Dave

[Dave]

Yes, there is a bit of a glitch on the Oil Ocean Act 2 boss where you can die if you’re in the oil at a certain point. A shame as hiding in the oil is a good strategy in places.

As for Titanic Monarch Act 2…

….spoilers, obviously…

…the level is made up of four different sub-levels that you can access in any order from the hub with the four portals. Each sub-level requires you to make it all the way to the end, where there is a glowing orb that you can use to shoot you through a portal that takes you back to the hub and closes off the level you completed. But there are lots of portal traps along the way that will take you back to an earlier point in the sub-level and make you redo it until you get to the end. Then, once all four sub-levels are complete, a circular portal opens to take you to the boss.

[Dave]

I quite like that explanation.

I also wonder how they would have had the crew deal with Legion if it had been a series 1 story (without Kryten).

[Dave]

Or, as it is sometimes alternatively translated, ‘other than the sum of its parts’.

Because I think more interesting than the angle of Legion simply being a combination of the four crewmates is the idea that there is something more there – that there is something of Legion that persists from incarnation to incarnation.

His knowledge and awareness of his own past, as well as his own nature, point to this.

But the show simplifies it when it comes to Kryten’s ultimate solution to escape (probably sensibly, as there’s only so far you can pursue a deep philosophical discussion of these ideas within half an hour).

[Dave]

It’s super good, but the difficulty complaints are kind of surprising to me! I struggled my way through Sonic 1, 2, and 3 at various points in my life, but didn’t have any issues with this one until the final zone.

I think part of this is the changed nature of gaming today, which is less reliant on fast reaction times and memorising level layouts than this type of gaming was in the ’90s.

I’ve seen quite a few complaints from young gamers of this generation that parts of Mania are incredibly unfair and almost impossible – like the Oil Ocean Act 2 boss, which is just a remix of a couple of classic bosses really – which I found amusing.

The only bits of this game that I found genuinely challenging were the fifth Special Stage (never have I been more relieved to get a Chaos Emerald after so many tries) and parts of Titanic Monarch (but even then I got through it at a first attempt, once you work out the gimmicks).

The final final boss you get with all the Emeralds is a bit tough at first, but not too bad once you work out a strategy.

[Dave]

It’s super good, but the difficulty complaints are kind of surprising to me! I struggled my way through Sonic 1, 2, and 3 at various points in my life, but didn’t have any issues with this one until the final zone.

I think part of this is the changed nature of gaming today, which is less reliant on fast reaction times and memorising level layouts than this type of gaming in the ’90s. I’ve seen quite a few complaints from young gamers of this generation that parts of Mania are incredibly unfair and almost impossible –

[Dave]

There’s clearly meant to be more to Legion than just the sum of the minds that make him up. There’s also an element of his own personality and self-interest in there – otherwise he wouldn’t want to keep the crew as prisoners when all four of them want to leave.

[Dave]

Yeah, it’s very hard in places, especially some of the bosses like KyoSo says.

Chemical Plant Zone act 2 is a great example of taking the basics of the original level and adding a huge amount of new stuff and imaginative level design to it (and not just the big new gimmicks like the bouncy gel and the purple lifts – I also love the smaller stuff like the switchbacks on the helix platforms that send you back in the opposite direction on the other path). It’s my son’s favourite level and he asks for it repeatedly.

Also,exploring is well worth it, especially with Knuckles (for levels you’ve only played as Sonic or Tails). The Knuckles paths are often so different that they feel like different levels altogether.

[Dave]

The new 2D Sonic is better than any Sonic game since the 2D era, though. I don’t think the same is true for the Mario games, which made the transition to 3D (and other game types) far more successfully than Sonic.

[Dave]

Oh, and the Special Stages are rock hard (especially number five) – it took me quite a few goes to crack them.

What did anyone else think of the ‘good’ ending? Don’t want to spoil it if people haven’t got there yet but it’s an interesting one.

[Dave]

Yes. I hope Mania paves the way for a sequel that’s 100% original. Press Garden and Studiopolis are two of the most fun levels in the game, and Titanic Monarch is maybe the most challenging a traditional Sonic game has ever been (but satisfying with it).

