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Sonic Mania/Bugs

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Revision as of 15:41, 29 May 2019 by BSonirachi (talk | contribs) (Sign collision detection)

This page lists various glitches that can be found in Sonic Mania and Sonic Mania Plus.

General bugs

Shifting Spin Dash

SonicMania Bug SpinDashBackwards.png

If the player walks right up to certain interactable objects, such as Springs, Spikes, unbroken Monitors or breakable walls, readies a Spin Dash and holds DownLeft, their character will slowly shift to the left until they release the Spin Dash. This won't work with every object however, such as the rocks in Green Hill Zone.

Not fixed in any version.

Sideways spring animation error

SonicMania Bug SpringAnimationError1.png
SonicMania Bug SpringAnimationError2.png

If the player rolls into a sideways spring and continually holds the control stick or D-pad in the opposite direction they are moving in, their character will briefly enter their pushing animation when they stop moving, appearing to be pushing nothing.

Not fixed in any version.

Sign collision detection

SonicMania SignpostBug1.png
Getting the Signpost partially stuck in the ceiling.
SonicMania SignpostBug2.png
The Signpost is completely stuck in the ceiling.

The Signpost has faulty collision detection - in several Acts that end with ceilings (most notably Metallic Madness Zone Act 1), it is possible to drive it into the ceiling, causing it to vibrate in a glitched manner until it falls out of the ceiling. With persistent effort, it is even possible to drive the sign entirely into the ceiling, causing it to be placed within it.

Not fixed in any version.

Mighty's victory animation

SonicMania MightyCapsuleBug.png

Mighty's victory animation is rather bugged in some cases. If he is standing on the Capsule at the end of some zones, he may fly off the capsule during his victory animation depending on where he is standing and which direction he is facing.

Not fixed in any version.

Level-specific bugs

Angel Island Zone

Angel Island Zone in Mania Mode

Expression error: Unexpected < operator.

Probably the most infamous glitch in the game. If the player turns on Debug Mode and presses the button (depending on the system) to enter object placement mode at the exact second before the first cutscene in Mania Mode, they are able to use debug during the cutscene. This works on v1.04 and in Sonic Mania Plus. They must place a Signpost and wait until the score summary finishes (if playing as Sonic, Tails, Mighty or Ray, they must make sure they don't exit out of object placement until the score tally appears; if playing as Knuckles, they must not exit object placement at all). Afterwards, they are taken to the actual Angel Island Zone.

The zone is the same, but the background is missing (instead it's the ocean). Some textures also go missing. The stage will correct itself once you go past the waterfall. The player can use debug mode, but if they go to the bottom of the stage and die, it will result in a Game Over. This is because the game thinks they are in Encore Mode, and Encore Mode uses a different lives system (and the player doesn't have another character). If they go to the area where Mighty and Ray are, the ocean is replaced with a really weird background. If they destroy the capsule without the Plus DLC, Mighty and Ray will become Sonic (their trapped animations are still there, though); if they have the DLC, then everything is normal. They can pick a partner, but they can't control them except when they place a Swap monitor. Once the player has full control, they should use debug to go the next cutscene. The player must be careful of going down Mighty's pathway though, as for some reason the player can get a Game Over. Once the cutscene plays, the player will go to Green Hill Zone with the companion they picked. However, if they skip the cutscene, they will go to the Encore version of Green Hill and they can continue to play the Encore levels (note that if they do this, even though the zones will have the Encore palettes, the game will still think they are in Mania Mode, so monitors that are exclusive to Encore Mode are missing unless they place them with debug mode). The game can be beaten with any character and companion with the Mania or Encore Mode palettes.

This glitch was discovered by YouTuber Sonic Mania Architect, who made a video on May 6th, 2018, just a few days after the v1.04 update leak.[1]

Not fixed in any version.

Rolling softlock

SonicMania Bug AIZRollingSoftlock.png

In Encore Mode, the player must select Mighty as their partner at the end of Angel Island Zone. Then, in Mighty's path, the player must execute a Spin Dash, then very quickly execute a Hammer Drop after breaking the large boulder. If timed correctly, Mighty will be stuck in a perpetual rolling status. As the player cannot move or even pause in this situation, the only way out is to restart the game.

Not fixed in any version.

