Sonic Mania

Sonic Mania
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Franchise	Sonic the Hedgehog
Developed by	PagodaWest Games Headcannon
Published by	Sega
Platform(s)	Nintendo Switch
Release date(s)	August 15, 2017 (2017-08-15)
Genre	Platform
Let's Play
Played by	Rick Desilets John Selig C/J Haley
Featuring	Felice Lopez Ben Mooney Lindsay Gibbons
Intro theme	"Green Hill Zone" by TOY
Outro theme	"Friends" by Hyper Potions
Original run	August 17 - October 15, 2017
No. of episodes	42
Episode length	11-30 minutes
Playlist	link
Playlist length	12:57:09
Megaseries
Part of	The Super Sonic Let's Play
Preceded by	Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure
Concurrent with	Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
Followed by	Sonic Forces

Sonic Mania is a 2017 platform game developed by Headcannon and PagodaWest Games and published by Sega. It is an entry in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, with a development team led by prominent members of the Sonic fan community Christian "Taxman" Whitehead and Simon "Stealth" Thomley. It was designed to be a successor to the classic 2D Sonic games for the Sega Genesis, and as such contains many elements from and references to those games. The D-Pad played Sonic Mania upon release as the forty-fifth game in The Super Sonic Let's Play - the playthrough commenced on August 17, 2017 and concluded on October 15, 2017, after 42 episodes. The first 30 episodes covered a complete playthrough of the game with Sonic and Tails, and the following 12 covered a Knuckles playthrough using the secret "& Knuckles" mode, released under the name Sonic Mania & Knuckles.

