Sonic Superstars is a much stranger game than it may look on the surface. On the surface, it looks like yet another nostalgia throwback to the classic 2D Sonic games, including the characters in their original classic forms along with visuals and level designs that’s meant to replicate the good old days of the SEGA Genesis. However, it would be able to succeed in ways that Sonic Mania did and not suffer the way that both episodes of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 did. There’s also the assumption that it’s trying to stand out as it’s own unique 2D adventure in the ways that the Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush series did. While there are certainly different bits and pieces here of about every 2D Sonic game I just mentioned, I wouldn’t call Sonic Superstars as a direct replication of any of those games. It’s not the superbly well-executed nostalgic remix that is Sonic Mania, the poor man’s versions of the classic games the way that Sonic 4 was, nor even standing on it’s own two firm feet the way that Advance and Rush did. Sonic Superstars is about the most different feeling Sonic game that I’ve played in quite some time, and I mean that in both the best and worst ways possible.
Sonic Superstars marks the return of the co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog himself in Naoto Ohshima, his first contribution to the series since the original Sonic Adventure. With Sonic Mania being a success in the eyes of fans and critics, Takashi Iizuka felt that was proof that fans still had interest of Sonic games in this “classic” style and was compelled to make a new 2D game in similar veins. He didn’t want to make a sequel to Mania because he felt casual audiences would dismiss it as being a rehash, looking to abandon the pixel hard style of that game and create a more original 2D game that would appeal to a broader audience. Sonic Team and Evening Star, the studio behind Mania, worked together on a new game until the two sides separated when Evening Star felt more compelled to work on another game titled, Penny’s Big Breakaway, which is set to come out some time next year.
During the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, Iizuka and Ohshima had a drinking party over Zoom, where the latter expressed interest in a brand new 2D Sonic game and the pair began to discuss a collaboration. The two agreed and went to work on a new Sonic game as soon as they could, with ideas from Evening Star included with the project, which is why the received a special thanks mention at the end of the game’s credits. Two and a half years of development later, we now have Sonic Superstars, the game that is basically the follow-up to Sonic Mania even if it technically isn’t. Is this able to be the enjoyable triumph that the marketing let it to be or is it best to just put Classic Sonic to sleep already?
Plot:
Yeah…there’s not much to say here. Like most 2D classic Sonic games, the plot is relatively straight forward and basically non-existent but I’ll explain it briefly anyway.
We see the main core group of the series with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy along with a brand new character named Trip going on an adventure together through the mystical Northstar islands. As usual, Dr. Eggman is up to no good but he has new associates this time around with the return of forgotten fan favorite Fang and a mysterious new enemy that is responsible for converting the island’s giant animals into Badniks. It’s up to Sonic and the gang to find all seven Chaos Emeralds, stop the bad guys of old and new, and save the day once again!
As I just said, there’s not much to the story other than being a simple heroes vs villains kind of story in the most straightforward way imaginable. There is more effort put into cutscenes than other classic 2D Sonic games with parts that are strictly animated to form their own scenes despite no voice work included. And as usual, there is also the traditional very first and very last cutscenes of every story being animated in it’s own cartoon-like form. That in of itself is pretty neat but it doesn’t stop the story from being something that just exists to make things happen and not much else. However, that’s all well and fine here because, honestly, who really plays a classic Sonic game for the story?
Gameplay:
Sonic Superstars is a side-scrolling 2.5D platformer that is meant to be played similar to the Sonic Games released on the Sega Genesis in the 90s. However, this time around, there are three different story modes that are included. You have the main story mode which includes the main four characters of the series with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, you have a story mode involving the new character named Trip the Sungazer, and there’s also one last story mode where you face off against the final boss of the game. You’re able to unlock Trip’s story after completing the main one and the last story mode is available after both story modes are complete.
Similar to prior 2D Sonic games, each character is meant to play similarly to Sonic but with their own unique ability attached to it. Sonic can spin dash after he jumps, Tails can fly, Knuckles can glide and climb on walls, Amy can attack enemies with her hammer and a double jump, and Trip has a move set that’s a combination of Amy’s double jump and Knuckles’ climbing. There’s no level gimmicks that are attached to any of these characters such as mech shooting or treasure hunting, just getting through each act of each zone while also trying to collect the Chaos Emeralds asap.
