Sonic Superstars - SPOILER Thread

[10e10]

33 minutes ago, Red Hot Jack said:

I'm playing it, I found it at a smaller local shop.

I'm only doing story mode for now, on the one hand I'm glad you can switch characters in the hubworld (which is very Gens like), and I don't have to do 4 exact same walkthroughs of the game, but at the same time this kinda makes the game even shorter. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of content, 12 all new zones with a boss at the end of each act, extra acts like the character specific acts, the bonus fruit act, but it still gives the "short Sonic game" vibe, I know people prefer a short good experience, but personally it's not worth 60.

The game itself is good, yeah battle mode haven't tried yet but it sounds quite cheap, if it's gonna be fun it's gonna be some madness fun. Plus, I get a glitch. when I get the notification I unlocked new parts on the shop, then it says "go to the shop" and it doesn't show new parts, I go back to the story hub, and I get the same notification again.

Anyway the game itself is quite nice, as I was saying it's still the most polished Sonic game to date, it's not Mania level of attention and passion, but it's still a good effort, it's more like Generations, I'm not sure if it's because of the graphics, but it's not the physics, they nailed those as well as the level design, some stages are better designed than others though, but there is quality in all of them so far, I'm on zone 6 at the moment.

The emerald powers don't add much but it's an extra move, I can't complain, plus there is a prompt that selects 1 power when the stage calls for it, and you can choose to activate it immediately instead of selecting it from the powers wheel. It's useful for example with the vision power, I don't know when to use it but the promt tells me when it's useful without activating it for me. They are all optional, basically they listened to the opinion that the wisps were too much of a focus, I feel.

The characters all play well as expected, and beginners can select the tutorial stages anytime, for all the characters and the powers after you unlock them.

Can you tell me about the Super forms? Do Tails, Knuckles and Amy get real Super forms, or how do they look?

[Red Hot Jack]

28 minutes ago, 10e10 said:

Can you tell me about the Super forms? Do Tails, Knuckles and Amy get real Super forms, or how do they look?

I'm still on zone 6, I have 3 emeralds, once I get them all, I will talk about them.

[Jango]

So just like Mania, I've watched most of the leaked stream. Unlike Mania, I didn't cried like a little bitch after watching the opening animation for the very first time, but then again, SEGA themselves shared it months ago on YouTube, unlike Mania, which was only shared AFTER the leaked stream... So part of the magic of seeing it before anyone else simply wasn't there anyways (also the animation itself and the song is not nearly as good as Mania's).

But enough with the sentimental part:

Spoiler

Physics are there. No arguing here. Feels heavier in some cases, but I'm not the one playing, so I'll save this judgement. But it's not Sonic 4 or classic Gens/Forces for sure.

First 4 zones = great to awesome.

Next 4 zones = goes down hard, with a few exceptions.

>Golden Capital had such a unique aesthetic, but the level design (especially ACT KNUCKLES) is just a hot mess. 

>Press Factory has an annoying gimmick ala Sandopolis Act 2 / Mania's Oil Ocean Act 2 throughout both acts, the one in Act 2 is also an instakill on top of a level design choked full of cheap crushing hazards. All that for the sake of the pun? 

>Freaking bosses are long as fuck and sometimes hard to read. I dig the surprise boss in Cyber Station, tho'. 

>The 3 final zones pick up a little, Frozen Base is cool (heh).

Didn't they said 12 zones? 

 

Anyways... Graphics? I was watching the PS stream, don't know if it was PS4 or PS5 tho', but the graphics are really something... Of a mobile game, most of the time. Some stuff actually looks unfinished or untexturized. Sand Sanctuary looks really empty and desert (fucking puns, man). Feels like good chunck of the budget and dev time went to the first third of the game, which does looks more polished overall. The animations and characters are HOT, they're beautiful, so is technically the level art, as I was saying, Golden Capital is incredible, but the cheap rim light, blurred backgrounds and flat textures just kinda ruins it. This game, fully hand-drawn like Evening Star wanted, probably was going to be the best Sonic ever looked. Too bad... 