Episodes

Video	Episode	Title	Length	Player(s)	Commentators	Release date
294	*	"A Brief History of Sonic Mania"	10:47	N/A	Rick, John	16 August 2017 (2017-08-16)
In a special live-action video, Rick and John introduce the game by exploring the larger history of Sonic level editors, ROM hacks, and fan games. Specifically, they look at the careers of Christian Whitehead and Simon Thomley: the two started as notable members of the Sonic fan game community before eventually transitioning to making official remastered mobile ports of the classic Genesis games for Sega. After porting Sonic the Hedgehog CD, Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, they planned a similar treatment for Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, but were unable to proceed due to unspecified legal issues involving the game, likely related to the soundtrack containing music written by Michael Jackson. No more official Sonic projects were announced by them for several years, until the 2016 reveal that they had in fact been working on a completely new game, intended to take the franchise back to its roots - Sonic Mania.
295	1	"Just Like the Old Games"	30:29	Rick	John, C/J, Lindsay	17 August 2017 (2017-08-17)
Rick and John continue to explain the history of Sonic Mania, this time delving into the specifics of the game itself, including its origins, development team, announcement, and combination of classic Sonic elements with new features and innovations. In the game itself, Rick, John and C/J watch the opening animation and begin the game, with Rick on the controller. He starts in Green Hill Zone, noting that the first act starts off identical to the original level before becoming very different later on. Along the way, Rick enters a "Blue Spheres" bonus stage identical to the first special stage from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and completes it with a perfect, earning a gold medallion. He continues the level but soon becomes stuck in a wall due to a bug. He is forced to reset and play through it again, picking up another two gold medallions along the way. He defeats the miniboss at the end and moves onto Act 2, where he plays a further four bonus stages, getting perfects on three of them. He then tackles the boss of the zone, which turns out to be the final boss from Sonic 2. He defeats it, then watches a brief cutscene where Sonic and Tails are teleported to the next level.
296	2	"Cool Bonus"	16:38	C/J	Rick, John, Ben	18 August 2017 (2017-08-18)
C/J takes over the control to play Chemical Plant Zone. Early on the first act he enters a giant ring, taking him to the game's first Sonic the Hedgehog CD-inspired UFO chase special stage. He completes it and gets a Chaos Emerald. He also enters a bonus stage, but fails to complete it. At the end of the act he fights the boss, resembling the Icecap Zone boss but with attacks similar to the Metropolis Zone boss. After defeating it, he moves on to the second act. The group enjoy the new music and level mechanics as C/J works through the act, completing another bonus stage along the way. He enters a third bonus stage later on in the act, and becomes lost for quite some time trying to find the final batch of blue spheres, but Rick eventually points him in the right direction and he completes it.
297	*	"The D-Pad Unboxes the Sonic Mania Collector's Edition"	9:21	N/A	Rick, John, C/J	20 August 2017 (2017-08-20)
In another special live-action video recorded before the start of the playthrough, Rick, John and C/J sit down to unbox the collector's edition of Sonic Mania. Rick tells the story of how he ended up accidentally pre-ordering three different copies of the game before opening one of them. The three look at the special items inside the box, including a Sega Genesis cartridge, a golden ring, and a Sonic statue.
298	3	"Lock-On Technology"	13:44	C/J, John	Rick	21 August 2017 (2017-08-21)
C/J enters another special stage through a giant ring, but fails to complete it. He also enters a bonus stage at a checkpoint, and gets a perfect. He then moves on to the boss, which turns out to consist of beating Eggman in a round of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine. Despite not being familiar with the game, he easily wins and completes the zone, passing the control over to John. John enters a brand new level, Studiopolis Zone, somewhat similar to casino-themed levels from past games. He plays through some of the first act and tries two bonus stages along the way, failing at both of them.
299	4	"The Fury of My Own Momentum"	20:11	John	Rick, C/J	22 August 2017 (2017-08-22)
John reaches the end of Studiopolis Act 1 and fights one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies, in a boss somewhat reminiscent of the Metal Sonic race from Sonic CD. Although he dies on the first attempt, he beats it on the second and moves on to the second act. Throughout the level, he takes on two more bonus stages, getting a perfect in the first one but failing the second. At the end of the stage, he faces Eggman's weather-themed boss and defeats it. Rick takes over for the fourth zone, Flying Battery. During the first act, he attempts yet another pair of Blue Sphere stages, completing the second one with a perfect.
