Unleashing Sonic Superstars: Breaking Boundaries and Shattering Limits!
Sonic Superstars faces a major setback in terms of its 2D platformer features, as elucidated by Takashi Iizuka, Sonic Team's executive officer Discover the insightful reasons behind this limitation
Sonic Superstars lacks online co-op functionality. The game, announced at Summer Games Fest in June, aims to blend its retro origins with modern features. Notably, it showcases 3D graphics instead of traditional sprites like Sonic Mania, introduces new power-ups through the Chaos Emeralds, and offers a four-player co-operative mode. This marks the first time in the series that full-fledged four-player co-op gameplay has been implemented, as previous titles only had limited multiplayer co-op options. Drawing comparisons to Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. games, Sonic Superstars features four playable characters: Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy Rose. However, the co-op feature is restricted to local couch play, as Takashi Iizuka, Sonic Team's creative officer, provides an explanation for this decision.
In an interview with VideoGamesChronicle, Iizuka reveals that Sonic Superstars was designed with the intention of providing a comfortable gaming experience for up to four players. The decision to restrict co-op gameplay to local mode was driven by practical considerations, primarily to ensure smooth gameplay at the game's fast pace. Iizuka provides an example where a single player can advance significantly within a single frame, which could potentially cause lag issues in a co-op setting. To preserve the enjoyable nature of the game without compromising its performance, the team opted to limit co-op functionality to local play only.
The four player co-op feature of Sonic Superstars allows players to join or leave the game at any time, as explained by Iizuka. The game's level design remains consistent regardless of the number of players, but the experience changes depending on the characters chosen. Iizuka provides an example of Tails being able to transport Sonic to various locations within a Zone.
In addition, the interview delves into the creation of the game and the developers' focus on recreating the classic 2D Sonic the Hedgehog gameplay. The original character designer, Naoto Ohshima, was also brought back for this project. Interestingly, the idea for the game originated during a casual gathering between Iizuka and Ohshima on Zoom, leading to a collaboration between Sonic Team and Ohshima's company, Arzest.
Sonic Superstars launches in Fall 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: VideoGamesChronicle
