The Sonic Thread: Fandom is eating good this year! Sonic Superstars releasing this year 10/17/2023

Sonichuman · October 5

Sonichuman · October 5

I haven't heard all the remixes they put for the update yet but apparently they went in

This is shit is wonderfully chaotic

Sonichuman · October 7

Are they legit about to play Pumpkin Hill at the Symphony?

Sonichuman · October 9

Sonichuman · October 10

Edited October 10 by Sonichuman

Sonichuman · October 13

Superstars has been leaaked, and reviews seem to be starting to hit today.

Hawkingbird · October 17

Edited October 17 by Hawkingbird

Sonichuman · October 18

I'll be interested to hear what J says. So far overall consensus seems to be that the game is good/decent but certain things hold it back from greatness. There was some discourse regarding IGN's review (yeah...I know..AGAIN!?) where despite giving the game a decent score everyone homed in on one part of the review where the reviewer pretty much ran smack dab into what makes the classic 2D titles what they are and completely missed it. I won't be able to pick the game up likely until Friday so I gotta wait.

Sittingonclouds got a half rip of some of the music from the game ( I say half rip because there's clearly a ton of tracks zone tracks missing) so I'll probably be listening to that for time frame while I wait.

Edit: Correction. It's actually a full rip of the music. The page on the website just has the listing of the "1st disc" but not other half.

Edited October 18 by Sonichuman

Hawkingbird · October 18

9 hours ago, Sonichuman said:

I'll be interested to hear what J says. So far overall consensus seems to be that the game is good/decent but certain things hold it back from greatness. There was some discourse regarding IGN's review (yeah...I know..AGAIN!?) where despite giving the game a decent score everyone homed in on one part of the review where the reviewer pretty much ran smack dab into what makes the classic 2D titles what they are and completely missed it. I won't be able to pick the game up likely until Friday so I gotta wait

Decent but unremarkable is what I'm seeing too. Personally I wish there were fresher stage motifs for this game and the stage gimmicks look underwhelming.

Jun using the synth sounds of Sonic 4 is a big miss. I'm not a fan of that sound and disappointment it came back here. What I heard has not impressed me. I'm hoping Tee Lopes contributions are better.

Sonichuman · October 18

11 minutes ago, Hawkingbird said:

Decent but unremarkable is what I'm seeing too. Personally I wish there were fresher stage motifs for this game and the stage gimmicks look underwhelming.

Jun using the synth sounds of Sonic 4 is a big miss. I'm not a fan of that sound and disappointment it came back here. What I heard has not impressed me. I'm hoping Tee Lopes contributions are better.

Yeah I've also been seeing discourse about that in my feed about Jun still refusing to move away from trying to emulate Genesis sounds. This is the 3rd time he's tried and from the sounds of things, the 3rd time was not the charm. He's really holding himself back and I don't know why he's so bull headed about it. It's making people go crazy and say the dude is washed up despite him JUST spearheading the music for Team Sonic Racing and him completely killing that OST. The instrumentation has always been the issue and not the composition.

Sonichuman · October 19

Been listening to Sonic Superstars music for most of the day while I was working. Tee Lopes man...What else can be said about this man? You can generally tell the tracks that he's involved in without looking at this point. The listing on this rip for each track is incomplete but Tee contributed like...maybe about 10th of the tracks on here. Most of the tracks he's done are either on par or maybe just under some of the ones he did for Mania in my opinion. He's too good. That's not saying some of the other people involved either because the couple of tracks that I can tell so far that Rintaro did were great.

The elephant in the audio room is Jun. After listening through the rip at least 3-4 times today, objectively most of the tracks that he did are actually not that bad on average. The tracks on average are an improvement to what Sonic 4's music sounded like and to be honest I think people may have been overreacting just a tad. I'm not going to say some of the complaints and criticism is without merit though because even though I believe objectively the music is better than what he's put for Sonic 4, the sound he's putting out for most of these tracks still feels like he's being held back. I'm not sure what's going on with him or if he's just trying to prove that he can do music like the genesis games again and make it great. Don't know if he's just trying to prove it to himself or prove it to everyone else at this point but it's really holding him back. And don't know I feel like he's way too over reliant on the Genesis percussion sound for a lot of these tracks when he didn't even really do that for the tracks that we can guess that he was involved for for S3+K and barely at all for Sonic 3D Blast.

