Check out the Sonic Mania panel at 2017 to get all the details we couldn’t cover! Join host Aaron Webber with guests, Takashi Iizuka, Christian Whitehead, Tee Lopes, Tom Fry, and Simon Thomley as we get more details on what went into this game.Get the full scoop on the game, check out some wacky glitches and the fan Q&A it’s all here!
P.S. This is Jason. Sorry for getting the story details wrong, but I was Skyping to TSS while on my phone and while moving the camera, so I missed details. The story I posted was actually Christian Whitehead’s first draft of story ideas. I apologize.
San Diego Comic-Con 2017 is wrapping up today, and so does our coverage for the yearly star-studded convention. For one last hurrah, and as promised in last night’s Sonic Mania developer panel, the theme for the game’s Special Stages has been uploaded on the Sonic social channels today after being previewed to attendees.
Have a listen to Tee Lopes’ “Dimension Heist” above! If you’ve liked what you’ve heard, be sure to preorder the vinyl album from DATA DISCS on their website – the limited edition version will only be available until tomorrow!
San Diego Comic Con played host to the Sonic Mania Development team yesterday, in a panel that included Takashi Iizuka, programmers Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley, alongside lead artist Tom Fry, composer Tee Lopes and SEGA community manager Aaron Webber. Our man in the field Jason Berry was at the panel, and captured the events as they happened via The Sonic Stadium Twitter.
The following is a summary of the panel discussion:
Sonic Mania was originally named “Sonic Discovery” during it’s early development stages
When Sonic Mania was first pitched to Iizuka-san in early 2016, a working demo was already playable featuring Studiopolis Zone
Iizuka-san came up with the phrase “By the Mania, for the Mania”
Many different story narratives were discussed for Mania, including a defeated Eggman retiring, while his machines form their own gang in the Hard Boiled Heavies
The Sonic CD-like special stage was revealed, which sees the player chase a UFO
The special stage music track “Dimension Heist” was played
Sonic Mania will feature sprite cut scenes, a la Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Sonic Mania will feature an opening animation by Tyson Hesse, and will be revealed on August the 14th
Aaron Webber stated no Super Emeralds will feature in the game, following an audience question
Attendees at the panel received a free “Introduction manual”, in the style of the 32X instruction manuals, detailing game story, developer profiles and new sketch-hog art by Tyson Hesse
The gallery below shows some of the pages of the manual, courtesy of Aaron Webber and Steven Page via Twitter.
Promotional items, they can be strange, they can be wonderful, they can sometimes be eaten, or in this case, drunk!
Jones Soda has partnered with Sega to produce a limited range of Sonic Mania branded Soda. Currently a comic con exclusive but comments on Facebook point to a possibly future release, the soda comes in three flavours.
Sonic Blue Bubblegum
Tails Orange Cream
Knuckles Strawberry Lime
If you happen to be at comic con, head over to the Futurism Pavilion for the chance to win one.
[UPDATE] During the pre-SDCC SEGA PR stream, Aaron Webber mentioned that there are currently “discussions” regarding the release of the Sonic Mania soundtrack on other formats – most likely digital and/or CD. Those without turntables – do not despair!
Sonic fans and soundtrack collectors alike will want to mark this weekend in their calendars! Data Discs have announced that pre-orders for the Sonic Mania soundtrack, the first Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack to see a full release on vinyl, will go live this coming weekend.
The soundtrack will contain 18 tracks, and will be released in three versions:
Unlike previous releases from Data-Discs, the pre-order window will extend from 8AM BST on Saturday 22nd of July through to 12PM on Monday 24th of July, during which period anyone who pre-orders a limited edition version of the soundtrack will be guaranteed a copy, with the two other versions remaining available after this date.
The official Sonic the Hedgehog social media channels today also gave another sneak preview of the Sonic Mania soundtrack (which you can listen to below) in the from of the theme of the Hard-Boiled Heavies, entitled “Hi-Spec Robo Go!”, and another example of Tee Lopes’ work in channeling the spirit of the classic 2D title soundtracks.
As always, TSS will keep you up-to-date on all Sonic Mania news!
SEGA have announced today a wealth of events to be held at the San Diego Comic-Con! To complement the already announced “Behind the Scenes” Sonic Mania panel, the five day convention will also play host to the “Sounds of Sonic” music extravaganza, which will take place at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront, and include a suite of music performed by Shota Nakama, creator of the Video Game Orchestra, and Sonic Team composer and Crush 40 guitarist Jun Senoue.
