without a fuss (something that isn't necessarily possible with GigaDrive, and there's also that language barrier again).

Most fan-made emulators are covered under open source licensing agreements that makes them difficult to use for commercial projects. Fan-made emulators are also labors of love that get perfected over the course of years, sometimes even decades. An in-house coder at Sega has to deal with limited budgets and limited time frames, so their emulators are always going to be a bit crap just by the nature of the project and the structure of the corporation.

But it's all about the cards they've been dealt.

[ducktalkspodcast]

The Darkwing Duck Game That Could Have Been!

The Darkwing Duck Game That Could Have Been!

When we think about the biggest news we could cover for 2019 it would be something along the lines of a Darkwing Duck or Rescue Rangers reboot, maybe a new comic series for TaleSpin by Sabrina Alberghetti, or a new video game centered on one (or many!) of the Disney Afternoon franchises. Those are some of the things we would love to find ourselves reporting on this year.

This morning we found out…

[nintendocafe]

Sonic Mania: The Story of Christian Whitehead (Taxman) and Simon Thomley (Stealth) - Video Game Story Time

Sonic Mania - Nintendo Switch | $19.99 Buy-Now!

[kotorcomics]

Hey, look! Our longest video yet! This story is pretty much the coolest - you may have heard something about how Sega got a bunch of Sonic fan modders to build their own game, but delving into the history of this, there’s a great lesson on persevation and hard work, not giving up, and doing what you love as a way to develop.

Hope you enjoy!

[violet-coffee]

I want Sonic Mania soooooooooooooooooo bad right now!!!!

I’ve heard nothing but positive things from the reviewers I love [somecallmejohnny, Jim Sterling, etc] and I just heard the full OST today…I listened to Mirage Saloon Act 2 months ago and might make that my ringtone soon but nothing prepared me for Metallic Madness Act 1.

Sonic CD no joke is my favorite Sonic game but typically the only thing Sega really seemed to remember and carried to future games was Metal Sonic and his Stardust Speedway boss theme. So it really surprised me that not only was Metallic Madness included to the zones but Tee Lopes combined the [Japanese/European OST] elements from past and bad future into one soundtrack…I nearly creamed myself. Seriously this game won me over as soon as it’s released for PC. I will legit pay full price if I have to I want it that much.

[vgprintads]

‘Sonic Mania Plus’

[PS4 / SWITCH / XONE] [USA] [VIDEO, TRAILER] [2018]

Development of Sonic Mania began in 2015, with Sonic Team desiring to make a new 2D Sonic game that was not a remake, led by Australian programmer Christian "Taxman" Whitehead and Simon Thomley. Whitehead was a prominent member of the Sonic fangame community, and had previously been contracted by Sega to develop re-mastered ports of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Sonic the Hedgehog CD for mobile phones. PagodaWest Games members Jared Kasl and Tom Fry, who had also worked on a fan-made HD remake of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, both worked on the game's level design and visuals. When developing the art for the game, the general rule was to be above the level of Genesis, but under the level of Saturn.

After developing the game for a few months, Whitehead presented a prototype, which he called Sonic Discovery, to series producer Takashi Iizuka. Iizuka was receptive, and suggested that it should include old levels from the early Sonic games it was inspired by, "remixed" in a way that felt new. Iizuka conceptualized the title of the game after first seeing the demo of the game with a fully functioning Studiopolis Zone. He gave it the working title of Sonic Mania, which stuck after no one suggested a better one during development. ~Sonic News Network

Source: YouTube; official channel

[ladestitute]

Streaming more Sonic Mania soon!

