Sonic Superstars Offers a Promising Future – Hands-On Preview

Sonic Superstars marks a delightful return to classic 2D Sonic gameplay while introducing innovative elements that breathe new life into the franchise.

Sonic Superstars is nothing short of a revelation. It’s a refreshing and imaginative reinvention of the beloved 2D Sonic gameplay that makes you question why the franchise has remained stagnant for so long. In a recent hands-on gameplay preview, GamesHub got an exciting taste of what this game has to offer.

Sonic Superstars seems to have a profound understanding of what initially captivated fans about the Sonic series. It retains the exhilarating speed, vibrant and beautifully crafted environments, challenging platforming segments, entertaining mini-games, and rewarding exploration that Sonic fans have cherished for years.

The game checks many boxes that Sonic enthusiasts hold dear. Whether you’re playing as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, or Amy, you’re thrust into an enchanting world teeming with creatures. Your mission is to dash, jump, and navigate through stages, uncovering secrets and power-ups along the way, all while chasing the nefarious Doctor Eggman to thwart his evil plans. However, Sonic Superstars introduces a twist to this familiar formula.

In this installment, you can discover multiple Chaos Emeralds within each stage, each granting a unique superpower upon collection. These powers range from the ability to become a water being, enabling you to scale waterfalls, to the power to split into multiple clones and hurl yourself at bosses. Other emeralds offer the ability to grow vines, shoot forward mid-air, or slow down time for precise reactions.

While these power-ups might initially seem like gimmicks, they add depth to the Sonic Superstars world, altering the secrets you can uncover and encouraging exploration. The game also introduces unique traversal mechanics for each character. Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, and Tails each bring their own set of skills, allowing you to venture deeper into stages, discover special collectibles, new gems, and hidden power-ups.

Although the stages in Sonic Superstars might resemble their classic counterparts, they are notably more expansive and encourage extensive exploration. While time still drives your high-speed journey, multiple pathways, each hiding secrets, entice you to leave the beaten path and explore the full breadth of each level.

If you’re aiming for speed records, you can stick to highways that catapult you towards the exit with vivid, eye-popping visuals whizzing past. However, with Chaos Emeralds and other rewards hidden in tall streams, behind mountains, and along concealed ledges, there’s ample incentive to slow down and savor the experience.

Furthermore, exploring levels with different characters yields unique rewards. Sonic and Amy excel at offense with their speed and melee abilities, with Amy’s hammer providing protection against enemy attacks. Knuckles and Tails also shine in Sonic Superstars, thanks to the game’s vertical level design. To access certain secrets, precise platforming, vine climbing, well-timed jumps, and accurate throws are required, making it essential to experiment with various characters.

Sonic Superstars embraces an open level design that elevates the game significantly. It feels like a natural evolution of the Sonic franchise, incorporating modern features and fluidity while preserving the classic essence of the original Sonic trilogy. The characters retain their distinct movements and special abilities from the original trilogy, making it a nostalgic experience for fans. Each character seamlessly integrates into Sonic Superstars’ design.

During the GamesHub gameplay preview, four opening levels of the game were playable, along with a unique Battle Mode offering competitive multiplayer games, providing a refreshing break from platforming.

While these four levels retain the charm of their predecessors, they offer unique reinterpretations in various ways. Both the grass and sunset stages introduce fresh running mechanics and obstacles such as bridges with bullets to dodge, treadmills to charge, and end-game chases that require puzzle-solving and quick thinking.

The digital stage, however, stands out as the most original and impressive of the bunch. This neon-infused level transforms Sonic and the gang into blocky, 3D pixel versions of themselves. They morph into pixel jellyfish and pixel rockets, leading to captivating traversal mini-games. As a jellyfish, you must blob and boost past enemies, avoiding obstacles and spikes. As a rocket, you must blast through various bricks, collecting speed boosts and avoiding walls. The action is frenetic and visually stunning, adding a new layer of challenge to the game.

In many ways, this later stage embodies the core principles of Sonic Superstars. It pays homage to the series’ legacy while subverting expectations, offering new challenges, gameplay mechanics, abilities, and collectibles that make the game feel like a breath of fresh air.

Sonic Superstars has absorbed the essential elements of the classic 2D Sonic games and enriched them with creativity and freedom. After more than an hour with the game, it left us with a sense of hope for the future of the Sonic franchise.

Sonic Superstars is set to launch on October 17, 2023, for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.