There are a total of 12 zones and 26 levels that take place on the North Star Island. The number of acts in each zone varies between one to three. Each one contains traditional Sonic elements such as springs, loops, rings, and shield power-ups. Each zone had some unique features of it’s own such as the jungle with vines which you can grind on and a futuristic zone where they transform into a voxel creature. There’s also certain acts that strictly exclusive to a specific character. Each acts ends with a boss that the player must defeat while dodging the attacks from the enemy. And of course, between levels, there’s a 2D hub world where the player can select a zone and change or customize their character.
From the sound of that, Sonic Superstars does sound like your typical 2D Sonic game. You got all the characters in their “classic” forms, it involves all the 2D action of those games with similar elements and power-ups thrown in there, and it’s art style and animation just screams of a more modern update on the very first few Sonic adventures. However, there’s also the new features that are included that make Superstars more than your grandpa’s Sonic.
First, there’s the features that were removed from previous 2D Sonic games. There are no lives included in this game nor is there any game over featured here. The only purpose of collecting rings is basically just to keep yourself alive and not have to go back to a specific checkpoint. It’s quite odd for a game that mostly gets harder the more it goes on doesn’t bother to give itself any lives to increase the tension from the players or having rings serve a purpose other than to avoid dying.
There’s the special stages, which features two different ones to speak off. With the first, you have to access your character through giant rings hidden in each act. Once you find it, you have to swing your character from bubbles in a 3D environment to obtain one of the seven Chaos Emeralds. With the second, which is accessed by passing check checking points, the player navigates through a rotating maze, similar to the special stages in Sonic 1, to collect medals which you can use for the shop to buy items or customize your characters.
Each emerald grants the player a power-up ability such as being able to swing up waterfalls, create clones of your chosen character, and slowing down time for at least 20 to 30 seconds. The seventh one in particular provides a character-specific ability. Of course, collecting all seven chaos emeralds allows the player to transform into the super form of their character, granting them speed and invincibility at the cost or ring depletion. Trip, in particular, gain a super form that transforms here into a freaking DRAGON! I don’t know how or why she does but it’s pretty awesome! Getting these chaos emeralds along with completing both the main story and Trip’s is required to unlock the final boss of the game.
Lastly, the campaign supports local multiplayer that can go up to four players max that can join or leave at any time. It also includes a player vs player component that can be played locally or online with support of cross-platforming play. With this, players can create robots to partake in competitions that includes the likes of races, battles, collection competitions, and last man standing (No, not the show starting Buzz Lightyear!). The medals you collected throughout the game can be used to purchase parts for these customizing robots. I’ll admit I haven’t played much of it myself but I guess it’s there for anyone that is interested.
When describing the gameplay of Sonic Superstars as a whole, it can be seen as very fun along with being very frustrating. The fun parts comes from most of the main levels themselves while being able to play as any one of your favorite characters that are present here. Most of them control rather well with their own unique ability that don’t feel as clunky to handle as say The Final Horizon DLC in Frontiers. While I did mostly play as Sonic this time around, I had no problem with switching to any one of the characters whenever I wanted to. Flying with Tails helped get to higher reaches I couldn’t quite get to before, gliding and climbing walls with Knuckles was able to go certain pathways I wasn’t able to before, and Amy’s hammer and double jump was able to save my butt on multiple occasions from dying in ways that I couldn’t with Sonic. This is the kind of gameplay style I would like to see with other characters going forward, have them all play similarly to Sonic but with their own unique abilities that make the experience fresher and even sometimes better.
I like how each level is able to provide it’s own unique idea or element to it that feel like their own thing than just modernizing classic Sonic levels. There’s a bit of those every now and then, but for the most part, Superstars does aim to provide fresh level designs to the players for a new 2D Sonic game to release in 2023. My particular favorites one include Sky Temple, Frozen Base, and Cyber Station. They not only look great but their design is up there with among the very best of the Advance and Rush series. There are times where the levels get too wrapped up in their own gimmicks but for the most part, I definitely admired the creativity of the better levels and I found myself enjoying different way to complete certain levels. Those feel like the kind of levels I want from a new 2D Sonic game.
