One of the signature games of PAX Aus 2023 was Sonic Superstars. The iconic blue blur was in fine form, with a huge booth allowing for gamers to get a decent amount of time with the upcoming platformer. This was the game I headed to first each day to play the two available areas with Bridge Island and Speed Jungle. Over the three days, I got to play both areas and play as Sonic, Tails, Amy & Knuckles who all offered a different way to play with varying strengths and abilities that make each level feel like a different experience.
Playing through as Sonic, as expected, things go fast. The blue blur jumps, slides and grinds through each level with relative ease. There are new tricks to be mastered when Sonic goes around a loop that allows you to build up even more speed. It is a hark back to Green Island Zone from previous games. When you switch it up to Tails, things get considerably easier. You can easily fly out of situations if it looks too difficult as well as use this to fly ahead to speed through the level.
The look of the game is what really impressed us, with the game looking like a true advancement of the 2D/3D platforming genre, which is something that Sega has struggled to do with Sonic previously (remember Sonic Forces) It looks absolutely spectacular on the new gen consoles (we played on a Playstation 5) with beautiful colour that pops and fluid controls that feel great using the DualSense controller.
We got to experience one of the new powers for Sonic, being able to become fluid and move through water to reach different platforms. We will be able to go into this further when we get our hands on the full game, for now though it was a fun way to access different areas of the level when needed.
Dr Eggman is still the villain of this piece, he has however been reimagined with an inventive new way of making the end of the level more challenging to get past. Combining this with your new abilities and breakneck speed movement clearly shows that Sonic Superstars is firing on all cylinders.
Sonic Superstars will launch October 17 on Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch & PC.