[kaiserdingus]

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - 1992 Sega Genesis Retrospective

After the wild success of Sonic the Hedgehog in the Summer of 1991, Sega decided to cash in on their hot new property. Plush toys, arcade games, and of course a sequel would all come out within the next year. When Sonic 1 was completed the original Sonic Team was split up with Yuji Naka and others going to San Francisco to make Sonic 2 at the Sega Technical Institute, while Naoto Ohshima stayed behind and worked on a Sonic project for the upcoming Mega CD add-on.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released in November of 1992 to greater fanfare than the previous game, establishing Sonic the Hedgehog as an icon among video game characters.

While Sonic 1 revolutionized the physics of speed and momentum in gaming, Sonic 2 expanded on the original while adding the new spindash move, as well as the addition of Tails as a second player character. With two leading characters, a multiplayer mode was now possible allowing for a second player to control Tails in the main game, and a competition mode where you could race against a friend.

The game was built on an upgraded version of the first game’s engine, and during development the plan was more ambitious than the final result, which doesn’t stray too far from the first game. The original idea was for Sonic 2 to feature a time travel storyline, similar to the one in Sonic CD. Several levels were scrapped from the final game, such as Wood Zone and Hidden Palace Zone.

In the late 90′s, a vastly different beta version of Sonic 2 was discovered on a Chinese fan-site, this version was a prototype stolen from toy show where Sega were demonstrating the game. This Sonic 2 prototype featured levels, assets, and character sprites that weren’t found in the final game. For years fans have studied and documented the development of Sonic 2 as one of gaming’s great mysteries, mostly due to the various prototypes that have popped up over time.

While the final game might not meet the scope the developers originally had in mind, its no doubt still a fantastic game and is probably better off as it is. The game has a great sense of pacing, never keeping you in a stage for longer than you need to be there. Each level has its own themes which expand on the ideas of “environmentalism vs. industrialization” established in the first game, with the progression of levels showing Sonic’s world go from lush and green to dank and oily.

The first Sonic was a colorful game, but in comparison to Sonic 2 it looks downright grey. Sonic 2 has a bright, wonderful color palette that makes every setting come alive. The character animations feel like a significant upgrade to the set used in Sonic 1, which were re-used in Sonic CD.

Sonic 2, in a way, feels almost like a do-over of Sonic 1. There’s more levels, but the levels have direct parallels to those from Sonic 1, or (in the case of Hill Top Zone) are recolored, rearranged versions of other Sonic 2 stages. The addition of Tails as a sidekick character who follows Sonic and can be controlled by a second player was iconic, and has since become a staple of the franchise.

Sonic 2 is an important game that holds up well compared to other games of its era, and its certainly more than just a cosmetic upgrade of the first game, but I’ve noticed that each Sonic game in the classic franchise is an improvement over the previous game. Each game stands alone on it’s own merits, but when looked at together they show a steady rise in quality as the years go by.

For this retrospective, as with the Sonic 1 retrospective, I played the 2013 remake by Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley. To me, this is the definitive Sonic 2 experience, as with Sonic 1 and Sonic CD. Using Whitehead’s Retro Engine, they were able to successfully recreate Sonic 1, 2, and CD for modern platforms. These releases would eventually lead to the development of Sonic Mania, the first original “classic style” Sonic the Hedgehog game since 1994.

A notable easter egg included with this version of Sonic 2, and only this version, is the inclusion of the Hidden Palace Zone as a fully realized stage with an original boss. As mentioned earlier, the Hidden Palace Zone was found partially playable in one of the Sonic 2 prototypes, and it became somewhat of a legend among the fan community. The idea behind the level was re-purposed for Sonic & Knuckles, but for Sonic 2 players on mobile devices the level was recreated with the original assets and is only accessible by falling into the infamous spike pit in Mystic Cave Zone.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a great game that still holds up well nearly 30 years later. Its unfortunate that the definitive version of the game has been stuck on mobile devices, for some reason Sega has been reluctant to port the Sonic 1 and 2 remakes to any new consoles or devices. But, hey, guess they don’t want our money!

