Sonic Superstars

Sonic Superstars is a 2023 platform game developed by Arzest and Sonic Team and published by Sega. It features side-scrolling gameplay similar to the Sonic the Hedgehog games released for the Sega Genesis in the 1990s. As one of four player characters—Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles “Tails” Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, and Amy Rose—the player completes side-scrolling levels as they set out to defeat Doctor Eggman and Fang the Hunter. Superstars introduces power-ups that the player can obtain by collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds and four-player local multiplayer.

Sonic Superstars is a side-scrolling platform game similar to the Sonic the Hedgehog games released for the Sega Genesis in the 1990s. The player must complete a series of levels across several zones, presented from a 2.5D perspective, to defeat Doctor Eggman, who has hired Fang the Hunter and Trip the Sungazer to capture the North Star Islands’ giant animals so he can build a powerful army. There are four initial player characters, each with their own unique abilities.

Sonic the Hedgehog can roll into a dash after a jump; Miles “Tails” Prower can fly; Knuckles the Echidna can glide and climb; and Amy Rose can attack enemies with a hammer and double jump. Players unlock an additional character, Trip, by completing the main campaign once; her moveset combines Amy’s double jump with Knuckles’ climbing. The North Star Islands comprise 12 zones, which house 26 levels (“acts”). The number of acts in a zone varies between one, two, and three. Each contains elements such as springs, vertical loops, collectible rings that serve as health, and shield power-ups. 

Some zones feature unique elements, such as a jungle with vines the player can grind on and a futuristic zone where they transform into a voxel creature, and some feature acts exclusive to the selected character. Each act ends with a boss that the player must defeat while dodging attacks. In between levels, the player explores a 2D hub world where they can select a zone and change or customize their character. The campaign takes four hours to complete as a single character, and about 15 hours as every character. Unlike previous 2D Sonic games, Superstars does not feature lives, so the player will never receive a game over. 

Completing the main game unlocks a more difficult campaign in which Trip is the only playable character. Superstars features two kinds of special stages. In the first, accessed through giant rings hidden in each act, the player swings from bubbles in a 3D environment to obtain one of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Each emerald grants the player a power-up ability, such as the ability to swim up waterfalls or create clones of the chosen character; the seventh provides a character-specific ability. 

Collecting all seven emeralds allows the player to transform into their character’s super form, granting them speed and invincibility at the cost of ring depletion. The player can swap abilities from a selection wheel at any time. Players must complete both the main campaign and Trip’s with all the Chaos Emeralds to unlock the Last Story. In the second special stage, accessed by passing checkpoints, the player navigates a rotating maze, similar to those from Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), to collect medals.