Sonic Superstars and beyond. Sega makes up for lost time, part 5...

In the previous blogs I looked at Sonic Superstars, and the things that the developers at Sonic Team, and Arzest did great. I also talked about the technical and design choices that I think really hurt the game. While I played through it I was reminded of all the wonderful things that I enjoyed in the franchise. It very much felt like a continuation of the elements that made Sonic Mania work so well. The art direction, level, and enemy design fit in the classic 2D style, even though the models were in 3D. The introduction of a new character named Trip, plus using individual Chaos Emeralds to change the game play was inspired. When I struggled with some boss encounters it showed that there were cracks on the facade. Trying some encounters over and over lent me to discover what type of gamer I was. In the end I had a favorable opinion of the game that gave me a lot of insight into myself. It allowed me to realize that the Sonic series was one of the rare titles that was globally appealing for a number of reasons. The first thing that drew me to the franchise was the character himself.

I stated previously that I loved the art, and design behind the hero, and his friends. I never cared much for Knuckles though, but that was besides the point. I was a huge fan of the mascot style of character art. The cartoon star that created the movement was Pat Sullivan, and Otto Mesmer’s Felix the Cat. He debuted in 1919, almost a decade before Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, and Mickey Mouse. The large head, big expressive eyes, and animal features set a template that would be copied for the next century. The early US cartoon stars like Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, or Flip the Frog wouldn’t have made it big without Felix. Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails the Fox, Knuckles the Echidna, Mighty the Armadillo, and Ray the Flying Squirrel all followed in the footsteps of Felix the Cat. They were descended from one of the greatest cartoon traditions the world had ever seen.

Although they were created by a Japanese team the Sonic art reflected my favorite form of American cartooning. The “rubber hose style of animation was the oldest form used in the US. The name was because the arms, and legs of these characters weren’t hinged as if they had bones. Instead they flexed like rubber hoses. Additionally the bodies on these characters were fluid. They could be pulled, stretched, and twisted like a rubber balloon. There was a sense of freedom in these cartoons that was liberating for artists. Although to be fair I was never good at drawing in a rubber hose format because my style was very rigid. It didn’t matter because I thought those early cartoon stars were so amazing. They could do the impossible, while still making their actions plausible. That tradition was rarely seen in modern cartoons, rare in video games, but not as rare in comic books.

The Mickey Mouse comics illustrated by Floyd Gottfredson in the 1930’s set a standard for adventure storytelling featuring cartoon mascots. His comics kept the animated icon alive outside of the movie theater. Mickey would hang out with his friends in some stories, having fun with the other Disney stars. Then he travel the globe on an international mystery for longer arcs. A decade later Carl Barks raised the bar in the Donald Duck, and more important, the Scrooge McDuck comics. Comic books were the perfect format for expanding on the animated shorts. We could get to see the characters develop a personality. The writers, and artists presented a universe that was much deeper than could ever be shown in a cartoon. For the longest time I assumed that these stories were for children until I actually sat down and started reading the collected volumes. I was not only amazed by the art, but by the storytelling. It worked on multiple levels There was action for the kids, great character development for teens, and mystery for the adults. They truly were books for all-ages.

Comic books in the USA were mainly superhero titles. Often mature in tone, and not really created for all-ages. However overseas the Disney comics were still popular with families, and even adults. They were an institution in Italy, where the Mickey comics (Topolino) had been in publication for over 90 years. I believe that they were the greatest run of all-ages comics ever published. Multiple generations were raised on stories that were every bit as good as those created in the USA. I would argue that the elite Disney cartoonists cut their teeth drawing on the pages of Topolino. The best of these stories were serialized and translated to multiple languages. I did a deep-dive on the Italian comics many years ago. The reason that I brought them up was because they were critical to keeping the characters popular. More than that they were important to spread the cartooning art form. You could only do so much in an animated short but the comics allowed the characters to live, and grow. They did more for audiences than the parent company did in the parks, television, or movie screens.

A similar thing could be argued for comics based on video games. Comic books could take a relatively short game, and give readers a cinematic experience. Udon was known for the Capcom books they published. Street Fighter, Mega Man, and Vampire / Darkstalkers were just some of the titles they released. Audiences got to follow the main, and side characters across a variety of story arcs. They allowed audiences to learn the dynamics between the stars, and any new faces introduced. As a fan of the mascot titles I was happy to see Sonic in publication. Granted not every editor, writer, or artist understood the games. This was especially true for many of the oldest issues. It seemed that the creators liked to make up stuff as they went along. The quality of the first comics didn’t matter to fans because they made the blue blur relevant. Whether in manga from Japan, or comics from the UK, and USA, Sonic had developed an international following. The most recent US comics from IDW were by far the best Sonic had ever appeared in print. The writing was amazing, and the stories stayed true to the games. Best of all the various artists captured the spirit of cartooning. They made young fans understand why the character appealed to older audiences, just as much as the Topolino comics helped kids understand why Mickey Mouse was beloved by their parents.

