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

It really is bizarre how that works though - I can’t help but ask why Sonic seems to struggle so much in Japan, be that any particular incarnation or the brand as a whole. Sodding ingrates get all the gucci merch too…

 

I think giving this to some nebulous concept of "oh japan just inherently hates classic sonic" ignores both the historical context (classic sonic never got to exist in a popular japanese console, basically) and the obvious current day context of

mario wonder is out around the same time

I'd faster connect the dots of "mario wonder has some of the biggest sales ever" and "superstars isn't doing that well" to attempting to go on some wild goose conceptual chase of "why does the japanese culture not enjoy the classic blue hedgehog??"

 

No one is saying they hate him. Rather, Sega failed to break into the console market in Japan with the MegaDrive or Dreamcast. Sonic is more recognizable there as the mascot of an arcade company than he is as a major console gaming icon. It's just different. It was only really around SA1 that he broke into his strongest sales in Japan.

In Japan, the Genesis was to them what something like the 3DO, Jaguar, or TurboGrafix would be to 90s kids in other global markets... An obscure console so far from the top of the market that most would not pay attention to it. Because of that, Sonic simply never broke into the mainstream there relative to Nintendo's sheer dominance. Sonic was still heavily merchandised due to his connections as Sega's mascot, but it's more akin to him being like any other cute corpo mascot that fills Japanese streets and media. Japan is absolutely full of them, so to a lot of people there, Sonic just seemed to be that; a company mascot that has some games.

Figures like Segata Sanshiro moved a lot more units in the late 90s, driven largely by the sheer celebrity power of the extremely prolific tokusatsu actor, Hiroshi Fujioka.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshi_Fujioka

They know who Sonic is. They don't know how influential his 90s games were globally, nor would the average not chronically online JPN gamer tend to care.

 

Mid-week update since there are now enough reviews for some of the other versions on Metacritic.

Opencritic - 72 "Fair", 64 reviews (4 unscored), 63% of critics recommend

Metacritic:
PS5 - 74 "Mixed and/or average", 55 reviews (1 unscored)
Switch - 73 "Mixed and/or average", 6 reviews
Xbox Series X - 79 "Generally favorable", 6 reviews (1 unscored)
-
(PC version has 1 review. No reviews for the PS4 and Xbox One versions.)

As for the current discussion regarding (2D/MD) Sonic sales performance and popularity in Japan. Casual mention that Mania did well enough on Japan's Nintendo Switch eShop to chart within the region's year-end Top 30 downloaded eShop exclusives. Japanese Switch owners in a survey conducted by Nintendo themselves also recommended Mania enough for it to rank #17 in the region's Top 30 most-recommended Switch games for that year.

 

Not really important but I think it's funny and also a little irritating that the Switch version of Sonic Superstars runs pretty well on the Ayn Odin 2, an Android handheld, through Yuzu.
Makes me wish they just actually ported it because this device could probably handle close to the highest tier of graphics if they did.

Also we need more Android ports of Sonic games in general. Both versions if they have two versions. Amazon Luna can only take you so far.

 

Devs already struggling juggling 4 platforms (with one of them having 2 variants) and you want to throw another one into the ring?

 

Yes

Real talk, though, it doesn't have to be specifically by the main devs or released at the exact same time. for Superstars it would probably be a pretty simple ask to get SEGA Hardlight to port it once the game gets to its lowest price point. They use Unity pretty much exclusively and have worked on ports before.

That's assuming their next game isn't "Superstars but different for some reason and also Apple Arcade exclusive for that Apple contract money" like Sonic Racing.

 

You're a sick man Shilz

 

This is generally because of the marketing between the two regions and slight cultural differences; Sega of America pushed the whole "console wars" concept with its aggressive marketing against Nintendo, something no other company would have dared to do at the time, and it made Sega, and by extension Sonic, stand out from the rest and kickstart his popularity. Even if it didn't last, that's what made Sonic into a household name everywhere else. But Sega of Japan never marketed Sonic that way; as far as Japan were concerned, it was just Nintendomination and Sonic may as well have not existed. It was only when the Adventure games were ported to Nintendo consoles where the series started to gain ground.


