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

NSMB's target audience wasn't just a hit for Mario fans or video game fans. That was a hit for everyone. Super Mario Bros 1-3 are milestone titles, especially in the west where they are associated with reviving a dying industry and elevating it to new heights. Their lasting impact and relevance is still around to this day. The Wii and DS had that demographic in check thanks to titles like Wii Sports and Nintendogs. Using NSMB as a metric for anything is an awful metric because those games appeal to a far larger audience spanning generations. That "dated" game is exactly why people were tuning in. It's the exact same reason why the Mario movie was a colossal hit. It had decades of anticipation hitting the nostalgia strings reaching all sorts of demographics.

7 million is not "paltry". What are you on about? 7-8m for a Sonic game at that time would have made it beat the 3rd best selling game on the PS3. 7-8 million would have put it up there with Twilight Princess. 7-8 million would have it right below Halo 4. This is exactly why using NSMB as a metric is an awful idea. NSMB hit different, Galaxy 2 was never in the same class, no game was, but it selling 7 million is not some number to be disappointed in.

I also wasn't speaking for the "z" word. I never even said or implied that they only play AAA crap. I said I enjoy watching younger generations checking out old games which is the complete opposite. Where did you get that ridiculous idea? The anecdote where I used people of MY age as an example?

 

It’s not being jaded, I don’t think. That’d really only be the case if the game looked amazing and people were still pessimistic. A lot of us don’t think the game (really only the visuals in my case) looks great.

That said, I’m still excited which is why I’ve refrained from expressing my disappointment over the aesthetic too much. It’s not my ideal look for sure, but I can live with it if the rest is enjoyable.

 

I'd consider that being some degree of jaded, considering how subjective it all is. But hey, I get it. My standards for a new 2D Sonic game are merely just "don't be Sonic 4" so this is already a step above that in several ways.

I'm in a weird spot where I kinda miss getting a whole line of handheld 2D Sonic games alongside 3D entries, so if this is a shift towards getting that kind of release schedule again I'm happy.

 

Miss when there was low end hardware. GBA/DS era games were hella cool.

Only thing I'm jaded about is the half-baked multiplayer mode. The way they we're hyping it up, I was expecting them to change up the formula to accommodate 4 player co-op. You can absolutely make a fun co-op game, they just aren't daring enough to break the mold enough I guess.

Otherwise, the game looks stellar a for me. I'll definitely be picking it up.

 

This is where I'm at too. Even ignoring the multiplayer that I'm never going to even get a chance to play, Superstars doesn't look revolutionary but it does look like Classic Sonic goodness. It's a step below Mania, which is still at least an 8/10 to me. I can't complain.

 

Yes it seems like Frontiers and Superstars are both the equivalent of Sonic 1, (which was then followed by Adventure 1, Sonic 2006, and maybe Colors or Generations, as soft reboots).

they look like the best foundation for many unique new Sonic games since Sonic 1!! In particular that by the end of the year via the Frontiers DLC that will be both games with Tails, Amy and Knuckles as legitimate playable again i think, if not literally, as Origins does count too, essentially for the first time since Adventure 1??

 

Superstars looks at least pretty competent.

Not groundbreaking, but it feels like it will be a pretty safe and solid 2d Sonic experience (which is unfortunately saying a lot recently).

 

I’m looking forward to this and this thread sounds so damn “ok boomer” sometimes I swear.

V case in point lol

 

It looks better than the handheld games at least. Why did they decide to make something that looks so obviously lower quality than Mania? Who knows.

 

Did you not see the rest of this thread? Iizuka thinks pixels are out and not profitable in the long run, and outside of here he’s prob right.

 

I'd say he's dead wrong, Mania did well, TMNT did well, Rugrats is doing an upcoming pixel art game. I think a well known property with killer spritework is a good call. Sonic in 3D does work if you put the time in and it looks really good. This game looks mediocre at best. It's so basic.

 

That doesn't excuse Superstars looking fucking nasty

 

They really aren't profitable in the long run though, he's right about that. Most consumers are not going to pay anything more than $30 for pixel art games, and that's being a bit generous. Mania sold for $20 and TMNT at $25 IIRC, and most pixel art indies sell around that or even cheaper. Besides, while I have no problem with pixel art, I do think its more limiting for certain game design aspects than a 2.5D/3D game. I imagine that's part of why the Mania devs are making their own 3D game instead of continuing to work with pixels.

 

Just wanted to chime in that, despite agreeing with pretty much everything else you've said in this thread, this little nugget of a sentence here really hit me.

I hadn't given it much thought specifically but I really do think we lost something when the Switch came along and replaced the age old Nintendo handheld pillar. Having a wide range of different hardware levels to develop for (including Sony's handhelds too) ensured in a way that there would always, by necessity, be a huge variety of visual styles, different types of game, levels of fidelity, etc.

 

This game will run well with less textures (including graphic fidelity) regardless. *shrug

 

I think if we had a new "2d" (that isn't the 2.5d that people are calling 2d) Sonic game it'd be like Mario where it's just 3d models + 2d assets, but then that's just Sonic 4 again and people would probably complain about the graphics anyways, half because they don't like it and half because it reminds them too much of Sonic 4 even if it looked completely different.

Also I'd like to point out that the Rugrats game's audience is definitely retro gaming fans who will more likely appreciate the pixel graphics and retro style gameplay but they're also doing an "hd" version of the same game that uses 2d artwork, potentially just to try to get a broader appeal as well.

 

@shilz if this game looked like Mario Wonder, people would hate it (not even a huge fan of Wonders style myself, it’s definitely NSMB with a spit shine. It def looks better than before but it’s in a very similar light anyway). If this game was drawn like Rayman Origins or Legends or something, people would hate it.

Classic Sonic sure is put in a box with some of you all around here.

 

Basically any aesthetic they choose is going to have its fans and its detractors. It could be pixel art, 2.5D, hand-drawn, etc. and no matter what there would be people who dislike it.

That's just the nature of opinions being like assholes; everyone has one, and most are full of shit.

 

And ironically if this game was pixel art, others outside of here would hate it

 

I'm saying it's not likely to look like Mario Wonder.
Also Think about how the earlier conversations would've gone had they gone for 2d tiles AND used Sonic 4 music. It was already a lot for people to take in comparing to Episode 2.