The creators at IDW were also able to expand the Sonic comic books to include new faces that were interesting in their own right. For example Lanolin the Sheep, Whisper the Wolf, Tangle the Lemur, and Jewel the Beetle were citizens-turned-freedom fighters. Their story arcs, and contributions in the comics made them very memorable. They were adventurers, sometimes with a tragic past, all rising to meet the challenge. They complimented all of the established heroes, and added their own unique dynamic to the stories. For long-time fans like myself I thought that these were characters that would be amazing to follow in a game. More than anything the Sonic comic books managed to remind audiences that the universe covered in the game series was far more expansive, and serious than we sometimes thought. Sonic Team managed to create a world that seemed straightforward, and easy to digest. Sonic was the good guy, and Eggman was the bad guy. He kidnapped animals to power his robots. It was up to Sonic to set them free. The formula hadn’t changed much in over 30 years, yet the stakes had always been incredibly high. Without Sonic, and his friends, then there was nothing preventing Eggman from conquering the world.

The threat that Dr. Eggman presented was epic in scope. He didn’t just raise an army of minions, he created an entire armada of war machines. He had a fleet of flying warships, giant robots, autonomous factories, laser satellites, and space stations with enough power to take over a planet. The fight had to be taken to Eggman to prevent him from ruling the world. There was nothing easy about the threats that Sonic, and his friends faced in every encounter. At the same time the designers at Sonic Team didn’t want to make the game feel heavy-handed. Yes the characters were fighting against impossible odds, but at this world was also a cozy place to live. The studio made sure to show audiences what Sonic was trying to protect. Sega wanted to remind us that this world was a beautiful place filled with loving characters. There were friends that wanted to enjoy a picnic with our hero, or perhaps do some fishing with him. These gentle characters were set against a backdrop that was quite serious. Being the protector of the innocent was the heart of several IDW story arcs.

Sonic Team created different types of innocent creatures that Sonic, and his allies had to protect. In most games the animals trapped within the robots were the obvious ones. As the games evolved we were introduced to the Chao in Sonic Adventure, then the Wisps in Sonic Colors, and most recently the Koco in Sonic Frontiers. Those minor characters were adorable beyond description. However when you placed them within the context of the stories they were also tragic figures. Each of the characters had survived catastrophic trauma. An entire planet of Wisps were enslaved by Dr. Eggman for his cruel experiments. The Koco were the memories of the ancient aliens that brought the Chaos Emeralds to the planet. Sonic had to complete their memories, and reunite their ghosts so that they could have some closure. The Chao were the de-evolved descendants of those alien refugees. They were also nearly wiped out in a raid by the Echidnas a millennia ago. Even the cutest characters in the franchise were important to the story.

Felix the Cat started the tradition of cartoon mascots more than 100 years ago. Sonic the Hedgehog helped bring the art form to a new generation through video games. The creators at Sega, Sonic Team, and at IDW helped it evolve across multiple formats. Whether it was an animated short for social media, a live-action movie, or an award-winning comic book run. There was no doubt that cartoons were alive and well. The lore of the game series was already robust, and the comic books went much deeper than casual fans could have ever known. The characters they introduced in the past decade could still look cute, and universally appealing, but they had now grown to include shapeshifting assassins, psychic madmen, and even sentient AI. Heroes, and villains in the Sonic canon were colorful, memorable, and awe-inspiring. The games they were featured in evolved in unique ways. I’ll trace it out in the next blog. Until then I’d like to know if you have a favorite mascot character. Or if you even like cartoons at all. Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Sonic Superstars and beyond. Sega makes up for lost time, part 4...

In the previous entry I talked about how there were two versions of Sonic, and two distinct types of game play for each. The “modern” version which allowed 3D exploration, and race sequences along a track, and the “classic” version that was strictly on a 2D plane. I was a huge fan of the classic versions. Sega was able to explain this, and use turn it into a memorable game called Sonic Generations. The game Sonic Superstars focused entirely on the classic style of game play. Visually it improved on the formula in just about every way. However technical issues, especially frame rate drops made portions of the game almost unplayable to me. The other thing that threw me for a loop was the difficulty of the game. There were a number of times that I felt frustrated with the balance of the mini boss, and boss battles. I checked online, and saw that a number of people also had difficulties with certain encounters. It made me feel better knowing that I wasn’t alone in my assessment.

Classic Sonic boss battles were usually not too difficult. It was about figuring out Dr. Eggman’s method of attack, and timing the strikes correctly. Perhaps you might die a few times in the process, but it wouldn’t take long to figure it out. Sonic Superstars had some encounters that seemed much more difficult than the previous 2D titles. Part of the reason for this was because of the technical issues I described. I would sometimes be in the middle of a battle, or just about to start a battle when frame rate issues made me mistime a jump, and lose rings in the process. Another reason was because the battle had to be balanced for every playable character, and not allow any one to get an unfair advantage. The most important reason for the spike in difficulty were the Chaos Emeralds. Some of the emeralds were great offensive weapons. They might allow you to get an extra strike in, others allowed you to navigate the stages easier. The boss battles had to be challenging whether or not you used the emeralds. With all of these things in mind you could imagine that the boss battles felt much more difficult than any of the classic encounters with Eggman.