Drowning softlock

SonicMania Bug AIZDrowningSoftlock1.png
SonicMania Bug AIZDrowningSoftlock2.png

Also in Mighty's path, the player must have both Sonic and Mighty enter the pool of water, switch to the character who entered the pool second, and then wait for both characters to drown. This causes the game to become very confused and pan the camera to above the area where Sonic broke the capsule and essentially softlock the game, requiring the player to restart.

Not fixed in any version.

Green Hill Zone

Act 2 boundary oversight

SonicMania Bug GHZBoundaryOdditySwitch.jpg

In the initial release of the Nintendo Switch version, the lower level boundary was not properly set after emerging from underground at the start of Act 2. This results in the bed of spikes to the left appearing to be suspended in the air.

Fixed in v1.03.

Chemical Plant Zone

Tails intro animation

Notavailable.svg

For whatever reason, while Sonic and Knuckles have their own unique animations that would play when a chemical drop landed on their heads during the intro to Chemical Plant Zone, Tails did not have one, as he instead looked upward. An animation existed within the internal sprite sheets, but went unused.[2]

Fixed in v1.04/Sonic Mania Plus. The new animation is different from the unused one in earlier versions.

Misaligning the Mean Bean Machine camera

SonicMania Bug CPZMeanBeanMisalignedCamera.png

If Mighty immediately performs a Hammer Drop at the right time when he lands in the Mean Bean Machine arena, the camera will be misaligned slightly. This does not affect gameplay enough to cause an issue for the player.

Not fixed in any version.

Break the post-Act 2 cutscene

SonicMania Bug CPZCutsceneBreak1.png
SonicMania Bug CPZCutsceneBreak2.png

When playing in Encore Mode, or as Sonic and Tails together in Mania Mode, if the main character stands before the spring and has the other character break the capsule off-screen at the end of Act 2, the main character will not be able to enter the tube that leads to Studiopolis Zone as they will be stuck pushing the spring. However, the player can still advance to Studiopolis Zone by pressing Start.

Not fixed in any version.

Press Garden Zone

Eternal combo

Sm-pressgardencombobug.png

While a character is in the air, hitting enemies increases a hidden counter that decides how many points to award. The first few enemies are worth 100, 200 then 500 points, then the next few are worth 1,000. Eventually, enemies are worth 10,000 points.

The counter resets when a character lands back on the ground. But if enemies are hit with a rolling attack and the player never goes off the ground, the counter never resets - rolling back and forth in areas with regenerating enemies such as the Splats in Press Garden Zone Act 1 can let the player max out their lives counter at 99 quickly by collecting vast amounts of 10,000-point awards (an extra life is awarded every 50,000 points).

  • Present in Steam build ID 2077506

Not fixed in any version.

Moonwalking

SonicMania PressGarden MoonwalkBug1.png
Stand here while facing left...
SonicMania PressGarden MoonwalkBug2.png
Sonic the Hedgehog's Moonwalker

After defeating Shiversaw at the end of Press Garden Zone Act 1, if the player runs to the far right of the area and faces left when the Signpost lands, the player will walk backwards during the intro cutscene to Act 2. This can happen with any character.

Not fixed in any version.

Stardust Speedway Zone

Fly over the sub-boss as Tails

SonicMania Bug SSZFlyOverMiniBoss1.png
SonicMania Bug SSZFlyOverMiniBoss2.png

Using Tails, the player can fly over the arena where Hotaru Hi-Watt is fought and wander around in the area normally seen in a cutscene after clearing Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1. The player can even destroy the robot transporter and view its destroyed sprite, which normally isn't possible.

Fixed in v1.04/Sonic Mania Plus. The boss fight is triggered no matter what the player's Y coordinate is.

Bypass Metal Sonic's second phase

Tails could fly over the arena where Metal Sonic's second phase would take place, bypassing it completely.

Fixed in v1.03. The level design was altered to prevent Tails from flying over the arena.

Spin Dash vs. Spin Dash

SonicMania Bug SSZSpinDash1.png
SonicMania Bug SSZSpinDash2.png

When one of the Silver Sonic Badniks performs a Spin Dash and launches into the player when they are preparing a Spin Dash of their own, the player will be pushed backwards while still in their Spin Dash state.

Not fixed in any version.

