Sonic community veteran and Sonic Mania programmer Simon Thomley aka “Stealth” of Headcannon is working on an original, new 2D platformer reminiscent of the old-school SEGA glory days, and it’s quite a spooky one!
Continue reading Sonic Mania Programmer Creates New Spooky Platformer “Vertebreaker”
Video game art dealer Cook & Becker have announced that the next reprint of the Official Sonic the Hedgehog Art & Design Book will feature 32 pages of new content from Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces, and Team Sonic Racing. First released in 2016 as part of Sonic’s 25th anniversary, the book originally only went as far as releases from that year.
Cook & Becker hinted at this last week, leaving many to speculate that Sonic Mania would be receiving its own art book. However, according to the company’s twitter account, there would not have been enough content from the game to fill out its own art book, so they decided to update their 25th anniversary art book instead.
The updated book can be pre-ordered off of their website for $39.99 (plus $12.50 for shipping), and is currently scheduled to ship sometime in November.
They released some samples of the new pages, which you can check out in the gallery below:
Video game art dealers Cook & Becker have teased an image of the Mighty the Armadillo artwork from Sonic Mania alongside concept sketches from the animatics, in what looks to be a brand-new Sonic the Hedgehog art book!
Continue reading Are Cook & Becker Teasing A Sonic Mania Art Book?
Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony have announced a “Sonic Anniversary sale“ on digital downloads via the eShop, Playstation Store, and XBox live for Sonic the Hedgehog titles, including Team Sonic Racing!
Continue reading Anniversary Sales On Sonic Titles Via Nintendo eShop, XBox Live, Playstation Store
Eagle-eyed Badnik Mechanic Dave Luty on Twitter has spotted something amiss with an Unofficial Sonic the Hedgehog fact book “We Love Sonic”, set for release through Carlton Books this summer.
Continue reading Unofficial Sonic Fact Book Appears To Plagiarise Text From Fan Sites, Uses Fan Art
Are you still slacking on getting your hands on Sonic Mania? Feeling like reliving those other SEGA classics? If you’ve been waiting for a sale, now’s the time. Humble Bundle has the PC versions of a number of SEGA classics: Sonic Mania is at a pretty significant 66% discount, with SEGA Mega Drive Classics and Dreamcast Collection both at an astounding 75% during Humble’s Retro Paradise event! But you’ll need to grab your power sneakers, because this isn’t a permanent price drop.
Continue reading Sonic Mania and Two SEGA Collections on Sale on the Humble Store!
Have you played Sonic Mania yet? If not, what’s keeping you!? It’s been hailed as one of the best Sonic platformers to date, and soon it’ll be available for free on PlayStation Plus! Continue reading Sonic Mania is Speeding Its Way to PlayStation Plus in June
Sonic Mania Adventures is surely the gift that keeps on giving – as Jun Senoue has today unveiled a brand new retro-inspired remix to complement the awesome series of animated shorts. Continue reading Tee Lopes and Jun Senoue Remix ‘Theme of Knuckles’ for Sonic Mania Adventures
If SEGA’s insistence on using DRM software Denuvo on the PC version of Sonic Mania has been getting you down, then you may be in for a treat. It’s looking likely that an incoming official update will soon patch the troublesome tech entirely from the game.
Continue reading Sonic Mania PC Could Be Getting An Update to Remove Denuvo DRM
We’ve seen some interesting Sonic game mods in our time, but this one takes us right back to our childhood – one plucky PC hacker is reworking Sonic Mania Plus to include famous Disney characters, turning the high-paced platformer into something reminiscent of the 1992 Mega Drive classic World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck.
Continue reading Watch Donald Duck Go Quackers in This Hilarious Sonic Mania PC Mod
With New York Toy Fair in full swing this weekend, the news on new Sonic the Hedgehog toys has come thick and fast – and it looks like the new JAKKS Pacific toy line up will include the first ever official Ray and Mighty figures!
Continue reading Mighty and Ray Figures Included In JAKKS Pacific Toy line
Christian Whitehead today announced via Twitter the formation of a brand new “boutique” game studio, Evening Star Studio. Continue reading Sonic Mania Team Form New Game Studio
Time to get metal!
