Sonic Superstars: A New 2D Sonic Game (Fall 2023)

Why… why does the reversible cover not have the Switch branding? This is the most idiotic thing. Sega constantly does this with their games. It’s honestly so annoying.

 

Wow, a whole 5 days early. Can't say I didn't know what I was getting into clicking that spoiler thread, but kinda regret it. Nothing game-changing posted so far, thankfully, but I'm amazed at how little self-restraint I have to just not click the shiny yellow text that says "SPOILERS" in all caps.

This whole pre-order stuff still seems so goofy, I really hope the toon skins end up being paid DLC as well... I've also got kind of a skin wishlist at this point, but seems like they've been pretty tight-lipped on whether or not we're gonna get post-release waves of skins and cosmetics. Surely they'll do it at least once for Sonic's birthday or something silly, but I'd love it if they just threw in a random Espio or Metal Sonic Skin, something like that.

 

Sooooo....is the game really 24 hours long as Famitsu claimed?

 

Considering it's a Classic Sonic game, most of that time is probably unlocking the bonus multiplayer bot skin stuff honestly. It should be about the same length per playthrough as Mania or the older games, though some will take that up as a playthrough per character obviously.

 

That's what i figured, just found their estimation weird, but it was presented without context, thought the leaks may confirm something else

 

So I'm just going to warn people here now.

The early gameplay leak on ps4 has some major problems with co-op. The camera system is very glitchy, and major stage gimmicks are actively broken and lead to frustrating deaths at a few points in Pinball Carnival, as one example.

There's also some notable visual glitches already being found. The character animation looks quite nice, at least.

We're already entering the stage of "pray for a 1 day patch", but if your goal is to go into this unspoiled, I would dare say you might want to be a bit more careful with your purchase. It's quite possible the day 1 launch will be a real mess on some platforms. Again.

And we have no idea how widespread this issue will be, how much of it is fixable, and how much of it is a fundamental design flaw. But buyer beware, you may want to avoid playing the game with co-op entirely at least at first, and we have no idea if worse problems are hiding beneath the surface.

Edit: Ignore all this. More recent impressions put all of these as co-op only problems. Single player is a lot better, even unpatched.

 

Rough...how does the single player experience seem so far? Not that it excuses what sounds like awful co-op implementation and execution, but I'm only personally interested in single player.

 

Again, where things work as intended, the physics seem solid, with the characters each playing as they should.

The problem again comes back to actual stage design, which I'm not yet sold on. I see some gimmicks that I really don't like, but I'm not sure if they're just a very tiny part of the experience, or dominant and will detract from entire levels yet. I've also seen a bit more recycled elements that I care for, but again, that might just be a one off so far. It's very hard to judge these stages without actually 'exploring' them, which is what could make them very fun in the end.

Bosses seem slower and more tedious and can't easily be rushed like in the classics unless you use the emerald powers (which just kind of break them, honestly), but I also am seeing some interesting patterns and reasonably well designed mechanics, so your mileage may vary on that.

IMHO, despite them nailing the physics, it looks closer to a Dimps game than it is a Genesis era game or Mania.

Also not really a spoiler...

Switch Visuals


Modern hardware...

 

This is so weird because the Steam specs list GTX 650 as recommended, not minimum. Superstars also doesn't look particularly graphically demanding compared to Generations or Unleashed, so I'm thinking maybe the Switch port is just badly optimised. Do we know who's responsible for the port?

 

Damn. Thanks. Co-op day 1 is exactly what I was planning.

2023. We're deep into the era of releasing unoptimised. :\

 

Wait the switch version was the one I was considering buying. Are the graphics really THAT bad?

 

The game runs at 60fps in portable and docked mode, which is the most important part. It looks like a serviceable version of the game, but definitely the worst.

 

Sorry for the link drop, but at my hotel on phone.

I... Managed to play a lot of the demo today... have a few thoughts and notes to share...

No spoilers.

https://twitter.com/DaveLuty/status/1712553318118314273?t=NFIGsF8CKOizVWJrLzLhig&s=19

 

Would've preferred if you spoilered that.
Like, come on.

 

I've noticed a discrepancy between the leaked footage and the most recent press footage. This isn't really a spoiler, so I'm posting it here.

The Special Stage seems to be missing some elements: this text should be uppercase, and the player should have a colored trail on them. Both of these were added in most recent press footage, they were not present in early footage. I suspect we're looking at a day-one patch situation.

 

I'm pretty sure

That's the impression I had from all the footage and details we got. The gameplay seems a lot less freeform than classic Sonic formula. Which is understandable, but something that physics alone can't bring. The sheer amount of gimmicks in each stage, especially the ones that change the gameplay style altogether; the way emerald powers seem like they were made to fit carefully chosen places, with Vision going so far as to display an icon where you're supposed to use it; the automation in several stages, including ones that leaked (not with dash pads, necessarily); the necessary accommodations for co-op;

So I won't approach this game like a classic Sonic game, but as something else, more modern by all standards. The approach has its merits, and not being exactly classic Sonic doesn't really mean much at this point, but it's time for everyone to finally understand Oshima-certified pinball physics® isn't the only thing in a classic Sonic experience, for better or worse.

 

There's another stream in the spoilers thread that shows the first 4 zones fully done in single player as Sonic alone on a fresh save. I won't copy everything I said there (and at least one part of what I said there has a major spoiler), but I'll say this...

The game thankfully seems to flow a lot better in single player. Far less glitches and far less unavoidable deaths so far.

That's a pretty good summary, at least from what I'm seeing in the first 4 zones, though I'm noticing a skilled player can do more to skim past good chunks of the automation too and regain their autonomy. I think part of the issue is that we haven't seen many competent players play the game for a long time yet.

 

After spending a lot of time not thinking much about Superstars, I'm now very interested and happy to play it. I don't think it looks like it'll be amazing. I thought initially it looked like a 7/10 and I'm still getting those vibes now.

However, I really do like the fact it looks a bit weird and is genuinely just doing something different. New character in Trip. While Fang isn't a new character, he's never served a role in a fully fleshed console game so it's novel. It's not just Metal Sonic again. The Emerald powers may be a bit weird and gimmicky but again it's just something new.

I think this is something Sonic has missed for a long time. A mid game that does weird things and is enjoyable on its own terms. Gems Collection vibes. We haven't really had anything like that in many years. And I think the fact the game has had a short marketing period and has been low key is honestly quite refreshing and fits with the games vibe.

£50 is steep and hard to justify for myself for what this is. I doubt it'll take very long to finish. The graphics dont look great. But then I also like what this game represents and I can afford to buy it so I will do. I could do with having another Triple Trouble type game in my life.

 

One thing I always thought 2D Sonic was lacking (even in the 1990s) was an abundance of secrets/secret levels a la Super Mario World. We finally got Hidden Palace Zone and it was, in my opinion, perfect.

It doesn't seem to get mentioned a lot (secret levels in games). But I was there. I was there 30+ years ago. Early '90s classroom. We talked about video games. We talked about Sonic and Mario. One of the most talked about and exciting components of games were the secrets, particularly with Mario. It was one of the main draws. That is what we wanted and what drew us in and what we talked about. That made a good game great. Sonic should have some big secrets and hidden levels and worlds and lots of them. When we finally get that in a 2D Sonic, I'll be over the moon.

I was hoping Superstars might have something juicy but we will see. Probably not lol.