300	5	"Flagrant Story"	19:02	Rick	John, C/J	23 August 2017 (2017-08-23)
Rick completes another bonus stage near the end of Flying Battery Zone Act 1, then easily defeats the miniboss due to his electric shield. He proceeds to act 2, which features numerous outside segments somewhat influenced by Wing Fortress Zone. During the stage, he attempts four more bonus stages, failing the first and completing the other three. Further on, he runs into an outside segment featuring electrified poles controlled by an enemy; he ends up falling to his death while trying to pass it.
301	6	"A Warm Pizza on My Penis"	18:59	Rick, C/J	John	24 August 2017 (2017-08-24)
Rick reaches the end of the Flying Battery Zone Act 2, attempting one more bonus stage before the boss, but failing it. The boss itself is a giant spider-like machine controlled by Eggman that needs to be knocked into spikes lining the walls to be defeated. Rick beats it, then hands back over to C/J for the next zone. C/J enters a brand new level, Press Garden Zone. He enters three bonus stages during the first act, getting a perfect for the first but failing at the other two. In the level itself, he spends so much time exploring side areas and using Tails to fly him up to higher platforms that he only has a minute left to defeat the miniboss once he reaches the end of the stage. He barely manages to do it, with only 14 seconds remaining on the timer.
302	7	"Less Precious with the Rules"	11:48	C/J	Rick, John	25 August 2017 (2017-08-25)
C/J heads into the second act of Press Garden, which combines elements from Mushroom Hill Zone with areas where Sonic must be frozen in order to smash through blocks of ice. During the stage, he enters two bonus stages and a specials stage, but fails to complete any of them. Soon, he reaches the end and faces off against the second member of the Hard-Boiled Heavies, who makes use of a freezing weapon and uses Asterons as throwing stars. C/J runs out of rings towards the end of the fight and almost loses, but just barely wins with some help from Tails. The group watch another brief cutscene, after which Sonic and Tails are teleported to the next zone.
305	8	"Lando Is a Man"	21:41	John	Rick, C/J	28 August 2017 (2017-08-28)
John enters the first act of Stardust Speedway Zone. C/J and Rick debate which version of the Sonic CD soundtrack is being used as John plays through the stage and defeats the miniboss. He then heads through a "Future" signpost and moves on to the second act. He runs through this level, failing an attempt at a bonus stage along the way, and reaches the boss fight against Metal Sonic. The battle contains several phases many references to fights with different versions of Metal Sonic throughout the classic Sonic games. John becomes confused as to how to damage the boss in the second part of the fight, where Metal Sonic is out of reach and needs to be damaged by knocking smaller enemies into him. He eventually gets past it, but has used so much time that he gets a time over before he can finish the battle. His second attempt is much faster and he defeats the boss.
306	9	"Handle with Care"	16:22	Rick	John, C/J, Ben	29 August 2017 (2017-08-29)
Rick enters Hydrocity Zone, which contains elements inspired by water levels from a number of different classic Sonic games. C/J and John discuss Nine Inch Nails and their own upcoming music projects as Rick plays through the first act, completing three bonus stages as he does so. He reaches the boss, in which Sonic must control Eggman's machine from the original Hydrocity Zone to damage him. Rick is unclear as to how to damage him for a while, and John reveals he accidentally already played Hydrocity in his off-camera playthrough. Rick eventually defeats the boss and moves on to the second act.
307	10	"The Blue Ball Whisperer"	21:04	Rick, C/J	John, Felice, Ben	30 August 2017 (2017-08-30)
Rick plays through the second act of Hydrocity. He completes a bonus stage, but fails two more, along with his first attempt at a special stage. He reaches the boss (a barely-changed version of the Act 1 boss from the original Hydrocity) and defeats it, clearing the zone. C/J takes over for the next level, Mirage Saloon, the first act of which is mostly based off Sky Chase Zone. He dies towards the end of the flying segment by accidentally jumping off the plane during a fast auto-scroll, but soon gets back to where he was and lands on a moving train. There, he finally succeeds in getting the second Chaos Emerald, and fails yet another bonus stage.
308	11	"'90's Kids Jizz Themselves"	12:15	C/J	Rick, John, Felice	31 August 2017 (2017-08-31)
C/J defeats the miniboss of the first act of Mirage Saloon. A brief cutscene ensues in which Fang the Sniper appears and shoots down Tails' plane, leading into the second act. C/J tries out a few more bonus stages in this level, and manages to complete one of them with a perfect. Eventually, he reaches the boss fight, in which Heavy Magician disguises herself as Fang, Bark the Polar Bear and Bean the Dynamite, complete with their signature attacks. He dies on his first attempt at the boss, but manages to defeat her the second time around. He is then shot out of a giant gun towards the next zone, and hands the control over to John.