The music... I don't like to use the word hate towards an artist who's just doing his job, probably under tight deadlines, and I love Jun's shit in Adventure, Adventure 2, Heroes, heck, he's even here today at Brazil Game Show and I wish I was there to meet him and ask him to sign my Sonic Heroes copy, but my God I fucking hate that god for saken drums in literally every song he composes that's supposed to sound "classic". The hub world song is abysmal, barely 20 seconds before the loop. I don't get it. Were we not clear enough for the past 13 years? The ammount of Sonic 4 rearranged remixes the community has put out wasn't enough indication?

Why we got this:

 

And not this instead: 

 

Of course, this is just a "me issue", but the soundtrack represents around 65% of my enjoyment of a videogame, especially Sonic. 

Meanwhile, the same soundtrack has this:

 

That shit gives me shivers. 

My general opinion WILL change when I get this and play it myself, but I think the leak was good for me and I'm glad I didn't pre-ordered, because it's not a 60 bucks game no sir. Not for me.

Surprised, disappointed and confused all at the same time. Might wait for a sale. Kudos.

[anythingtheghost]

I'm gonna guess that Fang isn't playable, but thought it would be worth asking about anyway :3

[Dreadknux]

Eyyyy I can talk about this now~! Embargoes are tough when retailers break street dates.

I think people need to play the back half to really appreciate them. I quite liked the level design in most of the Zones, honestly. Not sure if everyone just isn't used to platforming in a Sonic game anymore

Also I've seen some leaked gameplay footage where comments were calling the level design dogshit, but honestly the skill of some of these players is so atrocious that I wonder if they were sabotaging the game in some way. So dumb.

I haven't ~quite~ 100%'d it yet - I got to the Super Sonic final-final boss fight but I came into it late last night/early morning and after a few tries I didn't have the patience to continue...

(Another factor was the frame rate when playing as Super Sonic was soooo low on PS5, almost gave me a headache! HOWEVER, I realised this morning that this was likely because I had my PS5 in rest mode during the day between a long play session, and I think it messed the game up because  the next morning Super was running smooth as butter)

Also I came into that Super fight last night straight off of this hilariously awesome mofo;

Spoiler

These final bosses are mean as heck, but I really enjoyed the challenge! Was great fun taking this guy on!

[Jango]

This thumb is something else.

Forgot to mention I really liked Trip, which is no surprise, I love Tikal's and Marine's design, and Trip is basically a mash-up between them. 

[StaticMania]

The character animations in this game are so good...

The most polished aspect as a matter of fact.

[Jango]

The audio department definitely got the short end of the stick (which it's almost a sin for Sonic!). Felt like they barely had time to properly mix the channels, some sound effects are REALLY loud and continuous. Hopefully it will get patched.

[FReaK]

well on the positive note - we are on the start of the lifecycle of superstars, which probably means we WILL get updates, if

Spoiler

the recent leaks for 2024 are true

then they will probably go the plus route again.Only time will tell, but I totally see them adressing some issues, at least more or less.

[ZinogreVolt]

After playing the game again and ruminating my thoughts again, I've revised some feelings on it a bit.

I think Superstars is probably my third favorite of the Classics, behind 2 and 3K. The main issue with it is that it's just got this undercurrent of cheapness to it, both in its music and visuals. I do like the artstyle on paper, and in some zones it can actually look quite good (Cyber Station and Pinball Carnival both look pretty good), but the overall asset quality is on the lower end and you get the sense that things aren't quite as cohesive as the devs believed them to be. With Sonic 1/2/3K you got the sense that what you were playing was a really high quality product that helped further pushed the bounds of their consoles. 3K in particular is absolutely loaded with details and gives the sense of a full, rich setting that's easier to immerse myself into. The music just feels like it was left half-finished. I love some songs but the back half is almost nothing but good melodies that are butchered by twang-y Sonic 4 instrumentation. Seeing how the whole game feels like it needed at least another half-year or so in the oven, I wouldn't be surprised if it comes out that the music actually was unfinished. This especially stings because it's hot off the heels of Frontiers/Final Horizon, which in my view is arguably the best soundtrack in the series.

