32 years later, Sonic Superstars proves that new 2D Sonic games can still be good – hands-on

The strange years of rest for Sonic the Hedgehog are over. Last year’s Sonic Frontiers managed to break a trend of less-than-impressive 3D Sonic games, and was a critical and commercial success for Sega. Despite some hiccups with Sonic Origins and its slightly rocky launch, blue blur has also shown that it can still inspire childlike wonder in 2D space; Sonic Mania is one of the best pet platform games released outside of the 90s.

And Sonic Superstars is set to continue Sega’s redemption arc. Eschewing the pixel style of Sonic’s heritage in favor of brighter, brighter 3D HD graphics, Sonic Superstars remixes the Sonic formula for 2023. But it does so with respect, acknowledging what came before while introducing a bevy of new ideas and powers, and the result is surprisingly very good.

The Sonic Superstars announcement itself was met with sidelong glances and the sound of jeers from adults in their 30s and 40s. The memory of the gruesome spinoff Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is still fresh in the minds of many, after all. But, in the hands, Sonic Superstars is more than just a cynical cashier; is a clever and fun little cooperative game that feels more like a continuation of the blue blob legacy than any of the flops of the last few decades.

The demo I played at Summer Game Fest had both the Bridge Island Zone and the Speed ​​Jungle Zone; the first was the game’s version of Green Hill Zone, and the second was packed with neat little gimmicks that really nailed the idea of ​​speed and discovery in one. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy are all playable and you can bring up to three other friends so you can take the entire cast for a ride at once if you wish.

And, the minute you step away from the starting block, you start to realize what’s great about this game. It feels good; It’s not floaty, the boost is reasonable and readable, and there’s a really good sense of speed and power with each character. Sonic retains the falling run he was given in Mania, Amy can hit things with her hammer, Tails can fly, and Knuckles can slide and climb, and they all feel like you’d expect. Knuckles handles like he did in S3 & K, which was enough to keep me interested. This feels more like Mania than Sonic Forces, so it’s a big tick in the right frame.

The bonus stage, accessed via large spinning rings hidden in secret corners of the stage, naturally, is a nice and fun distraction that has you swinging from grappling spots as you hunt for a large Chaos Emerald floating in the void. Time well, have a sense of momentum and collect rings along the way, and attack the Emerald in time. It honors Sonic’s minigames of the past while introducing something new (and tossing Sonic onto the screen and seeing his little mouth and nose tilt at you is just adorable).

Catching a gem grants you new powers, the central cheat of the game. The two on offer in the demo were the ability to turn into water and shoot waterfalls, and the ability to summon clones of yourself to run around the stage taking out visible enemies. These are fun little distractions that can make gameplay easier or help you find secret collectibles, but they don’t change Sonic’s basic bread and butter all that much.

Ping your checkpoints and you’ll gain access to Sonic 1’s rotating bonus stages (which offer medals, rather than emeralds) and reach the end of Act 1 to interact with mini-boss or fixed pieces that maintain the levels of relatively high emotion. My only real issues with the demo gameplay are the bosses; they’re retreads of old Robotnik encounters that fall apart in a few hits, or predictable ‘I’m going to make you hurt yourself!’ fights that don’t really add anything to the series, and feel more like roadblocks than climaxes.

However, that’s a small complaint and something easily rectified in the main game (if the bosses get better in the other levels). This is an interesting and fun love letter to Sonic that shows that there’s still room for all-new Sonic experiences, and that remixes and re-releases like Mania and Origins aren’t the only ways to make this series relevant again, some three decades after Sonic. the Phenomenon entertained us in the 90s.

Sonic Superstars launches for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC in 2023.