Ever since it was announced that Sonic Mania - Sega love letter to the blue blur's 16-bit classics - would have remixed versions of classic levels, gamers have wondered just exactly how these "remixed" levels would play out. Well, thanks to a sneak peek at a video of a quick playthrough Sega provided, we now have a better look at how the Green Hill Zone will receive some twists, particularly in Act 2, and it looks quite impressive indeed.

Aside from some new visual touches playing upon the tropical themes, like having larger totem poles in the background, details from later games have been added, such as the corkscrew loops from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and an emphasis on the Flame Shield from Sonic the Hedgehog 3. The latter in particular is notable, because it allows Sonic to burn away wooden bridges to reach new areas with hidden items. Ziplines are also frequent as a method of zipping around, sending Sonic crashing into breakable terrain. There also appeared to be a hint of a hidden special stage at one point, although the player in the video didn't go for it.

The video stopped at a point right before the boss of stage, which Sega didn't want to reveal right now, for fear of spoiling the surprise. But it is one of a series of new bosses called the Hard-Boiled Heavies, robots equipped with certain skills designed to take out Sonic. They did provide a look at the boss for the game's Studiopolis level, known as Heavy Gunner, armed with a rocket launcher used to discourage "speeding." You can get a look at him in the screenshots below, along with some quick pics of the new Green Hill Zone.

If you want to see this level in action, Sonic Mania will we livestreamed at PAX East today at 2:45 PM at the Twitch booth and 5:00 PM at the EVGA booth, and again on Sunday, March 12 at 10:30 AM at the XSplit booth (all times in EST). You can catch all of the action on the official Sonic the Hedgehog Twitch channel, and naturally, we will keep you up to date on any new information surrounding Sega's retro classic, so stay tuned.

[UPDATE] Check out the gameplay with commentary below the screenshots

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