Superstars tries very, very desperately to be like 3K. In a lot of ways, it does do a lot of what I love about the game--and it's for that reason that Superstars is still ultimately the direction I want the series to go instead of Mania, at least in terms of core design. Most levels have moments of surprise or some kind of focal point that I love or find memorable, something that I felt Mania lacked (or rather, it deliberately chose not to prioritize) in favor of strong core gameplay and mostly solid level design. I also think the Emerald Powers are a net win for the series and are the sort of thing that can add a lot to the game's skill curve. Bosses in particular end up benefitting from this greatly because your approach to them is immediately diversified, and it feels like the devs did a good job leveraging that fact. Lagoon City Act 2's boss in particular is a big highlight because of how well it manages to compliment several powers at once. There are a couple of bosses that are a little bit much but overall it's the first time I actually find them to be decently engaging rather than just a formality.

Some "Advance 2-isms" do sneak their way in there on occasion but they are ultimately an extremely small part of the game, and when they do happen the game is almost never inconsiderate in how they handle them. The "trial and error" aspect of gameplay is about as bad as... every other classic game, I suppose. I also think its glitches and degree of gameplay polish are about in the same ballpark, though keep in mind that I haven't tried multiplayer mode yet. The level design in general is pretty good, but it does have a problem that Mania occasionally suffered from where things become gimmick overload that clouds the core gameplay. This frustrated me less than in that game because these gameplay ideas are mostly new, and I think the balance is overall better, but it's not particularly elegant either. There are a handful of stages that feel like throwaways, though. Amy's Lagoon City act is such a nothingburger, and I never really bothered with the "fruit" bonus levels either.

Overall though, I think Superstars is a mostly good game that gets a lot of the core fundamentals of the series right and it pushes it forward in some interesting and mostly successful ways. If the goal was to "evolve Classic Sonic", then I think it mostly got that job done right in terms of gameplay. But it ends up just like Frontiers, where the efforts to make something bigger and grander is undercut by the mixed bag of a presentation. Presentation is just not something you can divorce from Sonic, especially as the series was once notable for pushing the visuals of its systems to its limits to deliver some truly great imagery. Superstars feels like a budget game in comparison. This is not really a game that I feel earns the 60$ price tag. Not because of the length, but because of how it carries itself. Even Frontiers, for as problematic as that game was, had plenty of moments where I went "wow, now this is something big" or something like that. I like it more than plenty of other Sonic games, but it's equally as frustrating because it still feels like it's so far away from the game it's trying to imitate and iterate on.

[Red Hot Jack]

On 10/13/2023 at 11:21 AM, 10e10 said:

Can you tell me about the Super forms? Do Tails, Knuckles and Amy get real Super forms, or how do they look?

You've probably seen the spoilers by now, but I finished the base story with all the emeralds and powers. But the answer is no.

Power 7 is "Extra", it's personal for each character, you get homing attack for Sonic, throwing hammers with Amy, etc. but I thought this is so much better than the super form, only Sonic and Trip get that sadly, Amy, Tails and Knuckles only glow with the same effects as Super Sonic (speed up and invincibility).

I unlocked Trip's story which I have yet to play, you can also play her her in co-op and the base story. Plus, while Trip is unmasked when playable, her helmet is available to buy in the shop for battle mode.

Anyway, I would say, despite presentation not being top tier, the game does the base stuff pretty well, it's a fun time, it's just the extra stuff that is not really fun to do, the "act fruit" are basically unlockable bonus stages to grind medals, as the prices in the shop are very high, I suggest people to find medals like desperately if you want to try battle mode. But these acts are just that, nothing spectacular compared to the main stages that have gimmicks and cinematic stuff, transitions, cool bosses. Also: there are only 4 specific acts in the game, 1 for each character, it's not 1 per zone, but Trip's campaign modifies all the stages from what I've heard.

Also battle mode sounds like a mess, I'm waiting when the game releases to play it but still, it's quite cheap looking. Special stages are okay because they are not too hard, but they aren't quite interesting, I'm having more fun with the bonus stages personally.

I've actually had no problem with the bosses, in the latter part of the game they are more challenging but I don't mind, in general they are quite long but they change up patterns and attacks, they have more than 1 phase which is why them taking longer hasn't bothered me too much. I actually can't believe this game has a boss in every main stage, and somehow I don't think I've really disliked any of them.

