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

Sadly, it may be too late. Steam stats point to the game only having a peak of about 1800 players at the same time so far, which is a fraction (something like under 10%) of what Frontiers had at the same peak.
https://steamcharts.com/app/2022670
https://steamcharts.com/app/1237320

Mania, by comparison:
https://steamcharts.com/app/584400#All

Those are... really bad numbers for a game that's less than a month old, honestly. The closest other recent major title to compare it to is Forces, which did do better over time, but not at launch. Price no doubt was a huge factor, and I do still think the game can do a lot better at a lower price point, but I don't know if it can overcome the hurdles it's already facing.

I realize 3rd party numbers won't tell the whole story, but comparing with other titles on the same platform should be a pretty accurate barometer. This is legitimate flop territory, even just relative to the other titles on one single platform. Or at least it's a flop at launch with an overly high price. It makes sense that they're course correcting very quickly here to fix at least one big issue, and fast.

(To put things in perspective, Sonic was never going to be as big on Steam, but a huge title like, say Red Dead Redemption 2, hits 70,000 peak players. GTAV peaked at something like 350,000.)

(Also, to be extra clear, no, I do not think this means Classic Sonic is dead. I think it means they botched this launch badly and will have to reflect based on that. There's still a formula here they could refine and improve on, but I remain skeptical if they will. The lesson should go to the publisher to stop rushing games for a saturated holiday market, and instead release a game at an optimal window well after it's polished and well tested.)

 

Modders amaze me. This is really, really impressive (and also looks pretty fun!)

 

Three weeks post-release aggregate update. By this point it's best to assume these are the "final" metascores for the game, beyond some straggler reviews posted afterwards. Will likely do one last update at the end of the month.

Opencritic - 74 "Fair", 75 reviews (4 unscored), 59% of critics recommend

Metacritic:
PS5 - 73 "Mixed and/or average", 64 reviews (2 unscored)
Switch - 71 "Mixed and/or average", 9 reviews
Xbox Series X - 76 "Generally favorable", 10 reviews (1 unscored)
-
(PC version has 2 reviews. No reviews for the PS4 version. [The Xbox One version has since been removed.])

 

...how?

That's really cool. I'd love to know how implementing literally any of that works.

 

I personally see no reason to purchase PC version until it gets more mods.

 

My guess is that since it's a Unity game, it's naturally extremely vulnerable to hacking.
For example you literally can decompile all of Superstars (or any Unity game) down to C# code and see how everything works underneath.

 

Just comparing the review stats of Frontiers on 12/2/22 1 month after release via wayback and Superstars' current review stats 1 months after release.... Ouch.

Now I won't make any claims regarding the difference in critical reception, don't want to poke that bear, but just the sheer difference in the volume of reviews points to something being wrong here. These are games with identical prices released around the same time with other blockbuster hits right near them, their circumstances are as close to identical as you can get when it comes to game sales.

Definitely doesn't help that the game launched with Epic integration, which likely killed the PC sales even further.

 

I would not use Frontiers as a comp title. Yeah, same franchise but they target entirely different demographics. Mania paints a doom and gloom picture, but like I argued in its favor before, Mania was an exceptional title. Just like Mania, the true numbers simply can't be reasonably estimated until we get an actual update from SEGA. Using Steam estimates for a multiplatform release doesn't paint a full picture. Mega Man 11 performed worse, yet it's the best selling Mega Man title in the entire franchise with 1.80 million units sold. All you can really pull from these numbers is that the PC audience doesn't really care much for these type of titles. You can't really make much of its overall performance on other platforms.
I don't think the game is in danger of flop territory, but there was definitely a lot of money left on the table by releasing it at such a high price across all platforms. This game does not scream like it deserves the $60. Doesn't matter how much any of the people that vouch for it enjoy it, the general public clearly didn't agree either. Using Mega Man 11 as a comp title again, that game launched with a $29.99 price tag and the price was never a major barrier of complaint for it. If we want to use successful games specifically on Steam, Cuphead, Ori, and Hollow Knight all did far better at lower price points. I don't think removing EGS or Denuvo will ever turn that needle around in a significant way. It almost never does. SEGA could have launched Superstars without Denuvo and EGS and the situation would have still been the same. The game looks like a budget title, why doesn't it have a budget price? Especially when you're launching it alongside juggernauts like Spider-Man 2 and Mario Wonder. People are going to be frugal and Superstars isn't making its case to deserve your cash.

