Sonic Mania/Bugs/Angel Island Zone

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Glitches specific to Angel Island Zone in Sonic Mania Plus only.

Act 1

Angel Island Zone in Mania Mode

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 incorrect (instead it's the ocean), and some of the foreground tiles are missing. The stage will correct itself once the player goes 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.

Not fixed in any version.

Rolling softlock

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

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.