In general this game is not too short, I finished the base story (there are 2 more stories to play) and spent 3 days, but that is also because I tend to prolong the game since I paid full price.

 

 

[Miles Storzillo]

From what I've seen on videos as much as I REALLY didn't like how the game looked, and that does include the true final boss, there was one thing that did genuinely impress me.

Spoiler

 

 

[10e10]

9 hours ago, Red Hot Jack said:

You've probably seen the spoilers by now, but I finished the base story with all the emeralds and powers. But the answer is no.

Power 7 is "Extra", it's personal for each character, you get homing attack for Sonic, throwing hammers with Amy, etc. but I thought this is so much better than the super form, only Sonic and Trip get that sadly, Amy, Tails and Knuckles only glow with the same effects as Super Sonic (speed up and invincibility).

I have seen the spoilers, but still thank you for the reply

I would consider them their "real super forms" though. I mean, they have never looked any different from that, so it's as good as we can get.

[Leebo4]

Since I could t find an answer; are you able to do that mode where you play as sonic and tails is there like a computer controlled second player as trust me without that I would never have gotten to the final level of mania?

[Waveshocker Sigma]

Decided to go ahead and play the game a little for myself earlier. I don't think there's much new I can say that other haven't said already, but it feels like a very nice and solid game so far. Like, it's not super incredible at all, but it's in no way bad and feels very familiar to me. For the seels of S3&K and Advance 2.

It's not "the best thing since sliced bread" but it's just a very nice, solid entry. I like it. I essentially started playing and went "Yup, this is definitely a good old fashioned Sonic game" and that's honestly all I wanted. It being it's own thing instead of a rehash definitely helps me appreciate it for it's own merits. I'm liking it far more than I did Mania, that's for sure.

Soundtrack is kinda weak, though. Not in the sense that it's bad, but... I think the best way that I can say it is that comparing this game's soundtrack with the other classic games is like comparing the OST of Shantae and the Seven Sirens with the ones from Shantae and the Pirate's Curse and Half-Genie Hero. It's good enough to pass, but only one or two tracks are probably on the same level as the old greats while the rest is just C-Grade.

That's my thoughts so far. I'll come give updated thoughts when I play some more. Messing with Mario Wonder for a bit first, though.

[Kikoli]

I just gotta say...

Spoiler

Egg Fortress / Final Boss is one of the most bullshit, poorly designed and unfair bosses I've seen in the series to date.

• There's way too much RNG with missiles and electric crap flying about.
• The boss has way more OHKO moves than a Sonic boss should have, all of which have next to no room for error or telegraphing makes them all feel like beginner traps.
• Way too long between attack openings.
• Multiple phases that each take at least 5 minutes with no checkpoint in between and back to the start every time you die.

The fact in phase one you can only hit the boss by bouncing the missiles back at him from behind him, but you aren't guaranteed a missile will spawn near you means you can miss entire attack cycles because RNG screws you over and the random nature of the electric charges in the running from electric platforms has caused far more deaths than I can count when they box me in and throw me into the pit I'm running from with knockback. Also the RNG of the raised platform spawns in phase two is just as bad at screwing you over and missing attack cycles that take even longer to come about or just stopping you dead when he does the slam when it spawns at the last possible second.

Normally I'd feel I screwed up and made an error, but this thing makes me feel the game is fighting me.

 

[Razule]

 

Spoiler

So the Classic Sonic timeline is now confirmed to take place tens of thousands of years in the past..

 

[Dr. Mechano]

12 hours ago, Razule said:

 

  Hide contents

So the Classic Sonic timeline is now confirmed to take place tens of thousands of years in the past..

 

Wait, how? These are the same characters as their modern counterparts still, right?

Also, true final boss spoilers

Spoiler

It's a big ol' dragon and not Eggman, making this the first classic-era game to both have Eggman in it (so putting aside the Tails games) but not have the final boss be either him or a robot under his control. 

A few years ago, I'd probably have grumbled about that. But I'm still riding so high off his role in Frontiers that I don't even mind. Eggman's still got a strong showing in the game overall, and the rest of the characters are great too. Whole game is just really charming.

 

[mayday2592]

So where is the 12th zone? I just see 11. Are all emeralds needed? 

