Judging from the first couple of levels, you'd swear this game was another fun 2D sonic experience, but as you keep progressing, at least in solo mode, the fun quickly turns into frustration. This is not a fun solo experience or one I can recommend.
I am a 2D sonic fan, but I'm also a purest. The Genesis games are really the only ones I care about. Sonic Mania came out a few years ago and quite honestly, I think it might beat the Genesis games, because it's just such a great amalgam of 2D sonic on the Genesis. I saw Sonic Superstars coming out this year and thought, okay, if it goes on sale, I'll grab it. So at Black Friday, it went on sale and here we are... and I want my money back.
I had really only had 1 night of fun with Sonic Superstars. The first night I booted it up, I played through the first zone and I had a ball. This first level is what Sonic is, it's great!
The next night, I played a bit more and noticed that the quality of the level design drops off suddenly but it wasn't terrible or anything. Surely it would have a couple more banger levels, right?
As I came back to it and played through the rest of the zones, all the way to Cyber Station, something was apparent. This is not a game designed around Sonic and going fast. This is a game designed for another main character entirely, I'm not sure who?
I lost count of the amount of times I was running fast and something just came out of nowhere to hit me or kill me. That is not how Sonic design works! The whole idea is you're going fast and you want to stay going fast! WHY DO YOU KEEP PUTTING AN ENEMY RIGHT WHERE I AM RUNNING THAT I COULDN"T HAVE AVOIDED!?
And the main reason I can't avoid it is because the camera is zoomed in so damn close to Sonic! Why is it that in coop, the camera pans out and you can see a lot more of the level and actually prepare for upcoming situations, but in solo, you can only see like 10 feet in front of you? What is this, a game gear game?
And if I wasn't running into an enemy, it was a hole. Something would suddenly open up and you can't react quick enough and you fall in (more on that later). There are certain sections in the game that I died at repeatedly and didn't understand what I was doing wrong. Turns out I was just jumping incorrectly or in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to the game.
The difficulty is all over the place. One level will be short and laughably easy and the next will throw you a curve ball into a level with an absolutely unfun mechanic. There is a level that gives you a countdown and you have to progress and hit a switch before it gets too high or you'll die. You'd think this mechanic would be based on speed and maybe between checkpoints, they give so much time to hit a switch at the next checkpoint, almost like a time trial? But no. You have to mostly use Sonic's awkward platforming to reach the switches and some times look for them as they're out of view and some times you feel lucky you even found one. That level is terrible!
Speaking of platforming, there is entirely too much in this game. For every fun running part with sonic, there will be 2 awkward feeling platforming sections you have to deal with... also not fun!
But the worst part of the game are the bosses. You've probably read it several times from other reviews, but it's true. The bosses in this game are tedious and unfun. I'm not going to talk about the problems with them all, but ANY boss in this game that has dropping floors where you could potentially fall and die, these were the bane of my time with this game.
The boss of Cyber Station almost broke me. I spent one night playing this boss specifically and could not get him. What was I do wrong? The physics for sonic change on this boss. You're basically in a forced to run scenario and Sonic feels super heavy to control. Moving left or right or jump, Sonic might as well weigh 500 lbs. Despite all this, I kept getting to the 2nd phase and he would somehow keep opening the floor with the laser and I'd fall in from getting hit or unsure where he was opening it. I tried again the next night, I died several times and called it a night. Then the night I am writing this, after SO MANY tries, I finally downed him. FINALLY! Surely there would not be another boss like that?
The next couple levels, LAUGHABLY easy and then you get to eggman's level. This level is so terribly designed. It's more interested in you getting hit than you getting any kind of momentum or rhythm going. Who designs a platformer where you drop from ledges and there is always something down there that will hit you? Terrible.
I reached the final boss and just couldn't do it anymore. I got him to his 2nd phase after many tries and I hit him 3 times during this phase only to find out that I guess 3 isn't the magic number anymore and he kept going and killed me shortly there after. I honestly rage quit and uninstalled the game and will not be returning. And it is RARE that I rage quit games, so you know this was on my last nerve.
The worst part about the boss fights is they take so long! It'd be one thing if these battles I mentioned were just difficult but you could take them out quickly (like in a normal Sonic game) but they're difficult and also take 10-15 minutes! Some times you miss your opportunity to hit the boss and it just lengthens the boss fight where you have to wait and wait and wait. I can't keep doing that.
I can't recommend this game. People who really like it, maybe you had a ton of fun in coop? But in solo, it sucks. Only a couple acts are actually fun. I gave the game multiple chances to win me back but nope.
