What are your opinions on Sonic Mania Plus?

[Rocket Man]

Personally, I thought the dlc wasn't worth 5$ (Only two new characters, the same campaign but palette swapped, no new bosses, ect.) and tried to get a refund but couldn't. I'm still interested in hearing what other people have to say about it though.

[Patitasmon]

Originally posted by Jaypi3:

Originally posted by Patitasmon:

To everyone who are complaining about the price. Be glad Sega didn't do what Wayforward did with Shantae Half Genie Hero. If you wanted the exclusive backer content, you had to buy the whole Ultimate Edition at the full price of USD $29.99 and on top of that you can't transfer your progress from the standard game (the one released last year) to the ultimate edition one, so it was start all over again.

The Encore mode isn't just a color swap. It has more difficult level than the normal mania mode. The stages to get the chaos emeralds are quite challenging since the beginning since they have obstacles than the mania mode ones (at least the Green Hills Zone 1 one) didn't have.

I say USD $5 is a fair price for this DLC.

Honestly, Encore mode feels like more than just difficulty, the level layouts seem different as well, which i'm loving. I also like the lives system, makes me think about how i'm gonna play with each character.

I did notice the levels layout being different on encore mode, even the rings to get to the chaos emeralds stages aren't on the same areas of the levels they were located on the mania mode. Green Hill Zone Act 1 now has 2 rings to get chaos emerald, while on Mania mode it only had one.

I barely have advanced though, I got busy trying to get the first chaos emerald and failing a lot that I had to restart from scratch again till I got it XDDDD

[AortaPlatinum]

Originally posted by Minka:

Originally posted by Obito:

This game needs an ending. I want to know what happened to Sonic at the end. He just vanished.
I thought Plus would be that missing ending, but no. It's just same stages, with different colours.

Is this still debated at all? Sonic Mania's ending leads directly into Sonic Forces, and then Sonic Forces' ending directly leads into Sonic Mania's Encore Mode (or the Sonic Mania Adventures animated series, though despite losing the timestamp, it's confirmed in the last official Sonic livestream that SMA is an alternate/non-canon Forces followup).

Hell, Mania's ending and Encore's opening are vague enough that you can just pretend Forces didn't happen, if you really want to.

New headcannon to rid Forces'... quirkiness, from canon: after finally proving himself the most powerful being in his dimension, the Phantom Ruby selected Sonic to be sealed away and tested by the Ruby for true power in Null Space. Here, the Ruby simulated an entirely differently dimension where a taller, more lanky, and much more annoying Sonic had supposedly been dead for months, allowing that world's Eggman to take over. Upon aiding that world's denizens, the Ruby allowed Sonic to return to his own dimension, but time had vastly sped up while in the other dimension. He was held in captivity by the Ruby for 14 years, giving Eggman ample time to reset everything and try his plan using the Titanic Monarch again. When he was finally returned by the Ruby, it unintentionally reset the HBH when passing by them, and Sonic had to go do it all again with the added aid of the power couple Mighty and Ray. In the end, it was Eggman who was sucked into Null Space by the overclocking of the Phantom Ruby causing it to go haywire.

And that's why Forces is technically no longer canon to any universe. Now make a modern Sonic game that's actually a game and not a movie please, SonicTeam.

[KeathalKrisom]

I found it to be alright (so far I'm halfway through it) and correctly priced but there are definitely problems I have but I was aware of most of these.

First and is most definitely a nitpick only I and a very few others have and it's not an Encore thing so ignore this complaint if you feel it doesn't apply but the character weights are now all similar, making jumping while down a narrow slope to gain momentum no longer a thing it just throws you further horizontally like it did for Tails and iirc Knuckles.

Example: https://imgur.com/a/hNJqawP - Vanilla
Example2: https://imgur.com/uinkSPy - Plus.

The other things are the small changes so far per zone, some argubly look better with the different pallete and others worse but I was expecting zones to have more layouts and added difficulty, while I know it's a little harder but even in Encore so far it's the easiest classic Sonic in my books and it's not even a step up, I am hoping this changes soon.

