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

At the end of 2022 Ian talked about the Freedom Fighters stating that his attempt to bring them back has being much harder than it looks.

7:38

 

Unpopular opinion but I don’t like them continuing to make “Classic Sonic Games”.

I mean why not just use the Modern designs in all 2D and 3D games? They fit both styles of art and gameplay. I guess it’s doable but it’s weird to keep adding games/storylines to the 90s era. If Superstars used the Modern designs I doubt anyone would have complained (well maybe a few).

Ya I know some don’t care or think they’re one-in-the-same and people like me are reading too much into it but I’ve always loved Modern Sonic. It’s cool to see him and everyone as older and think they grew throughout the series (even if their given ages are a static number).

I think it’s fine for Superstars since we’ve never had a game with the Classic models in 3D cgi but going forward the Modern designs should be used imo. Sorry but I cannot help but view them as past/younger - current/older. That was the point.

It seems Superstars has something to do with the Flickies. Maybe it could be some kind of spiritual successor to 3D Blast. Either way it definitely takes place BEFORE SA to me. Ya Shadow would not fit but I still believe the Freedom Fighters will return eventually.

 

Because the classic designs are awesome and people like them.

 

Thanks for sharing that, I hadn’t heard that bumblekast. I greatly appreciate Flynn’s efforts to bring the freedom fighters back and I’m not surprised that it’s difficult for them to return. My hope is that Flynn could make the argument that the inclusion of the freedom fighters in a co-op game would present an opportunity for Sega to profit off the nostalgia of SATAM and archie fans. It’s absolutely unlikely… but (after long depressing stretches) many unlikely things have happened in the history of Sonic. And that includes the surprise reveal of Superstars and the return of Ohshima.

 

I get the impression that Sonic Team isn't thinking too deeply about the timeline/lore of the designs anymore, and is just going with what designs they think fits the mood of the respective game better. Classic Sonic in this case is a much better fit for Superstars than Modern Sonic, who is just coming off from Frontiers, which has a very different tone. From a marketing standpoint, it sells the idea that Classic is the more "lighthearted" adventures, and Modern is the more "serious" adventures. Time will tell though if this is the actual idea they're going for.

 

Hey Buddy, I think you got the wrong thread. The unpopular opinion is 9 threads down.

 

So far, I like the split as used now. Superstars would indeed not work as well if it used the modern designs. It coming after Frontiers doesn't seem like a pivot but a parallel, and it's great. I wish that's how the releases of Mania and Forces felt like, where instead of feeling like contradictions, they complemented each other.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog also tells me that just because Modern Sonic is more serious doesn't mean that every game will be as epic and somber as Frontiers, which is also good.

 

Fbnnng you!

 

It'd be so fun to have the entire historical classic cast but that'd be so much more work added and I can't imagine having Mighty without Ray if they did JUST Chaotix extras, or having only Mighty and Ray and none of the rest of the Chaotix cast.

Also yeah it is a little strange they're so hell bent on never using the western characters even though they're arguably so much less obscure than Ray, Honey, Bark, and Bean before their eventual re-emergences as part of a game (Well, in Honey's case, that's litterally been never, she's just been allowed to show up in artwork and external media after she was finished for Sonic the Fighters 2012) but IDK if any of them would make sense in a game like Superstars that doesn't have buttons for secondary actions like Sonic Advance.

 

might be a controversial opinion but I think this looks way better than her regular classic outfit

 

Classic Amy is a bizarre mishmash of colors that I assume people don't bring up largely because of how rare she appears. Meanwhile the modern design keeps her to shades of red and pink, with some white and gold, and doesn't look jarring. It's the same color theory they use for Sonic and co.

Though saying that, I wouldn't mind the green somewhere, like on her boots.

 

I like her classic outfit, but I don’t know if I can disagree with this. It’s definitely more cohesive - the color scheme makes me think of a Valentine, which goes perfectly with Amy’s most definitive characteristic. The green/orange outfit is cute but doesn’t really match.

 

That's good. There's no way one screen would work consistently through the game.

It's just nice to have varying art styles from game to game, is all.

 

I don't know if it's intentional, but I find it interesting Classic Amy's normal color scheme has the same colors you see in Collision Chaos Present, aka the zone often associated with Amy in general:

Pink foreground, green grass, orange bushes, light blue scaffolding, red pinball mechanics.

 

Thats something I really miss about 00s Sonic. You had the mainline games but also the angular Sonic Battle designs, Riders’ stylish anime designs, and Rush’s Jet Set Radio inspired cel shading, for example. Nowadays everything is kind of bland in comparison.

 

I’m not the first person to make this point but during this time, Sonic Mega Collection Plus had modern sonic on the boxart. “Modern” and “Classic” Sonic were just two of many different artstyles in use at the time

 

Well the variations in art in those side games were still the Modern versions just done in different styles and putting the Modern designs on Mega Collection made sense because it’s their history.

Of course I like the Classic designs since I’ve always loved the characters but I think separating them into 2 different types of games (I don’t mean universes) is silly.

Again I think it’s fine for this. I like them in Superstars because like I said they’ve never had their own game with proper 3D graphics. I just thought this would be more of a novelty. Like a Lost 90s game that connects eras.

 

Honestly, I think the classic designs work not only for conveying tone but also, in ideal circumstances, acting as visual shorthand for classic gameplay. The squat, round shape design of the classic cast gels much better with the momentum-focused gameplay of these games than the modern cast because they look much more like they can curl into a ball at a moment's notice. The classic designs and the Mega Drive gameplay are inextricably linked and I think it's smart to keep using that link for easy communication.

If I were to see the modern designs in a fully 2D context, I'd expect it to be a successor to the Advance or Rush titles, which is something I really want, but serves a different niche to the classic titles since they have extra layers of technicality added to their movement systems and much more prominent gimmicks. I do, however, wish that the classic/modern divide wouldn't limit the classic characters from showing up in modern settings. I can understand this going the other way because classic is the past, but the lack of the classic exclusive characters in the modern setting remains a sore reminder of the separate dimensions shenanigans.

 

Well, I loved "Modern Sonic" back in the SA and SA2 days too. As a different take on Sonic. Much like Paper Mario isn't "normal mario" and consists of a different take on that character. And Nintendo Fans know and acknowledge it. Heck, if you go play Mario Maker you'll have like, what, 5 different Marios?

IMHO the issue I (and many others) have with modern Sonic started at around the time Rivals 2 came out. This was the moment when SEGA somewhat "averaged", "tamed" and "normalized" modern Sonic into this neutered amalgamation of different design standards. Not long after that, in 06, we could still see alot of that early 00s edge in "modern Sonic". The grin, and serious and determined (in a shonen-like but also hip hop inspired) gaze was there, and so were the longer limbs so typical of the artwork we'd see in Jet Set Radio.

Gradually after that, this vision of "modern sonic" just waned, and we eventually ended up with what we have today -- which was cemented with Unleashed. And while unleashed was a great game IMO, I am not a fan of the great averaging of Sonic's design that we got from it. It was like one massive decharacterization effort, where neither the shonen action hero charm of classic is there, neither the urban edge of modern. It's just... well... I don't what would be the most correct word to use, but sort of soulless...?

Either way, thankfully, I feel like SEGA is much more open minded these days, and I am sure that eventually we will see a redesign of modern Sonic for the better.

 

Ya they did get rid of the grin and there is a difference in each model from SA to Unleashed. I’m not sure it was intentionally forming him into the current state though. Just the difference in each games development and hardware?

I personally don’t find him soulless or de-characterized but I see what you mean.