Sonic Superstars

I hate being a cynic. Especially about Sonic, a series I loved as a child and which has had a lot of knocks over the years, many of them unfairly. But Sonic Superstars is bad. The story itself is fine, if it jumps around a bit. The main issue I have is with the gameplay, which seems to involve countless cheap deaths, overlong and sometimes tedious boss fights (which are a big pain if you end up dying just before the last hit), and multiple gimmicks and 'emerald powers' per level, which can be disorienting. It also suffers from middling presentation. Levels themselves are nicely designed, but textures look messy on Switch and the soundtrack is very inconsistent in quality. There's a few bops here and there, but much of it reminds me of Sonic 4. There's also choppy loading on the Switch, which doesn't help. I didn't dislike the entire game, I had fun with some of the earlier levels, but overall I think this is simply a bad mark against the Hedgehog. I would have taken another Mania over this any day.

If you love or prefer the Sonic Mania/Genesis style of play this isn't that. The game is very derivative and reminiscent of previous concepts in an unflattering way. Much like the STH4 staff did phoning in the level themes if you've played the original iconic Sonic 1-3 levels you've already seen the themes for this game and unlike in Sonic Mania there are no remarkable innovations here. The level design is usually a centerpiece of the Sonic experience. This game plays more vertically in every stage and is less interested in encouraging the use of rollercoaster-like momentum as the adrenaline-inducing levels of games past have been. It seems like a better-polished Sonic 4 or Sonic Generations Act 1-style sequel than an homage to the 2D Genesis Sonic style that was marketed in the promotional materials, which I'd hoped the gameplay to emulate. The music and the new gameplay mechanics are also uninspired and forgettable.

Sonic superstars is a fun classic 2D Sonic game that doesn’t really try to hard to be all new but serviceable if you want a new mania. Recommend to play on sale because 60$ is pretty steep price for this

Sonic Superstars creates a marriage between the 2D Sonic style fans of the franchise know and love, and 3D textures. The result is an experience that feels fresh. Being able to choose between four different characters and use their unique abilities definitely add to the intrigue for this one. Superstars has eleven zones and is a fairly quick play-through, which is a good thing. This game can be a lot of fun, but it can also be incredibly difficult and mentally break you when it comes to boss fights. I know I got close to giving up a few times. The end result is worth it though, as Sonic Superstars serves as another classic Sonic gameplay focused entry in the series.

Somehow they made a Sonic game that plays well, but looks and sounds kinda meh. Has the world gone mad.

I was really looking forward to this game ever since it was announced, but I ended up being extremely disappointed because of the poor level design and the atrocious boss fights that drag on and on. I do not recommend this game, if you want Classic Sonic, play Sonic Origins or Sonic Mania.