Examples of what I'm talking about...Compare Angel Island Zone Act 1 and Act 2 and Big Arms/Final Boss.

Compare that to this boss track and these stages

The tracks are not horrible but if you're listening to the rest of the soundtrack and then get to Jun's....it's just sadly not living up to the rest of the OST and you KNOW he can do better.

Sonichuman · October 19

This guy was a pretty good listen to regarding the OST

and it's interesting because he doesn't even seem to know who composed what track at this point in the video but he just takes notice and unfortunately has to compare what Tee is doing with what Jun is doing and he also ends up doing a comparison to Angel Island without knowing that Jun is the one who did that as well which is kinda funny.

Something else that I'm thinking about in terms of the Jun's work in this game is when I'm thinking about that blatant Genesis percussion he's using for his tracks it feels like he's trying to emulate more what Masato was doing for S1 and S2 with it than what he did in 3K. Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 have that percussion that far up in the front like that especially in stuff like Metropolis Zone and Spring Yard Zone but even those tracks didn't really have it feel like the percussion was trying to have a fight with the instruments. Metropolis has that percussion start out really strong and at the front with the synth building up and then when it gets into the meat of the track the percussion takes a back seat to drive the track and lets the synths take over to lead. Spring Yard also doesn't have that issue at all between the synth and percussion. It sometimes feels like Jun is just mashing on the percussion button to the detriment of the track sometimes.

Sonichuman · October 21

Looks like Fang is getting his own little comic story next year. This will the first side story series in the IDW series that will be based in in the classic timeline.

Larry needs to watch his back tomorrow

Spoiler

Yes I know the lyric is leery.

Sonichuman · October 21

Tee and Jun working together cooks and it seems to keep Jun from overdoing it on the Genesis synth and percussion.

Sonichuman · October 22

The guy from earlier put up another OST analysis video and even got a comment from Tee

Quote

@TeeLopes
11 hours ago

Great video! It was very educational, even for me, since I'm not formally trained. The "tribal chanting" you refer to was conceived as a choir of jungle animals (think gorillas, bears, cuckoos, and other birds) singing and dancing together, broadway style. It just sounds cool. Not everything needs to be over-analyzed! 🙂 I'm delighted you've enjoyed my music, keep doing a great job!

Edit:

Edited October 22 by Sonichuman

Sonichuman · October 23

THIS DUDE....

Sonichuman · October 25

Sega Hardlight put up a render of Surge, she might show up in the Sonic Forces mobile game

Sonichuman · November 1

Edit

Edited November 1 by Sonichuman

Sonichuman · November 1

Marza put up a sequel to Night of the Werehog after 15 years

Sonic isn't in this...just the ghosts.

Sonichuman · November 1

Hardlight is making Apple Arcade games...yaaaay

Does look interesting though.

Edited November 1 by Sonichuman

Hawkingbird · November 1

Cream is back from her decade long break. This is looking too good to be stay in apple arcade

Sonichuman · November 2

In either case I'm gonna lol/cry at the same time if this somehow ends up being one of the best 3D sonic games ever made cause that would just be the way how life works lol.

Sonichuman · November 2

Adam Bryce, the one who created Lanolin, posted this lol.

Hawkingbird · November 3

21 hours ago, Sonichuman said:

Adam Bryce, the one who created Lanolin, posted this lol.

Breast envy but with horns?

Sonichuman · November 3

15 minutes ago, Hawkingbird said:

Breast envy but with horns?

I think it's more so he's implying envy because a female sheep got in a game first over her.

I just noticed that Ian responded to that picture

Dunno if this is a #knowingsmile from him or not...

The new character's name is Ariem

Didn't even register that it was a play on R.E.M. until I saw Chakra X post about it.

Sonichuman · November 3

This dude is doing the most for this game

Sonichuman · November 3

Sonic & Chill got released today from Gamechops

Been listening to it while on my lunch break and Funk Fiction did not disappoint.

RegH81 · November 3

Funk Fiction never misses. That Welcome to Station Square arrangement is *in David Xanatos voice* Magnificent.

