Summary
This article contains spoilers regarding Sonic SuperstarsAsSonic Frontiersspearheaded a brand-new lore clean-up initiative for Sega’s most well-known IP,Sonic Superstarsintroduced a number of new concepts that sounded like game-changers upon reveal. With thenew Chaos Emerald Powers, the additional character of Trip the Sungazer, and the return of Fang the Hunter,Sonic Superstarswas looking to be a game full of interesting new lore tidbits just like the game that came before it.
Unfortunately,Sonic Superstarsmay include some fun moments, but in terms of explaining everything it introduces, it falls short. While there are small teases and references to what’s really going on, especially towards the end of both Story Modes, all of it is left rather vague. There could be many reasons for this, but for those hoping to learn more about the Northstar Islands,Sonic Superstarscertainly doesn’t deliver.
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Where Sonic Superstars' New Concepts Fall Short
The biggest ofSonic Superstars' failings regarding the new Chaos Emerald powers is Trip the Sungazer herself. InSuperstars, the new abilities for the mythical Emeralds are hardly touched upon in the story, existing as a mostly optional gameplay element. And in the case of thenew playable character Trip, her armor and abilities tie her to the ancient civilization found on the Northstar Islands, but who or what they are isn’t explained, or at least not in a way that fans can make sense of what’s happening for themselves.
A mural can be found in Knuckles' Golden Capital act that mirrors the one seen in the prologue Trio of Trouble, but it fails to really explain what’s going on. It seems to imply that the Emerald Powers are associated with the larger animals of the Islands, but they’re hardly connected in proper gameplay, and the supposed guardian animals are either too few or too many in number depending on which one actually applies.
The center of the mural also seems to imply this balance being broken will call forth the secret final boss players fight, but in reality, it shows up when the balance should be restored. None of it makes sense, and none of it plays a large enough role for fans to piece it all together, and this doesn’t even go into how big of an issuerandomly giving the Chaos Emeralds a new ability poses.
The Heart and Weight of Sonic Superstars' Story is Wonderful
However, even though much of what’s introduced inSonic Superstarsgoes unexplained, the game spends its time where fans likely want it to the most—on its characters. Fang in particular has a rather large lore focus, and while he shares screen time with Trip, it’s for a good reason as he’s seen talking down to her and being mean to her throughout the entire game, setting up a tense rivalry between the two.
Trip, while living up to her name as an incredibly clumsy lizard, falls into some ruins and cries. There, she’sfound by Amy in her character act, and as Amy gets her own special time to shine after years of being unplayable in Classic Sonic games, she and Trip bond. Amy’s kindness is what inspires Trip to be brave and fight back against Fang, tossing away her armor as a sign of her new strength, and the game understands how important this is to her to where Fang is even a unique special boss for Trip’s Story exclusively, allowing her to have catharsis on how she was mistreated.
Truthfully, the entire situation is a double-edged sword in that seeing Trip fight for herself after being looked down upon by Fang and Eggman feels great, but everything the game leaves unexplained almost exclusively ties into gameplay. Things from the Chaos Emerald powers to even the true final boss at the end ofSonic Superstarsfeel strange after completing the game, especially since the latter quite literally comes out of nowhereafter beating Trip’s Story. It could be argued that it’s due to Classic Sonic’s own cutscene limitations, but the execution of how to explain these important pieces should definitely be looked into ifSonic Superstarsis only the first of newer Classic Sonic adventures.
Sonic Superstarsis available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
