Sonic Mania Plus

Sonic Mania Plus release date announced; new content, characters, more!

Sonic Mania created one of the best platforming experiences in all of 2017, as well as one of the most memorable Sonic the Hedgehog titles since his introduction to the new wave of 3D gaming. And after less than a year of release, Mania has officially sold over one million copies worldwide.

To celebrate the milestone and incredible success of the 16-bit revival of everyone’s favourite blue blur, Sega has announced the release of Sonic Mania Plus – a definitive version of the hit 2017 platformer packed with extra exclusives including new playable characters. To help bring in the new announcement Sega has also unveiled a brand new trailer showcasing the new characters and content, which can be seen below.

The new content featured in the upcoming release of Sonic Mania Plus includes:

  • Two new playable characters from the Sonic universe – Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel – both of which debuted in the 1993 Japanese release of SegaSonic the Hedgehog (Arcade).
  • All new Encore mode beefs up the replayability by adding new layouts and new challenges to previous zones and levels throughout Mania.
  • Four player versus modes, as well as ghost time trials, will be added to the competition and time attack modes now allowing you and three of your friends to compete in a unique challenge against one another.
  • If springing for the physical release of Mania Plus, players will receive an exclusive 32-page art book and a unique reversible cover showing off an old-school Sega Mega Drive cover, all included in slick holographic packaging.

Previous owners of Sonic Mania will have the option of downloading the Encore DLC pack upon release of Mania Plus at a generous price tag of £3.99.

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Sega is bringing a free retro game collection to iPhone and Android

Some exciting news for retro gaming fans today. Sega is bringing ‘Sega Forever’, a collection of classic video games, to iOS and Android.

Takeaways:

  • The classic games are available for free
  • You can pay $1.99 to turn off the ads in them
  • You can play the games offline, which is welcome
  • Some of their features include cloud saves, online leaderboards and Bluetooth controller support
  • There are five Sega Genesis games to start: Sonic the Hedgehog, Comix Zone, Altered Beast, Kid Chameleon, and Phantasy Star II (what a game!)
  • Additional titles will be added every two weeks
  • It launches tomorrow on iOS and Android

You can find the announcement video below. Are you looking forward to taking a step back in time on your mobile devices? Let us know in the comments below, if you please.

Sonic Mania release date announced with new trailer

The return of a classic 2D Sonic the Hedgehog platformer will make its long-awaited debut later this summer and the new trailer from SEGA shows off what we’ve been waiting for. Returning to its roots in 16-bit form, Sonic Mania shows off nostalgic presence for many who (like myself) poured hours into the early Sonic games of the Genesis era.

High demand for the Sonic team to put together a game bringing gamers back to the classic era has been circulating for quite some time, even after the sub-par release of the Sonic the Hedgehog 4 episodes. With HD graphics complimenting the 2D side-scroller, the mechanics never quite met the expectations of the eager fan base.

SEGA listened and now we’re just a couple of months away from what could be the Sonic fans’ answer to the hopeful return to 16-bit form. Excelling through re-imagined familiar levels like Flying Battery Zone from Sonic & Knuckles, Emerald Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the original classic Green Hill Zone from the first title in the series, there’s also new levels to experience as one of the three faces of the franchise – Sonic, Tails or Knuckles. Pushing 60 FPS, Sonic Mania comes with powerful bosses and surprises and an adventure to put a stop to Dr. Eggman’s evil robots.

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The new Sonic Mania pre-order trailer gives us a taste of brand new levels mixed with old classics from the games that started it all for the “blue blur”, along with its digital release coming this August 15th to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. Releasing later this year is a new 3D Sonic title, Sonic Forces, coming to the same consoles as well.

New, third gameplay style introduced to Sonic Forces with “Custom Hero” trailer

With two new Sonic games releasing this year, one being the rebirth of the classic 2D side-scroller, Sonic Mania coming this summer, and Sonic Forces, a hybrid of the classic era and modern era Sonic games, more info is surfacing about the latter. Just announced is the third gameplay style for Sonic Forces, allowing the player to create their very own hero with hundreds of customizable clothing and accessory options.

Each new character in the game comes equipped with a new, unique and powerful gadget called a wispon. Giving offensive abilities to the character as well as making platforming through levels quicker, the new items don’t stop there. Each hero also comes with a grappling hook allowing you to swing through certain areas of levels, quickly gaining ground while traversing across the zones.

Customizing your hero will give you seven different animal types, each coming with their own unique ability, effectively giving a small boost in one way or another. Each animal type and its corresponding ability is as follows:

  • Wolf: Rings are automatically drawn to the player
  • Rabbit: After receiving damage your invincibility time is increased
  • Cat: Instead of losing all your rings after being hit you keep one
  • Dog: After the player dies you restart with 5 rings
  • Bear: Uses a homing attack to blow enemies away
  • Bird: Equipped with a double jump ability
  • Hedgehog: When getting damaged you collect rings

These bonus abilities feature throughout the main game. Your hero is also a major part of the story and is crucial in helping Sonic save the world from Eggman once again.

Be sure to stay posted for more on the next two installments from the Sonic franchise up until their release, this summer for Sonic Mania, and this coming holiday for Sonic Forces on the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.

Catch the “Custom Hero Trailer” below!