The team that made this game, I don't think they understand what made the original sonic games fun. Not that this is a new problem for sonic team, but damn, this could've been so much better with just a few differences. Such a shame.
I am a 2D sonic fan, but I'm also a purest. The Genesis games are really the only ones I care about. Sonic Mania came out a few years ago and quite honestly, I think it might beat the Genesis games, because it's just such a great amalgam of 2D sonic on the Genesis. I saw Sonic Superstars coming out this year and thought, okay, if it goes on sale, I'll grab it. So at Black Friday, it went on sale and here we are... and I want my money back.
I had really only had 1 night of fun with Sonic Superstars. The first night I booted it up, I played through the first zone and I had a ball. This first level is what Sonic is, it's great!
The next night, I played a bit more and noticed that the quality of the level design drops off suddenly but it wasn't terrible or anything. Surely it would have a couple more banger levels, right?
As I came back to it and played through the rest of the zones, all the way to Cyber Station, something was apparent. This is not a game designed around Sonic and going fast. This is a game designed for another main character entirely, I'm not sure who?
I lost count of the amount of times I was running fast and something just came out of nowhere to hit me or kill me. That is not how Sonic design works! The whole idea is you're going fast and you want to stay going fast! WHY DO YOU KEEP PUTTING AN ENEMY RIGHT WHERE I AM RUNNING THAT I COULDN"T HAVE AVOIDED!?
And the main reason I can't avoid it is because the camera is zoomed in so damn close to Sonic! Why is it that in coop, the camera pans out and you can see a lot more of the level and actually prepare for upcoming situations, but in solo, you can only see like 10 feet in front of you? What is this, a game gear game?
And if I wasn't running into an enemy, it was a hole. Something would suddenly open up and you can't react quick enough and you fall in (more on that later). There are certain sections in the game that I died at repeatedly and didn't understand what I was doing wrong. Turns out I was just jumping incorrectly or in the wrong place at the wrong time, according to the game.
The difficulty is all over the place. One level will be short and laughably easy and the next will throw you a curve ball into a level with an absolutely unfun mechanic. There is a level that gives you a countdown and you have to progress and hit a switch before it gets too high or you'll die. You'd think this mechanic would be based on speed and maybe between checkpoints, they give so much time to hit a switch at the next checkpoint, almost like a time trial? But no. You have to mostly use Sonic's awkward platforming to reach the switches and some times look for them as they're out of view and some times you feel lucky you even found one. That level is terrible!
Speaking of platforming, there is entirely too much in this game. For every fun running part with sonic, there will be 2 awkward feeling platforming sections you have to deal with... also not fun!
But the worst part of the game are the bosses. You've probably read it several times from other reviews, but it's true. The bosses in this game are tedious and unfun. I'm not going to talk about the problems with them all, but ANY boss in this game that has dropping floors where you could potentially fall and die, these were the bane of my time with this game.
The boss of Cyber Station almost broke me. I spent one night playing this boss specifically and could not get him. What was I do wrong? The physics for sonic change on this boss. You're basically in a forced to run scenario and Sonic feels super heavy to control. Moving left or right or jump, Sonic might as well weigh 500 lbs. Despite all this, I kept getting to the 2nd phase and he would somehow keep opening the floor with the laser and I'd fall in from getting hit or unsure where he was opening it. I tried again the next night, I died several times and called it a night. Then the night I am writing this, after SO MANY tries, I finally downed him. FINALLY! Surely there would not be another boss like that?
The next couple levels, LAUGHABLY easy and then you get to eggman's level. This level is so terribly designed. It's more interested in you getting hit than you getting any kind of momentum or rhythm going. Who designs a platformer where you drop from ledges and there is always something down there that will hit you? Terrible.
I reached the final boss and just couldn't do it anymore. I got him to his 2nd phase after many tries and I hit him 3 times during this phase only to find out that I guess 3 isn't the magic number anymore and he kept going and killed me shortly there after. I honestly rage quit and uninstalled the game and will not be returning. And it is RARE that I rage quit games, so you know this was on my last nerve.
The worst part about the boss fights is they take so long! It'd be one thing if these battles I mentioned were just difficult but you could take them out quickly (like in a normal Sonic game) but they're difficult and also take 10-15 minutes! Some times you miss your opportunity to hit the boss and it just lengthens the boss fight where you have to wait and wait and wait. I can't keep doing that.
I can't recommend this game. People who really like it, maybe you had a ton of fun in coop? But in solo, it sucks. Only a couple acts are actually fun. I gave the game multiple chances to win me back but nope.
The team that made this game, I don't think they understand what made the original sonic games fun. Not that this is a new problem for sonic team, but damn, this could've been so much better with just a few differences. Such a shame.