Sonic Superstars Review

thesixthaxis.com:

Sonic is a franchise that holds a special place in my personal gaming history. The original Sonic The Hedgehog was the very first video game I played when I got a Mega Drive as a kid, swiftly followed by the rest of the Sonic games including Sonic & Knuckles. Sonic Superstars is a return to that classic 2D Sonic style, with a sprinkling of modern ideas. Sonic Superstars has the potential to be a great trip down memory lane, but it doesn’t recapture the rush of the original games like it should.

One of the most obvious changes is the new locations that form the zones of Sonic Superstars. Gone is the iconic Green Hill Zone replaced by the very similar-feeling Bridge Island zone, while Pinball Carnival zone gets some clear inspiration from Casino Zone. There are 11 zones in total and they become more unique as you progress. The other thing to note is that most of the acts in each zone are large. This is to account for the fact that you can play as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy, each of whom can discover different paths to get from one end to the next. Sonic has speed, Tails can fly for short bursts, Knuckles can glide, climb walls, and break through walls, while Amy has a larger range of damage that can be dealt to enemies. They bring a variety of playstyles but not everything feels as smooth as it should. For example, once you start flying with Tails you can’t cancel it unless he gets tired or you land somewhere, and with Knuckles the latching onto surfaces to climb can be worringly temperamental.

In terms of visuals, Sonic Superstars looks good with the move to 3D side-scrolling being implemented well. You’ll notice that the background of each act repeat quite obviously though. While Sonic games have been known for their