Sonichuman · November 9

Translated interview with Kishimoto and Kawamura

They admit that they are fully aware of the mods that people have been doing and even see them as a kind of 'rival' that they need to do better than them.

Sonichuman · November 9

Sonichuman · November 9

Edited November 9 by Sonichuman

Hawkingbird · November 11

A successor to the Adventure games locked away on apple devices?

Sonichuman · November 11

Sonichuman · November 12

Sonichuman · November 17

^ This spoils pretty much everything. I didn't even know there was something else other than the new character.

Edited November 17 by Sonichuman

RSG3 · November 17

He was pretty hard on it to, but sound like a rough time. That multi-player looks literally unplayable....

Hawkingbird · November 18

The multiplayer focuses the camera on one player. It might as well not be there at all. At least do split screen.

Sonichuman · November 18

21 hours ago, RSG3 said:

He was pretty hard on it to, but sound like a rough time. That multi-player looks literally unplayable....

5 minutes ago, Hawkingbird said:

The multiplayer focuses the camera on one player. It might as well not be there at all. At least do split screen.

This was why I was trying to tell Purbeast in VGG when he was complaining about SMB Wonder's multiplayer camera. You can predict how the camera is going to in Wonder because of the crown. It can be annoying fine but if you know where that character is going then you can predict where the camera is going to go and it's easier to work together because of that. Superstars? Naw...that ain't happening. You don't know who the camera is attached to...AT ANY GIVEN TIME. And in a game where most characters are moving quickly, that shit gets chaotic. The only saving grace is that the characters that fall of screen pop back up on the screen fairly quickly later but it's going to happen so frequently. There's NO control at all and no rhyme or reason for how the camera moves seemingly. You got 2 players and one decides to move to the right while the other stays. You'd think logically the camera is just going to go with the character that's moving...but what if the 2nd character starts to move at the last second and go the other way? The camera may just count the person who was moving initially as going the "wrong way" or "offscreen" and suddenly snap back to player 2 moving in that other direction. The way how Wonder works is 100 times better and makes sense in how that game works. I understand that camera system. You WILL NOT understand Superstars'.

RSG3 · November 18

How is it worse co-op play then Sonic 2 and 3 had lol?

Sonichuman · November 21

edit

Edited November 21 by Sonichuman

RSG3 · November 21

Man, can games having AMV intros become the norm again? I miss that shit. Used to get a cool little skippable music video st the beginning of most of my games to get me hype for the fun I'm about to be having. Not every game needs one but man more games could certainly have them and be a little better off for it.

Sonichuman · November 23

On 11/21/2023 at 2:38 PM, RSG3 said:

Man, can games having AMV intros become the norm again? I miss that shit. Used to get a cool little skippable music video st the beginning of most of my games to get me hype for the fun I'm about to be having. Not every game needs one but man more games could certainly have them and be a little better off for it.

It's part of the presentation/Arcade era of games that has been somewhat going by the wayside as the years go on and it's kind of disappointing. Attract/demo modes at the start screen of games or shortly before you get to the start button have just been disappearing. Watching the start up video for a game used to be a ritual thing for me when I bought something new and it kinda bums me out it's barely a thing anymore. So many just good Intros for games that are just ingrained in the brain and set the stage.

Also the man himself gave 8Bit Big Band props

Sonichuman · November 29

Sonic Prime Season 3 is also coming Jan 11

Sonichuman · Friday at 02:13 AM

Well...maybe one day Tee and Johnny will be able go crazy on a Sonic OST in the future.

Hawkingbird · Friday at 03:22 AM

Superstars had weaker sales than Sega anticipated

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sega-says-sonic-superstars-had-a-weaker-start-than-anticipated/

I gifted the switch version of the game to my nephews over the weekend. I played up to act 2 of the pinball casino night zone. The game is nothing special. It plays well, the level design is fine. I don't think the game is creative enough with level motifs. The zones I played give me a been here before feel and the stage gimmicks are unimpressive. I only got four of the chaos emerald powers during my playthrough. Avatar and the fire launcher were easily the best ones. Being able to see hidden platforms was useful and I can't remember the other one I got.

Johnny was absolutely right about the bosses. Fuck the bosses of this game. They are just like the bosses of Sonic 4 who exist to waste your time. Every one that I fought was a slog. I know once I get my own copy of the game I won't be replaying it often.

