Exclusive Insights Revealed: Unveiling the Exact Placement of Sonic Superstars in the Epic Sonic Timeline!

Highlights

Sonic Superstars takes place in the "Classic" era of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, after Sonic Mania and before Sonic Adventure.

The game returns the franchise to its 2D platforming origins on the Sega Genesis, rejuvenated with fresh gameplay elements and playable characters such as Classic Amy Rose. The developers guarantee that the storyline of each new installment aligns seamlessly with the established lore of the Sonic franchise, and recent efforts to refine the lore have provided fans with clarified details.

Sonic Superstars, the recently released gameplay reboot of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, takes place in the past according to Takashi Iizuka, the producer of Sonic Superstars. The game brings the franchise back to its 2D platforming roots from the Sega Genesis era and introduces fresh ideas and new gameplay features like the Chaos Emerald powers and new playable characters such as Classic Amy Rose. With its "classic" era look, Sonic Superstars joins the many adventures set in the past within the long and ever-changing canon timeline of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. This timeline has always been divided into two periods, Classic and Modern, starting from Sonic Generations. Sonic Superstars is one of the retroactive adventures that occur before the game Sonic Adventure, which marked Sonic's transition into 3D gameplay. Takashi Iizuka, a longtime executive at Sonic Team, confirms the placement of Sonic Superstars within this timeline.

In an interview with Eurogamer, Takashi Iizuka discussed various decisions made during the development of Sonic Superstars, including its chronological placement within the Sonic game series. Iizuka confirmed that Sonic Superstars occurs after the events of Sonic Mania, which itself takes place after the original Genesis trilogy and Sonic CD. Notably, Superstars also precedes Sonic Adventure, as it belongs to the "Classic" era of the franchise.

Iizuka confirms that when developers create a new game in the Sonic franchise, they ensure that the story aligns with the established lore. Currently, the "Classic" era timeline consists of Sonic 1, Sonic CD, Sonic 2, and Sonic 3 & Knuckles, as established in Sonic Origins. According to Iizuka, Sonic Mania and Sonic Superstars occur after these four games, leading into Sonic Adventure and beyond.

Recently, Sega and Sonic Team have been actively addressing and clarifying several details in the franchise's lore through the TailsTube series. This series has helped resolve fan concerns, such as confirming that Sonic's adventures in the Classic era did indeed happen in his past and were not an alternate universe. In the fifth episode of TailsTube, which leads into Sonic Superstars, characters like Mighty, Ray, and Fang are fondly remembered, with Fang playing a significant role as a secondary antagonist in Superstars.

Sonic Superstars is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

Source: Eurogamer