SEGA today release the first of five remixes featured in the Sonic Mania Adventure cartoon series, commencing with a guitar-driven version of the “Big Arms” theme from Sonic 3 / Sonic & Knuckles, rearranged and performed by Sonic Sound Director Jun Senoue and Sonic Mania composer Tee Lopes.
You can check out other work by Tee Lopes, including his latest album Youniverse on Bandcamp.
Check the track out in all of it’s glory below!
Whether you’re feeling charitable this holiday season, or just want a bunch of Sonic games for super cheap, Humble Bundle has an offer for Sonic fans: the Humble Sonic Bundle. The money given to this bundle will go to Extra Life, Save the Children, the Willow Foundation, and Access Sport. Alternatively, your money can also be given to any charity in Humble Bundle’s database.
Anyone who’s able to give at least $1 to charity will receive the following games on Windows through Steam:
For those who have a little more to spend, the following games can be had for the current donation average of $7.20:
And finally, for anyone who wants to more than double their donation to $15, they can get the latest games, including:
The bundle will be available from now until the end of the year. You can check it out here.
In this month’s Sonic Talk, we talk about Shenmue and how sometimes nostalgia isn’t enough. More on Team Sonic Racing, our final thoughts on Sonic Mania Plus, the Sonic movie, GX’s distain for Funko Pops and much, much more! Continue reading Sonic Talk 55: Funko Pooped
Wow!! Am I late with this one!! So Sorry about that. Check out our hands-on impressions of Team Sonic Racing, our discussion of Sonic Revolution, the end of Sonic Boom, The Sonic toys at Subway (which I have yet to find a Subway in my area that has them) and much, much more!! Continue reading Sonic Talk 54: Party of Four
This week has been a busy week for Mania discoveries, following on from the discovery of various cheat codes, modders have been busy finding new discoveries hidden within Mania’s code. Continue reading Modder Discovers ‘Vape Mode’ Music Cheat in Sonic Mania Plus
Following the worldwide release of Sonic Mania Plus last week, the first data indicates that the Nintendo Switch version accounted for 52% of all sales in the UK last week. The PS4 version accounted for 34% while the Xbox One version made up the remainder.
Continue reading Sonic Mania Plus Proves Popular In UK on Nintendo Switch
Sonic Mania Plus continues to surprise players in many ways with small references and nods. But now fans have discovered that the game also includes cheat codes! Yes actual cheat codes, remember them? We used to have them before DLC became a thing.
A series of cheat codes have been discovered which work across all versions of the game, we’re unsure if you need the full plus DLC to get these to work or if they will work on a fully patched vanilla version of Sonic Mania, so give it a try anyway.
From what we understand, they do not work on Encore mode, and some codes only work for Sonic.
To enable the codes, you need to do the following.
Enter Mania Mode and go to ‘No Save’.
You now need to enter the code for the level select.
You will now be at the level select.
Go to sound test and play the following sounds to enable the desired code.
Some of these codes combine to make interesting effects, for example, if you enable Force Encore Mode and Max Control For Sonic, it’s possible to give the Super Peel Out move to Knuckles and other characters.
Try them yourself and see what happens.
Edit: The person who originally made this discovery has been revealed to be modder CodenameGamma. His Reddit thread details the discovery and includes a few additional details. You can also check out his YouTube channel which also contains a number of interesting finds and discoveries.
Sonic Mania Plus may have brought back classic characters Ray and Mighty from the dead, but on PC the expansion pack appears to have also revived the gameplay-destroying horror of Digital Rights Management software Denuvo. Continue reading Report: ‘Bloated’ Denuvo DRM Causing Issues With Sonic Mania Plus on PC
To celebrate the release of Sonic Mania Plus, the conclusion of Sonic Mania Adventures is now out for your viewing pleasure!
Will Sonic and Tails be able to defeat Dr. Eggman? Will Ray and Mighty showdown with Metal Sonic? Will Knuckles ever retrieve the Master Emerald? Check out the finale below!
You can also watch all 5 episodes back-to-back:
Last year’s explosive release of Sonic Mania wasn’t just about a game that ended up thrilling both new and old blue blur fans. It was also proof that a brand new, ‘classic’ style 2D Sonic title will sell – and sell it most certainly did, cementing itself in the annals of hedgehog history. But, while widely regarded as one of the most critically-acclaimed Sonic titles in recent memory, there were some clear presentation omissions and missing elements in the base game – elements that you would think Christian Whitehead and co would have included, if they were just given more time to bake it in.
