Sonic Superstars looks cool!

 Sonic is finally coming for that Mario money!

So lo and behold we finally got our Summer Game Fest with a smattering of games we already knew were out and nothing at all to shock out- wait is that Sonic? Oh yes, I'm not sure exactly why it was that I didn't expect to see Sega at this event, because afterall everyone else butted their way into the showcase even when they had their own showcases. The Playstation showcase already flew by and yet we had to wait until now to learn the release date of Spiderman 2, and the Porsche brand Xbox Series X really could have been a Tweet- but if it needed to invade my gaming showcase couldn't it have at least waited until the Microsoft showcase? Heck we even got two extended trailers for real-life tv shows! At this rate, a break for Sega to show us literally anything related to the gaming enthusiast world is a dousing of fresh water I sorely need!

But none of that is the actual reason why I didn't expect to see Sega- or rather I didn't expect to see Sega with their blue blur anytime soon- I just thought they'd be busy. It's been a long time since Sonic was a property large enough to warrant yearly releases and the recent drop of Frontiers really felt like the culmination of several years of worked up studios and burnt bridges- and it's success seems to have blossomed out as several avenues that, knowing Sega, they're going to expend significant resources chasing simultaneously. We're going to get Frontiers 2, that much is a no brainer, but given the teases within the first game and the more blatant fed hits we've had- it really does seem like for the first time ever a real-life Sonic Adventure 3 is finally on the table. (About time, us on the Gameboy got our 'SA 7' ages ago...)

Seems that Sega may have actually learned the sacred art of multitasking however, because unbeknownst to me the conglomerate have had their hands on a brand new go around at Sonic 4- that is, mixing 2d and 3d Sonic elements in a cauldron and hoping what comes out isn't toxic sludge. Sonic Superstars is going to the first all original Sonic game to hit us since Mania, and since Sega burnt their bridges with the fan-turned-developers who constructed that masterful outing wiping their hands of the franchise seemingly killing dreams of a 2D led side franchise for Sonic using that gorgeous modern pixel art style. And that is very much still the case, we're not going to see those pixels or hear those music tracks anytime soon, but we will get ourselves a whole new style of 2D with Sonic Superstars!

In the vein of one of the celebration style Mario games which thrusts that classic style of gameplay upon a sacred character with high-quality modern 3D assets, Sonic Superstars is transporting us to an earnest new age Sonic. Not the modern spikey-haired green eyed fellow, but the mute classic with his best friends Tails and Knuckles. And proving that Sega are interested in starting a trend of a franchise here, they'll also be bringing Amy Rose along for the ride, presumably borrowing her gameplay concepts born for Sonic Origins! This really is a 'gang's all here' moment, all the better to take advantage of the latest Sonic franchise advancement- 4 player co-op! That's right, Sonic the Hedgehog is a party-game franchise now ,baby!

What surprises me most about this direction is the wholehearted nature of the commitment, by this stage I truly expect Sega to do the bare minimum and visually update the classic games into this new psuedo-3d style; which is pretty much been their only draw for returning to the 2D realms up until now. Even the concerted 'new game' attempts have been in themselves derivative. Generations, Forces and even aspects of Mania (Although that last game was conceived as much to be a celebration of the franchise as much as something new) all threw in the easily recognisable classic levels and tracks and throwback themes so as to not fully alienate a fan base who would never quite be ready to move on entirely from memories of when they loved the franchise. The memories that would consistently drag them, kicking and screaming, back to childhood.

Now, I'm certain that we're going to get some of those throwbacks with Superstars- it simply isn't in the headspace of Sega to reinvent the starting zone of a Sonic game without defaulting to laconic green grass and sad little hill-like mounds. It's the heart of their creative core at this point. But that wasn't the heart of their marketing campaign and whether it's sensible to say it or not I am increadibly impressed in their restraint. Instead we saw things we've never seen from Sonic before. We saw Sonic wall running without leaving the 2D world space, we saw Sonic and his friends transforming into Inklings, for which I'm sure Nintendo would be upset if they weren't busy drafting up their lawyer team to go after 'Foamstars'. We're seeing that Superstars is trying something new, which is an indication to me that Sega are finally at the point with Sonic that they can work on expanding the franchise out a bit.

I'll be honest, up until now it's felt like Sonic has been approaching stagnancy. Time and time again Sonic has been approaching the same gameplay paradigms that the series was broaching all the way back in 1991- how do you turn platforming into something speedy. We've nailed that, cracked it, we've been around the block with all the very basics of platforming with speed- wouldn't it be nice if Sonic started doing something a bit more unique with that foundation? I mean sure, the speed alone is important- but couldn't there be something fundamentally transformative to give this franchise more of a gameplay identity? Something transferrable between 2D and 3D in that instantly recognisable and complimentary manner? And is Superstars going to be the start of that? Probably not, but it does represent a comfortability with the brand that I haven't recognised in Sega for a very long time.

Once again Sonic is maintaining his place as a ubiquitous figure in the gaming world, such to the extent that we can squint our eyes and handily forget the many years during which he was a ghost showing up for brief, heavily mocked, instances. At this rate Sega might finally be able to reinstate Sonic as their flagship franchise- heck, the blur blur is already bringing in the sales numbers- and now he's bringing in the review scores too. Personally, I'm not sold that Sonic is quite there yet, there's still some disconnects between the expectation of an 3D action game and what Sonic thinks works to fill that gap, but hey- Assassin's Creed has be rocking along in this genre for years without figuring that equation out, so why can't Sonic cruise along for a bit whilst he finds himself?