Sonic Mania

Sonic Mania

Developers
	Christian Whitehead
	Headcannon
	PagodaWest Games
Sonic Mania Plus (DLC and ver. 1.40 update)	Hyperkinetic Studios
Windows	Lab42
Publishers
	Sega
Engines
	Retro Engine
Release dates
Windows	August 29, 2017
Reception
Metacritic	84
OpenCritic	87
IGDB	85
Taxonomy
Monetization	One-time game purchase, DLC
Microtransactions	None
Modes	Singleplayer, Multiplayer
Pacing	Real-time
Perspectives	Scrolling, Side view
Controls	Direct control
Genres	Platform
Art styles	Cartoon, Pixel art
Series	Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic Mania is a singleplayer and multiplayer scrolling and side view platform game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series.

General information

Steam Community Discussions

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Retail		Includes the Mania Plus expansion.
Epic Games Store		Save file is stored online only. Use the decompilation port to play without the launcher.
Humble Store
Origin		Included with EA Play Pro. Use the decompilation port to play without Origin.
Steam		Use the decompilation port to play without Steam.

Denuvo Anti-Tamper DRM was removed on March 12, 2019.

Monetization

DLC and expansion packs

Name	Notes
Encore DLC (Sonic Mania Plus)	Includes two additional characters, an enhanced multiplayer mode, and a new set of levels - among other enhancements.

Essential improvements

Decompilation port

An open-source decompilation of Sonic Mania. Requires the Data.rsdk file from the PC or console versions as well as the corresponding Game.dll for the desired the RSDKv5(U) executable to run.

Allows the game to be displayed with nearest-neighbor and pixel-perfect scaling, features native x64 and x86 Windows support, a built-in mod loader, and alternative backend renderers besides the default DirectX 9 renderer.

Owners of the Encore DLC must compile the decompilation port from source to enable Sonic Mania Plus contents. Alternatively, a mod for the decompilation port is available that adds Steam functionality and DLC detection for owners of Sonic Mania and its Encore DLC, which requires Steam running in the background.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Epic Games Launcher	%LOCALAPPDATA%\Sega\SonicMania\Settings.ini
Steam	<path-to-game>\Settings.ini
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/584400/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Steam	<Steam-folder>\userdata\<user-id>\584400\remote\
Steam Play (Linux)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/584400/pfx/

Save file from the PC releases can be transferred into the decompilation port.

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Launcher		Save data is stored entirely online.
Origin
Steam Cloud

Video

Video settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution		Scaled from 424x240; see Widescreen resolution. See Custom aspect ratios for narrower aspect ratios (ex: 4:3, 16:10).
Multi-monitor
Ultra-widescreen		Pillarboxed to keep a 16:9 aspect ratio. See the related Cheat Engine table for a workaround.
4K Ultra HD		Scaled from 424x240; cutscenes scaled from 1024x512. See Widescreen resolution.
Field of view (FOV)
Windowed		Uses fixed window sizes (1x, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x) that cannot be stretched by the user.
Borderless fullscreen windowed		See Borderless fullscreen windowed.
Anisotropic filtering (AF)
Anti-aliasing (AA)
Vertical sync (Vsync)
60 FPS		Gameplay is locked to the frame rate and refresh rate. See Frame rate (FPS).
120+ FPS		Capped 60fps
High dynamic range display (HDR)		See the glossary page for potential alternatives.

Widescreen resolution

The game is made on a definition of 424x240. If you want to have a sharp and clean image, you need to multiply that definition by two each time in windowed mode. On a 1920x1080 monitor, x4 is the best choice, but since this multiplier is not available in the options, you have to set it manually.

Set windowed resolution manually

Go to <path-to-game>. Open Settings.ini, if it doesn't exist start the game at least once and it'll create the file. Under [Video] find winWidth and winHeight parameters. On a 1920x1080 monitor, x4 is: winWidth=1696 winHeight=960 Notes On a 4K monitor, the sharpest image would be x9 (3816x2160). You may also want to add shaderSupport=n to get it even more clean.[citation needed] You can use Window Borders Manager to add black bars around the game window.

If you have filter issue after adding the 4x support, you can delete Settings.ini, the x4 multiplier will still be usable in game with correct filter.

Does not work with Intel iGPUs, see Blurry interpolation between pixels, even when filter is set to none and a integer resolution is set.

Borderless fullscreen windowed

Edit game settings manually[citation needed]
Go to <path-to-game>. Open Settings.ini, if it doesn't exist start the game at least once and it'll create the file. Under [Video], change exclusiveFS=y to exclusiveFS=n. Save the file and run the game.

Frame rate (FPS)

The frame rate is partially locked to the refresh rate of the monitor, regardless of V-Sync. A refresh rate of 40 or below will cap the frame rate at 40 FPS, while a refresh rate of 60 or above will cap the frame rate at 60 FPS. A refresh rate between 40 and 60 will cap the frame rate to that refresh rate (so 50 Hz locks the game to 50 FPS).

The gameplay is synced to the frame rate, and targets 60 FPS to deliver a full speed (100%) experience. This means that 40 FPS (40 Hz or below) will run the game at 66.67% speed (a 1/3 slowdown) and 50 FPS (50 Hz) at 83% speed (a 1/6 slowdown).

Configure the monitor to run at 60 Hz or higher to play the game at full speed

Custom aspect ratios

Sonic Mania supports a maximum aspect ratio of 16:9, but it can be modified for thinner ratios (16:10, 4:3) without using black borders with Hor- screen change.

Some menus may get cut off, however the in-game camera will adjust appropriately.