I also quite like the addition of Trip and the way she plays. Although her story is infinitely much harder than that of the main campaign (ESPECIALLY with the bosses which we will get to later), the character herself stands out quite well with the rest of the cast. She’s not only absolutely adorable but she is very smooth to control and is probably the main new feature that stands out quite well in the game. As I mention, the two move sets she has involving Amy’s double jump and Knuckles’ climbing ability fit very well with the character and those moves control even better with her than it does with Amy or Knuckles. And as I said before, SHE CAN TURN INTO A DRAGON IN HER SUPER FORM! If that’s not the coolest thing ever, than I don’t know what is. It’s as broken and OP as you might think but I can’t help but love it.
Unfortunately, the frustrating parts of the gameplay of Superstars can pretty much be contributed to everything else. As I mentioned, I don’t understand the features that were taking out such as lives, game overs, a timed clock, or even not having a ranking system. It makes the game much less rewarding to complete and doesn’t provide the necessary stakes needed to make sure you complete each level while dying as less as possible. Even when the game gets more and more challenging, you don’t feel pressured to complete as fast or clean as possible because you know you are giving all the time and opportunities in the world to complete it. Unless you are a trophies whore or love to speed run through levels and published videos of those on YouTube, you won’t feel as persuaded to finish each level the way you do in games prior.
You also have the special stages which aren’t necessarily bad but they are quite confusing with the way they are structured. For example, the main special stages where you go through them to collect the Chaos Emeralds can also be special stages used to collect more medals depending on which wormhole you find and go through. I don’t know why having those special stages with the medals where also included with the ones with finding the chaos emeralds when there already existed special stages that are played to collect more medals. I also don’t understand why they felt the need to remake the special stages from Sonic 1 to collect the medals when those initially stages for collecting chaos emeralds. I think the two different special stages from Sonic Mania was the way to go, you have the special stages inspired from CD to gain the chao emeralds and the special stages inspired by 3 & Knuckles to gain special medals to unlock other things. It’s baffling how Mania was able to get that aspect so right where as Superstars gets it so wrong.
There is also the absolute WORST element of the game, the boss fights. Without exaggeration, these might just be the worst boss fights in any Sonic game. They are all either way too hard, way too tedious, and way too long to beat. Most of it consists of staying around in scripted sections and waiting for the enemies to open it’s weak spots without getting caught in a surprise attack. Even if you are in your super form, these bosses will really test your patience, especially the final ones involving each story. Trip’s final boss in particular is DREADFUL, taking the difficulty spikes and tediousness from each prior boss fight and multiplying it 10 fold to make for an INCREDIBLY frustration and overlong boss fight that had no business being this hard! The final boss of the last story isn’t as bad once you know what you are doing but the boss fights overall just stink and are easily the worst part of the game.
When Superstars is able to exceed at doing it’s own thing while feeling like a logical progression of the characters and level designs of prior Sonic games, it’s super fun, which is thankfully most of the game. When it drops the ball in those aspects, then it’s super frustrating, which mostly consists of the removed elements, special stages, and ESPECIALLY the boss fights. Despite how enjoyable the game can be, it lacks the cohesions and stellar execution of those ideas that Sonic Mania was able to provide greatly, even if it’s technically a more “original” game.
Graphics:
Graphically, this game looks really good. The bright colors and backgrounds blend together incredibly well with the cartoon style that the game provides. It’s looks like the character models and aesthetics that Sonic Origins provided with it’s menu screens but put into game form. I don’t know if that was done intentionally in Origins to give a sneak preview of what was to come for Superstars but regardless, it works quite well.
There were times at the beginning where the visuals felt too distracting and blended too well with the level design that I lost track of my character for a second or two but other than that, this is quite a gorgeous game to look at. The framerate moved rather smooth for me on the PlayStation 5 and I definitely wouldn’t be oppose to see this art style return in future 2D games.
Sound:
Surprisingly, the soundtrack for this game is rather underwhelming. Despite being composed by Jun Senoue, who has done plenty of great Sonic toons in the past, the music for Superstars is quite lackluster and not very memorable. I can’t really think of any tracks that stuck with me or ones that I felt compelled to listen to on my own time. Much like with Sonic 4, it’s like they were trying to do their own spins of the classic music while also making tracks that stand on their own but fail miserably on both accounts. Which is a shame because the music always tends to be a consistent good quality of Sonic games but here, it misses the mark.
