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

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by DefinitiveDubs, Jun 8, 2023.

  1. Chimpo

    Chimpo

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    Page 47 on the Yearly Report briefly mentions its user score.

    They tend to brush away titles that didn't hit their expectations from these presentation reports rather quickly. Samba got buried as well. It's why I just look at their data appendix reports, but even those can be messy due the way they just group everything into general buckets.
     
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  2. shilz

    shilz

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    I think I might understand the input lag complaints of the PS5 version? I pulled up Sonic 3 AIR on my phone with a controller hooked in and almost immediately felt something of a difference between the two. Then I downloaded the PS5 version and it does kinda feel like that makes a difference, for whatever reason... Am I crazy?
     
  3. Wildcat

    Wildcat

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    I finally got a PS5 over the holidays with SxSGens and this. Played this first since I’ve played Sonic’s Generations before but I still wanna replay it before Shadow’s.

    I haven’t seen many reviews or comments cause I didn’t want spoilers but there’s not much to spoil I guess. I just beat it and played the first few stages of Trip’s Story which is more of a “Hard Mode”. I’ll go back to it later.

    So based on what I’ve come across I must be in a minority because I loved this game. Pretty much everything clicked for me (haven’t tried Battle Mode yet).

    The biggest complaint I see are the boss fights. Typically Boss fights are my least favorite parts of any game because I really want to beat them and they give me anxiety, haha...however I thought these were very creative.

    Did people want Genesis style where you could maybe get multiple hits? That’s only possible for certain ones. I don’t know. I watched 1 video and the person criticized having to wait your “turn”.

    I honestly don’t understand because except the final boss they’re all quite easy to figure out and counter. Plus they’re short. Even the final boss isn’t that bad once you learn it.

    Anyway what I loved the most was the aesthetic and tone. It’s so cute and whimsical. They clearly went out of their way to make it extra cute. The stages, the characters, (even compared to Generations) and the bosses (probably another reason they’re easier to face ha!)...can’t get over the shooter stage and going pew-pew-pew in the Eggmobile.

    As for my own complaints I think sometimes the stages get a little cheap. Where there’s enemies or hazards placed just for the sake of knocking into them. This is especially true of the last stage. A lot of things are basically unavoidable. They knew it too because there’s a lot of checkpoint posts throughout the whole game.

    Not much story telling. Would have liked more animated cutscenes. Thought there’d be more to the ending. I’m guessing Trip’s Story has more of the narrative.
     
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  4. shilz

    shilz

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    There's overall flaws in how the bosses work. Many long wind-up animations, instant death attacks, it's super easy to lose your rings early on in the fight and thus access to your Super form, and what should be the cure to all these ailments (the Emerald Powers) just does almost nothing for the most part, with maybe 3 or 4 ever having utility in a boss fight with the other 3 being ENTIRELY situational. the Slow power in particular just has nothing going for it since once you hit the boss that's it and now its cooldown is even longer so you're just waiting for the power to run out so you can get back to the long waiting phase before you can attack again. And that's IF you don't get hit which just wastes the whole thing, and basically none of the bosses have checkpoints to let them recharge.
     
  5. Blue Blood

    Blue Blood

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    Were we even playing the same game? I like Superstars more than most, but the bosses are an absolute drag. If I was playing on PC rather than PS5 and Switch, I'd be looking for a mod that bypasses the boss fights entirely. Like them if you are so inclined, power to you. But they're about as objectively not "short" as is possible. Every boss fight puts you through several phases wherein you're barely doing anything and just stand around waiting for him to attack and eventually expose his vulnerability. You then get to him once before repeating the whole cycle again. The bosses are pretty creative, but they're so painfully slow. They bring the entire game to a standstill.

    I've said it before and I'll continue saying it; the boss fights are the only reason I haven't been playing Superstars on repeat on like I did with Mania when it was new. Nothing about Superstars is as good as Mania and it misses the mark compared to the originals in a few ways, but at its core it's still a solid Classic Sonic experience. However, the boss fights are so immensely unfun and interrupt the regular gameplay every 2 to 5 minutes for 2 to 5 minutes that they make the game not worth playing. Resorting to time attack to or exiting to the menu upon reaching bosses kills the glow and any satisfaction garnered from going for score attacks also.

    Superstars would be a better game without its fights. The majorty of them are just dreadful.
     
  6. Wildcat

    Wildcat

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    It’s funny how sometimes our experiences are completely different.

    I agree, like Shilz said, it’s really easy to loose your rings so you have to start over a few times and the only Emerald Power worth using is Clone (Super form too I assume but haven’t collected them all).

    What you’re saying though is one of the reasons I liked them. You get a breather between attacks and eases the pattern. Plus it makes them feel a little more cinematic. To me anyway.

    I never lasted too long on any of them except the final boss. Like I said they’re all quite easy to figure out. Some attacks that initially seem hard to dodge are easily avoidable once you notice you don’t actually have to jump or over compensate for them.
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2025 at 5:44 PM
  7. DigitalDuck

    DigitalDuck

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    Bullet is usually good for a couple of quick hits too, and Extra can help when playing as Amy or Trip. Most bosses can be beaten in under a minute.
     
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  8. Blue Blood

    Blue Blood

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    It is funny, isn't it?

    Getting hit isn't the problem I have. The bosses aren't hard. They're tedious. That is to they they take a long time and all you to repeat the same low effort tasks over and over. And then on the off chance you DO mess up (or if you're playing in Trip's story), they become brutally punishing. Speed Jungle 2 and Sand Sanctuary are just mind numbingly boring. The final bosses (both variants of Egg Fortress 2 and the Super Sonic fight) bring together all of the worst elements of all of the preceding fights.
     
    Last edited: Feb 7, 2025 at 7:21 PM
  9. raphael_fc

    raphael_fc

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    The boss from the icy level in Trip's story (a blue bird or something) was particularly infuriating to me. Because I couldn't find a clever way to dodge its bombs, and the other bombs break the floor. So I kept dying from bottomless pits over and over and over.
    I've watched a playthrough from Sam Procrastinates and he got stuck in that boss for like 20 minutes, for the same reason.
     
  10. Blue Blood

    Blue Blood

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    The correct strategy for it (and other difficult bosses in Trip's story) is to restart the level, stockpile rings and turn super. It ain't fun, but fuck Trip's story.