In an interview with Sonic Revolution, Sonic Mania lead Christian Whitehead made several revelations about the development of the 2017 title.
Along with tidbits about the origins of the Hard-Boiled Heavies and the nature of whether or not animals are inside of them, Whitehead also spoke about Sonic Team’s initial concept to include Sonic Forces’ antagonist Infinite in the 2D platformer.
Listen to the answer in it’s entirity below:
Sonic team really wanted this game to tank? Glad it never happened that way.
The Phantom Ruby is “power enriched by the mind” huh? That’s genuinely a good dichotomy to have between it and the Chaos Emeralds. Makes sense too why Eggman, all mind and no heart, would get so much use out of it. I wish this info was in one of the games somewhere because it’s legit good world building.
Also very interesting that Mania wasn’t originally going to have all the old zones reappear. I do actually think that was a good move from Sega to request their inclusion, but now that it’s happened if there’s a sequel they need to go all original. Or at least, nearly all original with maybe some cameo cutscene stages like Hidden Palace in S3&K.
This is why I miss physical game manuals in the Nintendo boxes; lore like this is mega essential since mute actions can only portray so much in the cutscenes.