Sega has revealed new features in the upcoming Sonic Mania game, including new bosses and a new Zone Act. The following press release was provided to us:
Today, Sega released footage of a new Act, as well as revealing a brand new boss, that will be featured in the upcoming classic 2D platformer Sonic Mania. Green Hill Zone Act 2 presents an all-new area exclusive to Sonic Mania, expanding upon the tropical setting of Act 1, now with new mechanics, obstacles, and secrets to uncover. You like fire, right? Now you can use it to burn log bridges and collect rings and power-ups! Green Hill Zone Act 2’s boss is also notably different from the original, but we won’t be spoiling that yet.
Also revealed today is the first in a series of new bosses, called the “Hard-Boiled Heavies”. These unique foes are part of Eggman’s new arsenal, each equipped with special skills designed to make a blue hedgehog’s life much harder.
The first of these, “Heavy Gunner”, will appear at the end of the Hollywood-inspired Studiopolis Act 1, and is a large, decorated robot who can take to the sky with his helicopter. Heavy Gunner is armed with a powerful rocket launcher that he uses to discourage “speeding”.
Sonic Mania is the ultimate celebration of past and future, blending Genesis-era Sonic platforming with New Zones, Powerful Bosses, and three Playable Characters, all presented at a gorgeous 60 FPS. In the span of 25 years, Sonic has collected countless rings across various Zones, and Sonic Mania revisits what it was that first made Sonic great, all while building upon that foundation and giving old and new fans alike an experience that will leave them smiling.
Jennifer is a games journalist, former games journalist and PR Manager at Gearbox. They contributed 234 articles to ICXM between 2015–2017, focused on opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news: went on to write for Windows Central and later managed PR for Gearbox Software.