sonic-mania
I think that I have a problem within my game.
I have the PC version which I download directly from Steam.
I've already beaten the game once, and collected 3 emeralds, and 17 medals.
I can't see "Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine" in the Extras menu. I also can't see any button to activate any of the prior Sonic abilities which I should have by now.
I don't know if it's a bug or that I have hadn't done something yet that I should have
Apparently, this pickup is called a Combine Ring, which has only been in one other Sonic game (Knuckles Chaotix).
The powerup causes your rings to group themselves into larger rings when you drop them, making them easier to pick up.
In Sonic Mania, the effect of the Combine Ring is slightly different compared to the effect in Knuckles' Chaotix. Instead of an icon appearing at the bottom, when a character is holding a Combine Ring the Ring counter will turn blue and the Combine Ring icon will appear next to the total. Also, instead of one large Ring being dropped upon taking damage, a few large Rings are dropped, each returning a small portion of the original Ring count when re-obtained.
I must have gotten more of these than I thought, because I assumed the giant rings were just a new feature since it seemed to happen a lot of the times I dropped my rings in large quantities...
Completing a Blue Sphere bonus stage earns you silver and gold medals which unlock Extras and Secrets. There are 32 medals to collect in total to unlock every Extra and Secret.
Medals are carried over between playthroughs, meaning you can play though the game multiple times on different save files to get them all.
*Actual number of medals required may be less.
To open the Secrets Menu, highlight the ‘No Save’ section in the file select in Mania Mode. The will now have a new button labeled 'Secrets'. (△ on PS4; X on Switch; Y on Xbox). Note that the Secrets Menu can only be used in 'No Save' mode.
The Extras Menu can be found at the bottom of the Main Menu below "Competition" and "Options". You can track your collected medals here.
Best Answer
Try checking the "Secrets" menu by hovering over "No Save" in Mania Mode.
Based on the number of medals you've unlocked (17), I don't think you've unlocked any content in the Extras menu yet. Nintendo Life claims you need at least 20 medals to unlock Mean Bean Machine.
To clarify, Sonic Mania has two different menus for unlockable content: Extras and Secrets
Secrets Menu
Extras Menu
For more information, see Is there a reward for beating the Blue Sphere bonus stages?