Sonic Superstars: Return to Classic Side-Scrolling Roots with New Transformative Powers and a Tropical North Star Islands World

Sonic Superstars was surprisingly kept under wraps until the Summer Game Fest Live show, and since Sonic Frontiers (which means “the 3D evolution of the series”) is still new and will get quite a bit of extra content, it was both natural and exciting to see that the new game is a return to the series’ side-scrolling origins, which fans clearly wanted after Sonic Mania.

I played about half an hour of the game on a PS5, and while the explosion of saturated colors and sounds that you saw in the trailer was of course the first thing that caught everyone’s attention at the SEGA booth at SGF Play Days, it was for me immediately afterwards that the creator Naoto Ōshima’s design was back, which really made this work as a classic Sonic experience from the get-go.

The four main characters (I expect more to be unlocked, both playable and villains, even the villain Fang, who I honestly didn’t remember from the Game Gear era) have the right proportions, expressions and animations. You’ll want to hug rounded Sonic, Tails is so cute that the modern fur effect doesn’t look bad on him, Knuckles is as tall but likeable as ever, and classic Amy Rose in her green dress and orange-yellow skirt could be mine Favorite Sonic character ever. Of course, they have some unique abilities as slight differences in gameplay, with Tails being able to chop around, Knuckles being able to hover Superman-style, and Amy being able to double jump while shielded.

In a soon-to-be-published interview, producer Takashi Iizuka recounted with great pleasure how Oshima-san was involved from the very beginning, from the earliest design stages to the creation of the entire game, while discussing with him how to approach a new side-scrolling game .

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But a modern game always needs some tweaks to the mechanics, and even though all the classic features are there, and even though it will be playable co-op by up to four players (local couch co-op only, and you won’t be able to repeat characters, so you opting for strategic synergies), it’s not the most important new trick up the game’s sleeve. Namely, there are Emerald Powers, a kind of transformation (regardless of the figure) that allows you to go through the levels or face the enemies in new ways. There’s a selection wheel for them, and in my case I could use Liquid Tales to climb a waterfall Zora Armor Link style, and Multiple Sonics to swipe across the screen.

The new world we will play in is the North Star Islands. Before you try too hard to link, I can confirm from Iizuka-san that this has nothing to do with Sonic Frontier’s story, universe, or timeline. I got to play a few acts in two zones: Bridge Island and Speed ​​Jungle, and both have some unique elements in addition to the typical Sonic ramps, loops, falling platforms and bumpers, not to mention the occasional switch to the background and the different rewarding paths. These new elements are primarily found in the tropical stages, where you can hook onto ropes and vines that shoot you upwards to get higher. The scattered mini-bonus levels where you have to capture the Chaos Emerald, however, were what I enjoyed the most, like little teleport breaks, with both sidescrolling and now even simple 3D challenges where you have to attack in time to win a medal.

After tackling a mech shark and a new version of the classic Robotnik – Eggman as bosses, my session was over and I left the PS5 controller to speak with the producer. The game is also coming to Nintendo Switch, Xbox and PC this fall, and considering how good it looks, feels and works, it’s already one of my most anticipated platform games of 2023.