[Dave]

It’s fantastic. I’ve been playing it daily since release and I haven’t tired of it yet.

While it trades quite a bit on nostalgia, there’s actually a huge amount of innovation here (with some cracking new gimmicks), but it’s all perfectly integrated with the old stuff and feels completely seamless. I already love some of the new levels as much as the old ones, and the music is cracking.

Plus, the physics are perfect again. This feels like a Sonic game in a way that nothing really has since S&K.

[Dave]

While we are at it, do holograms cum?

Worst chat-up line ever.

[Dave]

I guess they are simulated to the extent that it provides a more convincing recreation of the real person for the living crew members.

I’m not sure Rimmer really goes off and uses the toilet or anything, though.

[Dave]

The anal-retentiveness explains why we’re confused about what shirt tails are for.

[Dave]

I assume that it’s a bit like when he gets ‘invisible’ drinks etc. from Holly, but in reverse – the hologram Rimmer goes through the action of shitting but doesn’t actually generate a hologrammatic shit at the end of it – the shit effectively becomes non-existent at the point it leaves his hologrammatic anus. Otherwise Holly would be having to generate hologrammatic shits to fill his pants whenever he got scared, which would be a bit weird.

[Dave]

This is a bit like ‘how did a chicken-soup machine repairman end up responsible for sealing the drive plate’, isn’t it?

[Dave]

The one gag it took me absolutely years to get was the Brasseye one about it being “not so much the nineties as the yardanketies”.

I think I actually had to see someone explain in writing what the “yardanketies” were for the penny to drop.

[Dave]

I was saying Boo-urns.

[Dave]

I think Sonic Mania is the entertainment release that I have been most eagerly awaiting this year (sorry Red Dwarf XII). I hope it lives up to the hype.

[Dave]

Sorry to hear this. His enthusiasm and knowledge were always clear to see. RIP.

[Dave]

Merch-ocracy.

[Dave]

Series VIII is like those limited edition triple chocolate KitKats.

BtE is like a KitKat Chunky.

X and XI are like the new recipe KitKats that are out at the moment.

[Dave]

Series I and II are like Kitkats with ‘Rowntree’ written down the middle.

Series III and IV are like Kitkats with ‘KitKat’ written down the middle.

Series V and VI are like Kitkats with ‘KitKat’ written down the middle after they discontinued the foil wrapper and switched to the peel-off plastic strip.

Series VII is like those limited edition orange KitKats

[Dave]

Because that’s how you send out an SOS.

I like the idea that an SOS needs to detail everything that you’ve been up to in the past week.

Why would people come and help you if they didn’t know the precise details of how you got into your current predicament?

[Dave]

Come to think of it, why is Lister recording a complicated explanation of the cliffhanger resolution anyway?

[Dave]

What if they went back in time and killed themselves over the time drive?

Then explaining it would make a video camera explode, or something.

[Dave]

Yeah, but listen – what if they used the time drive to go back and steal Red Dwarf from their past selves? That would tie it all up nice and neatly, and avoid VIII and the nanobot stuff altogether.

[Dave]

I remember thinking that the whole thing with Starbug expanding was just an excuse to get those turbine shots in.

Obviously it was more than just that, but even at the time I remember it feeling quite forced.

To be honest though, even in VI there are times when it feels like the ship is a bit too big and they’ve had to stretch it for plot reasons – especially the location in Psirens with the waste compactor.

[Dave]

I don’t tend to mind overlooking canon and continuity concerns if it makes for a better story. And Red Dwarf has done enough rewriting of its past history that it shouldn’t be surprising when it happens.

But the plot about losing the ship doesn’t fall into that category for me. It’s just an attempt to do something a bit different with a series arc (that obviously ended up running for a couple of series).

Rewatching Psirens recently, I realised how much it felt like a ‘soft reboot’ for the show (a bit like the first episode of the latest series of Doctor Who). It spends a fair bit of time at the beginning restating the concept of the entire show, and in doing so moving it on from the point where we left it at the end of the previous series. It’s a bit of a jump for regular viewers but I think it works fine.

