Sonic Mania

[Ben Kirkham]

Blah blah blah DRM blah blah Denuvo blah blah. There’s definitely a point to be made there – you should be able to play offline.

But I’ve not heard anyone talk about the game itself yet. I’ve been playing for a couple of days, and I’m really enjoying it. A smart and clever synthesis of the first four games, with a bit of Sonic CD, Sonic 3D and Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine thrown in for good measure. A bit like being 8 years old again!

Opinions?

Topic

[Warbodog]

Maybe Sonic was annoyed that Cedric called for his mum for help rather than for him, so he’s trying to undermine her parenting. Women!

[Jenuall]

I’ll take this version over that Sally Acorn bullshit any day 😩

[Moonlight]

Hey, Ken Penders’ writing may be unreadable dreck that comes across as a preposterously circuitous exercise in justifying the actions of his abusive father to himself, but at least he has a cool moustache.

[Warbodog]

If you like the bland, phoned-in early issues of STC where Sonic zooms around a loop and bops Robotnik on the head and they say a catchphrase, you’ll LOVE the unaffiliated universe (with shared artists) of the Grandreams Yearbooks + News of the World strips!

[Jenuall]

I had the 1993 yearbook! It was fun but yeah, not exactly the most imaginative Sonic content ever

[Warbodog]

Porker Lewis in Sonic the Comic was presumably a pun reference to the American teen sitcom Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, which I for one had certainly heard of before today.

[Moonlight]

When I was a very small child I assumed these grasshopper guys were Sonic’s friends because they’d jump out of the way when you ran by.

[Jenuall]

Something about the design of those always made me think they were really old – like Marble Garden was full of geriatric grass hoppers. I think it’s the colour scheme which makes it looks a little like they’ve got a grey beard and are holding on to a few remaining wispy grey hairs on their head. That and the general, “bent over old man” shape they have!

[MANI506]

[Dave]

[Warbodog]

[Technopeasant]

What exactly was the first game with the conciet you can breathe bubbles underwater?

According to Google it was actually Sonic that popularized it, nevermind.

[Ben Saunders]

What exactly was the first game with the conciet you can breathe bubbles underwater?
According to Google it was actually Sonic that popularized it, nevermind.

[Technopeasant]

[Warbodog]

You needed to be holding a Rubber Snorkel to go into the water in Treasure Island Dizzy (1989) or it was instant game over.

[Dave]

I remember someone writing in to a video game magazine letters page to insist that the noise Sonic makes when he swallows an air bubble is him saying “water”.

[Technopeasant]

“Hedgehogs cannot dive; they float naturally because air gets trapped inside their hollow spines, acting like a built-in life jacket”

Meanwhile…

“Old eggs float in water, while fresh eggs sink.”

So at least we know Dizzy isn’t rotten. Have you ever wondered if Dizzy and Blupi are related?

[Moonlight]

But does Eggman sink in water? Sonic Adventure 2 only makes it clear that he sinks in quicksand.

[Moonlight]

Have you ever wondered if Dizzy and Blupi are related?

Somebody else who knows what Blupi is? Finally, my childhood years of unskilled work in the level editors are paying off.

[Technopeasant]

I mean, I knew him as Eggbert but learned the truth as an adult.

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

Ooo, hey, it’s been a few years since I updated you all, but I still have yet to complete Titanic Monarch Zone. Bastard.

[Dave]

Ooo, hey, it’s been a few years since I updated you all, but I still have yet to complete Titanic Monarch Zone. Bastard.

I hope you’ve had a few breaks in that time.

[Moonlight]

I mean, I knew him as Eggbert but learned the truth as an adult.

I knew him as Eggbert until I got some of the other games which didn’t localize the name. Planet Blupi was open sourced years back (nice new release that runs in widescreen on modern computers) and I’ve finally been trying to play through the whole thing. It’s not as hard as I remember it being when I was 7. Of course, back then, literally any sort of enemies being on the map made a mission feel super intense (particularly as I hadn’t engineered the idea of save-scumming on my own).

You can fetch it here. Blupimania has also been open-sourced, but unfortunately no Speedy Blupi yet.

[Technopeasant]

But did you also get subjected to the eGames adware?

[Moonlight]

I would have been about 4 years old when I got the eGames Speedy Eggbert so even if I did encounter it I probably didn’t understand what I was looking at.

[Kris ‘Drivaaar’ Carter]

 I hope you’ve had a few breaks in that time.

Nope. I’m THAT bad

[Moonlight]

Ssshhh. Nobody tell him about Egg Reverie Zone.

[Author]

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