Enter Sonic Mania Plus. Continue reading TSS REVIEW: Sonic Mania Plus
In true social media style, the Sonic community team have created an homage to the commercials of old with this 90’s-style advert, pitching Sonic Mania Plus against the not-so-fictional parody game “Finger GunZ” (I actually want to play Finger GunZ now).
In a world full of first-person shooter games, one game store customer has a choice to make.
(Sonic Mania Plus comes out TOMORROW!) pic.twitter.com/vElD6tqCqm
— Sonic the Hedgehog (@sonic_hedgehog) July 16, 2018
Those with sharp eyes will notice that the dodgy salesman is none-other than internet loony Keith Apicary! If you’ve not seen the original Genesis vs. SNES advert, catch it below!
Sonic Mania Plus officially releases tomorrow (Tuesday, 17th of July, 2018) across multiple platforms.
Sonic Mania Plus hits digital game stores in just a few days time! But next Tuesday is also important for the fact that it will mark the first time that the 2017 platformer will be available in physical format on Nintendo Switch, PS4 and Xbox One. We’ve had a review copy sitting in TSS Towers for a while now (review coming soon!), but we thought we’d share what you can expect to find in the physical package to help hype up next week’s release. Read on to find high-quality photos of everything! Continue reading GALLERY: See the Sonic Mania Plus Special Edition, Up Close and Personal
Part 4 of 5 of Sonic Mania Adventures has hit YouTube today – with this episode chronicling Ray’s search for Mighty! But watch out Ray – someone is in hot pursuit!
Catch the latest episode above.
Sonic Mania Adventures features character art from Tyson Hesse, music from Tee Lopes, and animation from Neko Productions.
The third episode of Sonic Mania Adventures just dropped today, and as teased at the end of the last episode, it stars everyone’s favorite red, bipedal, gem-guarding echidna, Knuckles.
Will Knuckles fall for another one of Eggman’s ruses? Will he fail at his one job, again? Will he indeed not chuckle, as the news headline implies? I don’t know, because I haven’t actually watched the episode yet. Check out the video below to find out, and be sure to stick around after the credits for a little tease of what’s to come!
Sonic Mania Adventures features character art from Tyson Hesse, music from Tee Lopes, and animation from Neko Productions.
Whoops. When SEGA accidentally pushed version 1.04 of Sonic Mania on PlayStation Network last month, it enabled the ‘Plus’ expansion for free. But, it was assumed that most of the new content was still locked away until its official July release. Well, one fan mistakenly discovered a way to access the entire ‘Encore’ remixed stages in the game, and managed to stream the whole thing too. Continue reading Sonic Mania Plus’ Encore Mode Accidentally Streamed in its Entirety
Ray the Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo are two fine additions to Sonic Mania Plus, but if the upcoming Japanese soundtrack release is anything to go by there may be more callbacks to the game these two characters debuted in – SEGASonic the Hedgehog – than we thought. Continue reading SEGASonic the Hedgehog Stage ‘Trap Tower’ Revealed in Sonic Mania Plus OST
If you’ve always wanted to blast the Sonic Mania Soundtrack from your car stereo, you’re going to want to look into investing in the Japanese release of Sonic Mania Plus, which along with all of the perks of the western release will be packaged with a double CD album!
The Japanese Sonic Mania website details the full 54 track double CD, which not only includes all of the songs that appeared on the Data Discs’ Sonic Mania album release (which contained all of the original tracks in the game and will be back in stock for the launch of Plus), it also holds all of the “re-imagined” classic stage songs [EDIT: Nearly all!]. If that wasn’t enough,there are four Sonic Mania Plus bonus tracks included, along side all three Hyper Potions tracks constituting Friends and both versions of Time Trails including the version with Crush 40’s Jun Senoue on guitar.
While most will be pleased that the game is seeing an OST release on CD, it is not packaged with the western releases of Sonic Mania Plus. The special edition is available from Amazon Japan for about the same price as the western releases, however buyers will likely have to play extra for shipping and import fees in order to get their mittens on a copy. If you’re feeling even more flush, Ebten Japan are offering another edition which includes a limited edition T-Shirt, canvas purse and art cards, but these extras will set you back more than ¥8000.