Where to Buy

Sonic the Hedgehog 2  (Android)

Support Y2K FunZone on Patreon

[sonichedgeblog]

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A quick playthrough of ‘Sonic: First One Standing’ and ‘Knuckles: Unfinished Business’, extremely early tech demos of Simon ‘@hcstealth’ Thomley’s work, created in 1998 - nearly 20 years ago.  It was made for DOS using his own engine.

Simon is now one of the major developers behind the ‘Sonic 1 & 2′ iOS ports, and now ‘Sonic Mania’.

[nintendomofo]

This Week In Gaming #8 (June 23 - June 29)

When you have ever desired a weekly filling of high-quality gaming information that retains leaks to necessary tidbits about future titles on the horizon, then you're in the correct place. This abstract/brief youtube video is the weekly dose you might want to sustain with present happenings within the gaming business. This Week In Gaming is a notion by eXputer to shrink weekly gaming information into a brief edifying youtube video. The eighth episode of This Week In Gaming is formally out there on eXputer’s YouTube channel.The previous week was filled with memorable moments and thrilling information within the gaming business. The occasions assorted from the disappointing launch of Sonic Origins and low concurrency to Nier Automata reaching for the moon by hitting a brand new milestone in gross sales. Slouch in opposition to the sofa, with snacks in your hand and machine in your lap, and immerse your self into the palliative 13-minute YouTube video. Or else, in the event you like treating your eyes to studying, then this abstract will show to be a great delight.Sonic Origins did not dwell up to expectations because it flopped on Steam upon launch. The sport skilled very low concurrency, that includes an all-time excessive of 2,268 solely. Causes behind failure are rampant bugs like stuttering, poor optimizations, and insufficient controls, to call a number of. Moreover, Sonic Origins is rated “blended,” with solely a 55.25% ranking.The gamers took to steam evaluations to complain concerning the bugs and vented their disappointment. Even the developer, Simon Thomley, in a sequence of tweets, unveiled the small print regarding the poor efficiency of Sonic Origins. In keeping with Simon, most bugs got here because of the mishandling of Sega and the rushed state of growth.Yuji Naka affirmed that Micheal Jackson wrote the Sonic 3 soundtrack in seemingly random tweets. Hours earlier, earlier than the reply, Yuji Naka raised the query of whether or not the music in Sonic Origins’ Sonic 3 had been modified from the initially used soundtrack for the brand new assortment, which seems to be the case. Whereas answering a query, Yuji Naka snapped certainly one of historical past’s historical gaming myths.The group took an enormous sigh of aid after getting the affirmation. The compilation makes use of altered preparations from a Composer, Jun Senoue. SEGA dropped affiliation with Michael Jackson for Sonic 3 resulting from allegations of kid abuse. The rumor had lasted for 28 years, and debates on the subject by followers can nonetheless be discovered on numerous outdated boards.Sq. Enix has made the unhappy determination of shutting down the servers of Closing Fantasy Document Keeper. The servers will go offline on September 29 this yr after an in-game announcement. Sq. Enix and builders DeNA made this termination official by revealing a number of notes in-game (through, Zero-ELEC). Solely the worldwide model, which got here out on March 25, 2015, will stop to exist because the Japanese model stays on-line.The developer behind Tenchu and Kamiwaza, Takuma Endo, alleged that Ghost of Tsushima made Japanese historical past a style. He believes that the Ghost of Tsushima tremendously influenced builders regarding Japanese tradition. Whereas in an interview with Metro, the developer talked concerning the recreation’s influence. In keeping with Takuma, builders are extra all in favour of making video games primarily based on Japanese tradition and historical past after the discharge of the Ghost of Tsushima.Takuma Endo cited, “There was this era the place