You can take Mighty and Ray for a spin through Sonic Mania’s standard stages, but Encore Mode is what most returning players will want to tackle first. Related Story Nathan Birch Sonic Origins Review – Half-Baked Hedgehog Rehash Mighty, who can take out enemies and open up new pathways with his ground pound, is a solid addition, while Ray, who can glide, feels a bit superfluous given both Tails and Knuckles can also fly.
Hey, if you’re going to expand beyond the trinity of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles, you may as well dig deep. Thankfully, Sonic Mania Plus provides exactly that.Īs mentioned, Sonic Mania Plus adds two new characters, Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel, both lifted from the ultra-obscure 90s arcade game SegaSonic the Hedgehog. Make no mistake, Sonic Mania is a good game, but it could’ve done with an extra layer of polish. Most importantly, it’s fast – getting up to speed on going on a tear is as exhilarating as it’s ever been. The game’s stages are complex and multilayered, with secrets and Easter eggs packed into every nook and cranny. It’s endlessly inventive, with new traps, tricks, and gimmicks around every turn. That said, Sonic Mania also captures what was once great about the series. Also, did we really need a water zone? Right, smack-dab in the middle of the game? Come on now. The blindside enemy attacks and traps, occasionally confusing level design, and annoying difficulty spikes that were hallmarks of 90s Sonic titles return in force. Sonic Mania is often faithful to a fault. Mario wars of the 90s! I think fans were so relieved Sonic Mania wasn’t bad they may have spread the praise on just a little thick. And this is coming from somebody who was a hardcore hedgehog homer during the great Sonic vs. It makes the experience feel more spontaneous and fresh.I’m not going to re-review Sonic Mania, Wccftech’s Dave Aubrey already covered that, but I will say, I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about the game as some were. This is where you can replenish your supply of characters though a crane game (another callback to Knuckles’ Chaotix) inside the pinball machine.Įncore Mode gives you a way to play as every character in a single playthrough. Instead of bonus stages that award you Chaos Emeralds, you unlock a new pinball-like minigame if you have at least 50 rings and reach a checkpoint. You only lose if you run out of characters. The other three wait to jump in if you die.
You can control one of them while the other follows, and you can switch between the two with the press of a button. Instead of having a bank, you can instead collect all of the five playable characters. It’s not a huge thing you’ll notice.īut Encore Mode has a unique way of handling your lives. This just means that some of colors and layout has changed. You go through remixed versions of the original levels. Encore Mode gives you a new way to experience Sonic Mania. If you love Sonic Mania, it’s worth playing through it again as each of these new heroes.īut you don’t have to just play the regular campaign.
The sprites and animations are expressive and full of character. The new abilities open up different strategies for getting through levels and fighting bosses.
Playing as both of these characters give you a new way to appreciate Sonic Mania. You need to alternate between the two to maintain speed and height. Moving against your momentum gives you lift but slows you down, while moving forward has you quickly diving. Think of Ray’s flight kind of like how Mario’s cape works in Super Mario World. Like Tails, Ray can fly, but his mechanics work differently. That title had players control characters with a trackball. He debuted, along with Mighty, in SegaSonic the Hedgehog, a three-player arcade game that only came out in Japan in 1993. Ray is playable for the first time ever in a traditional Sonic game. It gives him a lot of vertical speed and helps you attack enemies on the ground with more precision. Mighty can do a ground pound if he’s in the air. Tails can fly short distances, for example, while Knuckles can glide and climb walls. Each character in Sonic Mania has a special ability. This is Mighty’s first playable appearance since 1995’s Knuckles’ Chaotic for the 32X. Now we get access to Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. The original release of Sonic Mania included Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles as playable characters. MetaBeat will bring together thought leaders to give guidance on how metaverse technology will transform the way all industries communicate and do business on October 4 in San Francisco, CA.