I enjoyed the art, and design of the game. I especially loved some of the boss encounters themselves. The entire final stage in the main story, and Trip’s story with the time reversing mechanic absolutely blew my mind. That sequence was among the best ideas ever executed in the entire Sonic franchise. With that said the last fights in the game were frustrating. I died again, and again in trying to learn the patterns, and different evolutions of the fight. It disillusioned me to no end. I’d manage to survive the first wave, only to be undone by the next stage of the battle. It made me question my skills as a gamer. I had managed to beat every modern God of War challenge, and didn’t remember being as disgruntled with Valkyrie or Berserker encounters. Those were notoriously tough but the last fights in Sonic Superstars just made me angry. Thankfully I wasn’t alone in my feelings as other people voiced the same issues online.

I eventually managed to beat the robot encounters at the end of the main, and Trip’s story. Then I discovered that there was a dragon boss for the actual final battle. This one left me royally upset. It was a challenge that seemed to get harder the better I played. I couldn’t believe that I had managed to beat every other Sonic challenge over the past 30 years, only to be stumped by a dragon. After hours of attempts I finally had a breakthrough moment. I remembered the lesson taught to me by the very first game, and some insight from my big brother. I was very good at getting through the stages very quickly in the original Sonic the Hedgehog. I even became good at collecting all of the Chaos Emeralds. Yet the first time I reached the Final Zone I died over, and over again, using multiple continues in the process. To me it didn’t seem fair that I had no rings, and Dr. Eggman had a random pattern. I would mistime my jumps, or get squashed under a piston. It seemed impossible at the time. That was until my brother asked an important question. “How much time do you have to beat him?” I said about 10 minutes. He replied “Then slow down.” I had become so focused on getting through the game as quickly as possible that it never occurred to me that Sonic was allowed to be played more slowly and methodically.

Sure enough on the next play through I timed my jumps more carefully, avoided the pistons, and beat Eggman. My brother was a genius. He saw the flaw in my play, and helped me get better. So in Sonic Superstars I needed to slow down as well. I focused on gathering rings so that I could retain my Super Sonic form much longer. I helped me get through the different stages of the dragon encounter, and wasn’t as frustrating as I had made it out to be. It also gave me tremendous insight on the type of game player that I was. I had been playing video games for almost half a century, but I never gave much consideration to the kind of player I was. My family, and friends considered me a good game player. I even won my locals, and made it into the semis on the Blockbuster game tournaments in the ‘90s. What I didn’t realize was that my biggest strength was in being an efficient player. I looked for weaknesses in a game and exploited those. The more efficiently I could go through the game the more I used that tactic. For example I’m pretty good at Street Fighter, my main is Zangief, and the other heavy hitters. I chose the character because I could do tremendous damage with a couple of spinning piledrivers. I didn’t need to learn a bunch of fancy multi-hit combos. The same amount of damage that any other character could do to me in seven hits I could do to them in two hits.

This straightforward approach allowed me to get through the computer-controlled opponents with relative ease. The downside was that I never liked playing against human opponents because they were unpredictable, and not easy to be efficient against. What I was doing wrong in Sonic Superstars boss battles, especially the final dragon fight was being too efficient. The better I got at hitting the dragon the faster I went through rings. The faster I ran out of rings the quicker Sonic would run out of power. The evolving battle was not designed for my style of play, and that absolutely frustrated me. In order to beat the final battle I had to delay myself, and skip openings. That was counter to how most every other fight would go. That was when I realized that the other boss battles were designed to be won in a very specific way. The developers were not allowing any type of creative thinking, or aggressive strategy. This was a design choice that I think disappointed a lot of fans. It was counter to all of the previous lessons that Sonic Team had taught me about the series.

Over the past 30+ years Sonic Team not only made some of my favorite games, but they also taught me a lot about myself. Many of my favorite games they created actually came out when I was starting college, and learning how to learn. When I ran a computer lab I would give out personality tests to the counseling students. Those tests got better through time, and were based on the 16 Meyers & Briggs Personality Types. The test showed me how I learn, and what my strengths were. I just didn’t realize that the learning type also applied to video games. Looking back from what I learned during Sonic Superstars made me realize that gaming was a part of my core personality. The passion for gaming made me want to find out why NiGHTS into dreams… affected me so. It made me want to look up the works of Carl Jung. The Japanese developers were able to reach me on multiple levels, and I wasn’t even aware of it for years, and years. If you were curious you can take a test and find out what your personality type was as well.

Setting aside the technical issues the biggest problem with Sonic Superstars were the boss encounters. The spike in difficulty seemed to be contrary to the design of the classic titles. Yes some of the early fights could be challenging, however I do not remember them being absolutely frustrating. The threats that Sonic faced were global in scale, if not intergalactic, however at no point did audiences feel overwhelmed. How Sonic Team originally dressed the bosses was just as important as how they created memorable heroes. I want to talk about creating a family-friendly world in the next blog entry. Right now I’d like to hear from you. Did you play Sonic Superstars? Did you find any technical glitches or difficulty with some of the bosses? Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Sonic Superstars and beyond. Sega makes up for lost time, part 3...

