Sonic Superstars preview brings news on the first 6 zones

Sonic Superstars is clearly inspired by previous games, although it does not contain familiar zones such as Green Hill or the Chemical Plant. The first zone, Bridge Island, has a reminiscent aesthetic, but with a unique design.

With many paths and familiar enemies, the game encourages exploration and offers power-ups such as a shield, magnet and running shoes. In addition, giant rings lead to Special Paths, making exploration crucial to the game experience.

Bridge Island is that quintessential Sonic-y. We see the water. it has that seaside feel, it’s brightly colored and it’s a lot of fun to run. It feels very true to the classic Sonic games.

In Act 2, the Bridge Island Zone transitions from day to sunset, bringing dynamic changes to the graphics and gameplay and creating a fun variation between acts in the Sonic Superstars stage.

After a chase fight against a robot fish in Act 1, Act 2 features a proper fight against Eggman in a walker wearing boxing gloves. Using the Avatar Emerald Power, the fight becomes a multi-stage battle and Eggman flies at Sonic with spikes and electricity.

Speed ​​Jungle Zone

Speed ​​​​​​​​​​​Jungle Zone stands out as a fast and fun scene, with vines crushing and launching the character into the air. Act 1 features a boss fight against a robot mosquito that launches harpoons to attack.

Speed ​​​​​​​​Jungle is a good execution of this idea. It makes people in this fast and fun experience go “Wow, yeah, this is a Sonic game.” That’s what’s different about Sonic games!

Another fun thing about the map is that it starts to introduce the narrative elements and what’s happening in the world as you play. I think a lot of people have that nostalgic feeling about the Fang.

Some people might not know it, but others might say, “Oh my god, Fang is back!” And in the narrative moments, we see Fang attacking Sonic, and we see this kind of narrative play out in Speed ​​​​​​​​​Jungle.

In Act 2, the player has access to the world map, which allows the selection of different zones in the game. In this central area of ​​Sonic Superstars, it is also possible to access the customization shop and change characters.

Also, Eggman returns as a boss in an impenetrable ball with shooting hands, but it’s possible to trick him into hitting his own contraption. After this battle, the player can proceed to the next zone.

Sky Temple Zone

Sky Temple Zone is unique in that it only has one act that takes about nine minutes to complete. The development team wanted to break the traditional rhythm of Classic Sonic games, so some zones have three acts, while others only have one.

Zone one and zone two are really there for fun, boom, shake off the excitement, but zone three exists as a technical stage. We wanted to introduce people to this floating, ancient world.

It floats in the air and we have all these fans and these other gimmicks that blow things up and keep things alive. [Você é] you can cross those bridges that break beneath you.

[Nós] We’ve really created a zone that will be both technically challenging and fun for people who enjoy this type of platform action.

At the end of the zone, a large storm hits, changing the feel of the scene and insisting on the difficult Eggman boss fight. After defeating him, the scene cuts to the next Sonic Superstars zone.

Pinball Carnival Zone

The Carnival Pinball Zone features large areas for pinball with fireworks and bandniks based on bats, hermit crabs and kangaroos. Act 1’s boss is a robot clown who can be defeated by rotating the medals he places on the battlefield.

In Act 2, with Tails, the gameplay feel in Sonic Superstars changes completely.

Pinball Carnival is that true Sonic pinball we love to put in games. It’s a pinball amusement park. It is the fusion of an amusement park with game elements.

The first act, is during the day; Of course, it’s fun, you really like to have fun having that experience, but when it starts to get dark, we see a different tone coming.

Act 2 of the Carnival Pinball zone sees the transition to night, with a haunted Halloween theme and bandits with a fantasy aesthetic. There’s a sequence where you jump on platforms that roll forward like a roller coaster, requiring quick reflexes to survive.

At the end of Act 2, you’ll have to face Eggman again, using a roulette wheel to throw bombs. With well-timed attacks, Eggman is defeated and the journey to Sonic Superstars continues.

Lagoon City Zone

Lagoon City is the next zone, with its sunken ruins and water slides. Act 1 takes place above water, with high-speed action in the water background, robots based on aquatic insects and underwater worms, as well as the cloud robots of the Sky Temple. Tails is a useful choice for this level as he can swim.

Lagoon City are the two acts where Water Emerald Power will come in very handy. Act 1 and Act 2 have water as a central design element.

When we think of water zones, we usually think, “Oh, it’s going to be slow-paced. I’m going to go underwater, but really for Act 1 what we want to do is incorporate high speed and water into the same design.

So you get that high-speed Sonic feel, but we also incorporate water into Lagoon City.

The first act involves a battle against a robot jellyfish that takes down the badniks and causes a wave of energy in the water. This fight requires timed actions and dodging to avoid electrical attacks.

In Act 2, there are underwater sequences where Tails’ swimming ability comes in handy, but with the Chaos Emeralds, it’s possible to use the Water Emerald Power to make this area easier.

Act 2’s boss is a slicing machine controlled by Eggman, where it is necessary to avoid his piercing attacks to damage him. After the battle, there’s a fruit-themed scene specifically for Amy and an escort mission for a new character named Trip.

Holy Sand

The Sand Sanctuary Zone has similarities to the Sandopolis Zone from Sonic 3 & Knuckles. Throughout the scene, a giant snake is present, providing unique platforming situations.

The Sand Sanctuary is our desert-themed scene, but in terms of storytelling, one of the key points is that the animals have become extremely large in jumbo size.

One of the ideas we came up with when we were thinking about what animals we could make really big and put in these belts that would be really cool was a snake. So we wanted that snake motif, or the idea of ​​one, and applied that to the map design.

The player finally faces Eggman in the Sanctuary Zone. Eggman is in a drilling machine similar to the Grounder robots.

He sends out badniks and hides underground, destroying platforms that are in quicksand. It’s possible to attack him or send the badniks back to deal free damage, before defeating the baddie after a few hits.

Sonic Superstars will be released this year for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch and PC.