Stay tuned to TSS for more Sonic Mania Plus news!
In a new interview with Famitsu, Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka revealed some interesting details about how long-lost Sonic characters Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Squirrel managed to make their way into Sonic Mania Plus. While he was happy and excited to be able to bring the two heroes back, he was certain that the door on their return to the series was otherwise closed. Continue reading Takashi Iizuka: Without Sonic Mania, Ray and Mighty “Would Never See Light of Day” Again
SEGA have announced today that the release date of Sonic Mania Plus is Tuesday July 17th 2018 for both Europe and North America.
Along with the announcement comes a new animated trailer featuring the two new protagonists, Mighty and Ray, animated once again by Tyson Hesse.
The trailer and the images in the gallery show more of the gameplay fans can expect in Mania Plus, including Mighty’s ability to destroy obsticles, and Ray’s ability to glide. In addition to this, the new “Encore mode” provides fresh looks and challenges in already established zones in the games, alonside a 4-player competition mode.
Those looking to get a glimpse of the physical release can also check out images of the reversable cover art (including a retro Genesis cover) and the artbook to be packaged in a holographic cover.
For those who already own the digital version of Sonic Mania, the Encore DLC pack will be available via stores for £3.99 to upgrade the game to Plus.
As always, stay tuned to TSS for more information on Sonic Mania Plus as it comes!
The world of Sonic fan game development never rests. What with annual Hacking Contests, Amateur Game Expos (plus Really Amateur Game Expos), and the odd flash of brilliance catching the Internet’s attention, these games not only help us pass the time between the major official releases from SEGA, some even push the boundaries of the unwritten rulebook of Sonic game design in ways we can only dream of. Continue reading A Trio of Fan Works to Look Out For: Sonic Gaiden, Sonic Studio & Project Hero
Live from SXSW, SEGA has revealed a new series of Sonic Mania-themed animated shorts. The series will comprise 5 episodes which will be shown on YouTube, created by the same team that created the Sonic Mania opening short, headed by the one-and-only Tyson Hesse, and soundtracked by Mania composer Tee Lopes.
The short series will take place after Sonic Forces, and will cover what happened to classic Sonic after he returned to his world after the events of Sonic Forces.
The first episode of Sonic Mania Adventures will debut in the next 30 days.
UPDATE: The Sonic the Hedgehog Youtube has released a 30 second sample of the series:
Check out the array of concept art for the series shown at SXSW in the gallery below!
SEGA has announced a physical version of Sonic Mania will be released later this year. The game, dubbed ‘Sonic Mania Plus’, will also be something of a ‘micro-update’ as it will essentially be the same game with the added bonus of two new playable characters. And, for fans of SEGASonic the Hedgehog Arcade… you’d better be sitting down. Continue reading ‘Sonic Mania Plus’ Physical Game Release Announced, Comes With Two New Characters
Among the bevy of VGM cover artists I follow on the web, one standout artist in particular shines with his rock/metal arrangements of classic gaming themes in the form of “GaMetal.”
Week by week, Jonny Atma wows the scene with all sorts of fantastic VGM covers featuring his trademark solos, covering nearly every song under the sun from the popular to the obscure, and fan-favourites from the Sonic series is no exception. While he has covered a handful of tracks from the franchise in the past, Atma wrapped up the month of February with not just one, but two remixes of some of the best boss tracks Sonic the Hedgehog has to offer.
Continue reading GaMetal Unleashes a Double Whammy of Sonic Boss Theme Covers
As of today, Sonic Mania’s soundtrack is no longer a vinyl exclusive, as it has finally hit digital music platforms as Sonic Mania Selected Edition. This version of the soundtrack is more comprehensive than the vinyl, containing all forty-seven music tracks created for the game. The soundtrack can be downloaded for $15.99 on iTunes, $14.49 on Google Play, and $18.99 on Amazon. Individual tracks can be had for $1.29, $0.99 and $1.29 on each service respectively.
While the soundtrack is pretty comprehensive, there is a reason why it is called the “Selected Edition”. The album lacks the tracks that were originally composed for Sonic 1 and 2.