In addition to this and many other events throughout the convention, an autograph signing session will take place on Sunday, in which Sonic Team Head Takashi Iizuka will join the Mania development team. There will also be an exclusive item for attendees to collect!
Further information can be found in this hilarious graphic below!
More comic con goodness for you lucky people who can go to it. Sega are to host a Sonic Mania panel which will go behind the scenes into the games development.
The details are as follows.
Sonic Mania: Behind the Scenes
Saturday July 22, 2017 7:30pm – 8:30pm Room 24ABC
Takashi Iizuka (head of Sonic team), Christian Whitehead (developer, Sonic Mania), Simon Thomley (programmer, Sonic Mania), Tom Fry (artist, Sonic Mania), and Tee Lopes (composer, Sonic Mania) discuss the road to development behind the upcoming Sonic Mania video game and share new insights about the game. Moderated by Aaron Webber (Sonic social media manager).
Sounds like it should be a really good panel, especially for those of you interested in games development.
Heads up, Sonic Maniacs! If you’ve been enjoying the aural pleasures of Tee Lopes’ Sonic Mania soundtrack until now, then it’s probably a good idea to sit down. Data Discs, the UK-based vinyl company that has a good track record (heh) of releasing retro SEGA soundtracks, is preparing a vinyl release of the upcoming 2D platformer’s OST. Continue reading Data Discs Releasing Sonic Mania Vinyl LP
I still can’t quite believe Sonic Mania is real. It’s certainly the kind of project many Sonic fans have dreamed of: a game by the fans, for the fans, that somehow manages to capture the nostalgia of yesteryear while simultaneously adding new fresh ideas to make it an all-together new experience. This is the video game equivalent of patting one’s head and rubbing one’s stomach at the same time: possible, but difficult to pull off. And yet somehow, Sonic Mania is doing just that, and appears to be doing it flawlessly if the E3 demo is any indication. Continue reading Sonic Mania E3 Impressions: Alex’s Take
Following Sonic Mania‘s success at E3 (and nominations for multiple awards at the event) come the revelations of more of those involved in the game’s development…and it really is a who’s who of some of the most prominent talent in the Sonic the Hedgehog community! Continue reading Additional Members of Sonic Mania Dev Team Revealed
Join Svend, Alex and myself, the TSS E3 2017 team as we sit down to discuss the Sonic games experienced at E3! Today, we’re posting our Sonic Mania discussion, which you can watch in the video below!
I have a confession to make. I was never a huge fan of Sonic Retro. I’d lurk on their forums from time to time and I thought they tended to act a bit arrogant and cocky at times. They’d say that they could make a much better Sonic game than Sega. “Right!” I thought to myself. “A bunch of amateurs make a better game than veteran programmers? Bah!” However, Sonic Mania, lead by Christian “Taxman” Whitehead, is proof that it wasn’t arrogance, but the truth. Continue reading Sonic Mania E3 Impressions: Jason’s Take
Away from the actual gaming area, Sega has set up a rather large photo booth in which you can have your photo taken in front of a giant green screen, this will then be digitally imposed onto Sonic Forces/Sonic Mania (we’re unsure which) so you can take away a memento of yourself appearing inside a Sega game. Continue reading Sega’s E3 Photo Booth is Incredible “It Has a Trampoline!”