309	12	"Perilous Pipeline"	16:59	John, Rick	C/J, Felice	1 September 2017 (2017-09-01)
John is annoyed to find out the level he's playing is Oil Ocean Zone - one of his least favorites from the classic series. He gets through the first act, failing a bonus stage along the way, and easily defeats the miniboss. The second act contains elements from Sandopolis Zone, as Sonic must pull switches regularly to stop his rings from draining as a result of the fumes. John dies a few times to the boss of the zone, which mashes up elements from the original Oil Ocean boss with the miniboss of Lava Reef Zone, but eventually defeats it. Rick takes over the Lava Reef Zone, getting part of the way through act 1, failing a bonus stage, and narrowly succeeding in getting the third Chaos Emerald from a special stage.
310	13	"Miami Nights"	17:57	Rick	John, C/J, Felice	4 September 2017 (2017-09-04)
Rick tries three more bonus stages during the remainder of Lava Reef Act 1 - he completes the first one, but fails at the other two. At the end of the stage, he defeats the Mystic Cave-inspired boss and moves on to the second act. There, he enters a special stage and almost gets the fourth Chaos Emerald, but accidentally jumps down a pit and fails. He then continues through the level, playing a further two bonus stages, completing them both with a perfect on the latter.
311	14	"The Least Many There Is"	15:38	Rick, C/J	John, Felice	5 September 2017 (2017-09-05)
Rick reaches the end of Lava Reef Zone and fights another member of the Hard-Boiled Heavies in an area inspired by Hidden Palace Zone. He is confused as to how to damage the boss for a while, but eventually defeats it and hands over to C/J for the next zone, which turns out to be Metallic Madness. He fails a few special stages throughout the act, but still makes his way to the end, where he faces off against a miniboss based on Final Zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog. C/J destroys the boss and moves on to act 2.
312	15	"Huge Asshole"	14:42	C/J, John	Rick, Felice	6 September 2017 (2017-09-06)
C/J takes on the second act of Metallic Madness, completing the stage and fighting a boss consisting of smaller versions of bosses from previous games; Sonic is also forced to be small during the fight, due to the shrinking lasers, returning from the original Sonic CD level. After defeating the boss, he hands the control over to John for Titanic Monarch Zone. John plays through some of the first act and enters one of the most difficult special stages to perfect in the game. Rick guides him through a frustrating bumper segment and he eventually makes it to the end, but accidentally jumps over one of the rings he needed to collect.
313	16	"Speed Limit the Porcupine"	18:40	John	Rick, C/J, Felice	7 September 2017 (2017-09-07)
John continues the first act of Titanic Monarch Zone, failing a bonus stage along the way. He reaches the end of the level and faces a modified version of the miniboss from Death Egg Zone. He defeats it and moved on to the second act, which is composed of four large sections that all need to be completed to proceed but can be played in any order, something the group only figure out before entering the fourth and final section. During the level, John tries two more bonus stages, failing one and completing the other without a perfect.
314	17	"Almost Dicker"	12:54	John	Rick, C/J, Felice	8 September 2017 (2017-09-08)
John completes the fourth area of Act 2 of Titanic Monarch, opening a portal that leads to the final boss. Eggman uses the Phantom Ruby in battle, shielding himself for most of the fight and only letting his guard down when he uses an electric attack. He also frequently warps Sonic to areas where he has to survive an attack from one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies. John runs out of rings and almost loses the fight, but manages to defeat it. Having not gotten all the Chaos Emeralds, the group are treated to the bad ending, watching the final cutscene and the lengthy credits - in a post credits screen homage to the original game, Eggman taunts the player with the missing Emeralds.
315	18	"What Are We Aiming For?"	16:16	John, Rick	C/J	11 September 2017 (2017-09-11)
The group restart the game on their completed save file in order to find the remaining Chaos Emeralds. John plays through Green Hill Zone and finds a giant ring in Act 1, but is unable to complete the resulting special stage. He searches for another one in the second act, but can't find any. Rick takes over for the first act of Chemical Plant Zone, but is similarly unable to locate a ring.
316	19	"Bouncy Juice"	18:38	Rick, C/J	John	12 September 2017 (2017-09-12)
Rick plays through the second act of Chemical Plant Zone and finds a giant ring towards the end, but immediately falls through a hole trying to make a jump and fails the special stage. He completes the zone and passes over to C/J for Studiopolis. C/J thoroughly searches the first act for giant rings, but still can't locate any. With only a few minutes remaining on the timer, he heads to the end of the level and defeats the miniboss.
317	20	"Less Clever Now"	20:08	C/J, John	Rick	13 September 2017 (2017-09-13)
