Sonic Superstars

Sonic Superstars is a delightful return to the retro classic, with a nice blend of new abilities and a reimagined 2D world. The platforming was also a step-up from older titles..

While it did excel at some parts, it failed at others.. like boss fights! some were great but overall lackluster and boring. Textures also looked like 2 steps backward and SEGA didn't do it justice as it did with 3D titles!

Still it was fairly an enjoyable experience.

I am not a huge sonic fan, so this review can hopefully help anyone who is thinking of playing 2d sonic for the first time. Before getting into the gameplay, everything surrounding the game is awesome. The visuals (which is the main reason I wanted to play this game) are amazing. The colours really pop for all the characters and all the bright environments. The zones also have pretty great themes to explore and look at in awe. The music is also top notch, with great sound effects and super catchy melodies. These to me make this a solid entry point for potential new players. If you're skeptical about whether or not this gameplay is for you or not, well at least the visuals and music are as incredible as they are that worst case, you'll at least play the game for those reasons. I can't really tell you if the level designs and movement is as good as other sonic games as I don't play many at all. I can say for people who are like me who "don't get how to play sonic", it might feel like you're just going through the motions, but when you build momentum and go fast, it feels good. That's the best I can explain for newcomers, it might not feel like you're always in control, but when you're going fast, you kind of don't care because zooming through is just pure fun. If going fast, even for 1 minute of a stage seems fun to you, (it does for me) then I do recommend giving this a try to new players

A brand new 2D Sonic that is a really solid follow up to Mania.

Superstars plays exactly like how you would expect a 2D Sonic to play. All the satisfying momentum and great level design you know from Sonic 2, 3 and Mania are here. The most drastic change here is that the graphics now use 3D over 2D sprites. To some this is a downgrade, however the models and artstyle is really well done and charming, I see it as a nice alternative instead of a downgrade.

The biggest detriment here is the music is honestly nothing special. For a Sonic game, that is usually a big flaw and for me takes this an entire point down.

Other than that, Superstars doesn't do much besides coop to differentiate itself from the other titles. It's just another really well made 2D Sonic game with all original zones, as opposed to Mania where only half of it was original zones. Any fan of Sonic should try this one.

It's intriguing to play another Ohshima-directed 2D Sonic game after it's been so long since Sonic CD.

Overall I'd say this is a solid 2D Sonic platformer with some issues, though I think most of these issues would become an absolute pain with the multiplayer. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would have. The main issues I think would be both the the boss philosophy where you can only hit Eggman/miniboss at certain moments and the music overall is pretty good but I wish Jun Senoue would find a YM2612 and the correct instruments so his compositions can properly emulate the Sonic 3 Genesis sound like this.

Bosses can get a little cheap at times but my favs were some of the later bosses surprisingly. I don't really hate them, but some of the earlier midbosses have a certain tedium waiting for the moment to strike...I think the later level bosses are a little better about this. I'll be playing this off and on throughout the year though, as 2D Sonic is best on frequent playthroughs.

This is gonna be the bast sonic game ever!!!!

Single Player 7
Co-Op 8
Time attack without bosses 8