publishers sort of… possibly not refused, however weren’t all in favour of coping with video games that handled Japanese historical past.” He additional elaborated, “Then you've Ghost Of Tsushima that comes alongside, and it sort of proves the alternative, that there's a market and that persons are .”Just lately leaked Halo Infinite voice strains recommend that new weapons would possibly emerge. Traces leaked for Iratus notes a brand new “bandit” weapon and extra which is evidently releasing quickly. Some time in the past, a data-miner uploaded a quick audio file during which the AI assemble, Iratus, cites a sure new entity (through @Mr_Rebs_). By listening to the voice strains, it may be concluded that this could possibly be a brand new weapon, prone to be a rifle.Halo Infinite’s participant rely has massively declined resulting from lack of content material and lots of different causes. Regardless of upwards of 20 million participant rely initially, the matchmaking now takes as much as 4 minutes as cited on many boards like Reddit, which may be very unhappy for such an enormous franchise. No sudden answer is on the horizon, however including heaps of content material might save Halo infinite from succumbing additional into depths of despair.The critically acclaimed Fall Guys made headlines the previous week. Fall Guys’ participant rely noticed a large rise in numbers regardless of being faraway from Steam. Fall Guys concurrent gamers spiked round 51,000 beans preventing for the crown. The large peak of 59,920 gamers occurred on June 21 after an prolonged interval of static participant rely. Those that personal the sport on Steam will proceed to obtain updates and advantages.Fall Guys just lately went free-to-play; that, plus the numerous updates, has introduced in a brand new batch of gamers. Fall Guys hit 20 million energetic gamers on the Epic Video games Retailer within the first 48 hours of free-to-play. This milestone was commemorated by Epic Video games themselves, tweeting out the occasion to congratulate Devolver Digital.A leaker has tinkered with Hogwarts Legacy’s official web site to find the record of extras objects players will obtain by buying the sport. Reddit consumer u/opalelement is responsible for this discovering, they usually posted the outcomes on r/HarryPotterGame. Furthermore, the leak has additionally been affirmed by the moderators of the sub-Reddit to be real.The findings incorporate a flying mount from the Harry Potter lore, Threstal Mount. Cosmetics like Darkish Arts Beauty Pack, a Darkish Arts Battle Enviornment, and a Darkish Arts Garrison Hat are additionally included. Though it's not confirmed, these extras will probably be out there if Hogwarts Legacy is preordered.Scorn is slating nearer to launch, however we had not seen the character mannequin earlier than in full mild. Many of the recreation reveals have solely featured the extent designs and terrifying creatures. The newest leak (through @Mr_Rebs_.) reveals pictures of Scorn’s primary character seems to be. It's value noting that these are the primary character early prototypes, so the ultimate design might have a disparity between night time and day.A latest youtube video by TriangleCity showcases all of the major minimize content material from the primary questline in Fallout 3. The highlights of this video are many. The detailed video discusses all the pieces in lavish element, from new occasions in vaults to never-before-seen options. It additionally consists of aspect missions as massive as primary quests. One of many massive highlights is the Tranquility Lane, the place the participant enters a brand new simulation of a unique world.Different discussions embrace the questline altered amid growth, together with minimize characters, quests, objects, and dialogue alongside inaccessible areas, forgotten notes, and new maps from early growth. A sub-topic additionally talks about over 240 endings. In an interview on OXMPodcast, Todd Howard had one thing to say concerning the endings, “Being that we're Bethesda, all the pieces will get a bit massive. In order of final week, we’re