This matters, because Encore mode moves the focus from Sonic and drops Mania’s old-school Lives mechanic to have you working with a part of up to five Sonic stars – Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and new additions, Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the flying squirrel – and switching between them as you go. There are new routes, new enemies, new sections and even new or revised boss encounters, with portions designed to give you room to exploit the abilities of different characters in the game.
It isn’t exactly essential, as we’ll see, but if you want the definitive edition of Sonic’s renaissance, then this is it.Įncore mode is the big draw, remixing the existing Sonic Mania zones and changing how they’re played. It’s a physical release for Sonic Mania, accompanied by an art book (small, but very nice), new playable characters, some minor enhancements and the all-new Encore mode.
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Sonic Mania Plus is less a sequel or expansion than a victory lap. Unlike its dismal stablemate, Sonic Forces, Mania was a reminder of what a Sonic game could be.
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Nevertheless, Christian Whitehead and his team knew how to remix and augment the old material to build a game that felt both old and new. Of course, you could argue that Sonic Mania was pretty much constructed from the series’ best, pulling its visual style, gameplay and even some of the basic-level design from the classic 16-bit Sonics. Here, after 20-odd years of poor, middling and occasionally half-decent Sonic games, was a 2D platformer that could stand tall with the series’ best. Sega scored a slam-dunk with last year’s Sonic Mania.
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You'll know if you'll eventually want Mania after that.Available on Nintendo Switch (version tested), Xbox One, PS4, PC You'll know if you want Origins from there. But like, if you've never played the games, start with the mobile ports. Origins is a good collection and is going to be the easiest way to play Sonic 3 and Knuckles, widely considered to be the best of the classic Trilogy (although I'm more of a Sonic 2 man myself). I'm sure you could do it, but you might have a better time going in order. It's like starting a set of books at number 4 and working your way backwards. If you like Mania, it might be weird going to the classics and experiencing things in that order. If you like the classics, you'll love Mania and you'll immediately want to get it.
You won't be entirely lost with Mania, but it's a little like having dessert before dinner. Or being able to play as Mighty and Ray, what a massive deal that is. You're not going to get that Green Hill Zone acts 1 and 2 were smashed together and the new act 2 is based on Green Hill Zone in Generations? Or you might not appreciate the deep cut of puyo puyo as the boss of Chemical Plant Zone if you don't know about that time they resigned puyo puyo and sold it as Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. Mania has its fair share of original content, yes, but like. The tagline is for the Mania by the Mania, as in by fans for fans. Don't get me wrong, it's an absolutely fantastic game but it's deeply self referential. They're incredibly inexpensive (free if you don't mind ads), play wonderfully and you'll know immediately if you'll want the games on something beefier. Try the mobile ports of Sonic 1 and 2 first.