Sonic Superstars (2023)

I've seen a lot of different takes for this one, though the most baffling to me is "it's a completely by-the-numbers 2D Sonic that does the bare minimum and offers nothing new." I'd argue against that: we've finally got decent Sonic physics for a 3D-graphics style (unlike Sonic 4, AKA "The Travesty"), five playable characters (one being a new one, who plays great), plenty of levels (several of which spice things up in new ways, at times incorporating clever new gimmicks), entirely new special stages (which I personally enjoyed), new special abilities to utilize upon collecting each Chaos Emerald (my personal favorite addition, particularly for the exploration-related abilities that made level revisits more interesting), more engaging bosses that you can't just cheese (a reasonable complaint for older Sonic games, being that you can just bash the enemy repeatedly via invincibility frames upon taking damage), a multiplayer battle mode with plenty of unlockables (not really my thing, but still welcome), and a hard-mode campaign that unlocks after your first playthrough (a great way to revist a game IMO).

All that said, I think Sonic Superstars is... just fine. It's a good, decent, all right game. Nothing that super-impressed me (save for the aforementioned Chaos Emerald abilities), but nothing that I thought was really bad either (save for the co-op play, which as I expected, was a total crapshoot). Since this was the dev team's first crack at a 2D Sonic game though, I'd call it a solid foundation for them to build off of for a hopefully even better sequel.

Man...what is, just...what happened.

The first half of this was tremendous, that alone better than the entirety of Sonic Mania, but the second half...level design and boss fights fall of a goddang cliff. It's such a shame. The second half is so rough - not BAD, just rough - that it makes me not even want to try and finish the game now :/

I still maintain that it's a better game than Mania, which felt at times bloated, convoluted and way overstaying its welcome and that its original level designs were more often than not awful while its "remake" designs were tremendous, but I will say that at least it didn't completely tonally change halfway through.

Damn.

I beat this one last night, but I'm playing through a second time. I have a sneaking suspicion this is gonna be one of those Nier Automata situations... People dismissing the game not knowing that a first play is not the whole game.

Okay, so, spoilers kinda, playing through the game once with Sonic or whoever is not the full game. There's a second, harder campaign with remixed levels and a new character.

This is where Sonic Superstars really elevates. It gives me some serious DKC vibes. I'm frustrated, but I keep trying because nothing is unfair.

I love this game. It's excellent. It has a few little issues I'll highlight in my review, but overall, this is an excellent platformer, and one I think is being unfairly dismissed.

Started this one up and played maybe half the story mode... This game's great! I will make a final verdict when I finish it, but I'm overall enjoying this one a bit more than Mario Wonder.

I'm really quite baffled by the 74 review average though. The only thing I can think of that I would consider a major knock against it is the price... But it's also a Sega game. Sega tends to launch games at full price and rapidly mark down. I paid $50 vs. the $80 MSRP. I think that's the right price for this one, given the scope of the game.

If you're going to evolve the classic sidescroller Sonic formula without leaning too hard on the Genesis stuff, I think this is exactly how you do it (and not Sonic 4). I think Mania 2 would have felt like "Oh, another one" if it had come out, where this one tries to shake things up, and I really appreciate that about it.

As a generality I always liked Sonic more than Mario... Mario has generally been even-keel "good" but rarely exceptional, where for me, Sonic has been exceptional (Genesis games, Mania, Generations 3DS, Frontiers) occasionally, but also utterly baffling garbage (Forces, 06, Adventure, etc.). So when Sonic hits, it REALLY hits for me.

Holy flipping shit. Who the hell thought the final boss of this game was a good idea? It's one of the most tedious, annoying, time-consuming bosses I have encountered.

Little did I know that I would soon encounter even a worse boss: the final boss of the extra game mode. Nothing lifts your spirits like dying of one hit after a nine and a half minute battle with a boss. Especially when that hit comes from a move that had a different area of effect than you saw the last time. Top it off with some glitches where your attacks to the boss don't register each time. Chef's kiss.

Like Jesus Christ almighty, I just spent more than two hours just trying and trying the boss without success. I was a bit on the fence about this game but I'm getting really sour about this mediocre piece of blandness that's best at making me remember just how good Mania was.