29 August 2023 , 08:00
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Sonic Superstars is Sega's latest attempt to to capture the classic Sonic the Hedgehog formula of the Mega Drive years, while simultaneously moving away from the past.
Sega has tried to return to the 2D Sonic the Hedgehog golden years a few times since Nintendo went back to basics with New Super Mario Bros. The first attempt – Sonic the Hedgehog 4 – went way too far to the point where the only way it felt like the Mega Drive was that it was 2D. The next attempt – Sonic Mania – basically was a Mega Drive game with how stringently it adhered to the classic Sonic style (with a large amount of levels being reworked from that original trilogy).
Now here we are at Sonic Superstars which aims to strike it right down the middle, adapting the original trilogy while moving on from it (being the first Sonic game in a hot minute to not have a version of Green Hill Zone in it). It feels more akin to Sega's attempt at New Super Mario Bros rather than Sonic Mania – which is furthered by the games biggest addition: four-player co-op (which I sadly didn't have the chance to check out during my demo).
I had access to all four playable characters (Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy), four stages, and four of the brand new Emerald Powers. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles feel exactly like they did in the Mega Drive trilogy, with Amy being brand new (outside of the recent Sonic Origins Plus DLC).
Emerald Powers are the big new feature for those playing solo. Typically collecting Chaos Emeralds in Sonic games is all in service of going Super Sonic when you collect them all, but with the Emerald Powers, they actually have a use as you go along. The four we had access to were Avatar – which generates clones of your character to fill the screen and attack enemies, Bullet – which shoots you in any direction as a fireball, Water – which turns you into water and climb up waterfalls, and finally Vision – which shows items that are not usually able to see.
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Just the Same but Brand New
One point the team at Sega made before our demo was that this is all brand new levels. Like I mentioned before, Sonic Games as of late have loved to pull Green Hill Zone and a number of levels from the original trilogy, whereas Superstars is going to be made entirely of new levels. And yes, these are new levels, but they also feel familiar enough. Bridge Island, is a Sonic first level, you know exactly what to be in for if you've played Green Hill, Emerald Hill, or Palmtree Panic. While Pinball Panic is the classic Casino/Circus archetype.
This is the overall feeling I have towards Sonic Superstars, the series is finally trying to escape the long-cast shadow of the Mega Drive entries with new levels and mechanics, while not going too far in the other direction and losing what made them classics in the first place like Sonic 4 did. From what I played this could be the series' New Super Mario Bros moment, which is good since it will be going head-to-head with Super Mario Bros Wonder this October.