Edit game settings
Go to <path-to-game>. Open Settings.ini, if it doesn't exist start the game at least once and it'll create the file. Under [Video] add a new line pixWidth=1. Edit winWidth and winHeight to match your resolution. Save file and run the game.

Input

Keyboard configuration screen. Only accessible when there are no controllers connected.

Controller layout for XInput compatible controllers.

Default Steam Input configuration for the DualShock 4

Default Steam Input configuration for the Steam Controller

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Make sure no controller is connected when accessing "Controls" in the Options Menu, otherwise the Steam controller configuration interface opens instead.
Mouse acceleration
Mouse sensitivity
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support
Controller remapping		Selecting "Controls" in the Options Menu with a compatible controller connected sends the user to Steam's controller configuration interface.
Controller sensitivity
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers		Enable PlayStation 4 controller support in Steam.
DualShock button prompts		Use PS4 HUD with Mania Mod Loader for PlayStation prompts; for PS5 button prompts, use PS5 HUD instead.
Light bar support
Connection modes	true

Generic/other controllers		See the glossary page for potential workarounds.

Additional information
Button prompts		Use PS4 HUD and for ps5 gamepad use [1] with Mania Mod Loader for PlayStation prompts. Button prompts for other types of controllers can be found here.
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback
Simultaneous controller+KB/M		Limited to one device/input scheme per player.

Audio

Volume settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Music and SFX each have their own sliders in the Options Menu.
Surround sound
Subtitles
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		Game pauses when focus is lost.
Royalty free audio

Language options before the launch of Sonic Mania Plus with the ver. 1.40 update.

Localizations

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese				Added with the launch of Sonic Mania Plus with the ver. 1.40 update.
Traditional Chinese				Added with the launch of Sonic Mania Plus with the ver. 1.40 update.
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean				Added with the launch of Sonic Mania Plus with the ver. 1.40 update.
Portuguese				Fan translation by David Pires, download
Brazilian Portuguese				Fan translation; download.
Spanish

Network

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play		4	Versus 2 players with base game; 4 players with Encore DLC.
LAN play
Online play

Issues fixed

Blurry screen and/or black and white cutscenes

Enable shader support
Go to <path-to-game> Open Settings.ini Change shaderSupport=n to shaderSupport=y Save and close the file.

Blurry interpolation between pixels, even when filter is set to none and a integer resolution is set

This can occur on Intel integrated graphics.

Use dedicated GPU instead

Enable integer scaling through your GPU's settings control panel, set the game's fullscreen resolution to it's native 424x240, and disable shader support

Enable integer scaling through your GPU's settings control panel. AMD, Nvidia, and Intel all added support for integer scaling on a variety of their GPUs in 2019. Go to <path-to-game> Open Settings.ini Set windowed=[value] to n Set the value of fsWidth=[value] to 424 and set the value of fsHeight=[value] to 240 Set shaderSupport=[value] to shaderSupport=n Save and close the file. Note This results in FMVs being displayed at a sub-native resolution.

Gameplay is slowed down

See Frame rate (FPS)

Gamepad issues

"The game favors USB HID for gamepad input, but will fallback to XInput in some situations. Generally this would not be that bad, but it is not very smart about which USB HID input device it chooses. If you have input remapping software present, disable it... do everything you can to avoid your controller showing up in multiple different input APIs. A DualShock 4 controller natively supports USB HID, you do not need the Steam overlay or DS4Windows further confusing this poor little game."

Fix gamepad issues

Disable any input remapping software that might be present (x360ce, Steam's Controller support in Big Picture Mode, etc.) Download the Sonic Mania Offline K Enabler Pre-Compiled Binaries (usually called SMOKE_00x.7z) archive. Go to <path-to-game>. Extract the archive to the installation folder. Add these lines to d3d9.ini. [Input.Gamepad] DisablePS4HID=true EnableNativePS4=true [Input.XInput] Rehook=true PlaceholderMask=1

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	9.0c

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X)			Does not include Plus Mode, for no apparent reason.

Mania Mod Loader

Original topic

Loader that allows the use of fan-made mods.

RSDK Mod Loader

A mod loader for the decompilation ports of Sonic CD, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, and Sonic Mania.

Developer menu

Enable developer menu
Go to the installation folder. Open Settings.ini. Under [Game] add devMenu=y. Start the game and press Esc anywhere to access the developer menu. Notes Load a save slot before accessing the developer menu if you want progress to be saved on that slot.

Debug mode

Access debug mode

Enable the Developer menu. Start the game and press Esc anywhere to access the developer menu. Go to Stage Select -> Presentation -> Level Select and select a level and wait for it to load. Click on Q to toggle the debug mode. The sprite of the player will turn into a golden ring while enabled. Notes Keybindings: Q = Toggle debug mode A = Cycle through objects S = Cycle through types of boxes (only when the box object is selected) W = Spawn an instance of the object

RSDK reverse stuff + Sonic Mania Animation Editor

The game archives reside inside an encrypted file called Data.rsdk, but with this tool it is possible to extract the games sprites, images etc.

Trinitron CRT shader

A custom CRT screen shader more closely matching the old Trinitron CRTs.

Use custom ReShade config
Download the Sonic Mania Offline K Enabler Pre-Compiled Binaries (usually called SMOKE_00x.7z) and the Improved CRT Effect archive. Go to <path-to-game>. Extract both archives to the installation folder. Launch the game. The custom CRT shader will automatically be used. Turn off the game's built-in screen shader effect.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum
Operating system (OS)	7, 8.1, 10
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz
System memory (RAM)	2 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	400 MB
Video card (GPU)	256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible
Sound (audio device)	DirectX 9.0c compatible

The game launches on Windows Vista too, but this version is not officially supported.