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

At the risk of an absolutely bonkers take, I wonder how impressions might've differed if Trip's Story had been added later in an update instead of how it was implemented at launch. I know I like to harp on it, and the game obviously has other flaws, but I can't help think the experience would've at least been smoother. The Super Sonic fight could've directly followed the initial playthrough, there would've been a potential breather before playing Trip's Story, and it would've been something to play for fun instead of to get to the end of the game.

Come to think of it, are this and Sonic Heroes the only games in the series that require multiple near-identical playthroughs to fight the Super boss? Maybe Rush, but that at least scrambles the level order, if I remember correctly.

 

I don't think it needed to be quite a "live service" per say.

The moment people realised the skins had no special effects and some outright lacked features (super forms). It was unlikely people would pay money for them.

But it just seems like the easiest open goal missed in that they just... did nothing...

The pancake thing was the most elaborate partnership and... whatever we think of the skin, from all accounts it was quite successful in terms of promotion for both IHOP and the game.

But not only was there nothing else... they didn't do anything.

For example

"Oh hey, Sonic Prime season 3. Have some prime skins."

"IDW Sonic special is out! Have some IDW skins!"

"We just announced Yakuza X! Here's a Majima skin!"

"It's Sonic Adventures X anniversary! Download the character skin packs today!"

Price or give them away as you like. Then... I dunno 1 year later you can bundle all the free and paid for/promotional skins + digital deluxe edition into some kind of GOTY package.

For those who already own the game, some kind of "upgrade" charge to unlock it all.

It just seems so strange to me that it's such an obvious thing they could do to try and keep people into their game and promote their other brands/deals but they never did outside of pancakes.

 

Rush also had literally only two characters too, and also had Blaze have different traversal abilities than Sonic (and also did not need to do Special Stages as the Sol Emeralds are plot macguffins), and also remixed the level music. So it had far less of a chance to wear out itself than something like Heroes, where everything felt samey even if Team Rose had their stages end halfway through and Chaotix had...whatever the hell Chaotix had.

 

Beat the Dragon. This one is a bad fight because it’s pretty much based on luck. I happen to get the Ring Boxes right before the second phase (which I understand you get for avoiding “harm” for a while...didn’t seem entirely consistent)...AND Knuckles flew in twice during the targets.

Anyway aside from this boss and Fang for having to redo so much I still think the game is better than most everyone else. Honestly my only significant complaint is the vague storyline. Would have been awesome to have more animated cutscenes but I said this already.

Don’t really care about the costumes since they don’t do anything special. Only one I really like is IHOP Amy. I wish they made her a plush. I forgot to mention before I love that her Emerald Power is becoming a Hammer Brother, haha. That was such a cute surprise.

 

I wan a say that there is a way to sort of trigger Tails and Knuckles and their ring deliveries.

I dont remember how, but I wanna say it's something to do with how well you evade the boss or if you move to a "new" location.

It doesn't excuse it, it's still a really bad fight and the fact you have to perform well for the things which are designed to save you from making a mistake is counter productive.

But I do remember when I fought it there was a method to try and trigger the ring drops.

 

Yes, I think it just involves not getting hit for a certain amount of time or something like that? I only found out about it after I'd already beaten the boss, and had no desire to go back to verify whether it was true or not. Nothing in the fight actually clues you into how that mechanic works, so I have to admit when I played through I'd assumed the drops just happened at random.

 

Well my last couple attempts I got much better at avoiding black holes and fireballs so that must be it but it still seems kind of random.

Wanted to say I came across a glitch but maybe it’s already been pointed out.

Sometimes if you get caught in a black hole at the very bottom of the screen you get stuck. It won’t suck you in and you can’t dash. Happened 3 times. Twice it corrected itself but once I just had to wait for the rings to run out.

 

So yeah, Superstars did 2.4 Million

 

But I thought Sonic Superstars flopped guys D:

 

Makes me wonder what Sega was expecting from it, it hit 1.8 million in its launch year which is pretty good, especially for something that had to compete directly with Mario Wonder

 

"Sonic Frontiers sold HOW much last year?"
"These idiots will buy anything!"
"Oh no..."