SEGA Community Manager Aaron Webber appeared on the E3 Pre-Event Twitch stream along with members of the Sonic Mania development team to, among other Sonic-related things, show off the Sonic Forces and Sonic Mania E3 demos. The Forces demo consists of three parts: a modern Sonic 3D stage, a classic Sonic boss battle, and an “Avatar stage”, which demonstrates the fan-created “hero” character. The Sonic Mania demo showed off the second Green Hill stage and boss. Continue reading Sonic Forces & Mania Demo Footage Showcased on Twitch Stream
In more than ten years of writing for The Sonic Stadium, this article has by far consumed the most time, and required the most revisions. I guess this is because sometimes it’s hard to really convey what you mean when you’re in love, and I can say without a doubt that I am already in love with Sonic Mania. Continue reading The Spin: Sonic Maniacs In The Making
Another classic zone has been revealed for Sonic Mania, and this time its Chemical Plant Zone! Two videos have been showcased for it, which you can check out in the links to the announcement on Game Informer below (who refer to the stage as Chemical Factory – although this is likely an error). Continue reading Chemical Plant Zone Revealed For Sonic Mania
Today has brought with it a spate of new information on Sonic Mania, which has been officially confirmed for worldwide release on August 15, 2017 for Sony PlayStation 4, Microsoft Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC, the latter of which can now be pre-ordered through the Steam store.Continue reading New Animated Sonic Mania Trailer, Digital Pre-Orders Live
Right now, Archie Sonic is much like Schrodinger’s Cat. Until we get an official confirmation, he is both cancelled and not-cancelled. In this week’s Sonic Talk, we discuss Sonic’s apparent comic cancellation and what this means for the future of non-game Sonic media. We also discuss what recent games we’ve been playing and the flat level design of the Green Hill Zone in Sonic Forces. All that, and more so stay tuned! Sadly, this was recorded just before the news broke about the third character. Continue reading Sonic Talk 44: Schrodinger’s Sonic
It’s the licensing expo in Vegas this week, once again Sega is in attendance. Only this time they might have leaked an unannounced stage in Sonic Mania. Continue reading New Sonic Mania Zone Leaked?
Receiving news about a delay for a video game is a bittersweet occasion. On one hand, it means having to wait all the longer for a game’s already highly anticipated release as its launch is pushed further ahead, but on the other hand, one can’t really complain about extra polish to ensure greater quality from the final product. Continue reading Sonic Mania is Now ESRB-Certified for All Platforms Except Nintendo Switch
Like a bolt from the blue, a minute of new footage and some screenshots of Sonic Mania have been released. The new video gives us our first proper look at Flying Battery Zone act 1, which for a while only had little snippets to tease at what could be to come. Follows Knuckles as he scales both inside and outside the ship; Continue reading New Footage and Screenshots of Flying Battery Act 1 Released for Sonic Mania
Sonic Mania continues to build levels of excitement in our senior staffers not seen since the nineties; we’ve adored every little element and reveal of what is set to be a fitting homage to Saturn/Genesis/Megadrive-era Sonic, lovingly crafted by the Mania team. Continue reading Rumour: Sonic Mania to Include Animated Cut Scenes?
It’s no secret by now that Sonic Mania will be borrowing many classic elements from the Blue Blur’s genesis years to shape up for one hell of a throwback experience. One of these elements that will no doubt delight Sonic 3 & Knuckles fans is how Tee Lopes has been composing the game’s soundtrack, as SEGA already confirmed that each Act of a given stage will be given a unique musical score. Continue reading Check Out Tee Lopes’ Fresh New Sonic Mania Remix for Green Hill Act 2
In this month’s Sonic Talk, it’s all about the Nintendo Switch. We go into our obsession with Zelda and our overall thoughts on the system. We then discuss the upcoming Sonic Forces along with the fact that Sonic Boom seems to only be on Boomerang now. This and a whole lot more. Just strap it to your veins! Continue reading Sonic Talk 43: Switching Forces
If you thought one of the best things about the Sonic Mania reveal trailer was the 8-bit music, then you’ll love this (assuming you live in the UK) – Nitro Fun, the artist behind those chiptune beats, will be headlining a special gaming-themed party in a couple weeks’ time during London-based show EGX Rezzed. Continue reading Sonic Mania Trailer Music Artist Headlining EGX Party in London
While not 100% confirmed, it was put to the audience at SXSW today by SoA Sonic Community Manager Aaron Webber to whether fans would be interested in owning the Sonic Mania soundtrack on vinyl! At the moment this appears to be a WIP, but we will keep you up to date on whether or not this item makes it to production! Continue reading Sonic Mania OST to be released on vinyl?
According to a new interview with Sonic Community Manager Aaron Webber, no platforms will be getting any preferential treatment from Sonic Mania when it finally hits. According to the interview, conducted by Nintendo World Report, the game will be hitting the Switch, PS4, Xbox One, and PC at the same time and at the same price, although no further details were given on what the release date and price will be. Continue reading Sonic Mania will will launch same day across all platforms, at the same price
![[UPDATED] New Sonic Mania Track Preview, Vinyl LP Available For Pre-Order](https://www.sonicstadium.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Cover_and_Splatter_Record-895x375.jpg)