over 200 endings.”Tencent’s LIGHTSPEED STUDIOS introduced their new venture dubbed Code: To Jin Yong. The announcement unveiled an exciting new trailer revealing fluid motion, fight, and wuxia-inspired journey. The teaser begins with the message, “Each Man Is A Piece Of The World.” The official description reads, “Code: To Jin Yong is a tribute to well-known wuxia author Jin Yong. The brand new recreation relies on the world created in his wuxia novel sequence.” The sport makes use of Unreal Engine 5, and no set launch date has been introduced but.The day earlier than developer referred to as for volunteers to assist with its venture. Fntastic added a brand new web page to its web site, asking for volunteers to assist with its tasks. The sport was delayed to 2023 following a shift to Unreal Engine 5. The builders are searching for assist from the group to complete the venture on time. July is showing to be very eventful. In keeping with Tom Henderson and his dependable sources, EA goes to reveal FIFA, Want for Pace, and Skate 4 in July. It’s not evident when every recreation will likely be unveiled, nevertheless it’s understood that the Want for Pace and FIFA bulletins are prone to happen within the second half of the month.On the subject of Want for pace (2022), pictures of the sport have leaked forward of launch. Although the photographs don’t reveal a lot concerning the gameplay, the graphics are positively an development, as previously cited by Jeff Grubb that the upcoming Want for Pace (2022) will “undertake a stylized aesthetic combing photorealistic graphics with anime parts.”Deafened footage of Saints Row (2022) reboot was additionally leaked final week which revealed the marketing campaign introduction with none audio. The video incorporates the night-life glamour of Santo Ileso and the setting from inside, what seems to be a nightclub. It additionally consists of interactions between the gang members and the character. Slating in direction of some canceled tasks on this episode of This Week In Gaming, footage from canceled Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II leaked on-line. Latest pictures from the canceled model of the sequel developed by Hardsuit Labs have emerged on-line. Viktor Blanke, the designer, has given us a extra in-depth perception into his work from this time interval. Based mostly on a few of the screenshots shared, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines II appeared fairly promising.Photographs from the canceled Scarface 2 (2008) have been additionally leaked on-line, revealing the superb state of the dumped venture. YouTuber Mafia Sport Movies revealed that the trigger for the revocation was Activision after it acquired Radical Leisure, the mother or father firm for the franchise. The gameplay footage for Scarface 2 had additionally surfaced. The final plot dictates that Tony Montana was pressured out of Miami and went to make his new empire in Las Vegas.  This Week In Gaming episode additionally mentioned gross sales, NieR: Automata has reportedly bought a staggering quantity of 6.5 million-plus copies after half a decade since its inception. NieR:Automata garnered a flattering reception moreover some bugs after speedy launch, reaching world triumph. The nostalgic title continues to be excessive in demand with copies of the sport nonetheless being bought after half a decade.Apple earned extra in gaming than Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo Mixed with out making any video games. The goliath earned a staggering $13.5 billion in gaming income, within the yr 2020. As in comparison with the trio of corporations, together with Activision Blizzard (the proprietor of the Name of Obligation franchise) accrued simply $6.5 billion in gaming income in 2020.The first trigger for this gaming income for Apple is the payment it fees builders. The corporate will get 30% of all of the in-app purchases, subscriptions, and another relevant charges from builders. This alone has precipitated the corporate to surpass the likes of Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo mixed.  Read the full article