To move onto the new characters, Mighty and Ray I have unrealized opinions on them but I'll start with something but cemented; I absolutely love the design of Mighty and have for quite a while, while he was designed sprite-wise previously to be a lot like Sonic I think the Mania team have worked it up a notch and now I don't see him as an "armadillo Sonic" but more of a determined mighty character.
Ray on the otherhand just doesn't appeal to me design-wise, he looks bare and I have absolutely no idea what's going on with his victory pose. The way he swings from the bars is cute.

Gameplay the characters are very simplistic which is exactly how our original trio is, Mighty has a cool ground-pound attack which is a pretty neat feature but I kinda wish if you dropped on a monitor or badnik it'd bounce you akin to the bubble shield, but higher. It'd also be nice if the said ability would give you more of a boost down slopes, I think it does now but it doesn't feel that much faster. - His super armour (I'm not sure the name of this, I'll just use the fighting game term) that absorbs a hit for him might be potentially good for risk/reward setups but I'll have to see how this can be used and what it can be used against before I can claim a more solid opinion.

Ray feels a little redundant and I'm a bit disappointed his hover doesn't kill badniks, either that or I am using it wrong, I am not really compelled to play him.

Finally the character switching through the monitors irks me a little, I am not sure how it works or if it's randomized, I have a suspicion one of the monitors changes characters in order and that's the one without a question mark. - I think a good idea would be to be able to swap characters between Acts when the score is tallying up or using L1(LB) and R1(RB) to swap around the secondary character, this would be great to experiment with and more dexterous players who can do this on the fly would make for every interesting and fun speed-running segments. Imagine a skilled speed runner like Paraxade0, Zaxon96 or Claris.

Anyway while it might just sound like I am trying to tear Plus apart, I don't really think it's bad and have a more positive opinion on it, it's so far a very solid 7/10 and at a fair price and that might be swayed a little by the new Zone transitions, Super Sonic animations and so forth but I have to remind myself these are not Plus exclusive.

Edit: I also forgot to mention that I absolutely love the new Special Zones having increased difficulty, they are by far the most fun Special Zones in the entire Sonic franchise but the original mode they were incredibly easy. I don't think they are difficult to say but I've only got 4/7 due to the Special Zones being well hidden this time around, or I am just terrible at finding them and just accustomed to Mania's original placements.

I also need to try out the new Special Stages, I do hope they expanded on the Blue Sphere stages also.

[MineFurryLPs]

Encore mode reworks the stages bonus stages and special stages completely its a ton of new content for a decently small price although compared to the base game I think its a bit much and I really enjoy the way mighty and ray play compared to the other characters the only thing I dont care about is the 4 player competative mode which honestly should just be in the base game for the people that actually do care about it I would have prefered a better coop mode honestly where each player gets thier own screen something that I have wanted ever since I found out sonic 2 had coop

[boonzex]

It's worth it.
How poor are you guys to complain about $5 anyway?

[carriedairy]

I like it. Its good to see Mighty and Ray back.

[Watson690]

Most accurately priced DLC I've ever bought. Got $5 worth of content. Reskinning already existing levels isn't really worth much, but two new characters that are both fun to play as? Definitely worth $5 just for Mighty and Ray.

[Tipomaniac]

Wasn't really worth it. But I like playing as Mighty and Ray.

[Rocket Man]

Originally posted by KeathalKrisom:

Ray feels a little redundant and I'm a bit disappointed his hover doesn't kill badniks, either that or I am using it wrong, I am not really compelled to play him.

Ray can sorta kill badniks while flying, just let go of the jump button and he'll form into a ball. You can't go back to flying after forming into a ball though.

[Rocket Man]

Also I might as well add a few more opinions of mine.

The special stages are really cool, but the reward for beating all of them is extremely lackluster. No secret boss or anything, just a "meh" ending.

The pinball bonus stage is neat too, but I wish there was more variety. Unlike Blue Sphere it's the same exact layout and you get no reward for getting all the way to the top.

I honestly barely felt a difference between the Encore stage layouts and the Mania stage layouts. People say they're different but I honestly can't tell the difference.

Ray is honestly the only neat additional character imo, because Mighty just feels like a constant bubble shield and being able to play the game on easy mode since you can't get hurt by any spikes making most bosses easier.

Only two new acts were added, Angel Island Zone Act 1 and Mirage Saloon Zone Act 1.