A lot of it has to do with the Steam Userbase using the review system to communicate their displeasure in a hyper focused area. EGS being the case here. There's a reason they did a knee jerk removal reaction here.

 

One thing to consider with Sonic games is that they tend to be less frontloaded, instead accumulating sales over time. Mania and Forces, for instance, have both been mainstays at retailers ever since their (physical) releases - they wouldn't be restocking them if they weren't selling. Even if Superstars sells less than Mania, it'll probably still make more given Sega's charging the full $60.

So yeah. I see no reason to doom and gloom. The game will probably do fine.

 

You're forgetting something huge Joe. Mania and Forces are budget priced titles since launch. Mania Plus launched at $29.99 and Forces at $39.99. In Forces' case, the price has gone down and both games have been part of package bundles for the Switch version. They're quick and constant sellers, especially on Switch, thanks to their lower price point. Retailers will bother to restock something if they're consistent.
Superstars is a full priced title. I don't see it having longevity if they don't slash that price to a permanent lower value and fast.

 

Sonic Superstars got the bare minimum of advertising, while they hired a popular Japanese Rock band to promote Frontiers. I think its kind of obvious why Superstars has so much less engagement compared to Frontiers.

Advertising does, in fact, matter when wanting people to play your games. I don't see what's really surprising about this.

 

Huh, neat. Hopefully there'll be enough of a modding scene to see people cook up really interesting stuff.

I doubt Superstars would've come too close to Big 3D Game numbers regardless, but yeah, SEGA pretty much asked for a day 1 review bombing. I wonder just how many heads that "Mixed" score turned away. (Or what the rating would be were it not for that boneheaded start dragging down the average.)

 

What the hell are you talking about? There was a genuine attempt to market this title in the West and in Japan. Revealed during Summer Game Fest, various press coverage features, a collaboration with Lego. The game was also well received since its reveal while Frontiers was mocked after the disastrous IGN gameplay reveal and had to earn its reputation. Superstars didn't soil itself until the game launched.

 

I think it's a combination of factors. The game released against a great deal of competition, particularly Mario Wonder on the platform where Sonic always sees the bulk of his sales. Between that and the divisive reception (seriously, a Sonic game hasn't been so love-it-or-hate-it in quite some time), I think a lot of people decided to be cautious. Especially since Sega set a precedent with Frontiers that newly-released Sonic games would go on deep discounts for Black Friday. (Seriously, Frontiers was down to $35 - nearly half off - less than two weeks after launch! EDIT: And Sega itself discounted it by 50% on all platforms a few days later for Cyber Monday! You better believe that helped push it to such high sales!)

Let's see if that deep discount happens for Superstars too - and what the result of it is (boy it'd be nice if we knew Switch numbers!) - before we worry too much about whether we'll get another game in this style.

 

Guys...

I get it, engagement, different audiences, ect ect.

But these numbers are... really bad. Don't sugarcoat it. 1/6 of Mania's peak. 1/10 of Frontiers peak. Both in the same vital release window. Please, don't make excuses.

Now this, I agree with. I said the current numbers were bad. I didn't say they will stay this way for the forseeable future. Sonic games tend to have legs over time. They're still selling the classics now. He's the definition of an evergreen franchise, and has proven it more than ever recently, and Sega does know that. If you look at the stats again, SA2 has twice the number of players Superstars has right now for that exact reason (although that is yet another knock against the latter, I'm afraid.)