[isitepic]

Is It Epic? Sonic Mania (Plus) Review

Sonic Mania is a pretty special game, from it’s creation story to the end product we see before us today. During the days of the Dreamcast and the days following after, there would be several attempts to recapture Sonic’s glory days on the Genesis. Though none of them quite matched the quality of those games, for many, Sonic’s handheld adventures such as the Sonic Advance trilogy would be Sonic’s only 2D games for several years.

But that’s just for official Sonic games, meanwhile, there was a steady, lively community for Sonic mods and fangames, yet again trying to recapture that Sonic 16-bit magic. While many fell flat on their face, some of them actually came quite close. Enter Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley.

Christian Whitehead, also known as the Taxman, had coded his own engine, dubbed the Retro Engine, and showed it off at SAGE of 2009. This engine would of course, be used for his pitched remake of Sonic CD. Whereas games like Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 were available on iOS at the time, they ran on rather crummy emulators. This was different. This was a complete remake from the ground up.

Enter Simon Thomley, aka Stealth, who worked on several well known Sonic fangame projects like Sonic MegaMix, and possibly most famously his own version of Sonic the Hedgehog on Gameboy Advance Hardware. Being friends with Christian, he provided his own advice on the Sonic CD remake before joining him on the remakes of Sonic 1 and Sonic 2.

After a failed pitch for a Sonic 3 and Knuckles remake, the two would not be deturred. Enter Sonic Discovery, after a lengthy meeting with Takashi Iizuka, Sonic Mania was born. After it’s reveal at San Diego Comic Con 2016, people were excited, and I was right along with them.

After a frustrating delay for the PC version and dealing with the fallout of Denuvo, many people, including myself, were completely enamored with the game. But that was a year ago, and a lot can change in a year. I’ve certainly changed a lot in the course of a year.

With the new Sonic Mania Plus DLC that was released in July of this year, the game has changed quite a bit and the hype has died down significantly. With this in mind, I figured now is as good of a time as any to sit down and really analyze Sonic Mania, especially with the new 1.4 update.

The plot of Sonic Mania is unfortunately a lot of wasted potential. After discovering a mysterious power source on Angel Island that teleports whoever it is you’re playing as to Green Hill Zone, it transforms the surrounding EggRobos into the new Hard Boiled Heavies. Through one big adventure, The Heavy King faces off with the Egg Reverie and Super Sonic. After defeating them both, a portal opens up and Sonic is sucked in, kicking off the events of Sonic Forces.

In essence, the story only exists to advertise Sonic Forces and that ends up working against it. The original story saw Dr. Robotnik falling into a deep depression after the events of Sonic 3, with the Hard Boiled Heavies taking over, but that was scrapped for reasons I’m not entirely sure of.

But story was never the drawing point of Classic Sonic the Hedgehog. While games like Sonic CD or Sonic 3 had something of a narrative, it was never the heavy focus of the game. What really sold Sonic was his gameplay, and luckily, Sonic Mania excels in that regard. What made Sonic work in the original Genesis games were his physics and level design.

The key to good Sonic level design is fluidity, keeping Sonic moving is as important and his speed itself. Take Sonic 1 for example, all the best levels in that game are filled with slopes and loop de loops that Sonic can roll around and pick up so much speed that he can outrun the screen itself. Sonic Mania keeps such design mentalities in mind, as even in more rigid levels such as Titanic Monarch, skilled players can speedrun it as easily as something like Green Hill Zone.

What’s also important is Sonic’s physics, and by extension, his momentum. This is where Sonic Mania succeeds and something like Sonic 4 fails miserably. How Sonic reacts to the terrain below him is cruical, because if he doesn’t react properly, then the game won’t function right.

Sonic Mania is the first “Classic” Sonic game since 1994 to truly feel like it understood why the Genesis trilogy was so beloved, expanding on what people liked about them in every way. That’s not to say the game is without it’s flaws, however. Some of the bosses way overstay their welcome. Hydrocity Zone Act 2 in particular can really feel like a slog, being two full bosses back to back. Metal Sonic also can be a bit of a drag, but thankfully in the recent 1.4 update, it’s been updated to be slightly more forgiving, adding a checkpoint right before the final phase, which has also been updated quite significantly.

Some of the levels in general can also go on for a really, really long time, and that’s especially a bit of a problem when the save system saves only by Zone and not by Act. What’s especially strange about this is that the Sonic Advance trilogy, Sonic Rush games, and the Sonic 1, 2 and CD remakes all had this figured out, save by Act, and those levels are significantly smaller than those found in Sonic Mania. If I stop playing at Mirage Saloon Act 2, I shold, at the very least, be able to pick it back up again at Mirage Saloon Act 2.

While it’s nice to see the Elemental Shields get some more creative usage, they don’t really get enough of that creative usage. I mean, yeah setting fire to Oil Ocean Zone is pretty cool, and yeah, sticking to the ceilling in Flying Battery Zone is a pretty creative idea, but aside from setting fire to a bridge here or there in Green Hill Zone, that’s kind of it.