C/J looks through the second act of Studiopolis and manages to find a giant ring, but fails the fourth special stage once more. He plays through the rest of the level, failing a bonus stage along the way, and defeats the boss, handing over to John for Flying Battery. John explores the first act of the level, eventually finding a ring near the end. Given another chance at the special stage, he narrowly completes it with only two rings left and gets the fourth Chaos Emerald.
318	21	"Suckles for Days"	15:17	John, Rick	C/J	14 September 2017 (2017-09-14)
John defeats the miniboss of Flying Battery Zone Act 1 and moves on to the second act, where he quickly finds a giant ring and clears the fifth special stage easily due to a bug. He finds another ring later on in the level, but fails his attempt at the sixth Emerald. He clears the zone and passes over to Rick for Press Garden. Rick finds a giant ring almost immediately in the level and tries the sixth special stage again, but accidentally jumps off the track and fails it.
319	22	"And by That I Mean Snow"	15:28	Rick	John, C/J	15 September 2017 (2017-09-15)
Rick finishes exploring Press Garden Act 1 and completes it without finding any giant rings. He moves on to Act 2, where he eventually locates one and takes another attempt at the sixth special stage, but fails once more. Failing to find any rings in the remainder of the level, he heads to the end and defeats the boss.
322	23	"A Weird Oval with Teeth"	18:41	C/J	Rick, John	20 September 2017 (2017-09-20)
C/J takes over for Stardust Speedway as the group talk about the upcoming release of Sonic Forces. C/J finds no giant rings in the first act, and fails an attempt at a bonus stage along the way. He completes the level and moves on to Act 2, where Rick tells the story of the time he accidentally watched a porn movie with some friends. C/J manages to complete a blue sphere bonus stage in the second act, but still finds no giant rings, and defeats Metal Sonic to clear the zone, having made no progress on the Chaos Emeralds at all.
323	24	"You're Not Right"	17:03	John	Rick, C/J	21 September 2017 (2017-09-21)
John heads into Hydrocity Zone, as Rick lays out evidence for the correct pronunciation of the level's name. John searches through the first act for giant rings, but can't find any, and manages to drown twice while playing through it. Defeating the miniboss, he continues to Act 2, where he eventually finds a ring towards the end, sending him back to the sixth special stage. Once again, he fails the stage and is sent back to the main level.
324	25	"Nothing Wrong with Sucking Dick"	19:48	John, Rick	C/J	22 September 2017 (2017-09-22)
John finishes the second act of Hydrocity Zone, and defeats the boss. He hands the control over to Rick for Mirage Saloon. Rick reaches the giant ring located at the back of the train, but fails the special stage again. He also fails an attempt at a bonus stage immediately afterwards. After defeating the miniboss and heading to act 2, he attempts another special stage and bonus stage, failing the former but managing to perfect the latter. Unable to find any more giant rings, he heads to the end of the level and defeats the boss.
325	26	"Basically Almost Kill Yourself"	20:27	C/J	Rick, John	23 September 2017 (2017-09-23)
C/J enters Oil Ocean Zone, and spends some time trying to figure out how to get to a ring at the beginning of the stage, but eventually gives up and moves forward. He finds another giant ring later, and attempts the sixth special stage again, but fails off the side and fails. He completes the first act and moves on to the second one, where he finds and perfects a bonus stage while hunting for rings. Eventually, he finds one, and is finally able to complete the special stage, giving him the sixth Chaos Emerald.
326	27	"Three Grown Men Screaming"	20:06	C/J, John	Rick	25 September 2017 (2017-09-25)
After failing a bonus stage and dying a number of times to the boss, C/J manages to complete Oil Ocean Zone, and passes the control to John for Lava Reef. Some way into the level, John enters a giant ring and tackles the seventh and final special stage, managing to beat it on the first attempt. With all seven Chaos Emeralds, he is able to turn into Super Sonic and rush through the rest of the stage. Along the way, he enters another bonus stage and fails it, then reaches the end of the act and defeats the miniboss.
327	28	"Carry Me, Tails!"	13:43	John, Rick	C/J	25 September 2017 (2017-09-25)
John rushes through Lava Reef Act 2, getting past the level without many problems due to Super Sonic. After defeating the boss, he hands over to Rick for Metallic Madness - again, Rick speeds through the first act and defeats the miniboss with ease, then does the same for the second act. He runs out of rings towards the end of the boss fight, making him vulnerable, but still manages to defeat Eggman and move on to Titanic Monarch. He hands the control over to C/J to take on the final zone in the game.
328	29	"Human Bro Hormone"	15:09	C/J	Rick, John	26 September 2017 (2017-09-26)
