Sonic is almost always a staple at the Sega booth and the Tokyo Game Show and TGS 2023 was no different. With the next entry into the Sonic series a month away, the blue hedgehog and friends were front and center at Sega’s booth with Sonic Superstars. We got our hands on the game and are here to let you know how it played. Let’s get into it.
Booth & Demo
Sonic made up a very large part of Sega’s TGS 2023 booth this year. There were booth “companions,” people wearing Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Amy masks, a photo spot and even stage shows happening throughout the event. In typical Sonic fashion, a huge inflatable balloon featuring all of the playable characters from the game was at the top of the booth making it easy to spot from nearly anywhere in the hall. There were probably around two dozen or so demo stations with the game playable on PC, PlayStation 5 and possibly Xbox (I didn’t get a chance to poke around). From what I could tell, the Switch version of the game was mysteriously absent from the show in handheld or docked form. The demo on the show floor offered four different playable stages all varying in difficulty. I opted to try out one of the mid-range areas called Speed Jungle. After about an hour wait, I got my chance to check out the game for 15 minutes.
Gameplay
Being a side scrolling Sonic game, things are pretty straight forward but there are tons of branching pathways, enemies and secrets to find in the levels. Controls felt pretty sharp and fans of Sonic games will feel right at home. Boss fights were definitely the highlight for me. These enemies were quite a bit larger than regular foes and had attack patterns that needed to be watched closely in order to figure out how to defeat them. These weren’t particularly difficult to per se, but recognizing attack patterns and enemy movement were key.
Visuals & Performance
Many Sonic fans were perfectly happy with the old school graphical look for 2D Sonic games, however Sega made the call to bring 3D character assets to the Sonic Superstars. From my short time with the game, things look sharp and run super smoothly. The jungle level I got to try out was very detailed, littered with vines and other foliage. Even though I was playing on the PlayStation 5, the visual style here should translate well to the Switch.
The one thing I was most interested to check out was how the game performed with four players on screen at the same time, but unfortunately, that was no possible. I believe there was one demo on the show floor with two players simultaneous play, but as I was lined up by myself, I didn’t get to try this. Given that this is one of the main selling points of the game, I have confidence that Sega will be able to deliver in this regard.
Final Thoughts
Sonic Superstars was fun to play and is definitely something that will appeal to fans of the series. Not only this, but the game looks nice and runs smoothly. For Switch owners, Sega is really coming at Nintendo hard releasing Superstars just days before Super Mario Bros. Wonder, however, putting their game out on multiple platforms is going to help with the game’s success. If you’re a Sonic fan, Superstars is still something that you should check out. But let’s turn things over to you. Are you planning on picking up Sonic Superstars? What platform are you going to pick it up on? Be sure to sound off in the comments down below. We’d love to hear from you.
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