So in summary: Plus adds two new characters with one being a bit of a reskin of a shield ability, the exact same campaign but palette swapped, cutting out 3 Acts (Knuckles' GHZ Act 1, Sonic's MSZ act 1, Knuckles' MSZ act 1) and three bosses (Sonic's MHZ Act 1 Boss, Knuckles' Heavy King Boss, and the secret final boss), with awesome special stages although going through the trouble of beating them isn't worth the reward in the slightest; and finally, four player comp mode which can only be played locally.

Honestly I don't feel like it's worth 5$, games such as Shovel Knight get entire campaigns added for free with new gameplay and levels. Hell, even a game I criticize for lacking in content, "Kirby Star Allies" for the Nintendo Switch is giving out 9 free dlc characters entirely for free.

Mania Plus would work as a physical release for people who haven't played the original Mania, but it doesn't work as a DLC for 5$ due to the lack of content.

[Lockhart]

Originally posted by Boonz:

It's worth it.
How poor are you guys to complain about $5 anyway?

I don't know why, but I feel like farting silently while reading your comment.

[KeathalKrisom]

Originally posted by dcsant:

Originally posted by Boonz:

It's worth it.
How poor are you guys to complain about $5 anyway?

I don't know why, but I feel like farting silently while reading your comment.

It's because the outlook is a load of ♥♥♥♥ so it's very relatable to a fart.
Any product of any value can be criticized, if I was given free ice-cream and it just crumbled with the cone in my hand I'd be disappointed.

[Gabby]

Originally posted by Shrek:

So in summary: Plus adds two new characters, a new campaign with reworked stages, a ton of bonus stages and finally, four player comp mode which can only be played locally.

Fixed your description removing your false conclusions set up with anecdotal evidence.

Honestly I don't feel like it's worth 5$, games such as Shovel Knight get entire campaigns added for free with new gameplay and levels. Hell, even a game I criticize for lacking in content, "Kirby Star Allies" for the Nintendo Switch is giving out 9 free dlc characters entirely for free.

Shovel Knight’s DLC was paid for by the backers. It wasn’t free. And they actually got a lot of new people to pay for it by bumping up the price of the game when Treasure Trove cane out.

The DLC characters you’re referring to in KSA are ironically actual “palette swaps” by your definition of abilities somehow bring the swap and not the very high quality character animations.

Mania Plus would work as a physical release for people who haven't played the original Mania, but it doesn't work as a DLC for 5$ due to the lack of content.

There’s loads more content in here than just about any mainstream game would ever even begin to offer for $5. Please, guys, stop using this tired argument. It’s just not remotely true.

[Golly!]

Personally, I liked the idea of OG Mania more than the execution. I thought it had a few too many problems that made the game a little too frustrating [I'm not the best at 2D Platformers mind you] but Sonic Mania Plus fixed my biggest issues, which is that some bosses were just too hard to hit, they made the hitboxes more forgiving and made little changes to make it clear how you're supposed to hit them. Which for me is a welcome change, because they were the cause of all my frustrations the first time. Call me casual if you want, but this little change, ontop of Mighty being the surprise stand out for me in Encore really flipped my entire opinion on the game, and if I didn't love Sonic 2 so much, I'd say that FOR ME PERSONALLY, it'd be the best Classic Sonic game.

[Rocket Man]

Originally posted by NekophonicHeaven:

Personally, I liked the idea of OG Mania more than the execution. I thought it had a few too many problems that made the game a little too frustrating [I'm not the best at 2D Platformers mind you] but Sonic Mania Plus fixed my biggest issues, which is that some bosses were just too hard to hit, they made the hitboxes more forgiving and made little changes to make it clear how you're supposed to hit them. Which for me is a welcome change, because they were the cause of all my frustrations the first time. Call me casual if you want, but this little change, ontop of Mighty being the surprise stand out for me in Encore really flipped my entire opinion on the game, and if I didn't love Sonic 2 so much, I'd say that FOR ME PERSONALLY, it'd be the best Classic Sonic game.

You're counting the Sonic Mania update and Sonic Mania Plus as two complete entities rather than seperate ones.

The Sonic Mania update fixes hitboxes and such, Encore dlc (or Sonic Mania Plus DLC) adds the characters and encore mode.