Sonic Superstars review: Captures the retro feel, for better or worse
The old ways aren't always the best.
Newly launched game Sonic Superstars, Sega's latest platformer in the retro 2D side-scrolling mould, hits all the nostalgia points that you may associate with the blue blur, from ingenious ideas to absolute controller-throwing rage.
Indeed, the old ways of doing things aren't always the best. Every fond memory of Sonic that you may have from the 1990s is probably matched by an equal number of frustrating experiences: those moments where you just couldn't beat the boss, or those accidental slip-ups when you ran headfirst into an unseen pit of spikes, bringing an exciting run to an upsetting end.
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To start with the positives, you can tell that Arzest and Sonic Team have worked hard to bring back a sense of speed and momentum to the world of Sonic. Compared to the blandly barren wide open world of last year's Sonic Frontiers, Superstars feels like a blast from the past in the best way. If you used to love zipping across the screen in a frantic blur, you'll definitely get that itch scratched here.
There are also some really fun twists on the established 'rules' of a 2D Sonic game, with a few genuinely surprising moments where Superstars breaks from the norm and lets you do something a bit different. Some of the worlds are really fun in terms of their design, as well, with beautiful bright colours to feast your eyeballs on.
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The music, at points, is pretty good as well, although you'd be hard-pressed to say it's the best score a Sonic game has ever had. The boss battle music, in particular, feels a bit underwhelming. But some of the ditties you'll hear during normal play are really nice.
Speaking of the boss battles, these are probably the biggest let-down of the game, and there are absolutely loads of them. Almost every level will end with a boss encounter, and they are more frustrating than anything, and not in an 'oh this is a fun challenge' kind of way.
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The checkpointing is particularly stingy in boss battles, with no save states existing between the different phases of a boss encounter. So if you get to the third stage of a boss and then die, you'll be spat out before you'd even started the first phase.
This is a better deal than we used to get back in the 1990s, of course, when losing all your lives in Sonic would have you sent back all the way to the start of the game. There's unlimited lives as standard here, which in theory should make your experience anger-free, but you'll still end up replaying the repetitive boss battles more than you'd like to the point of pulling your hair out.
This takes a lot of the pace out of the game, which otherwise would zip along quite nicely. Sonic Superstars also doesn't seem to remember your mid-level checkpoints if you switch off your console. So if you get stuck on a boss, you'll have a major sense of dread. You'll know that, if you take a break and turn off your console, you'll have to start the whole level again when you come back. And that's before you get to the bit that you're stuck on.
One major new feature is the multiplayer, which had the chance to try out with a group of people at Gamescom earlier in the year. We can imagine this being quite fun for parties, but even that came with some frustrating elements (if your character falls behind, the camera will follow the person at the front, taking you out of the experience for a while).
All in all, then, Sonic Superstars feels like a classic Sonic game in both good and bad ways. If you love the thrill of zipping across the screen and trying to react quickly to sudden obstacles and enemies, you'll have fun here as the colourful levels keep delivering surprises. But when it comes to the boss battles, you may find yourself descending into a retro rage. Unlimited lives is one thing, but you'll need unlimited patience to really enjoy this one.
Sonic Superstars is out now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. We reviewed on PS5.
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