Sonic Mania also got paid DLC in the form of Sonic Mania Plus, adding two new characters, Mighty and Ray. It also adds some new Bonus Stages, new Special Stage layouts and a brand new Encore Mode, with new stage color palletes and slightly altered stage layouts. But that’s the operative word: slightly. Mighty is essentially the easy mode of this game, with a ground pound that can destroy certain objects and occasionally lead to different paths, and his shell protects him from certain dangers. Ray is essentially Super Mario World’s Cape Mario in the form of a Sonic the Hedgehog character, allowing him to glide over large distances.

The new level layouts don’t really lend themselves well to the new character’s abilities. By and large, aside from different entity placement, the levels are basically identical. The Special Stages have also seen a significant overhaul, with all new, much more difficult to find Warp Ring placement, the Special Stage design aesthetics going in reverse and being BRUTALLY unforgiving. One slip up, and at that point you may as well throw yourself off the track because you aren’t getting the Emerald.

The only reason I got all the Emeralds in my playthrough of Encore mode is, what I assume was a Debug feature left in the PC version by mistake that allowed you to instantly go up a speed level and the press of a button.

But as cool as it is to see these characters return after over 22 years of absence, and as fun as they are to play, these levels aren’t entirely built around these characters’ abilities. We have fewer Warp Rings and those are moved around quite substanstially, and we have a lot more harsh enemy placement, but that’s all, really.

To be completely honest, I am beyond the point of burnout with Sonic Mania. With over 100 hours on record, gathering all the footage for the video review and getting 100% clear on all files in Encore Mode, I am Mania’d out. I am taking a long, long break from Sonic games until Team Sonic Racing comes out.

Though I sound pretty negative in this review, don’t take that the wrong way; Sonic Mania is a gorgeous, beautiful game that serves as a love letter to fans of Classic Sonic. While not a perfect game, for the first time in many years, we finally have a worthy followup to Sonic’s adventures on the Genesis. If you fell in love with the potbellied hedgehog like I did, Sonic Mania serves as a beautiful reminder of why Sonic set the world on fire.

[blazehedgehog]

If you were part of SEGA's top brass, which third-party company out there do you think would you choose to outsource 3D Sonic games to? Or would you court the fandom to take the reigns instead?

I would not court the fandom to take the reigns. That wouldn’t even be possible, at least not immediately. Sonic Mania was, what, a 2017 game, right? Consider that Taxman and Stealth had been working with Sega since 2011. It took SIX YEARS of Sega building trust with them to deliver multiple projects on time and in budget.

What, would we get the Sonic Utopia team to make a new Sonic game? Their first and only demo was three years ago. Every now and then there’s a hint that a new demo could be soon, but how soon? For a fan game this kind of “When it’s done!” mentality is fine, because you’re really only beholden to yourself. You aren’t upsetting investors or paying customers when you go slow and take your time. But in terms of what Sega would be looking for, they don’t pass the test.

And the same could be applied to almost all fan games. Even Sonic Robo-Blast 2, a game that’s 20 years old, isn’t “finished.” Yes, it had a complete release, but that was more about the old guard tying up loose ends and shipping something so they could move on with their lives – and now the new generation is working to actually finish the game.

Taxman pitched a functional version of Sonic CD to Sega and that thing was on digital stores within, like, a year. Most fan games just don’t operate on that kind of brevity. Sometimes that’s to their benefit, because slowly feeling things out is how innovation happens. But you can’t just hand a multi-million dollar franchise to anyone, no matter how good their one-level demo seems to be.

It’s like drawing a pin-up when you want to be a comic book artist. A single, standalone full-page image is not a comic book, and does not demonstrate your ability to lay out panels or finish an entire book on time.

The community is great at exploring potential ideas, but they are not great at producing finish products. There is (unfortunately) more to making games than simply having good ideas.