But, I don't think we should kid ourselves that this game was a blockbuster hit. A lot has been botched here and SEGA needs to own up to that. Even if you like individual parts of the game (physics, stage design, co-op, art style, whatever), there's a mixed reaction on other parts that's very obvious. It's fun but flawed with potential at best. They just had to remove a major 3rd party app from the game in 2 weeks and almost pretend it never existed. That's a good move, but it's a rapid course correction.

SEGA needs to do more to fix this. A lot more. Mario RPG Remake is out in a week and will put even more pressure on the Nintendo Switch audience the game so badly needs. Give the game some real fixes, please. Music patches. Boss checkpoints. A big price drop. Something.

Even the awesome mod community (which Sega now sees as both inspiration and competition, of sorts) can't save this game's sales across all platforms, and I think this game will struggle this holiday with 2 'highly' coveted Mario titles eating Christmas shelf and stocking space at the exact same time.

 

I'm not sugar coating anything. We have no real numbers here to make any actual claim. If Capcom weren't so transparent about their numbers then I could make the same argument that you're making with Mega Man 11.
I just think it's completely foolish to start spinning a narrative, negative or positive, when you have no actual hard data to go off on. Your comp titles just don't work when there's so many variables that need to be considered.

 

I agree, but still. Sega doesn't need to spin a narrative, they know the numbers. And if they really are anywhere near as dire as the one data point we have suggests (and honestly even if they're better than that), then Hedges is absolutely on-point that they need to do something to try and right the ship. A good sale alongside some polish to address some common criticisms (especially an option for boss checkpoints) would help generate some positive word-of-mouth.

And while I'm not expecting it at all (given how much work it would be and the fact that it never happened for Origins), bringing the weaker parts of the soundtrack up to the quality of the rest of it would be a huge boon. Articles on gaming blogs, social media posts, comparison videos between the old and new versions... aside from a price drop, that would probably be the most impactful thing they could do for Superstars, if they could do it.

 

SEGA isn't spinning any narrative. They haven't said anything. Hedge is the only one making these claims.

Why are they bad? What does the all-time peak number tell you other than there was a period of time where most people played at the same time? What sales data can you extract from that number? You can't get day 1 sales from that. That's just the amount of people that launched the game in a 24 hour period. You're not accounting for factors such as people who pre-ordered the game and have it sitting in their library, people who bought the game and haven't launched it, or hell people who haven't even install it. The peak number rarely changes unless some significant new content drops that reaches outside of the initial audience (Dead by Daylight saw the peak rise up once the Resident Evil Nemesis chapter dropped, Witcher 3 saw a surge after the Netflix show, Team Fortress 2 had a massive update in July 2023, Left 4 Dead 2 being given away for free during Christmas). That peak number is junk outside of launch and special event.

Once again, the top 2 Sonic titles



Now let's look at the rest

A spin off

A collection

A universally panned game

A free to play title

Flop of the Century

A beloved entry

Abandonware

Overlord's favorite game

This is where Sonic CD ruins my format

Sonic XD

Get Lost

Why

I Forgot You Existed

Sonic Colors Tencent Edition

Why 2

Sonic's peak numbers on Steam have never been impressive. It had 2 exceptions. Why are you suddenly making a stink about it now? No one is fooling themselves that this is a blockbuster hit.

The only "course correction" they really need to do is a price drop. The EGS correction only affects one platform. If they remove Denuvo, again, that's one platform. A price drop would be universal. I think most people are more than willing to give the game a try even with all the current subjective issues, but not for its current price. A content update would be nice, but that wouldn't really entice anyone if all its doing is "fixing" something that shouldn't have been busted in the first place.

The rollback netcode update will definitely save our game​

 

Turns out this game has some...interesting responses to evidently unexpected use of the Switch home button.

 

Where's ORKAL at these days?