It should however be noted that Sega (of Japan) have been trying, almost desperately even, to get Sonic popular in Japan. I've spoken with some Japanese Sonic fans who speak English and some describe the original 2D games as "too hard" to really get into. This is why Sonic Jam's had an easy mode made to accommodate that. For years, the Adventure games were (and kind of still are) the most popular and well regarded Sonic games in Japan among the small niche of Sonic fans who play them. It wouldn't be until Frontiers until a Sonic game came into comparable reception.

 

Yes, that more or less tracks. The Adventure titles sold well, but the classic games before this were never truly any national major hit. This is despite Sonic being merchandised heavily in the 90s even in Japan, but it has more to do with his mascot presence for Sega's large arcade business than anything to do with more common global home console business. In Japan, Sega was never thought of as a serious console manufacturer. They are just seen as an arcade vendor and publisher of other hit titles, above all else. Sonic games would almost be seen as spinoffs of the mascot character and branding, rather than the main media. Or at least I've been repeatedly told that's how it was in the 90s.

Again, this ties mostly into how japan views corporate mascots as a whole.

 

Sega should've had Korone stream more Sonic stuff instead of just near release, maybe the number would be a bit higher.

 

Mario Kart 8 had 32 tracks on launch, with two packs of 8 tracks planned as post-launch DLC.

 

Quite frankly, porting mainline Sonic games to Android systems and other mobile devices where possible would be a far better use of Hardlight’s time than their current model of producing low grade, predatory skinner boxes to induce gambling addiction in their players (most of whom are probably kids using their parents cards).

Ah, I wasn’t aware that original DLC was announced prior to launch. At the risk of sounding like an apologist and shifting the goalposts, again I can forgive that because MK8 was complete without them, providing the standard amount of tracks that had been established 8 years prior in MKDS.

I’m coming to realise that I poorly articulated my initial point, which is that, as far as Sonic goes, SEGA has twice now relied on post launch DLC (both free and paid) to effectively complete their games after the fact, and I’m not going to be in the least bit shocked if it takes a year for us to get rebalanced bosses and actual story scenes to explain what the fuck is going on sold to us, probably alongside playable Fang or Mighty and Ray.

I love that Mania Plus managed to breathe new life into that original game, but I feel like the branding is set to be milked with classic Sonic to sell us inferior and more cynical propositions.

 

I was talking in general, but regarding this specific year? yeah it's weird, and not only for Sonic, but even other franchises at SEGA too, as you said there is 3 Sonic games competing and eating at each other, there is also 2 Persona games coming soon, AND, there is like 2 months gap between 2 brand new Yakuza games!

All on the same fiscal year

It feels like overcompensating, almost as if it is to make up for Hyenes launch, even before it was cancelled, because it was one of the most expensive projects in SEGA history

 

I'm not really saying they should do everything, just that they're probably the best fit to handle anything that might come up with a potential Superstars port. I think outside of that they should probably continue to do some originals.

 

Still weird to think of how obscure the MD was in it's home country. To think the PC Engine games in Japan are more iconic. Truly backwards!

 

I didn’t expect much from Superstars in Japan but that’s lower than I anticipated. I imagined Frontiers’ relative success there (and the aforementioned promotion at TGS) would have moved the needle a bit.

For reference: Frontiers’ first week sales in Japan was 26,067 units compared to Superstars’ 4,128.

It’s not even on the chart. I checked when installing the comic skins from Amazon Jp.

 

Unfortunately, there won't be a classic Sonic if sales aren't strong. Hopefully it's doing better in the US and EU. Whether you like the game or not, to me investing into it is investing in there existing a better sequel.

Also, does anyone find themselves not motivated to play Trip's story? I made it to her part, and I just don't feel like playing hard mode levels with extra tough bosses.

 

Sonic SuperStar's success in Japanese (or lack there of) is just another indication of why the franchise is in the state that it's in today. Sad, but nothing new.

 

Uh...is it? If so, what does Frontiers being the most successful game with Japanese audiences since SA2 mean?

Complain all you want about how the franchise is treated, I'm not sure the sales in a country where Sonic has historically already struggled with selling is really a strong argument.