As for third parties, I’ve written some blogs about that in the past:

“Are there any developers in particular that you think would do good work on a main-line big-league Sonic game?” (1 year ago)

“So out of curiosity what’s your stance on this and if you had any other companies in mind you’d like to see tackle sonic like BRB did?“ (4 years ago)

“Sorry if this has already been asked, but If SEGA somehow went bankrupt, who would you want to get the Sonic IP?“ (1 year ago)

To save you some trouble: I don’t know who I’d pick because we don’t really know the working conditions. Even the best studios are going to turn in terrible work if they aren’t given enough time, budget or freedom to develop an end product. It’s not as easy as just saying, “Oh, Ubisoft would be awesome” because Ubisoft employs 2000 people, and sometimes their output really stinks. There are simply too many variables to work with.

[krystanadrew]

Game: Sonic Mania

According to Takashi Iizuka. Sonic Mania came out of the love from the original Sonic series. Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley(the people behind the remastered Sonic ports on mobile devices) took part in the development of the game. "Sonic Mania was born out of our fans love of the classic Sonic 2D platform games. This type of collaboration is a first for Sega and we hope everyone will be both surprised and delighted by this title. Sonic Mania has been a passion project for the entire team and we look forward to sharing more details about it later this year. Having the game actually playable at the event itself tonight was testament to the dedication of the team behind it.

[the-amazing-mister-z-blog]

My 5 Favorite Games of 2017

Well, 2017 has come and gone, and we got a bunch of great games throughout the year. Truth be told, I haven’t even come close to playing every game that came out this year (some of which I couldn’t give a shit about), so that’s why I’m only talking about five.

5. Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch)

I loved the first Splatoon when it came out, so it’s a no-brainer that I got excited at the news of a sequel. In many ways, however, it’s more of the same thing, but with how well it controls, is that really a bad thing?

4. Cuphead (Xbox One, Windows 10, Steam)

Like quite a few people (by that, I mean literally everyone), I’ve been waiting for this game for years. Now it’s finally out, and it’s hard as balls, but in the best ways. This game brings me back to my youth when I spent many an hour playing Metal Slug at any chance I got. Lastly, I don’t even need to talk about the graphical style, do I? Fuck it, I will: It’s perhaps one of the most unique-looking games ever made.

3. Sonic Mania (Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Steam)

“Sonic was never good”, huh? Tell that to Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley. This game is such a beautiful love letter to the Fastest Thing Alive’s glory days; not to mention, it has references and in-jokes galore to anyone who’s stuck with Sega, through ups and downs, for the past 20 years.

2. Metroid: Samus Returns (Nintendo 3DS)

And what a glorious return it is! A game like this has been long overdue, not only in the sense of it being a remake of Metroid 2, but also being a legit 3DS Metroid game! (Suck it, Federation Force) I’m more than certain this game will be overlooked by essentially everyone else making “Best of 2017″ lists, and to them, I say: “What’s wrong with you?” This game brought out feelings of joy, determination, concentration, and even frustration that I hadn’t felt for a while. There’s really only one other game that I played this year that made me feel like that...

1. Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo Switch)

Duh, right? It was either going to be this or Breath of the Wild, which I didn’t play because, compared to other Nintendo series, I don’t really care for Zelda. I’m always down for a good Mario game, though, and, boy, did this game deliver. In my opinion, Nintendo is at their best when making Mario games that deviate from the norm. That’s why I liked Mario Maker, and it’s also why the games between Galaxy 2 and this one felt a bit lacking, at least to me. I was hooked at the initial reveal, and the E3 trailer only made me want the game more (especially with its promise of a playable T-Rex). Like Sonic Mania, Odyssey is crammed with details and callbacks to older Mario games, including a special costume that I will not spoil for those who don’t have the game yet (somehow). In short, much like the system it was developed for, this game is exactly what Nintendo needed to regain the trust of their most dedicated customers.