Sonic Mania’s “1.5 Player” Co-Op Mode Explained

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1. “Tails was never good.” –Destructoid

2. “Sonic was never good”- All Gaming Media sites

3. [i]”Be yourself, respect yourself and always love yourself, don’t ever become somebody’s Tails.”[/i]

   -Destructoid

   1. Just like Sonic 2 and 3 & Knuckles, Tails gets fazed by attacks but never depletes your lives or rings. At worst, he will die from a bottomless pit or a crushing object only to regenerate and fly in from the top. He was never meant to be a full co-op second player. His 1.5 player playability was originally more of an Easter Egg feature. Faithful to the originals, playable second player Tail still is more of a novelty thing, never necessary or intended to be full-on co-op. Any true classic gamer who knows his stuff could tell you that. Obviously, Destructoid has an amateur writing these articles or this fellow was drunk when he wrote this.

4. Someone at Destructoid clearly never had to put with playing as Tails in the 90’s. X)”

5. Here, let me translate, “I don’t know how to properly play as Tails or anyone that isn’t Sonic” Even when it’s Classic based there’s they still can’t let up the whole “Sonic’s friends suck”. They do know this same kinda 1.5 player mode was in stuff like Kirby Super Star, right? You’d think these people would remember how to actually play a Sonic game and remember how to use Tails properly. There’s such a thing as “cooperation” between players, that’s kinda important for both players to be on the same page to help Sonic with lifting him up to higher spots and such.

   On more important questions, will there be a full 2-Player Race mode? Hopefully more like Sonic 2’s than Sonic 3’s with better splitscreen and full stages to go thru as opposed to simple looped tracks.

6. “Tails was a mistake”

7. Gamers bitching this is not another shitty modern game. Never saw that coming!

   1. These aren’t regular gamers, these are game journalists. Game journalists by and large have usually hated the modern Sonic titles. In the last few years, there’s been a shift from “New Sonic games suck, but at least the classic ones are great” to “Sonic has never been good.” Check the article first before you get confused by things next time.

8. “No one should have to play as Tails.”

   If this were such a problem, the author needs to pick up a copy of “Playing Tails for Dummies.” Emphasis on dummies.

   Seriously, was this person drunk when they wrote this? Tails isn’t that hard to play. My brother as a five-year-old could play as him in Sonic 2.

   Maybe the writer is inwardly still stuck in the 90’s console holy wars mindset and has a bone to pick with Sonic. Truly, there are a great many more challenging things in the world of video games than Tails.

   No dummy should be reviewing video games.
   “Dummies, dummies, dummies, dummies!”

9. I wish I could play as Tails to somebody. I know I have the skills to not only keep up, but also to swoop in and carry Sonic if P1 should need me.

   Can’t wait for Mania! So many cool games releasing all around, but Manía is the one I’m looking forward the most.

10. “There was also news that came from videos and PAX streams that showed that Tails doesn’t lose rings when he gets hit.”

    If you are speaking of 1.5 player co-op that is in the style of the classic Genesis games, then this is consistent with how Tails played in those retro titles. The second player could optionally control Tails but he would never lose rings or lose you lives. He was merely there as a temporary sidekick for optional difficult tasks and isn’t intended to carry a equal or primary role. Only the first player would remain primary and vulnerable to damage and lose rings or lives.

    1. There is one widely hated exception to this:
       https://www.sonicstadium.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/73d27cc7d18084b4dfc7c297e51fc719.png

    2. Why is the first reaction to sharing news always “He did it in other games”? We know. That has nothing to do with this. We’re not talking about those games, we’re talking about Mania. It’s something we learned about the game that we didn’t know previously. Whether it showed up in previous games is not relevant.

11. Jesus fucking Christ, you guys are CRUCIFYING them for this – lmao.

    NO ONE LIKES PLAYING AS CO-OP TAILS. It isn’t an attack on the franchise or the character, just a silly melodramatic take on what is otherwise a pretty obvious and straightforward statement.

    Yes, it is consistent with the old school titles. I’m willing to bet you the Destructoid author KNOWS this. That doesn’t make it fun to play – especially in a demo setting.

    The rest of the article was positive and heaped praise upon the game and its faithful recreation of a beloved classic formula. You don’t have to hate Sonic to hate 1.5 player co-op. This is not a vendetta. We all hated that shit back then too.

    Jesus fucking Christ.

    1. So “crucifying” = people making comments disagreeing with the difficulty involved with playing Tails and finding the comment overblown? lol, okay. You sound like you need to simmer down too, just sayin’.

       There’s a segment of people who didn’t like Tails’ classic gameplay, but to say that /nobody/ liked it is still generalizing. This is the Sonic fandom, I think you’d know by now that even the more maligned titles, characters, and concepts still have their fans. You have people commenting here that actually played those games mentioning it being easy, so already that pokes holes into the “everyone thought it was annoying and hard” bit. It’s like people can have different experiences with the same gameplay! Unreal! 😛

       Of course they had good things to say about the article, that made the exaggeration of the comment even more noticable since that’s more along the lines of the unnecessary snarkiness people have come to expect from mainstream Sonic coverage. Of course some people would complain if Destructoid simply explained that the gameplay was clunky, but when you make comments that are unnecessarily aggressive, people usually act with aggression. “It’s just a joke, you guys, chill out” is not actually a good defense for when the joke doesn’t get the reaction you’d like.

12. I am really hoping the multiplayer or co-op gets a fresh coat of paint. The classic 2 player co-op mode is fine, but when you sit down to play Sonic with a friend or relative it’s not the same as playing Mario. Frustration or boredom sets in fast if the other player is never on screen. (Kirby Super Star kept everyone together right?)

    You know what we need, we need something to keep two players together. Something like, I dunno, a rope, or maybe a magical tether held together by power rings!

    Seriously though just take a page from Toejam and Earl and split the screen. Or throw in some friendly competition in 2 player mode and bring back the trolly monitors that warp you and such. Surprise me!

13. Reminded of Kotaku getting annoyed that Tails was an unlockable character in Sonic CD after this. Poor lil’ guy!

14. I’m an old school gamer, and Sonic 3 and Knuckles is one of my favorite games of all time. That said, even if this just an easter egg, or small bonus, there is no reason they could not have implemented an improved co-op mode. They tried it in Sonic Crackers, Knuckles Chaotix, and Sonic 4 episode 2.

    This game will still be amazing, but needless to say, this was a missed opportunity to fix a big flaw of the older games.

15. I’m honestly upset they didn’t perfect this.

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