"New Sonic Mania U Deluxe"
Oh boy.. here we go. Look, I am not gonna start this review with the usual game journalist bullshit of bringing up Sonic's history. You already know it and am tired of hearing people reiterate it. What I would like to bring up, though, are the weird responses the Sonic Community has had over reviews criticizing a game they haven't played yet. When I saw those scores I was disappointed, sure, but I was not ready to invalidate the opinion of someone who has played a game when I haven't. I won't 100% stick by it but I will keep it open in my mind.
I say this now because after playing Sonic Superstars, I completely 100% understand the criticisms this game offers. This game is, on the whole, aight. It's a pretty standard 2D Sonic Game with some good controls, mostly fun level design, a cute set of cutscenes threading the game together, and some moments where I was just having fun speeding through like any other 2D Sonic game.
But more than Mania, 3K, or even Sonic 2, this game has a fair bit holding it back from being "solid" as opposed to just "okay." The first big thing is the game's presentation, the game looks pretty rough. Characters look neat but some of the levels you run through look blocky and dour and not all that appealing. The game ran well, but there were bugs aplenty like collision and sound issues, multiple crashes, and a section where the game booted me back to the start of a ZONE when I died to a boss. That was really annoying. And finally, and this is the one you've all been waiting for, the music is a MASSIVE mixed bag. Most of it is just.. okay. Forgettable generic sonic music but nothing too bad. Then you randomly either get to an act with a Tee Lopes song that sounds amazing, or a boss or level with some of the worst music in any Sonic Game. The boss theme is so fucking bad you guys oh my god.
In terms of gameplay issues, apart from a level or two where the level itself was insufferable, the main issue I have with the game on its own is that all of the bosses are... awful. Like genuinely awful even by 2D Sonic standards. There are a couple in particular that I 100% see people quitting the game over. Collision is janky, they usually take ages before allowing you to hit them, and telegraphing is either nonexistent or poorly shown. It's so bad.
And the last major problem I have with the game is that the two main aspects of the game they used to advertise it don't enhance the game at all, and, at points, make it worse. First are the Emerald Powers. Most of them aren't that helpful as the stages are not designed around them at all because they're completely optional, so they just feel like something you get and then promptly forget about as you continue to 2D Sonic like normal. The one time where I went out of my way to use it was when I wanted to cheese an aerial boss and randomly generated platforms couldn't give me the arc to jump that I needed.
And the 4 player co-op is legitimately frustrating and it reaffirms why this sort of idea just can't work. If a player gets caught on the edge of the screen they have to respawn, but when everyone is running through the level at probably different speeds it makes the levels that already weren't built for co-op even more chaotic and frustrating.
Overall, I can't say this is a bad game or even near the worst 2D Sonic game I've played, but for something that should have been a slam dunk for the Sonic team, this was a huge disappointment. It's fun and I definitely don't mind that it exists or that people enjoy it, but I'm not sure what this game could do for people that Mania, 2 or 3K can't do better. Sorry........
Oh boy.. here we go. Look, I am not gonna start this review with the usual game journalist bullshit of bringing up Sonic's history. You already know it and am tired of hearing people reiterate it. What I would like to bring up, though, are the weird responses the Sonic Community has had over reviews criticizing a game they haven't played yet. When I saw those scores I was disappointed, sure, but I was not ready to invalidate the opinion of someone who has played a game when I haven't. I won't 100% stick by it but I will keep it open in my mind.
I say this now because after playing Sonic Superstars, I completely 100% understand the criticisms this game offers. This game is, on the whole, aight. It's a pretty standard 2D Sonic Game with some good controls, mostly fun level design, a cute set of cutscenes threading the game together, and some moments where I was just having fun speeding through like any other 2D Sonic game.
But more than Mania, 3K, or even Sonic 2, this game has a fair bit holding it back from being "solid" as opposed to just "okay." The first big thing is the game's presentation, the game looks pretty rough. Characters look neat but some of the levels you run through look blocky and dour and not all that appealing. The game ran well, but there were bugs aplenty like collision and sound issues, multiple crashes, and a section where the game booted me back to the start of a ZONE when I died to a boss. That was really annoying. And finally, and this is the one you've all been waiting for, the music is a MASSIVE mixed bag. Most of it is just.. okay. Forgettable generic sonic music but nothing too bad. Then you randomly either get to an act with a Tee Lopes song that sounds amazing, or a boss or level with some of the worst music in any Sonic Game. The boss theme is so fucking bad you guys oh my god.
In terms of gameplay issues, apart from a level or two where the level itself was insufferable, the main issue I have with the game on its own is that all of the bosses are... awful. Like genuinely awful even by 2D Sonic standards. There are a couple in particular that I 100% see people quitting the game over. Collision is janky, they usually take ages before allowing you to hit them, and telegraphing is either nonexistent or poorly shown. It's so bad.
And the last major problem I have with the game is that the two main aspects of the game they used to advertise it don't enhance the game at all, and, at points, make it worse. First are the Emerald Powers. Most of them aren't that helpful as the stages are not designed around them at all because they're completely optional, so they just feel like something you get and then promptly forget about as you continue to 2D Sonic like normal. The one time where I went out of my way to use it was when I wanted to cheese an aerial boss and randomly generated platforms couldn't give me the arc to jump that I needed.
And the 4 player co-op is legitimately frustrating and it reaffirms why this sort of idea just can't work. If a player gets caught on the edge of the screen they have to respawn, but when everyone is running through the level at probably different speeds it makes the levels that already weren't built for co-op even more chaotic and frustrating.
Overall, I can't say this is a bad game or even near the worst 2D Sonic game I've played, but for something that should have been a slam dunk for the Sonic team, this was a huge disappointment. It's fun and I definitely don't mind that it exists or that people enjoy it, but I'm not sure what this game could do for people that Mania, 2 or 3K can't do better. Sorry........