[Dave]

Now that I think about it, we all casually accept that they just lost a five mile long interplanetary tramp steamer between Series V and VI and there’s nary a peep as to how, why or exactly when.

There’s the whole conversation in Psirens about the ship being stolen that sets up the overarching story. It’s a long-running mystery that doesn’t get resolved until the end of series VII. It’s not like they just forget to explain it.

[Dave]

I don’t think they went far enough. I think they should be able to dock Red Dwarf inside it.

[Dave]

I honestly didn’t see any element of her being ‘written to be black, gay and quirky’. Other than those things were occasionally mentioned.

I agree. I can understand that people who got hung up on her being black and gay maybe couldn’t see past that, but she was a fully fleshed-out character in exactly the way P&B described. The backstory with her mother, the relationship with her foster family, the idea of her being a smart working-class girl picked out by the Doctor to attend university (and travel with him), her attempts to navigate her personal life… there was a lot of work done with the character there.

[Dave]

I thought Bill was great, really good chemistry with Capaldi. It’s a shame she didn’t get started a couple of seasons earlier as Clara and Capaldi never quite worked for me.

[Dave]

https://twitter.com/IanLevine/status/886627111712239616

The show will just have to struggle on somehow.

[Dave]

My grandfather was a miner.

Don’t recall him serving aboard any outer planet vessels, nor did he ever mention dying in a massive radiation leak.

Or living past 1994.

Which is handy as he pegged it before witnessing the long, drawn out death rattle of Red Dwarf.

At least he was spared having to read your forum posts.

[Dave]

Yeah, I think you should probably stop talking about it now, especially if you’re not even going to give it the dignity of spelling it properly.

[Dave]

That’s true, the Tea bit would have felt right at home.

[Dave]

This weekend’s episode was very White Hole, with time dilation due to proximity to a black hole leading to time running at varying speeds at different ends of a miles-long spaceship.

It was good.

[Dave]

“Maybe we can move panpsychism from philosophy to observational astrophysics.”

Yeah, but not frying-panpsychism.

[Dave]

It’s so crypto-Fashanu.

[Dave]

Thanks to this thread, I had a dream on Sunday night in which I was watching ‘Oxygen’ again and there was a scene in which the Doctor and Bill stopped to have a lengthy conversation about Microgramma.

[Dave]

We’ll see.

[Dave]

Seriously though, Doctor Who’s tone is all over the place. It changes by the episode. Last night’s episode came pretty close to RD in tone as well as story details.

The non-existence of aliens in RD is more of a continuity-compatability issue, and you could easily sort that out with a bit of creative writing.

[Dave]

I can’t think of many series more at odds with RD, tonally, than Who.

Coronation Street?

[Dave]

I was thinking about this last night too. My wife and I both mentioned Ganymede and made the Dwarf connection. And then it was about crew of miners all getting wiped out! The whole thing would have made a fun RD story.

If Red Dwarf ever did a crossover I’d want it to be with Doctor Who.

Or Alien.

But I think DW would be more fun.

[Dave]

I also think they were right to trimming the scenes in Balance of Power with Lister drawing a a H on his forehead with cream and the whole ‘black card situation, end of conversation’ bit.

Wh….what?

I know what those words all mean, I just can’t make sense of them in this context.

[Dave]

It’s a piece of crypto-fascist bourgeois crap.

[Dave]

Whoa I would consider those pictures to be spoilers. Isn’t White Corridor 159 where Lister collapsed in Confidence and Paranoia? I’m guessing the crew venture back up there in the last episode of Series XII?

More significantly, it’s where the very first scene of the entire series takes place.

[Dave]

I think it’s interesting to hear from people who saw the Remastered versions first and feel like there’s something missing when the additions aren’t there.

I dislike “yes, god?” too, but if that’s the first version you knew I can imagine the scene feeling odd without it.

[Dave]

It’s a mining ship so as long as its primarily transporting mining equipment and ore.

And/or what?

[Author]

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