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

I still think if Superstars were exactly the way it is, but made with sprites and named Mania 2, most not-so-excited people would be extremely hyped.

(but then again, it wouldn't be exactly the way it is if it were made with sprites, since it is not)

 

Eh. I don't care about the name but being made with sharp 2D graphics would make this game quite far from "exactly the way it is" in terms of its feel. People don't like to admit it but the presentation of a game does a lot to influence first impressions, even if people don't want to be swayed by any of that stuff.

 

I feel that works the opposite way around as well. As much as I don't like it, a lot of people are still biased against pixel art. It's the "cheap" option even when it isn't cheap-looking at all.

 

I feel like the sentiment of being "not-so-excited" is not so mainstream and prevalent that it really needs to be analyzed in this manner, whether it's caused by a lack of pixel art or not. Like who cares, the game still looks good.

 

I mean, maybe it's because they haven't revealed a lot?
I need full, direct feed footage of several full acts and then I'll be hyped as hell and count the days before release

I wasn't particularly excited for Mania when all they did was show Green Hill and Studiopolis again and again and again for 90% of the marketing cycle, and it turned out to be my favourite 2D Sonic game (and favourite 2D game period), so even without hype I'm not particularly worried about Superstars, honestly ^^

 

I don't really it's true that he doesn't elevate tracks. I think he definitely elevates Metallic Madness in Mania.

I can understand the criticism that his music is quite samey but I agree with @Palas that it's more a case that Tee Lopes is just really good at doing upbeat music. Mania does have some more mellow tunes, such as Lava Reef 2 which is largely just electric guitar. Stardust Speedway 1 was also criticised at the time for being too slow. Lol. Titanic Monarch is also unlike anything else in Mania. It's actually one of my favourite songs in all of Sonic.

Besides, I think we could level samey criticisms against all Sonic composers apart from Ohtani. Hayata is my favourite Sonic composer but his music is definitely very samey. Sonic CD Japanese is my favourite OST but most the music is very upbeat and similar with some exceptions (Tidal Tempest). I like Senoue but his music is increasingly becoming very samey at the moment.

I know you are speaking quite specifically about his instrumentation. And again I know where you are coming from, but I think his use of instrumentation is honestly quite well mixed across Mania.

 

The game looking better than it does now would help, but if Mania 2's level design looked like this I'd still be disappointed.

 

Choctopus uploaded an impressions video for the game, which includes clear footage and audio for Speed Jungle (the zone and the boss) and the Sonic 1 Bonus Stage.

 

Getting mixed emotions regarding the music there, since neither of the boss tracks have changed. Speed Jungle 2's theme is also radically-different from act 1, though I don't dislike it.

 

I couldn't really listen to the Speed Jungle music in the other footage, but I think it fits better than I anticipated when we found out the Direct song was the Speed Jungle Act 1 theme. The festive vibe matches the stage I guess, especially when you're grinding the vines. I think it'll be alright.

EDIT: Although I imagined they couldn't have the same song for Act 2, I don't like the song, I don't like the level design and I don't like the stage's gimmick. Just not into it.

Yeah, well, every composer has their tics and that's fine. Lopes has his, but I think his work does have a lot of breadth. It just seems like he's more comfortable with the common elements and structures we've mentioned ad nauseam in this thread. Besides, he's not the music director for this game. Chances are he might as well try different moods and instrumentations of which we know he's capable and at which we know he's great and someone else could tell him "why don't you just do your thing" because the direction is to get the same go-forward-and-enjoy-the-journey type of vibe across the entire game.

The music didn't change because the demo is the same.

 

In their footage, IGN Japan replaced the Speed Jungle music with White Park, and the boss music with... the boss music. For some reason.

It's hard to tell if that means any of this is still being developed and liable to change.

 

Today was the first time I really looked at Superstars. Well, I'm not exactly excited but I didn't expect to be. I am really not a fan of this chibi, fisher-price kinda art style the series has been slowly drifting towards since Generations. This might seem like a strange complaint but, are we seriously still using the same "act clear" music from Sonic 3? Sonic 1 and 2 had a different theme. Sonic Advance even had a different jingle. Not composing a new jingle just seems really lazy.
The nostalgia pandering is still present, but now seems really incongruent with the chibi art style. It kind of feels like Sega are trying to gaslight us that the classics always had this baby-friendly image, when they absolutely never did.
Anyways, not especially into it.

 

It is always funny to me when try to criticize Sonic for being "kid-friendly". It was... always kid-friendly.

Say you don't like the art style and models but the idea that Sonic nebulously looked more "mature" and not "fisher-price"(?) seems more like a overly-nostalgic revision, which is ironic when you say that Superstars is nostalgia pandering (...even though it's the most original classic game we've had since Sonic & Knuckles).

Classic Sonic games looked like this:


And key art looked like this:



Again, you don't have to like it, but claiming that Sega is "gaslighting" us with an artstyle designed by Sonic's original character designer is... just funny!

Also, this is what Generations looked like:


I'm... not sure how that even close to Superstars.

 

I might not have articulated what I was trying to say particularly well, but your examples do a great job of illustrating what I don't like. Even in those concept arts, Sonic's spines actually look sharp. The Superstars stuff all has this really rounded off, bubbly, soft look to it that I can only describe as looking like toys safe for babies. If you got a better description, lay it on me. But I don't like it.

 

Sonic's quills are very, very slightly less sharp than before so the entire art style is "Fisher Price" and "baby-friendly"? I agree, you did not articulate yourself well, lol.

I'm not trying to make you feel bad, don't get me wrong. But Superstars is made by Sonic's original designer, and I think he would have a pretty good idea of what Sonic "should" look like. And I don't disagree with him in the slightest.

 

You seem a bit tilted that I criticized something about a video game, so I'll leave you to that.

 

I just thought you needed a little more edge to offset Superstars, lol.

 

Mostly-unedited and mostly-uncommentated Nintendo Switch gameplay videos of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy are now uploaded to the @ChoctopusDX YouTube Channel.

 

They're never going to actually demo the multiplayer mode are they...

 

Superstars doesn't really look like CD nor the Harmony art to me. Neither does Generations really despite all its extra detail-work. I think it's fair to say that even in contrast to Generations that Superstars has a kinda empty and overly soft aesthetic. Not only overly soft but distinctly lower budget which makes the effect worse. I don't like dismissing comparisons just because they're both "kld friendly" and Ohshima working on Superstars doesn't automatically mean it's going to be given the budget and attention it deserves. And Sonic was never just Ohshima's baby anyway. Otherwise he'd be in a band and have a human girlfriend.