Uncovering Sonic Superstars' Elusive 32-Year-Old Easter Egg

Highlights

Sonic Superstars delivers on its promise of a fun 2D Sonic experience, despite initial concerns of nostalgia repackaging.

Golden Capital Zone in Sonic Superstars pays tribute to Sonic's history by incorporating a discarded idea from the original game. This inclusion not only represents the concept's evolution but also serves as a nostalgic homage to the franchise while introducing fresh elements.

Concerns were raised among fans when Sonic Superstars was announced as another Classic Sonic game. There were worries that it would just be a rehash of nostalgia. However, the latest release has managed to fulfill many of its promises, despite a few difficulties with boss levels and underwhelming execution in certain areas like the Chaos Emerald powers.

Surprisingly, in addition to providing an enjoyable 2D Sonic experience, Arzest has included a hidden gem for die-hard Sonic fans. Golden Capital Zone, while not a fan-favorite stage, actually incorporates a scrapped concept from the original Sonic the Hedgehog game.

How Golden Capital Zone in Sonic Superstars Uses an Old Sonic 1 Concept

Upon reaching Golden Capital Zone, players may initially find its design to be rather unassuming. With their focus on the spinning poles, pinball bumpers, and the abundance of scattered rings throughout the level's three zones, fans may not pay much attention to it. However, dedicated Sonic enthusiasts will recognize the significance of Golden Capital Zone when they come across two loop-de-loops that closely resemble abandoned concept art from the original Sonic 1. This art was ultimately discarded and replaced by the iconic Green Hill Zone.

How Sonic Superstars' Golden Capital Zone Brings the Series Full Circle

Upon recognizing the particular zone in question, fans may become curious about why a discarded design was later incorporated. The answer, in fact, could be quite simple. As devoted Sonic followers may easily discern the zone, they may also comprehend its presence in the game just by examining the concept art itself. The distinct style of the artwork reveals that Naoto Ohshima, the character designer of Sonic and Dr. Eggman, is its creator.

Following his departure from Sonic Team after Sonic Adventure, Ohshima reunited with the 2D Sonic game through Arzest in Sonic Superstars, serving as the character designer and development producer. It is during his time as a development producer that Ohshima likely decided to include the metallic, gold-plated stage concept that he had designed years ago, receiving the approval of the current Sonic Team.

After Ohshima and Yuji Naka, other members of the Sonic Team, who played a significant role in creating Sonic, collaborated at Arzest to develop Balan Wonderworld. Surprisingly, it was Ohshima who returned to Sonic Superstars and reintroduced an unused concept from their previous work many years later. This decision serves as a tribute to Sonic's history, as the original Golden Capital Zone never progressed beyond the conceptual stage.

Even the highly successful Sonic Mania faced criticism for including an old zone in every other stage. Hence, reviving a zone that was never used, not even in the beta versions of the original Genesis title, is a clever homage to the past while introducing something completely fresh. A close inspection of the version featured in Sonic Superstars reveals how the idea has evolved from its initial conceptualization. Additionally, it appears that the stage has been reimagined to offer more intermediate platforming challenges, considering that fans encounter it as the eighth zone in Superstars, rather than its original position as the stage preceding Green Hill Zone.

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