In the previous blog I talked about the new game mechanic added to Sonic Superstars. Sonic, and his friends could harness the power of the individual Chaos Emeralds. Each one provided a temporary power-up for the heroes. I said that the reason why Sonic Superstars used the Chaos Emeralds instead of the Wisps from Sonic Colors was because there were two different Sonics. To be more specific there were two Sonics from two different universe / timelines. The version featured in Superstars was based on the original game from 1991. That was to say the animation, direction, and game play were based on the original Sonic Team designs. This version of the blue blur was young, and idealistic. The challenges, and threats he faced were scary, but also family friendly. In the original trilogy none of the characters spoke, not even Dr. Eggman. The entire game was told through pantomime. The version of Sonic that spoke, the one that people knew from the movies, or games like Sonic Frontiers was based on the “modern” version. This version debuted with Sonic Adventure in 1999. It was something that I do not think most casual fans understood.

For the longest time I don’t think that Sega themselves understood that there were two distinct versions of the character. Two distinct versions of the supporting cast, timeline, enemies, and especially the game play. The cosmetic changes made to Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles in Sonic Adventure were done to make the characters easier to animate in three-dimensions. The modelers extended the length of the arms, and legs. They changed the proportions of the head, and body. The needed to do this because the old proportions were difficult to track with a three-dimensional camera. To audiences it looked like Sonic had grown up, matured in his new titles. As the series went on it started to become more, and more obvious that the look, and feel of Sonic in three-dimensions was a different thing entirely to the 2D Sonic that launched a franchise.

The distinction between the original, and post Adventure Sonic came to a head in 2010. The 20th anniversary of Sonic was coming up, and a new game was expected. The original game came out in 1991, Sonic 2 in 1992, and Sonic 3 in 1994. Sega teased something called “Project Needlemouse” with a promise to go back to the classics. Sure enough they went back to the 2D game play with 2.5D graphics. Yet they used the proportions, and game play of the modern character. Sonic, Tails, and the rest of the cast were not classic at all. Sonic 4: Episode I debuted in 2010. It was met with harsh criticism because it vaguely captured the look of the classic game, but completely missed the feel of the title. It felt like it had one foot in two different universes, and didn’t fully commit to being a worthy sequel. A number of the control, and design issues were ironed out for Sonic 4: Episode 2 in 2012.

Thankfully Sega didn’t put all their chips on one title at the start of the 2010’s. The studio released Sonic Generations in 2011. The game established the canon of two timelines, and two distinct versions of Sonic. The classic version that I grew up with, and the modern version that my kid knew. Playing through the game was literally a way for us to bond as a family. It played like a highlight reel for the mascot. We got a chance to revisit tons of familiar locations in updated 3D graphics. This was done much better than what we saw in Sonic 4. They set a standard that would only be topped by Colors, and later on by Superstars. The best part was the game play perfect for each version of Sonic. Although they both visited locations used in Sonic’s 1-3, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Unleashed, etc. the ones played by classic Sonic were all set in a 2D perspective, and the modern Sonic raced on open 3D tracks. The developers clearly understood the assignment, and made certain that fans of each type of game play were rewarded.

Reactions to Sonic games post Sonic Adventure 2 (those released through the 2000’s) were a mixed bag. Some of the console, and handheld titles were beloved. Some took a while to warm up to, and a few were despited by long-time fans. The one thing that was consistent good were the soundtracks. The music featured in the games had always been well done. In the ‘90s I made sure to run down to the Japanese bookstore, and put in an order for the CDs whenever a game had come out. From Dreams Come True to Crush 40, wether the scores were pop, hard rock, or even Hip Hop the composers delivered in each title. Sonic Generations redid the scores from the various sequels to great effect. It featured a classic, and modern variation of the songs that complimented the originals. Generations helped introduce new players to the fun game play, and memorable songs better than just about any anniversary title in the past 20 years.

Despite all the praise I heaped on Sonic Superstars it was not without its failings. The game suffered from a number of technical issues that ranged from minor inconveniences, to game play breaking problems. The biggest technical issue that I had with the title was constant frame rate drops. This was especially upsetting because Sonic is all about hight speed action, but certain parts of the game felt unplayable when you couldn’t see the character. Timing jumps, spotting enemies, and making it through critical sections were almost impossible. I was on the Playstation 4 version, but the fact that it wasn’t an issue during play testing, or patched after release disappointed me. Watching videos on YouTube I could see that my version was possibly the one that suffered the most.

Normally I couldn’t wait to play through a Sonic game again after completion. The performance issues made me rethink how eager I was for a replay. It betrayed all of the love that went into the game itself. Despite the greatest intentions Sonic Superstars couldn’t surpass Sonic Mania Plus. This had much more to do than just a difference between using 3D models over 2D sprites. So where did it go wrong for Sega? I’ll explore that in the next entry to this series. Did you get a chance to play this game? If so what were your thoughts. I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Sonic Superstars and beyond. Sega makes up for lost time, part 2...

In the previous blog I mentioned a few of the things that Sonic Superstars did exceptionally well. The call-out to the classic art style, and aesthetics. The level designs, animations, storytelling and presentation were every bit as good as those featured in the original Sonic games. The only difference was that everything was now wrapped in stylish 3D graphics. There were many things that Sonic Team and the developers at Arzest did to honor the legacy of the decades old franchise while still giving us something new. For example Superstars made use of many unique sub-bosses, or mini bosses. The original titles never had sub-boss battles before the main fight with Dr. Eggman. These were more of a modern concept, yet they managed to work quite well in the classic format.

