They keep finding a formula that works with Sonic and then just dropping it or screwing it up. Sega is constantly one of the most frustrating publishers in existence. Each character counts as a life, so if all 5 characters die before you get one back from a monitor or the new special stage, you gameover.
There are special monitors in the levels that either switches you to the next character you have queued up, randomizes your team, or adds a new character if your team isn't complete iirc. You can play as any 2 out of 5 playable characters in the level and pressing the Y button lets you switch to the other character, so you could play as Mighty and Tails or Ray and Knuckles, etc. It's basically the equivalent of Knuckles' story in S3&K where you play through the stages again at a slightly harder difficulty, combined with a Knuckles Chaotix style teamwork mechanic. The pinball stage even exists in regular Mania mode, which is really nice because I hated getting nothing from Blue Spheres once you got all the medals. There's a new pinball special stage that replaces Blue Spheres that can give you rings, powerups, and a character you don't have queued up yet if you get the pinball high enough on the table to trigger a claw minigame. Each character counts as a life, so if all 5 characters die before you get one back from a monitor or the new special stage, you gameover.Įach level gets an updated palette and some altered paths to take advantage of Mighty's stomp ability and some powerups and giant rings were moved around. (NEW YEAR JOKE! HURRRR)Ĭlick to shrink.It's basically the equivalent of Knuckles' story in S3&K where you play through the stages again at a slightly harder difficulty, combined with a Knuckles Chaotix style teamwork mechanic. But this is the most fun I've had with a game all year. It even throws you into a Puyo-Puyo game with Robotnik at one point! There's a small element of strategy to each boss, figuring out its patterns or weakness or trick before you can do the jumping thing. This is what everyone wanted from Knuckles to begin with.īoss design is very creative. But we're playing as classic Knuckles, with a stage specifically designed for him, where the goal is not to find shards of the Master Emerald, but glide and go fast.
It has a slower, hip-hop feel than Sonic's stage, something that reminds me of Sonic Adventure 2, where Knuckles' stages have now famous rap and hip-hop beats. This track proves to me that the team understands what people love about Sonic. From classic re-arrangements to brand new tracks, everything - every single track - slaps. Lava Reef Act 2 is the ice zone of this game! The music slows down and changes vibes to give us a slow, sad guitar fitting for a glimmering crystal cavern. Act 1 is a re-arranged version of the zone we all know and love, but Act 2 surprises us by diving underground, into a crystal cavern. The recreation of classic zones is very well done.