C/J plays through Titanic Monarch, easily clearing the first act with Super Sonic. The lengthy second act proves more annoying, as he takes quite some time to clear the four separate areas of the stage, and is too low on rings when he reaches the boss to turn into Super Sonic again. He defeats the "final" boss fight against Eggman without too many problems, leading to a cutscene in which the Phantom Ruby warps Sonic and Eggman away. C/J hands the control back to Rick to take on the true final boss.
329	30	"It's Never the End"	16:33	Rick	John, C/J, Ben	27 September 2017 (2017-09-27)
Rick faces off against the final boss, which turns out to be a battle against both Heavy King and Eggman at the same time, as the pair fight over control of the Phantom Ruby. He dies several times trying to figure out how the boss fight works, eventually realizing that he was accidentally draining his rings by using Super Sonic's dash attack. On subsequent attempts, he does much better and soon manages to defeat the bosses. Ben arrives just in time to see the end of the game, as the group watch the "good ending", but are confused by an enigmatic final cutscene in which Sonic is sucked into a portal along with the Ruby, leaving his fate unknown. The group watch the credits, give their overall thoughts on the game, and return to the main menu.
Sonic Mania & Knuckles
330	31	"Colon Parenthesis"	20:25	C/J	Rick, John	2 October 2017 (2017-10-02)
The group begin a new playthrough of the game using the secret "& Knuckles" mode, watching the brief opening cutscene and laughing at the duplicate Knuckles that follows the player around. C/J starts off in Green Hill Zone and announces his intention to clear the remaining blue sphere bonus stages during the course of the playthrough. He fails both of the stages he attempts in the first act, but still manages to get two Chaos Emeralds from special stages. In the second act, C/J takes some more attempts at the two bonus stages and manages to complete both of them with perfects. He heads to the end of the stage, defeats the boss, and moves on to the next zone.
331	32	"Addicted to Cloacas"	14:13	John	Rick, C/J	3 October 2017 (2017-10-03)
John takes over for Chemical Plant Zone and completes the first act, albeit without finding any special or bonus stages. In the second act, he finds and completes a special stage to get a third Chaos Emerald, and enters a bonus stage, but chooses to deliberately fail and leave them to Rick and C/J in the future. He becomes stuck for several minutes trying to figure out how to get out of a small area of the level, eventually finding the correct pipe and heading up it. Reaching the end of the stage, he defeats the Mean Bean Machine boss and completes the zone.
332	33	"No Goddamn Trapeze"	18:50	Rick	John, C/J	4 October 2017 (2017-10-04)
Rick plays through Studiopolis Zone and continues to attempt special and bonus stages. He only finds one special stage in the entire zone, and fails it almost immediately by jumping off the course accidentally. He has better luck with the bonus stages; he manages to perfect two more of the remaining bonus stages, although he does fail an attempt at another one. Reaching the end of the zone, he has a far more difficult time fighting the boss than before due to Knuckles' lowered jump height. Eventually, he beats it and hands the control back to C/J for the next stage.
333	34	"Avionics the Hedgehog"	25:49	C/J	Rick, John, Felice	5 October 2017 (2017-10-05)
C/J enters Flying Battery Zone once more. In the first act, he is so annoyed at his poor performance in a segment of the level that he intentionally dies to try it again. He eventually completes it and moves on to the second act, but all of his attempts at bonus stages or special stages throughout the zone result in failure. Felice arrives as C/J nears the end of Act 2, and the group discuss the "Omelette" fan character and a theory about a connection between Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces as he fights the boss of the zone. After defeating it, he hands the control to John again.
334	35	"A Gentle Introduction to Dildos"	15:59	John	Rick, C/J, Felice	7 October 2017 (2017-10-07)
The group get into an increasingly weird discussion prompted by Felice talking about her job, and later John inviting his friends to a "murder cabin" as part of a new Christmas tradition. Meanwhile, John plays through Press Garden Zone, becoming frustrated by areas that he can't figure out how to get through, as well as his continued failure at blue sphere bonus stages. He eventually reaches the end of the zone and defeats the boss, but has made no progress on either special or bonus stages. He hands the control back to Rick.
335	36	"Be Irresponsible by Yourself"	22:09	Rick	John, C/J, Felice	9 October 2017 (2017-10-09)
Rick plays through Stardust Speedway Zone. Although he is unsuccessful at finding giant rings in the first act, he manages to enter and perfect four bonus stages throughout the level. He has worse luck in the second act, finding one special stage and one bonus stage but failing them both. As Rick fights Metal Sonic, the group begins trying to think of as many bands with numbers on their names as they can. Eventually, Rick defeats the boss fight and moves on to the next zone.
336	37	"The Biggest King Dorko"	20:00	C/J	Rick, John, Felice	10 October 2017 (2017-10-10)
