diff --git a/source/common/menu/menu.cpp b/source/common/menu/menu.cpp
index 0eb886171..1c08e4d6d 100644
--- a/source/common/menu/menu.cpp
+++ b/source/common/menu/menu.cpp
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ static bool		MenuEnabled = true;
 DMenu			*CurrentMenu;
 int				MenuTime;
 DObject*		menuDelegate;
+static MenuTransition transition;
 
 
 extern PClass *DefaultListMenuClass;
@@ -193,6 +194,8 @@ void M_MarkMenus()
 	}
 	GC::Mark(CurrentMenu);
 	GC::Mark(menuDelegate);
+	GC::Mark(transition.previous);
+	GC::Mark(transition.current);
 }
 
 
@@ -202,8 +205,6 @@ void M_MarkMenus()
 //
 //============================================================================
 
-static MenuTransition transition;
-
 bool MenuTransition::StartTransition(DMenu* from, DMenu* to, MenuTransitionType animtype)
 {
 	if (!from->canAnimate() || !to->canAnimate() || animtype == MA_None)
@@ -215,10 +216,11 @@ bool MenuTransition::StartTransition(DMenu* from, DMenu* to, MenuTransitionType
 		start = I_GetTimeNS() * (120. / 1'000'000'000.);
 		length = 30;
 		dir = animtype == MA_Advance ? 1 : -1;
+		destroyprev = animtype == MA_Return;
 		previous = from;
 		current = to;
-		if (from) GC::AddSoftRoot(from);
-		if (to) GC::AddSoftRoot(to);
+		if (from) GC::WriteBarrier(from);
+		if (to) GC::WriteBarrier(to);
 		return true;
 	}
 }
@@ -241,8 +243,9 @@ bool MenuTransition::Draw()
 		current->CallDrawer();
 		return true;
 	}
-	if (previous) GC::DelSoftRoot(previous);
-	if (current) GC::DelSoftRoot(current);
+	if (destroyprev && previous) previous->Destroy();
+	previous = nullptr;
+	current = nullptr;
 	return false;
 }
 
@@ -352,27 +355,24 @@ void DMenu::Close ()
 	assert(CurrentMenu == this);
 	CurrentMenu = mParentMenu;
 
-	if (false)// todo: && mParentMenu && transition.StartTransition(this, mParentMenu, MA_Return))
+	if (CurrentMenu != nullptr)
 	{
-		return;
+		GC::WriteBarrier(CurrentMenu);
+		IFVIRTUALPTR(CurrentMenu, DMenu, OnReturn)
+		{
+			VMValue params[] = { CurrentMenu };
+			VMCall(func, params, 1, nullptr, 0);
+		}
+		if (transition.StartTransition(this, CurrentMenu, MA_Return))
+		{
+			return;
+		}
 	}
-	else
-	{
-		Destroy();
-		if (CurrentMenu != nullptr)
-		{
-			GC::WriteBarrier(CurrentMenu);
-			IFVIRTUALPTR(CurrentMenu, DMenu, OnReturn)
-			{
-				VMValue params[] = { CurrentMenu };
-				VMCall(func, params, 1, nullptr, 0);
-			}
 
-		}
-		else
-		{
-			M_ClearMenus();
-		}
+	Destroy();
+	if (CurrentMenu == nullptr)
+	{
+		M_ClearMenus();
 	}
 }
 
@@ -474,7 +474,7 @@ void M_ActivateMenu(DMenu *menu)
 			CurrentMenu->mMouseCapture = false;
 			I_ReleaseMouseCapture();
 		}
-		//transition.StartTransition(CurrentMenu, menu, MA_Advance);
+		transition.StartTransition(CurrentMenu, menu, MA_Advance);
 	}
 	CurrentMenu = menu;
 	GC::WriteBarrier(CurrentMenu);
@@ -826,10 +826,25 @@ void M_Drawer (void)
 		{
 			if (sysCallbacks.MenuDim) sysCallbacks.MenuDim();
 		}
-		CurrentMenu->CallDrawer();
+		bool going = false;
+		if (transition.previous)
+		{
+			going = transition.Draw();
+			if (!going)
+			{
+				if (transition.dir == -1) delete transition.previous;
+				transition.previous = nullptr;
+				transition.current = nullptr;
+			}
+		}
+		if (!going)
+		{
+			CurrentMenu->CallDrawer();
+		}
 	}
 }
 
+
 //=============================================================================
 //
 //
@@ -838,6 +853,9 @@ void M_Drawer (void)
 
 void M_ClearMenus()
 {
+	transition.previous = transition.current = nullptr;
+	transition.dir = 0;
+
 	while (CurrentMenu != nullptr)
 	{
 		DMenu* parent = CurrentMenu->mParentMenu;
diff --git a/source/common/menu/menu.h b/source/common/menu/menu.h
index 3bbb7b25e..7b236ee48 100644
--- a/source/common/menu/menu.h
+++ b/source/common/menu/menu.h
@@ -89,6 +89,8 @@ public:
 	EColorRange mFontColor2;
 	bool mCenter;
 	bool mFromEngine;
+	bool mAnimated;
+	bool mAnimatedTransition;
 	int mVirtWidth;
 	int mVirtHeight;
 
@@ -181,7 +183,8 @@ struct MenuTransition
 
 	double start;
 	int32_t length;
-	int32_t dir;
+	int8_t dir;
+	bool destroyprev;
 
 	bool StartTransition(DMenu* from, DMenu* to, MenuTransitionType animtype);
 	bool Draw();
diff --git a/source/common/menu/menudef.cpp b/source/common/menu/menudef.cpp
index bf9f52b9e..a879793ad 100644
--- a/source/common/menu/menudef.cpp
+++ b/source/common/menu/menudef.cpp
@@ -341,6 +341,10 @@ static void ParseListMenuBody(FScanner &sc, DListMenuDescriptor *desc)
 		{
 			desc->mCenter = true;
 		}
+		else if (sc.Compare("animatedtransition"))
+		{
+			desc->mAnimatedTransition = true;
+		}
 		else if (sc.Compare("MouseWindow"))
 		{
 			sc.MustGetNumber();
diff --git a/wadsrc/static/menudef.txt b/wadsrc/static/menudef.txt
index 74b481141..ed9c4a4fa 100644
--- a/wadsrc/static/menudef.txt
+++ b/wadsrc/static/menudef.txt
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ LISTMENU "MainMenu"
 	{
 		position 160, 55
 		Linespacing 20
-		//animatedtransition
+		animatedtransition
 		DukeLogo
 		DukeTextItem "$MNU_NEWGAME", "n", "EpisodeMenu"
 		//DukeTextItem "$MNU_NEWGAME", "m", "MultiMenu" // In EDuke this replaces "New Game" when in networking mode. Kept here as a reminder.
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ LISTMENU "IngameMenu"
 	{
 		position 160, 55
 		linespacing 18
-		//animatedtransition
+		animatedtransition
 		DukeLogo
 		DukeTextItem "$MNU_NEWGAME", "n", "EpisodeMenu"
 		DukeTextItem "$MNU_SAVEGAME", "s", "SaveGameMenu"
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ LISTMENU "EpisodeMenu"
 		position 160, 48
 		Linespacing 20
 		captionItem "$MNU_SELECTEPISODE"
-		//animatedtransition
+		animatedtransition
 	}
 	ifgame(blood)
 	{
@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@ LISTMENU "SkillMenu"
 		position 160, 48
 		Linespacing 20
 		captionItem "$MNU_SELECTSKILL"
-		//animatedtransition
+		animatedtransition
 	}
 	ifgame(blood)
 	{