Eggman was known for creating robot minions that mirrored real animals. Robotic beetles, rabbits, sharks, and eagles that Sonic could defeat with a single strike. The mini-bosses in Superstars were much larger variations on the theme. They required several hits to take down. For example Instead of a robotic chimp throwing coconuts at you from a tree you had to battle a robotic gorilla that could flatten you in a press. Instead of a robot vulture there was now a robot pterodactyl that had more firepower than a fighter jet. Hidden inside of these constructs were massive versions of the critters that were trapped in the “Badniks” like Ricky the squirrel, Pocky the rabbit, and Flicky the bird. The designs of these robots, and the chubby animals trapped inside were brilliant. The cartoonish proportions, and exaggerated personalities fit perfectly in with the other constructs from the mad doctor. Speaking of which. Sonic Superstars might have featured some of the best variations of the classic Egg Mobile battles in the franchise history. As was tradition Eggman would show up in his flying vehicle, and then equip in with more armor, and weapons for the fight. To raise the stakes both the mini-bosses, and Eggman fights would evolve into more complex challenges. They required pattern recognition, and creative thinking in order to advance through.

The real challenge for the developers were not only in creating memorable battles, but in designing them for all the different playable characters; Sonic, Amy Rose, Tails, Knuckles, and Trip. Playing as each character meant that the levels had to be accessible for all of them, and their particular style of play. All of the characters could run quickly, and roll into a ball to squeeze through tight passages. Tails could also fly, Amy Rose fought with a hammer, and Knuckles could climb on vertical surfaces, and glide as well. The new character Trip was an anthropomorphic bearded dragon. She could roll into a spiked ball, and she too could climb surfaces. The stages had to allow room for exploitation, without being too easy or hard depending on your choice of hero. Making sure that the zones, or boss characters could not be exploited easily by a single character must have been a challenge for the designers. At the same time the game actually had a dedicated level for each of the stars. This allowed them to shine, and push the plot forward. Remember that the entire story of the game was told without words. Characters pantomimed their feelings, and it came through quite well. At various points through the game the cast could actually be seen in the background sabotaging Eggman’s plans. This made players feel like it really was a collaborative adventure.

Sega really had their work cut out for them. Not only did they have the ambitious goal of making a 2.5D successor to Sonic Mania Plus. They also wanted to give fans a multiplayer experience. Sonic, and most of the classic mascot titles weren’t really known for being team games. I mean aside from cameos in Olympic, or kart racers. There were various mini-games in Superstars that supported local, and online play. Not only that but you could unlock, and customize a robot to use in the battles instead of the main characters. You could purchase accessories, paint, and patterns for your robot. This allowed you to recreate the classics like Metal Sonic, but also the rarer Metal Knuckles, and all-new Metal Amy, Metal Tails, Metal Trip, and even a Metal NiGHTS. Of course the robot version of my favorite game character absolutely blew my mind. I had all sorts of fun with the robots, making red, yellow, and black versions of Metal Sonic just to see what they would look like. Needless to say they were pretty cool.

The most overlooked thing that Sonic Team, and Arzest did in Superstars was turn each of the Chaos Emeralds into a playable feature. As the levels progressed you could unlock a new emerald, and each one granted you some temporary powers. One emerald allowed you to turn into water, and swim upstream through the background. One allowed you to blast through the air like a fireball, one allowed you to slow down time, one of them allowed you to create multiple versions of yourself to run interference. Then there were the emeralds that allowed you to grow a massive plant from the ground, see invisible rings, and platforms, as well as a gem that allowed you to throw small tornadoes at enemies. If you unlocked all of the emeralds then you could become a “Super” version of your character. It occurred to me how similar the Chaos Emeralds were to the Infinity Gems from the Marvel Comics. You might be familiar with the gems thanks to the Marvel cinematic universe, but their use in comics had gone back over 50 years.

The Infinity Stone first appeared as a “Soul Gem” in the 1972 issue of Marvel Premier #1. As the cosmic adventures of Adam Warlock, and the Silver Surfer continued through the ‘70s, and ‘80s more gems, and their unique powers were revealed. The six Elders of the Universe were their custodians. You might know some of the elders such as the Grandmaster, the Collector, and the Champion from the game Marvel Contest of Champions. In 1990 the Thanos Quest was the comic arc where the villain tracked them all down to create the Infinity Gauntlet. It was interesting that this story took place a year before the release of the original Sonic the Hedgehog. It made me wonder if Sonic Team was aware of this development, or if having multi-colored gems with awesome powers was just a coincidence. Either way having the ability to freely switch between the different gems, and use their powers was a way to elevate the classic Sonic experience. I believe that Sonic Team had a secondary reason to add this new element to the game. The studio used a similar mechanic in the game Sonic Colors. In it Sonic could temporarily use the powers of alien creatures known as Wisps.