Also, I know that voice work isn’t really an element that’s required for classic 2D Sonic games but it’s a shame there is no voice work to speak off here involving some of the background characters or enemies. Maybe it’s because I’ve also been playing through Super Mario Wonder, which found plenty of room for voice work involving the main cast of characters and folks that are just in the background, but I found that could really add to the gameplay and make the game stand out as it’s own thing. It’s not necessarily a knock against the game but it still feels like voice work should be a feature for about every main 2D or 3D Sonic game.
Bonus Content:
If you are someone that pre-ordered Sonic Superstars, purchased the digital deluxe edition, or were at least signed up for a Sega newsletter prior to January 31st, 2024, you were able to gain some extra items with your purchase. For those that signed up for a Sega newsletter, you are rewarded with a DLC code that unlocks Amy’s modern outfit first seen in Sonic Adventure and has been a main feature of the character since. For those that pre-ordered the game, they received a reversible cover, an acrylic display stand, and a Lego-themed Eggman Skin. For the Digital Deluxe edition, the DLC included additional Lego skins, a rabbit skin, robot parts for the multiplayer mode, an artbook, a soundtrack, and menu wallpapers. For everyone, a Lego Sonic Skin is available as free DLC.
Speaking as someone that pre-ordered Sonic Superstars and own the digital deluxe edition, these new features are nice but they honestly feel like items that were purposely taking out of the main game and only added in as bonus features for DLC just to squeeze a few extra bucks from the player. If it wasn’t for the fact that I used the money I gained from this blog to buy this game, I would have felt quite ripped off. If you are someone that really wants the bonus features I just mentioned, you are better off just waiting a few months from now until there is a price drop on the game that will likely included all the features I just mentioned for free.
Speaking of which, this game in no way, shape, or form deserves to be priced at a full 60 dollars, 70 if you are counting the digital deluxe edition. If anything, this should have been 40 to 50 dollars at most, especially after Sonic Mania had a similar price despite having more content and replay value than this game and is just better overall. If there is any upcoming game that you should wait for the typical Black Friday sale and price drop if you are interested in it, it’s this game.
Conclusion:
Sonic Superstars is a much more complicated game than I was expecting. Despite promising itself to be another classic 2D Sonic adventure that evokes the earlier days of Sonic, there are new gameplay styles and features that are included here to try to make the game stand out more as it’s own thing without feeling like a remake or remix. However, where as other standalone 2D features such as Advance and Rush were able to enhance their values with their own features, Superstars gets quite muddled down in them. It’s like it’s trying to be it’s own thing but at the same time, not go too far from the traditional Sonic roots.
There is still plenty of enjoyment to be had here. Most of the levels are fun and creative, getting to play as multiple characters in any way you want is awesome, and Trip is a neat new addition to a cast with a super dragon mode that is so broken that I can’t help but love it. However, the boss fights are needlessly cruel, tedious, and overlong, most of the new features are rather half-baked, and it doesn’t do enough to justify it’s 60 dollar price tag.
I can admire the risks it takes and it’s desire to be more than just being another back-to-basics 2D Sonic game but much like with last year’s Sonic Frontiers, while the game flirts with greatness on multiple occasions, it never quite gets there fully due to it’s bizarre choices and designs. Sure, you can definitely make a strong argument of this being a more “original” game than say Sonic Mania, but Mania was still able to thrive at being what it was because it knew exactly how to strike the right balance between old and new along with adding features of it’s own to the classic Sonic gameplay that not only felt appropriate but made the game stand out as it’s own thing. While Superstars tries to take that a step further, it lacks with the new features it adds that serves more to hinder the experience rather than enhance it.
If the trailers for Sonic Superstars looked good to you and you like it when Sonic games are at their most challenging, then I would say give this a shot once it comes out at a reasonable price. For those that are not on board the Classic Sonic train or just want to get off of it, I’m not sure this will win you over. I wouldn’t be opposed to seeing this style returning for future games because if done well, this could be the start of the next series of great standalone 2D Sonic games alongside the Advance and Rush series (Advance 2 can suck it tho).
I’m not gonna say that Superstars is an absolute failure overall nor the infamous “step in the right direction” that folks have claimed it to be because it’s not either one of those. It’s just a game that sets itself off to be a new 2D Sonic game in ways that no other 2D Sonic game has up to this point. While it’s an enjoyable experience overall, it’s not quite as super as the title of the game would suggest.
Congrats to The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, you are officially the best Sonic game of 2023!
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