Review: Sonic Superstars is the Sonic 4 fans deserve

videogameschronicle.com:

Back in 2010, Sega released Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1. The sales pitch was that it was supposed to be a modern, polygonal spin on classic Sonic gameplay.

A sound idea in theory, but in practice the attempt failed. Sonic 4 wasn’t as terrible as some would suggest, but it certainly didn’t have the same feel as the vintage 16-bit Mega Drive games.

Subsequent attempts to do 2D Sonic with 3D visuals have been a similarly mixed bag. Sonic Generations probably came closest with its side-scrolling stages, but even though it was fun the differences were clear to fans of the series.

Sonic Superstars is the game that finally achieves the promise Sonic 4 failed to deliver. This is as close as you’ll likely ever get to a Sonic game that looks modern but plays just like the 2D originals.

The reasons why the Mega Drive Sonic games have been so hard to replicate are well-trodden territory, most notably the way players need to build momentum before reaching high speeds. Sonic Superstars absolutely nails it.

By the time we were reaching the closing stages of the game, we had – with no hint of exaggeration – completely forgotten we were playing a game with polygonal 3D graphics. To all intents and purposes, we were playing a classic Sonic game.

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The momentum, the spin dash, the underwater physics, the exact way animals bounce out of the Badniks you’ve destroyed – it’s all been superbly recreated, to the extent that it simply feels like what the series would have naturally evolved to, had the 16-bit Sonic games continued to see regular releases over the years.

There are a bunch of great nods for long-time players, from the return of older, obscure