The ability to have Sonic use new abilities helped mix up the familiar game play. You could revisit stages and discover all sorts of secrets once you had unlocked new Wisp powers. In a similar way you could replay levels in Sonic Superstars using the different Chaos Emeralds as well. For those unfamiliar with Sonic Colors; it was developed by Sonic Team, and released November 11, 2010. I would argue that it was possibly the best post Sonic Adventure 3D game from Sega. It certainly had one of the most memorable soundtracks. It featured music from just about every veteran Sonic composer with the exception of Dreams Come True. Instead of battling across different zones the game actually took place across several themed planets. Sonic had to save the Wisp alien species from enslavement by Dr. Eggman. The animated short Rise of the Wisps helped explain the plot of the game.

The power ups from the Wisps were temporary. They allowed Sonic to rocket through the air, drill through the ground, climb vertical surfaces, or even shoot across a stage like a laser beam. The new powers didn’t break the game, nor did they feel like a forced add-on. The designs of the creatures perfectly complemented the character art from the modern Sonic universe. They were quickly adopted into the pages of the IDW comics. The Wisp powers, and use as weapons, or “Wispons” turned up in later games. Looking back it seemed obvious that Sonic Team had always meant for the Chaos Emeralds to be used individually. Each emerald helped open up the experience, and especially made the boss battles a little bit easier. If the template was already proven to work why didn’t Sonic Superstars use Wisps? Would you believe that it was because there were two different versions of Sonic? The one from Superstars hadn’t met the aliens yet. We’ll explore the duality of Sega’s franchise mascot in the next blog. Did you play Sonic Superstars? Did you have a favorite game in the series? I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Sonic Superstars and beyond. Sega makes up for lost time, part 1...

Hello friends. I hope that you are doing well. I wanted to do a follow up on my love of Sonic Team. Writing about the developers made me realize that I hadn’t played any new Sonic titles in a few years. Part of the reason why was because a lot of the people that made up the core of the original Sonic Team had retired or moved on to different companies. Plus many of the latter 3D Sonic games seemed to be lacking the soul of the titles that I really vibed with. So I stayed clear of them for a long time. Sonic Mania Plus was the title that reignited my passion for the franchise. The original Sonic Mania came out in 2017. It featured a literal who’s-who of the most passionate members of the fan community. Instead of Sonic Team it was developed by Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, Hyperkinetic Studios, PagodaWest Games, Tantalus Media, and published by Sega. It seemed that it took that many people to rekindle the magic from the early ‘90s.

Sonic Mania played like a highlight reel of the greatest moments from the first few Genesis / Mega Drive titles, including Sonic CD. It wasn’t a collection of levels that could be found in an anthology like Sonic Origins (highly recommend!). Instead Sonic Mania had tons of new elements poured in. It was a way for new players to discover exactly why the series was so beloved, and inspire them to check out all the other games in the series. Playing it did more than send me back in time, it updated the experience and pulled it into the modern era. It was instantly embraced by gamers, and critics alike. To remind you about how much I loved the originals I said Sonic the Hedgehog 2 as my #3 favorite game of all-time. An improved Sonic Mania Plus was released in 2018. In it the developers added even more elements, and most important brought Ray the Flying Squirrel, and Mighty the Armadillo back into the spotlight. These rare characters were easily my favorite duo from the franchise. By extension I said Sonic Mania Plus had now replaced Sonic the Hedgehog 2 on the list. It turned out that wouldn’t be the only game in recent memory to give Sonic 2 a run for the money.

Sonic Superstars was developed by Arzest, and Sonic Team. It was published by Sega on October 17, 2023. It was reported that the game was a way for Sega to return back to the familiar 2D gameplay while committing the Sonic engine to 3D graphics. That kind of game was more commonly known as a 2.5D title. Several classic titles had sequels in that format for some time. The ones from Capcom including Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Mega Man 11, and DuckTales: Remastered were examples of this. Several of the previous Sonic titles were strictly in 3D, and had mixed reactions from players. The company wanted to move away from sprites in order to make their game appeal to a broader audience. Unfortunately they stopped the plans for a Sonic Mania 2, and instead created Sonic Superstars. It was a shame really. I don’t blame the studio for their decision. Developing on 3D was more cost effective for the publisher. It was just good business, although many of us long-time fans did prefer sprite art in certain genres. With that said the game itself very much looked like, and felt like a classic title.

Sonic Superstars preserved the aesthetic of the early titles in a way that was hard to describe. The environments, architecture, landscape, and level layouts in the early Sonic games weren’t quite comic book, anime, or cartoon, but something in between all three. It’s hard to understand exactly what I’m referring to unless you played through them. The construction of the stages, or zones in Sonic Superstars honored the original Sonic Team art. The 3D environments were not a recreation of classic zones but instead they were new places that complimented everything that came before. I’m talking about islands, deserts, snowy mountains, and hidden temples. I instantly felt at ease running through the environments because they were so well done. There were branching paths, long coaster-like sections, narrow platforms, and tight jumps to navigate. They mirrored the best elements in any of the classic 2D Sonic titles.

