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

I think the music is where I am the most mixed currently. I know, unfinished tracks, yada yada but... these are fine, nothing to write home about really... I guess over the years I've definitely become more passive about Tee Lopes style. It's like he has the production polish of Sonic CD (my preferred Sonic soundtrack) and clearly knows how to craft a melody but lacks the grit and crunch that really makes a classic Sonic track pop.

Not to discredit his work on Sonic Mania as his original tracks are good (even if Studiopolis is worn out to my ears nowdays) but it always felt gritless, he needs some distortion! Some of that Genesis funk! These are decent enough but sound very.. I guess obvious? Generic? Regardless, this does sound overall much more enjoyable then most of Forces and Frontier's monotonous dubstep, washy synths, and bad Genesis emulation. Not to say there are not gems from either.

 

This is just speculation… but what if the 5th playable character isn’t trip. It’s possible the 5th character is Metal Sonic for a few reasons:
- it’s the 30th anniversary of Metal Sonic’s debut in Sonic CD and Ohshima (who created Sonic and directed CD) is returning for superstars
- CD’s anniversary is additionally being memorialized in an Amy 30th anniversary comic (which prominently features metal sonic on the cover) this September. Flynn has teased that he is involved with something related to Superstars that isn’t the game… maybe the Amy 30th comic is doubling as a superstars tie-in.
- Additionally, Metal Sonic’s presence would reunite the titular trio from Sonic Triple Trouble (Knuckles, Metal Sonic and Fang). Given the names of the two zones shown off, Superstars seems to be heavily referencing the SMS/GG games so I think this is a possibility.

Again, this is pure speculation. I just wanted to write it before I forget

 

It really sucks knowing that the PC version is like 100% going to have Denuvo so I have to get this on console because game publishers believe in Denuvo's lies. It sucks so bad.

 

Sure it only stops the pirates for like six hours but hey at least it tanks the game's performance and breaks it on all PC platforms but glorious Windows 11!

Love Valve still tolerating this despite their non-Windows gaming console that relies entirely on Steam.

 

I got Sonic Forces a year ago when it was on sale for PC to see if denuvo wrecked the games’ performance. At first I thought it did but then I found out that forces just feels awful to play. Anyways, I will never buy a sonic game on day one for this reason: Sega has forced me to choose between stable performance on consoles and the ability to download mods on pc. I’ll always wait for reviews as some games have better denuvo integration than others. There is no such thing as GOOD denuvo integration, but I guess it is what it is

 

Denuvo is actually effective for much longer periods of time now. You basically have to be insane to crack Denuvo and not just use your skills to get a good job, so almost nobody does it now.

 

Well programming/hacking is no longer just a matter of human effort so I think that's debatable. But good to know that pirates are no longer less screwed over by DRM than paying customers, I guess.

 

According to a machine translations of a new famitsu article, one of the emerald powers is an air dash:
https://xcancel.com/ssf1991/status/1674559665869291528?s=46&t=S0_YkQ8TRA2Bk54XvKgWfw
I haven’t double checked this (because I don’t speak or read Japanese). If true, I hope this controls more like the air dash in Sonic Megamix rather then the air dash in literally every official sonic game lol

 

Yep. Denuvo has become so difficult and time-consuming to crack that only one person really does it anymore, and said person is genuinely batshit crazy with a god complex and racism towards Indians.

 

According to Takashi Iizuka, Sonic Mania development was a huge inspiration to what Sonic Superstars have become.

 

"so basically, we do everything the exact opposite of how they did it and we have a good game".

 

Uh are you saying that Superstars and Mania are not at all similar? Because I'm not sure I agree with that.

 

Exactly. He basically told us the 2D/2.5D sun-genre is here to stay! This should be celebrated! Due to Mania’s success, they lost the fear of accidentally creating another Sonic 4. I see Superstars as our Mania 2 we’ve been expecting.

 

Give it five years...

 

I do agree with it. Mania and Superstars are only really similar in that they're both classic Sonic games made in the modern age. Otherwise, they are fundamentally different games with fundamentally different, almost antithetical goals.

Mania is a celebration of everything that made classic Sonic so beloved. It borrows heavily from past games to the point of lifting entire layouts almost exactly, and crams in every reference and callback just for the sake of appealing to long-time fans. It doesn't really do much new with the formula - it's basically just a really high-quality level pack. Mania is very much made for existing fans of Sonic, specifically 2D classic Sonic.

On the other hand, Superstars completely shakes up the classic formula with the addition of 4-player co-op and the addition of Emerald Powers. It's also got brand-new zones, new mechanics, original characters, and more things that make it stand out as a "new classic Sonic game" in a way that Mania does not. It's also appealing to a significantly wider audience beyond just long-time fans of Sonic. They're clearly targeting families and the general public with the more "cutesy" aesthetic and the 4-player co-op. Superstars is designed for everyone, not just Sonic fans, and I think that makes them very distinct, dissimilar games.

 

My hope for the future is that Ohshima sticks around for multiple 2.5d Classic Sonic titles, meanwhile we could get a 2D Pixel Art Modern Sonic game from Headcanon. Fans have wanted an Advance follow up for years. Stealth has proven in Sonic Megamix that there is potential to explore the modern movesets in 2D. Additionally, The popularity of the movies and frontiers serve as an incentive for sega to release a bunch of sonic games. I’m hopeful that we could get the best of both worlds going forward.

 

If Ohshima sticks around in general and has input on this new Adventure game Iizuka is apparently interested in making...Oh my god...What is this long lost feeling...

 

Monkey's paw: Naka comes back with his one button philosophy

 

I want Evening Star on a 2D Mania successor and Oshima on a new NiGHTS, personally. But let’s see how Superstars turns out first.

 

Well he's in jail so there's no risk of that one happening