Frozen Metal Sonic

SonicMania Bug SSZFrozenMetalSonic.jpg

After defeating Metal Sonic, there may be a small chance that his death sprite will hang in mid-air after crashing into the spiked wall.

Fixed in v1.04/Sonic Mania Plus, due to the Metal Sonic fight being changed.

Hydrocity Zone

Softlock by looking up

SonicMania Bug HCZSoftlock.png

If the player is holding Up after breaking the Capsule at the end of Act 2 and keeps Up held throughout the results tally, their character(s) will not continue to the right during the transition cutscene and will continually look upwards. This cutscene cannot be skipped with Start, so the only way out of this is to restart the game.

Not fixed in any version.

Mirage Saloon Zone

Falling off of the Tornado

SonicMania TornadoBug1.png
SonicMania TornadoBug2.png

Just like in Sonic 2's Sky Chase Zone, it is possible to go too fast for the Tornado to keep up by charging and releasing a Spin Dash or by going Super, resulting in the player falling to their death.

Not fixed in any version.

Super Sonic Drop Dash on the Tornado

SonicMania SuperSonicDropDash.png

In the initial release of the Nintendo Switch version, performing the Drop Dash on the Tornado in Mirage Saloon Zone Act 1 as Super Sonic will crash the game.

Fixed in v1.03.

Super Peel-Out death

SonicMania Bug PeelOutDeath1.png
SonicMania Bug PeelOutDeath2.png

Performing a Super Peel-Out while standing next to the spikes on the third oil tanker car in Act 1 will somehow crush Sonic.

Not fixed in any version.

Knuckles in Mirage Saloon glitches

Notavailable.svg

Using Debug mode or the Dev Menu, Knuckles can access Sonic's version of Mirage Saloon Zone Act 1. This leads to at least two glitches:

  • The cutscene where Heavy Magician knocks Knuckles off the Tornado sees the Heavy knock a 'GOT' off the Tornado instead.
  • When Knuckles finishes the cutscene at the end of the Act, he glitches back to where he normally starts Act 2.

Partially fixed in v1.04/Sonic Mania Plus. There is no extra Knuckles or a 'GOT' when Heavy Magician first appears, but Knuckles still warps to his starting location in Act 2.

Oil Ocean Zone

Harmless smog

SonicMania OilOcean HarmlessSmog1.png
Position yourself here...
SonicMania OilOcean HarmlessSmog2.png
...and you'll avoid the switch.

If the player positions themself in a specific spot when the signpost falls at the end of Oil Ocean Zone Act 1, they will fall between the oil slide and switch, avoiding the switch altogether. This allows the player to regain control sooner than intended and proceed through Act 2 without being harmed by the smog, so long as they don't pull on a switch, die or enter a Special or Bonus Stage.

Getting the right position to exploit this bug is easier to do as Tails or Ray, as they do not move during their victory animations.

Not fixed in any version.

Glitches when dying on a sub hatch

SonicMania Bug OOZEncoreSubDeath1.png
SonicMania Bug OOZEncoreSubDeath2.png

In Encore Mode, two glitches are known to happen if the player dies from the moving spiked objects above the secret submarine. If the player is standing on the edge of the hatch door and dies there, their death sprite will be stopped by the hatch door and remain on-screen. This essentially softlocks the game as the player cannot do anything else to get out of this, so the only option is to restart the game.

If the player dies while directly above the hatch door, their character will enter the sub during their death animation and survive. From this point on, should the player pause the game, their character will not stop moving, essentially allowing the player to move their character while the game is paused. While in this state, the camera will not follow the player's character, nor will they interact with any objects. Skidding or attempting the Spin Dash will even cause the dustclouds to remain on the screen.

Not fixed in any version.

Lava Reef Zone

Weird gliding

SonicMania Bug LRZWeirdGliding1.png
SonicMania Bug LRZWeirdGliding2.png

If Knuckles attempts a glide on the ramp that launches the player across lava in Act 1, he will enter a weird state in which he is still gliding, but is playing a different animation until he either lands or cancels the glide.

Interestingly, a similar bug was discovered with the bumper lampposts in Studiopolis Zone by the developers during the game's development and was showcased at the SDCC 2017 panel.[3]

Not fixed in any version.