[Razule]

2 hours ago, Dr. Mechano said:

Wait, how? These are the same characters as their modern counterparts still, right?

Also, true final boss spoilers

  Reveal hidden contents

It's a big ol' dragon and not Eggman, making this the first classic-era game to both have Eggman in it (so putting aside the Tails games) but not have the final boss be either him or a robot under his control. 

A few years ago, I'd probably have grumbled about that. But I'm still riding so high off his role in Frontiers that I don't even mind. Eggman's still got a strong showing in the game overall, and the rest of the characters are great too. Whole game is just really charming.

 

In the launch trailer

Spoiler

 

The End being in its physical body in orbit somehow

 

[Conando]

For anyone having trouble with the regular story final boss, if you can get in 3 hits for phase 2; using the Avatar Power should finish the job after you get back on the ground.

[Red Hot Jack]

12 hours ago, mayday2592 said:

So where is the 12th zone? I just see 11. Are all emeralds needed? 

Nope the 11th zone is the final one.

Anyway I've had trouble with ALL the final bosses, but I finally completed the game yesterday.

I thought I had unlocked everything, I also upgraded to deluxe with the skins, but still I saw somebody online wearing the NiGHTS costumes in battle mode, and I don't have them... which means there are more things to do in order to keep unlocking parts for the mechs, either it's completely random, or there are missions that I don't know about, it's not clear what I have to do to unlock this content.

[Ducktor Naldush]

12 hours ago, Razule said:

In the launch trailer

  Hide contents

 

The End being in its physical body in orbit somehow

 

Or maybe, and it's crazy, I know, because Sonic has never done this before, surely, it's madman talk all the way through but maybe just maybe, hear me out

Spoiler

It's just a cameo or a reference. 

 

[Palas]

On 10/17/2023 at 3:18 AM, Kikoli said:

I just gotta say...

  Hide contents

Egg Fortress / Final Boss is one of the most bullshit, poorly designed and unfair bosses I've seen in the series to date.

• There's way too much RNG with missiles and electric crap flying about.
• The boss has way more OHKO moves than a Sonic boss should have, all of which have next to no room for error or telegraphing makes them all feel like beginner traps.
• Way too long between attack openings.
• Multiple phases that each take at least 5 minutes with no checkpoint in between and back to the start every time you die.

The fact in phase one you can only hit the boss by bouncing the missiles back at him from behind him, but you aren't guaranteed a missile will spawn near you means you can miss entire attack cycles because RNG screws you over and the random nature of the electric charges in the running from electric platforms has caused far more deaths than I can count when they box me in and throw me into the pit I'm running from with knockback. Also the RNG of the raised platform spawns in phase two is just as bad at screwing you over and missing attack cycles that take even longer to come about or just stopping you dead when he does the slam when it spawns at the last possible second.

Normally I'd feel I screwed up and made an error, but this thing makes me feel the game is fighting me.

 

Well the game is fighting you. It's the final boss for crying out loud. I wouldn't have it any other way, honestly: as a matter of fact, I think the boss is too predictable. You know attacks it will use and in what order. It's possible to know where the missiles have gone by their position when they launch, and they will always land in the same motion, so you know it's just a matter of jumping the second-to last missile in any direction. That makes going through the motions over and over very boring. I would much have preferred more RNG, but more room to hit it (if it launched missiles even during other attacks, for example).

[Ming Ming Hatsune]

 

Spoiler

Wait until you play Trip's final boss. It is the one of the worst Sonic bosses I've played. First of all, before you get to the final boss - you have complete the whole of Act 2. So do NOT exit the game, otherwise you'll have to replay Act 2 all over again.

Then you have to complete TWO phases, without dying. No checkpoints. First phase, Fang is just chilling from the background firing rockets most of the time, you'll spend 5 minutes minimum beating the first phase.

The 2nd phase has now trial and error. There are may encounter some glitches too that DON'T work in your favor. The small window of opportunity to hit the Fangbot can be wasted if the badnik doesn't hit it.

And you will have a surprise attack at the end that will catch you off guard and you need to be in the right area at the right time otherwise instant death.

In fact, there are way more opportunities for instant death on you, more than hitting the final boss. It's pathetic.