The team at Arzest understood the nuances in the graphics, and design of the classic (pre Sonic Adventure) games. Superstars was layered with obvious, but also subtle nods to more than 30 years of Sonic history. There were no throw away details to be found. As a lifelong fan I was able to appreciate the big, and the little things. For example the the look of the menus, and loading screens had familiar geometric shapes, dashes, and jagged angles. The original title, and its sequels would use the bright colors, and shapes in every loading screen. We had seen variations of these elements in other games. These were sometimes synonymous with late ’80s / early ‘90s graphic design. If you knew your history however they were a direct nod to the original series Japanese box art. This was far from the only thing the developers used to make the game look, and feel like a Sonic game.

There were different bonus stages in Superstars that took equal turns in 2D, and 3D mechanics. As with all of the bonus stages throughout the franchise they required patience, and timing to become proficient at. One of which that I never thought would return were the spinning mazes from the original title. Way back in 1991 the idea of a rotating level was thought impossible on the Sega hardware. The Sega Genesis did not have a mode that allowed the hardware to scale or rotate sprites, unlike the Super Nintendo’s fabled Mode 7. The rotating mazes in the first Sonic were a programming masterpiece from Yuji Naka. It wouldn’t be the only time he showed his peers how much performance he could get out of the hardware. The bonus stages in the original Sonic were difficult, but not impossible to navigate. The updated version from Superstars actually featured layers of the spinning maze to navigate through. Plus they added new game play features with branching maze paths, and switchable paths to make them fresh. Revisiting the bonus stages could reward players with gold Sonic tokens which could be used to buy elements for the multiplayer games. More on that in a moment.

Capturing the aesthetic of those early games was only a small part of what Sonic Team, and Arzest were able to achieve. Moving the visuals to 3D allowed the developers add effects that were impossible on older technology. For example they could light the zones in a warm morning glow, or a bright midday sun. They even had some stages set at dusk, lit by moonlight, or with weather elements including clouds, dust, and fog. These details added tons of atmosphere without breaking the classic feel. Moreover the game gave audiences the ability to play through the adventure with different characters. Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Knuckles were all playable from the get-go. A new character Trip the Sungazer could be unlocked as well.

The attention to detail that went into the menu design, bonus stages, and world building was doubled on the heroes. The artists at the studio managed to create some of the best 3D models I had ever seen in the classic style. They also layered them with personality through their various animation cycles. Little things like the way the characters looked up, and down, when they balanced on the edge of a platform, and even how they changed their stance during an idle were are pulled from their earliest appearances. Moreover they added new details, for example when pushing a heavy object we could see the mascots struggling. They made facial expressions, and their legs trembled as they pushed a heavy weight. These were negligible to casual audiences, but instantly noticed by the veteran players. What I greatly appreciated in the animation was how the entire story was told through pantomime. There was no dialogue, no exposition, not explaining what was happening. The characters traveled through an adventure without any recorded audio. Dr. Eggman was especially memorable as he mocked the heroes. He would open his mouth wide as he laughed at them from the comfort of his Egg Mobile, then quickly panic with flop sweat as his plans fell apart.

A great portion of the design work, and animation stylings featured in Superstars were coming from the talented hands of Tyson Hesse. The creator was a master cartoonist, and storyteller. As a fan he had the insight as to what made Sonic a beloved character to the community. He helped Sega make the Sonic universe relevant to a new generation through his art, and direction. When the “Ugly Sonic” movie trailer was released the fan backlash was immediate. Thankfully Sega and Paramount realized their mistake and consulted with Tyson to help redesign the characters for the movie, and it’s sequels. In addition to that he directed several animated shorts, including Sonic Mania Adventures. The series of cartoons told an entire story featuring the cast of Sonic Mania Plus, but did so without any dialogue. It demonstrated that storytelling through pantomime could be universally understood. It was expanded upon in the Sonic Superstars follow up. The animated short Trio of Trouble explained what Dr. Eggman was up to, and how he had recruited the services of Fang the Hunter, and Trip the Sungazer. Directors Evan Stanley and Tyson Hesse again manage to do all this without any dialogue.

For the fans that wanted to dive even deeper into this world IDW Publishing released the Fang the Hunter series. It was the precursor to the Trio of Trouble, and everything that happened in Superstars. The animation, comic, and game were beautifully made. There was much more that I wanted to highlight in Superstars. I'll dig deeper in the next entry to this series. Did you get a chance to play this game? If so what were your thoughts. I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Making a Sonic Team fan, final part...

In the previous blog I featured fan art of a Sonic Team character that never was. Selph was a cancelled boss character for the original NiGHTS into dreams… I speculated what the character looked like, and even that the studio turned the character into Chaos for the Sonic Adventure series. It wasn’t the only time I speculated on their characters. Not long ago my kid asked if I had seen Metal NiGHTS. I had never heard of this iteration of my favorite mascot. It turned out that Metal NiGHTS was hidden in Sonic Superstars, along with Metal Tails, Metal Amy, and more. This inspired me to create fan art on what a meeting of the characters would look like.

That illustration launched a creative rush, and I had to capitalize on it. It had been a long time since I've drawn back-to-back pieces in illustrator. I remembered that there was a smaller Mecha NiGHTS that was a hidden asset in the original game. So I absolutely had to put together a family portrait.

Then as long as I was drawing metal versions I figured there should be a Metal Reala as well. There was not a version in Sonic Superstars, but that didn't stop me from drawing it up. Some people call these little guys chibi-versions but technically they are classic Sonic proportions, rather than modern Sonic. Reala was just a hair bigger than NiGHTS in the original game, so even his metal version was a little bigger as well.

