Current Events > Christian Whitehead released Sonic Mania 2 prototype screenshots

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://bsky.app/profile/cfwhitehead.bsky.social/post/3lwhbnncp6s2y

It is now the 8th anniversary of Mania so time to dig up some Sonic trivia... This year, it's Kanga Clanga! (aka the Kangus). This lovable robo-roo originally lived in the outback but now entertains us all in Pinball Carnival Zone!

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/7/7d3be4ae.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/6/66a6c03a.jpg
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/e/e94fafac.jpg

One of the big things were seeing here is Kanga Clanga Badnik, as it appears in the 2.5D prototype. Evening Star went to work on this following Sonic Mania. Whitehead said of the character: It is balancing on its tail and kicking forward with its springy roo feet! Sonic is knocked to the left with significant kinetic force.

Whitehead as well as Sonic Teams Takashi Iizuka both spoke about why we never got Sonic Mania 2 a couple of years ago. According to Iizuka, there were discussions about the two sides working together again, with them discussing making something brand new that wasnt just pixel art. Whitehead confirmed that it toyed around with 2.5D (which we now see in these images). However, Iizuka said everything came to a stop for unspecified reasons. SEGA then went on to make Sonic Superstars with Arzest.

https://nintendoeverything.com/sonic-mania-2-prototype-images/

Mania was fantastic, but you need the pixel art for it to really hit that nostalgia kick.

The art is great

KFHEWUI posted...

SEGA then went on to make Sonic Superstars with Arzest

These jokers?

It looks amazing and it sucks that Sega thought Superstars was a better idea. I wouldn't be surprised if Sega cancelled the project out of pettiness.

kudos to his wonderful sonic level design but that guy wears the most ridiculous wig i've ever seen

CRON posted...

It looks amazing and it sucks that Sega thought Superstars was a better idea. I wouldn't be surprised if Sega cancelled the project out of pettiness.

People always come out of the woodworks to shit on this theory and deny it. There's no evidence, but I believe it.

I wish they'd do a proper Sonic Mania 2. That was the most fun with a sonic game I've had in years.

To me Superstars looked very low budget, maybe Sega just wanted to save even more money

cousinvini posted...

To me Superstars looked very low budget, maybe Sega just wanted to save even more money

i mean with it being 2.5D i doubt what whitehead's team was planning would've been very high budget either. I'm guessing there were creative differences or something

Solar_Crimson posted...

These jokers?

Yeah.

Arzest's track record is bad, but releasing the game only 3 days before Super Mario Bros. Wonder was a bone head move by Sega

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

levels are fine, but the boss fights are horrible, and the game overall just lacks that sauce. Like, they've got the physics down (which sadly is genuinely an actual bar to clear considering Sonic 4 and Forces Classic exist) and the level design's fun, but the bosses turn the levels into a huge slog by the end, and it feels they sacrificed some dynamism for the sake of a pretty shoddy multiplayer that i don't think anyone cared about

In a good timeline, we would be expecting Mania 3 by now

Mania had 4 New/ 8 Returning
Mania 2 could've had 8 new/ 4 returning
Mania 3 would have been all new Zones

The edibles are kicking in...
I read this as Christian Wheelchair Dad.
I was pretty curious.

I'd like to see a full game in the style of sonic jam.

CRON posted...

It looks amazing and it sucks that Sega thought Superstars was a better idea. I wouldn't be surprised if Sega cancelled the project out of pettiness.

Mania 2 was cancelled because the devs wanted to make their own games, like Penny Big Breakaway.

I know they said they had their heart set on 2.5D and did not want to do the same thing again, but lets all be honest here..........we gamers can be a simple lot. There is times when we want something brand new, and then there are times when we want basically the exact same thing again but more of it.

With old-school sonic fans, I believe I speak for the majority when I say we probably just wanted sonic mania 2, same exact 2D sprites, maybe another extra playable character like nack the weasel (or if we really want to be greedy, introduce shadow to the classic verse with him being playable), give knucks a goddamn proper super form its time we got orange piccolo give the sonic verse expy the same, with another batch of brand new levels, and more batch of old levels returning for new versions lmao. *Personally I wanted sonic mania 2 versions of marble zone, star light zone, ice cap zone, quartz quadrant zone (god the music would have been fire), casino night zone, mystic cave zone, and sandapolis zone*

Mania 2 not being a thing is a true tragedy. It's true, we should be expecting Mania 3 by this point in time.

That said, I'm just happy Mania was a thing at all. The true Sonic 4, and I got to play it. It was nice to experience a game like that again, just one more time

im glad we got superstars instead

as it was something NEW rather than just nosalgia

and while trip mode was BS hard the base game was fun

the balancing for bosses was ass but still over all really fun

and we actually got to play as amy with a great move set to boot

the emerald powers where a good idea but need more refinement

also superstars' music was VERY hit or miss

someone please lock that genesis keyboard far, far away from Jun Senoue and give him his guitar back

AceMos posted...

as it was something NEW rather than just nosalgia

in a way yeah, but while the level design's fun, i feel it didn't go as crazy as Mania's did, and didn't flow quite as well, even if it still flowed