C/J picks up the control for Hydrocity Zone. John and Felice leave to buy drinks. C/J enters a bonus stage in the first act, but fails it. He and Rick discuss Sonic Mania in general while he plays through the rest of Act 1. In the second act, C/J enters another bonus stage, and realizes it is the exact same one as before, meaning it is the only bonus stage left that hasn't been perfected. He manages to do so, and even gets the fourth Chaos Emerald from a special stage later on in the level. He then heads to the end of the zone and defeats the boss.
337	38	"Oh My Stars"	13:16	Rick	John, C/J, Felice	11 October 2017 (2017-10-11)
John and Felice return, but John opts out of playing the next stage, leaving Rick to take on the Knuckles-exclusive path of Mirage Saloon Zone Act 1. He makes his way through the stage, entering a bonus stage along the way to make absolutely sure that all of them have been completed, and defeats the same miniboss from Sonic and Tails' Act 1, but in a drastically different fight. He moves onto the second act, which is the same as the Sonic and Tails version, and once again defeats Heavy Magician at the end of the zone.
338	39	"Drinking a Cabinet"	17:28	Rick	John, C/J, Felice	12 October 2017 (2017-10-12)
Due to John skipping a level, Rick continues playing for Oil Ocean Zone. During the first act, he finds another giant ring and attempts the fifth special stage, but isn't successful. He also manages to die by being crushed while fighting the miniboss. On a second try, he beats it and moves on to act 2. Here, he enters the fifth special stage again, and completes it this time, getting another Chaos Emerald. During this, C/J and Felice get the group involved in another increasingly strange discussion. Rick reaches the end of the zone and defeats the boss.
339	40	"Never Even Seen a Japanese Person"	22:59	C/J	Rick, John, Felice	13 October 2017 (2017-10-13)
C/J enters Lava Reef Zone, playing through the first act while Rick tells an odd story about a basketball mascot. He enters a giant ring along the way, but fails the resulting special stage. A second attempt later on the level is more successful, and he obtains the sixth Chaos Emerald. He then defeats the miniboss and moves on to Act 2, which features several Knuckles-only paths. At the end of the stage, Knuckles heads into an area based on Hidden Palace Zone from Sonic 3 & Knuckles, and encounters a very different boss fight, in which Heavy King tries to steal the Master Emerald. C/J defeats the boss, and hands the control over to John for the next zone.
340	41	"Baby Andrew Knuckles"	12:28	John	Rick, C/J, Felice	14 October 2017 (2017-10-14)
John plays through Metallic Madness Zone. He doesn't run into many problems throughout the level, but is unable to find a giant ring to enter the final special stage in either of the two acts. Along the way, the group get extremely excited by the idea of using the shrinking lasers to create a tiny version of the second Knuckles, which they eventually accomplish. John makes his way to the end of the stage and defeats Eggman, leaving Rick to take on the final zone.
341	42	"Yankee Zulu"	27:05	Rick, John	C/J, Felice	15 October 2017 (2017-10-15)
Rick enters the first act of Titanic Monarch Zone. He soon finds a giant ring and enters and completes the final special stage, making it possible for him to turn into Super Knuckles. Using this, he rushes through the rest of the first act, defeats the boss, and moves on to Act 2. Here, he moves similarly quickly through the long level, although he runs out of rings at one point and has to collect another 50 to become Super Knuckles again. He makes quick work of the boss fight against Eggman at the end of the act, only to find himself transported to the true final boss, something only possible with Knuckles in "& Knuckles" mode. After a failed first attempt, he defeats it and is rewarded with the secret ending, revealing the entire thing was a story Knuckles was reading to a group of animals. Additionally, the group unlock the "Blue Spheres" mode as a reward for completing all the bonus stages; John and Rick each give it a try, but run into difficulties with the two new kinds of spheres and both fail their attempts.

Trivia

File:Sonic-mania-alt.png

Modified thumbnail used for the Sonic Mania & Knuckles episodes

• The channel's playthrough of Sonic Mania uses a modified version of the standard The Super Sonic Let's Play outro, featuring the more detailed Sonic Mania sprites of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, and using "Friends" by Hyper Potions (the game's main theme) instead of the usual "Sonic 3" by Rare Candy. The Sonic Mania & Knuckles further changes the formula, mashing up the intro theme with "Unknown from M.E.", Knuckles' theme from Sonic Adventure, and adding a second Knuckles to the outro. The finale takes this to its extreme; multiple words in the intro are replaced with "Knuckles", and the outro is also mashed up with "Unknown from M.E.".
  • The modified "Unknown from M.E." lyrics are as follows:

    Here I come, rougher than Knuckles

    The best of them, tougher than Knuckles

    You can call me Knuckles, unlike Knuckles I don't Knuckles

    I'd rather flex my Knuckles

  • The Sonic Mania & Knuckles finale outro includes a small edit to "Unknown from M.E." as well:

    I break 'em down whether they're Sonic or Tails