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

Those are great news. A new era for Sonic, both classic and modern, may finally be settling down ^^

 

The developers have said it, Whitehead has said it, players have said it, classic physics extraordinaires have said it, but why do I feel like there will be people who argue otherwise for a good while?

I'm interested in Whitehead's exact involvement. He is not making the game but he definitely had some part in the physics, especially since he says that Mania's physics specifically are recreated, which we can tell by Sonic's jump height.

 

I suspect that Whitehead consulted on the physics when he made adjustments to the retro engine for origins. Of course, Stealth has been working on Origins and Plus for a long time so Ohshima and co could always reach out to him

 

Well, I literally have zero reasons to give a redflag about the physics now.

 

Hearing that it's literally Mania's physics translated into 3D is great news - no wonder everything looks so accurate! Reading between the lines, the fact that Taxman's able to comment definitively on this suggests he was likely involved somehow in helping them lay the groundwork for the core physics etc, even if he's not been working with them on the game as a whole. It'll be interesting to hear more details on what exactly his role in this was as and when he's allowed to provide them! = )

It's also nice to see his involvement in some capacity, whatever the scope of it turns out to be, as it suggests the narrative behind this game's creation isn't as cut-and-dry as "talks with Taxman/Stealth in 2019 sadly didn't lead to a new game, so we eventually decided to partner with a different developer instead for this one", which is what Iizuka's recent interview seemed to suggest. Even if it's as simple as the Superstars team reaching out for help to make sure the physics are correct, it shows the knowledge the Mania devs have of what makes classic Sonic games tick is recognised and appreciated as far as Iizuka is concerned, which is wonderful to see.

 

I mean come on now. It's pretty clear at this point that any changes made will be due to the game's focus on coop, if any. People's concerns were legitimate. It's a cool thing we're getting this confirmation.

 

This stuff drives me nuts. I deal with a lot of legal contracts on a semi-daily basis so I understand the reasoning for being quiet, but holy hell sometimes it's pointless. It's not like someone would be compromising the games integrity by simply answering "yes, I did parts of the physics".

My gut says it's more because of how the fandom would just slam him with stupid questions if there was more confirmation of their involvement. Which makes me kind of sad.

 

We all know how many people easily overstep others' boundaries when a chance arises.
It sucks, I know, but it's best this way, to stay quiet and cool until the right time comes.
Even so, such small hint of a potential part on the game's dev may be enough for Twitter to go at him full-throttle.
He still got himself close to the pan on fire, gotta wait and see how it all pans out... ^^"

 

Thank you taxman.

 

You mean "Thanks, @The Taxman" ^^"
(Too bad he seems to no longer lurk around here...)

 

By the way, how likely are we getting an encore DLC for this? I'm just frustrated that you can't change the character you're playing as in solo mode during gameplay (like you can in Super Mario 3D World), if we don't get an encore then I'd love to have the ability to switch up the characters before the levels load

 

Aight, so the physics are on point! The two concerns now are:

1) Level design
2) Music

If they can nail at least the level design we will be in for a good time.

 

You know what? I can live with unlikable level design, but not with unlikable music.

If I'm to consider the level design bad, it's a conclusion I'll have to reach after playing the game. Even if they go all Sonic Advance 2 on us, it'll make up for an unfulfilling, disappointing experience that I can try to excuse some other time. Bad music, though? It'll suck the life out of me while I'm playing, and that's a dealbreaker.

The Deleter on ResetERA pointed out how the collective experience of putting different music on that one B-roll footage can change the perception about the footage itself. Check this shit out (which you probably did since you're there too):

https://twitter.com/TNHNebula/status/1668745703022284802

Good music doesn't make the level design better, but it does make experiencing it better, and that's what counts -- especially because it doesn't work the other way around.

 

I swear I think I hear a grunt like sample from Streets of Rage whenever Sonic is pulling on that snake/vine that shoots him upwards.

 

I absolutely thought it was like. Part of the music, somehow. Because it sounds a lot like a stereotypical jungle grunt sound effect.

 

Hell yeah, that's all I needed. I wonder if maybe the Mania physics were "fully translated to modern 3D" for that original project idea that fell through, and this stemmed from that?

Either way, it makes me excited not only for this game, but also future games. Ohshima being back to design a new character for this is already cool, but now I'm dreaming about more of the original crew coming back down the road. How awesome would it be if Yasuhara came back to do some level design work on a game? Imagine Shun Nakamura and Tee Lopes collaborating on music some day.

 

I probably could have phrased it better but the Genesis chip has a distinct sound to it. For lot of exclusive titles you could listen to their soundtracks blind and go “that’s the genesis”
I don’t have the music knowledge to really put it into words as much as feel it

Sonic games are an exception; a lot less of that “signature” is on their soundtracks (exception for spinball; it is extremely genesis)

it’d approach off-topic to go too much deeper though

 

You could be forgiven for thinking initially that Generations style visuals would equal sub-par physics compared to Mania. But nope! And to be honest It feels 4king great to be wrong.

Whitehead, you hot, sexy, BITCH! Thanks for the 4king great news!