 

Yep, sounds like Retro all right

 

Yeah, and it passed 1 million right away as well during the first weeks it went on sale considering it charted higher than other games that we officially know sold 1 million copies.

Not only did it go against Mario and other heavy hitters, but it released in between movies so it quite didn't have that synergy that S2/Frontiers and especially S3/SxS Generations got.

Dare I say that if Sega hadn't abandoned the game and addressed the single/multi-player complaints, plus having the DLC not be a mess it probably would've had done better than it did.

 

In all seriousness, they were probably banking on the Japanese market to do decently. Instead it did abysmal. Whatever forecast they had would have missed the mark because those Japanese launch numbers were pathetic. Still, for being carried entirely by the Western markers, the game didn't do bad at all. There's clearly a market for more 2D Sonic. Just not in Japan.

 

2.4 mil is better than the game deserves, honestly. SEGA should be more than happy with that number.

 

Great numbers for a decent game. Hopefully we get a sequel in a couple of years

 

It did better than I thought, honestly. Hope they make a Switch 2 version so I can play it not with assy visuals

 

I'd pay for a Switch 2 upgrade. Heck, I'd consider paying for a while Switch 2 copy after an eventual price drop.

But I ain't paying for a game key card.

 

That would be a great opportunity for Sonic Team to fix the bosses, the OST, the gliding and add splitscreen...

 

Given how Sega themselves expressed disappointment with the launch results and the radio silence since, on top of everything else (namely the release environment and the game’s reception—in general, let alone compared to Mania and SMB Wonder) it’s not hard to draw the conclusion that the game underperform. Needless to say I wouldn’t had imagined it cracked even one million, let alone nearly 2.5 million. I really wish we had Mania’s LTD numbers, Superstars’ sales honestly are the type of numbers I was rooting for Mania to (eventually) hit given its quality and low price point.

IMO this leaves MD/2D Sonic is a very weird spot, since we do now have some confirmation that it actually sold better than a lot of us would had expected given the initial response. I’d also add that for me, it’s (more) vindication that Sega on paper made the correct move in making the next 2D Sonic after Mania a major retail release, instead of another digital side-entry like Mania and Sonic 4. But most people would say it falls short than the MD originals/Mania; and Sega’s not really talked much about Superstars, or the future of 2D/MD Sonic, following its release.

Which leads to the question of where do we go from here. The natural response in a vacuum would be to make another 2D/MD entry but speaking for myself (though I imagine I’m not alone). I would rather the next effort to be something the producer/development team both understand and are thrilled to be making; compared to Superstars, which while having its moments felt more akin to a contractural obligation project.

If the goal for the next 2D/MD game isn’t to produce or supervise the making of another MD game on the level of the MD originals and Mania (and the relaxed creative control/different design philosophies that would come with that decision). Then I’d rather Sega/ST go off and do something else. Like doing a modern revival of the Rush/Boost gameplay—not the binary platforming with a boost gauge we’ve gotten since Colors/Generations; a full-on naturalization of the DS games’ gameplay, Advance 2’s gameplay, and Unleashed’s reflex-based 2D sections.

That or something inspired by the Advance games, but going in a different gameplay direction in regards to its core mechanics (that is to say, a playstyle where the secondary mechanics from the Advance titles are more meaningful/integral; i.e. combat focused). Or some other third thing better suited to their design philosophies that the developers/producers actually want to commit towards. I’d also gladly take a fourth option where they finally make a 3D MD game, but again—have a team that knows what they’re doing and are excited about what they’re making; ergo back to square one of this paragraph.

On a final note—between the vast amounts of 2D gameplay/sections in recent/non-MD Sonic games; and Mania actually becoming one of the better-selling third-party launch year games on the Switch eShop in Japan. I don’t fully buy the notion of 2D Sonic being completely anemic in Japan. If anything I’d say the previous two points likely built up a better environment for Superstars to do decent, if not even better than past efforts—it’s just that once again (and the recurring theme of my post and this game), the execution was not up to par and a lot of baked-in potential was sorely wasted.