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

I said it before, there is value in a lot of the level design and stage mechanics of 4. You can riff on a lot of the level aesthetics such that they don't actually have to be identical to existing stages without changing the themes themselves (as we are literally seeing with Superstars). An authentic remake of 4, whether from fans or SEGA, would be the hypest shit to me.

 

By doing nothing more than just removing all speed boosters and all Bubbles chains, Sonic 4 would already be instantly improved substantially. I'd love to see that done.

Furthermore, in my opinion Sky Fortress Zone Act 2 and Act 3 are better renditions of Wing Fortress Zone, both in level designs and music tracks, so I definitely don't think the prospect of an improved Sonic 4 would be entirely fruitless.

 

4’s stage mechanics and level design are summed up by that point in Oil Desert Act 1 where you have to put up with the lousy flight mechanic over possibly the longest bottomless pit in the series and there’s no alternative paths to avoid it.

 

No they aren't.

 

Nope
This is now going to be another whale on the list to chase
"The TRUE Sonic 4"
"Sonic Adventure 3"
"Sonic Mania 2"
"Sonic Labyrinth 0"
And now
"God I wish we had a Sonic Superstars 2"

 

Sonic Superstars randomly reminded me of this.

 

I mean, if you wanna take my tongue-in-cheek comment at face value and just assume we're all pining for a sequel to a game that hasn't even come out yet... well, I can't exactly stop ya.

Besides, I don't think there's anything wrong with people looking at the best aspects of their favorite games and saying "man, wouldn't it be cool to have more of this great thing?"

 

Y'know, there's 2 random positives to this game that I thought about today.

For one, iirc the last 2 big releases Arzest developed had public demos before launch. Sooo I'm not getting my hopes sky high, but I think there is a greater chance we see a demo for Superstars at some point in the future, at least... a greater chance than if it were just a Sonic Team game.

For another thing, the fact that this game exists and isn't a complete dumpster fire so far means it's probably more likely they do it again. It's not like the post-Mania situation where Mania was really like an anniversary kind of thing, we will have an actual example of a new classic Sonic game working for SEGA and Sonic Team. I know some of us thought another classic game was a no-brainer after Mania's success, but according to Iizuka it seems like they couldn't all agree on how to get the next 2D Sonic project off the ground... but Iizuka and Ohshima seem to agree on this new direction, so it's probably a lot easier to say "let's do more of that" and just greenlight a sequel. At least personally, if Superstars does well in terms of sales and reception, I feel safe in assuming they'll do another.

 

Sonic Labyrinth 0 was too subtle I guess

My hope is that they don't let this foundation go to waste in any future 2.5D projects they want to implement and maybe inspire them to do implement it in 3D. But since this is still a 3rd party joint, I doubt Sonic Team themselves will adopt the methods into their own games. We just have to hope that they continue to do these collaborations.

 

In hindsight, if this is Unreal Engine 4 (or 5, but probably 4) because Arzest, it's not quite the same modding the HE community's built up but UE is so moddable that you can still insert new levels, assets and so forth. By all accounts, people have multiplayer working in Kingdom Hearts III and got weird stuff like a super alpha prototype of working online MP in the Spyro trilogy; Superstars already has the multiplayer code for local, maybe it's too high an expectation but with probably some direct IP tomfoolery I can imagine a really dedicated person tapping into that.

 

I don’t mean to turn the conversation back to Sonic 4, but if superstar is made in Unity I honestly expect the first level mods to be ports of the Sonic 4 stages. The levels are already in 3D and unlike generations (which doesn’t have accurate classic physics but now has mods that makes the game feel much better) there would be a big improvement from just the physics

 

Sonic Superstars will be the first game where we will be creating mods to make the game worse

 

Lmao

Redo the whole soundtrack with the Sonic 4 instruments

Sonic 06 character models + voice acting for every action

 

Sonic Superstars hack - Bound Rings from Knuckles Chaotix

 

They said made the game worse, not better

 

Have you not seen the Unleashed voice mods for modern games?

 

Sonic & Knuckles is the true Sonic 4.

Fight me.

 

Unironically agree.

4 player combi ring co op?? You and 3 friends getting flung in every direction at all times??? Sounds like a blast.