Heavy King intro with Sonic or Tails

Notavailable.svg

Using debug mode to cheat Sonic/Tails into the Heavy King boss arena in Lava Reef Zone Act 2 (located below and to the right of Heavy Rider's boss arena) results in the character glitching to Knuckles' sprites when remembering Eggman's theft of the Master Emerald and when demanding Heavy King to leave the shrine before attacking the claw-arm machine. The cutscene after the battle which sees Knuckles use a teleporter to reach Metallic Madness Zone is also skipped.

Fixed in v1.04/Sonic Mania Plus, due to the player having the option to fight the Heavy King with any character in Encore Mode.

Tails goes up and away

SonicMania Bug LRZTailsGoesUp1.png
SonicMania Bug LRZTailsGoesUp2.png

After defeating the Heavy Rider at the end of Act 2 as Tails, the player must begin flying after breaking open the Capsule and fly above it. The player must hurry and skip the results tally by pressing buttons, then, as the tally goes away, they must fly higher or jump from the Capsule with good timing. This will cause Tails to defy gravity and float on upwards during his cutscene animation.

Not fixed in any version.

Metallic Madness Zone

Break the post-Act 2 cutscene

SonicMania Bug MMZCutsceneBreak1.png
SonicMania Bug MMZCutsceneBreak2.png
SonicMania Bug MMZCutsceneBreak3.png
SonicMania Bug MMZCutsceneBreak4.png

After defeating the Gachapandora, the game expects the player to be standing on top of the Capsule after Metallic Madness Zone Act 2 is cleared. However in either Encore Mode or with Sonic and Tails in Mania Mode, having the second character break open the Capsule off-screen causes weird things to happen. If the lead character is still small, they will briefly become normal-sized for their victory animation before the correct animations play, and the player will see the background change immediately when the results tally disappears. Afterwards, the player's characters will not be properly centered when they move forward, and possibly have weird palettes when the lightning strikes in the background. The cutscene still plays as normal, otherwise.

Not fixed in any version.

Titanic Monarch Zone

Fight Crimson Eye with the lights on

SonicMania Bug TMZLightsOn1.png
Tails causes the lights to dim.
SonicMania Bug TMZLightsOn2.png
Then the lights come on for the boss.

Normally, the foreground palettes are dimmed when the player reaches the end of Titanic Monarch Zone Act 1 and fights the Crimson Eye sub-boss. However, when playing Mania Mode as Sonic and Tails, a second player can make Tails enter the boss arena before Sonic, causing the palettes to dim outside the arena. Should Sonic then enter the arena right when the game attempts to restore the palettes, the player will fight the sub-boss with the lights on.

Not fixed in any version.

Phantom Egg softlocks upon defeat

SonicMania PhantomEggDefeated.png

In the initial release of the Steam version, defeating the Phantom Egg on a "No Save" game with all the Chaos Emeralds collected would softlock the game on a black screen.

Fixed in RC 1.03.0831[4].

Denuvo DRM

These bugs only apply to the PC version of the game, which uses the Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM.

Always online requirement

In the initial release of the PC version, the Denuvo DRM did not allow the game to be played offline.

Fixed in a patch released one day after launch, allowing the game to be played offline after it has been run online at least once.

Time Attack infinite write loop

The Denuvo DRM was updated upon release of Sonic Mania Plus, but an oversight had slipped in due to sloppy implementation. When the Time Attack menu is accessed, a trigger is activated which makes Denuvo start writing to its section. However, the trigger isn't closed properly, causing Denuvo to keep writing to its section until the game is closed, causing massive slowdown.

Fixed in RC 1.06.0503, which completely removes Denuvo from the executable[5].

Miscellaneous bugs

PS4 leaderboards crash

In the initial release of the PlayStation 4 version, accessing the leaderboards causes the game to crash.

Fixed in v1.03.

Switch HOME and POWER button delay

In the initial release of the Nintendo Switch version, the HOME and POWER buttons were delayed, and accessing the Switch's quick action menu by holding HOME would randomly block access to the Switch’s UI entirely, forcing a hard restart.

Fixed in v1.03.

References


Sonic Mania / Sonic Mania Plus
SonicMania title.png

Main page (Plus)
Maps
Achievements
Downloadable content
Changelog
Credits


Manuals
Promotional material
Magazine articles (Plus)
Reception
Merchandise


Development
Hidden content
Bugs
Technical information