I like the new special stages. The lock on needs some work as it never wanted to guide me to the hooks I wanted.

Definitely a good game but not one I will pay full price for.

Sonichuman · Monday at 04:07 AM

On 11/30/2023 at 10:22 PM, Hawkingbird said:

Superstars had weaker sales than Sega anticipated

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/sega-says-sonic-superstars-had-a-weaker-start-than-anticipated/

I gifted the switch version of the game to my nephews over the weekend. I played up to act 2 of the pinball casino night zone. The game is nothing special. It plays well, the level design is fine. I don't think the game is creative enough with level motifs. The zones I played give me a been here before feel and the stage gimmicks are unimpressive. I only got four of the chaos emerald powers during my playthrough. Avatar and the fire launcher were easily the best ones. Being able to see hidden platforms was useful and I can't remember the other one I got.

Johnny was absolutely right about the bosses. Fuck the bosses of this game. They are just like the bosses of Sonic 4 who exist to waste your time. Every one that I fought was a slog. I know once I get my own copy of the game I won't be replaying it often.

I like the new special stages. The lock on needs some work as it never wanted to guide me to the hooks I wanted.

Definitely a good game but not one I will pay full price for.

The game just isn't worth $60. It was their job to make it worth $60 and the missed the mark on it. I managed to play and beat the game (just once) while playing with through my son (exercise in frustration because of how the camera works). I'll probably play through the 5th characters story at some point so I can get to true ending but I don't know when I'll get to that. As it stands right now this game will be just good which isn't necessarily a bad thing but it just disappointing coming from Mania to this. I don't even really cara about the Emerald powers to be honest and I wouldn't be surprised if this game is the only time they do this and then they're never touched on ever again. The most of them are situational and some of the others are kinda "eh". Maybe if they made some the powers in a way to collect something worth while in the game they would be more fun but most of they time they don't. And the Medals are super meh in this game since they're only tied to a tacked on multiplayer game that I'd be surprised if anyone was actually playing at the time of me typing this. They could have had those medals tied to I da know...illustrations, unlockable music, another character/story, costumes, classic stages....I mean I probably could name a few other worth while things that could have been put in an in game store to purchase with them but they didn't. They have it all tied to cosmetic robot parts for multiplayer.

Other things I can complain/nitpick about that I think Johnny or someone else complained about is that in singleplayer the camera is way too close. You can get the ideal camera distance if you have more than 1 person and the camera zooms out to accommodate for both of you (until one of you moves past wherever the threshold wants to be at any given time) but it's not going to remain that way. Level design for most of the stages are not bad like I really enjoyed Speed Jungle Act 1...noooot so much Act 2. It wouldn't be so bad if a couple of the bosses were waiting games but just about all of them you can't beat them quickly if you're more skilled and no the patterns which should not be the way it should be. There were a couple stage transitions that I wish they had included...specifically the one that lead to Cyber Station. They did transitions for most of the other stages and then we finish Golden Capitol and SUDDENLY we're in a computer. I was so fucking confused at first. Also want to say that I have no interest in playing any of the Fruit Acts for any of the stages. I'm not even sure what they're good for to be honest but I played 2 of them and then any time they asked if I wanted to play another fruit act afterwards I was like "nah". It's a good thing they're skippable but then I have to start questioning why they were even made in the first place. Also going to say that I'm not a fan of being able to get 1 chaos emerald per zone cause it then it makes the other rings in the stages near useless...which unfortunately is also another side effect of having the coins tied to just the multiplayer game. SPEAKING OF THAT AGAIN...I think I went through maybe 2 checkpoint special stages and pretty much stopped bothering going into them because they only thing you got out of them were the coins.

Nothing against Arzest...they did a good job but maaaaaan. The fact that there's another timeline somewhere were we actually could have essentially gotten Mania 2 and it be another love letter in sprite based glory with more original stages like what came with Mania and it just makes me sad on what we missed out on. Oh well....

In other knows some people got early access to Dream Team and some cutscenes have been showing up in my Twitter feed.

^ There's been some contention over how Rouge sounds due to this cutscene but it's actually a bad line read

Playthrough of episode 1