As long as I was creating versions of the robots that never existed I thought about the third “brother” from the series. I absolutely had to create an illustration for Metal Jackle. This character was much bigger than NiGHTS in the original game. He was actually about four times the size of the other hooded nightmarens.

I didn’t want to break the scale of the robots I had already drawn, so I simply made Jackle just a hair larger than Reala. I had so much fun creating these illustrations it made me wish that I knew how to create 3D models. I would love to get a 3D printed version of my little robots made. Don’t you think they look cute?

The only other sort of humanoid figure in NiGHTS into dreams... was the final boss named Wizeman. Yet this character didn't really have a body or head. He was more like a floating cloak on a platform. I didn't think it would be possible to make a Metal version of him, until one day I decided to give it a go. I won't be making Metal versions of the other characters because their proportions are already very much in line with the format. The more I look at these illustrations the more I wonder if it would be possible to remake NiGHTS into a game featuring robots that dream of breaking away from the control of Dr. Eggman. What do you think?

I was on an absolute drawing tear so I thought about what other Sonic Team character I would like to bring back. I remembered that Mecha Sonic from Sonic 2 had some great concept art. I thought it would look even better in color. I think this illustration came out great.

I figured as long as I made an illustration of the Mecha Sonic concept art I might as well render the other metal variations. Did you have a favorite metal doppelganger? I really need to get a copy of Sonic Superstars so I can see the various builds.

There was an illustration that I had been dreading for a long time. It was not the Super Pian aka the King of the Nightopians. I absolutely loved that little guy! I had mentioned him previously on the blog. He was a rare character that you could unlock in the original NiGHTS into dreams… The king would fly around the level and choose a spot to built a floating castle. It would be added to the game, and saved via the internal memory. The castle was randomly placed on the level, and would never appear in the same place twice, no matter how many times you erased, and resrtated your data! He was an incredibly cute character that I finally got around to drawing.

Rendering the king didn’t make me nervous but the castle he created did. It was all but impossible to get a clean picture of the castle from the game for my own personal notes. The original Nightopian Castle was rarely captured on screen because it was not guaranteed to ever show up in the game. Normally it wouldn’t be hard to find a YouTube clip to work from however the Sega Saturn was a 32-bit system from 30 years ago. Any existing video was low resolution. If you didn’t have a video capture card, or an emulator, and knew how to earn the Super Pian then even today it would be hard screenshot to get. The closest thing I could find was a fuzzy shot from the NiGHTS Wiki page but this model was pulled from the PS2 remake, which was not 100% console accurate. The Chinese developers did a really great job recreating the game engine, but not all the assets were accurate to their sprite counterparts.

Whenever there was a game asset that I couldn’t track down then I would challenge myself to draw a reproduction as accurately as I could. So I used every screenshot, and grainy video clip that I could find of the castle to work from. It took me a few days to finalize the design, and it’s essentially a high resolution, vector version of the sprites. There was no doubt that the Nightopian Castle was one of my most challenging drawings of the past decade. Maybe I should put it on a poster or tee shirt for the die-hard fans.

There was another game asset in NiGHTS that I always wanted to recreate. The villain Reala had a stylish logo on the ceiling of his boss battle stage. About 30 years ago my little brother said it would make a great design for a tattoo. I agreed, and finally decided it was time for me to recreate it. It was hard to find a clean screenshot, or the asset uploaded. So again I went by any scans that I could find. Making out the pattern at the bottom of the logo was the hardest part, so I mocked up a couple of different designs. I even changed the hands above the moon a little. Now I’m not saying that I am getting a tattoo with it, but I am certainly thinking about it.

When Valentine’s Day was approaching I decided to see what a pink version of NiGHTS would look like. I even added some Nightopians to round out the pic. I might do other holiday versions in the future. We already have a Christmas version, but I wonder how an autumnal NiGHTS would look like. Orange like the leaves in fall, or black like a Halloween monster? That's food for thought...

After a few weeks of drawing I decided to get out of my comfort zone, and do an illustration of NiGHTS, and Reala as cartoonish, and dynamic as I possibly could. I think the end result really showed how far I had come in the past few years.

The best part about working mainly in Adobe Illustrator is that I can always circle back to a piece and make changes to it. I think the second go round between NiGHTS and Reala works much better. What do you think? All in all it was fun creating new illustrations these past few weeks. I had Sonic Team to thank for that. They kept me motivated when work, and politics had been weighing on my mind. The library of Sega games had inspired me most of my life. It was time to express that love in art form.

To round out my Sonic Team fan art I combined the classic Sonic pose from the cover of Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast but replaced our hero. It was one of the more popular illustrations I ever uploaded to social media.

I know Jet Set Radio is not a Sonic Team game, but it is a Sega title, and one of my favorites of all-time. This will probably be the last time I draw the Sonic Adventure pose, but don't hold me to it.

I hope you enjoyed this look back at how the studio built a fan. I’d like to know if you were a fan of Sonic Team, and if you had a favorite game, or character as well. Tell me about it in the comments section. As always if you enjoyed this blog, and would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!