The surprise announcement ofSonic Superstarshas many fans of Sega’s blue hedgehog mascot very excited. With its colorful graphics and personable animations, as well as impressive reveal trailer, it’s easy to understand why future players are already looking forward to the title. On top of that, it’s coming sooner than fans likely ever expected, sinceSonic Superstarshas a release window marked sometime in Fall 2023.
However, this surprise 2DSonicgame may be a bit too good to be true. While many hands-on previews from the Summer Game Fest Play Days event seem promising, and the trailer shows accurateSonic Mania-esque physics, parts ofSonic Superstarsleave plenty to be desired. With the title is being co-developed by Sonic Team and series co-creator Naoto Ohshima’s personal company Arzest,Superstarshas to be a great experience worth players' time in order for it to bring the success Sega desires.
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Why Fans Might be Skeptical of Sonic Superstars
Last year, Sonic Team said that its current approach with theSonicfranchise is to release 2D games alongside 3D games likeSonic Frontiers.Superstarsis the answer to how there’s a finite number of 2D titles to constantly rerelease, so Sega has chosen to develop new ones to keep the marketing strategy going. However,entrusting this task to Sonic Teammay leave fans nervous aboutSuperstars' capabilities. After all, Sonic Team’s last endeavor with Classic Sonic physics wasSonic Forces, which was very lackluster to many afterSonic Maniabrought the niche back.
On top of that, while bringing back Naoto Ohshima to help withSuperstars' art direction is a pleasant surprise, his company Arzest may have to earn players' trust as its last project was known as one of 2021’s worst games. This game is none other thanBalan Wonderworld, published by Square Enix. Ironically, the critically panned game was directed by the otherSonic the Hedgehogco-creator Yuji Naka. His absence onSuperstarsmay allow Arzest to shine with the 2.5D title instead, as a director’s influence (among other factors such as direction from executives) could easily make or break a game.
Sonic Superstars' Surprising Price Tag
It’s understandable that Sega would desire to release more Classic Sonic games after the massive success ofSonic Maniain 2017. One of the highest-ratedSonicgame in years,Maniatook players about five and a half hours to complete a basic playthrough as a chosen set of characters without purposefully aiming to collect the Chaos Emeralds orbeating bonus Blue Spheres stages. With how the game is a fun nostalgic-filled romp through ironic stages with new ones mixed in, many players felt that $40 dollars was a great price for the experience.
However, many things have changed in the last five years, including important details regarding video games and even the global economy. Players around the world are currently lamenting the recent video game price hikes as games widely seen as must-plays such asThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomnow cost $70 dollars. Even though its becoming common knowledge that video games are becoming more expensive, manySonicfans were shocked to find out that Sega plans on sellingSonic Superstarsfor $60 compared to the price ofSonic Mania.
This $20 price increase has surprised fans because many future players think thatSuperstarswill have the same short playtime asMania, which is arguably not worth it comparatively. to convince fans to buy the game when sales are critical, Sonic Team and Arzest need to show what the title is made of in terms of physics, while also making it a rather lengthyClassic Sonic experience. IfSonic Superstarscan’t do that, then Sega may need to rethinkSonic’s marketing strategy in the future.
Sonic Superstarswill release in Fall 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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