Sonic Superstars turned heads when it was introduced earlier this yr, combining traditional Sonic the Hedgehog platforming motion with a luscious trendy artwork type. Of course, with a sequence that has been wildly inconsistent for the reason that 16-bit period, flashy visuals aren’t any assure {that a} new Sonic the Hedgehog recreation will ship within the gameplay division. Fortunately, any lingering doubts that Sonic Superstars would not ship the place it counts have been immediately dispelled after I went palms on with the upcoming platformer at gamescom. Indeed, it was so good that I performed it twice. Here’s why Sonic Superstars was my favorite new title at gamescom.

Two totally different zones are playable at gamescom, each made up of two phases that culminate in a boss battle. 

Bridge Island is your traditional Green Hill type opening stage, that includes sunshine, rainbows and blue skies.

The very first thing you discover are the attractive visuals, that are so brilliant and vibrant that SEGA ought to give away a pair of sun shades with each copy.

Even higher, nonetheless, is how good all of it feels. On a scale of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 to Sonic Mania, Superstars is fortunately a lot nearer to the latter than the previous.

The controls are extremely tight, the motion is blisteringly quick and it runs as easy as freshly churned butter. 

Speed Jungle is even higher wanting, to not point out extra advanced. You can swing on vines to achieve increased platforms, flip between the foreground and background and battle mini bosses by spin dashing up its tentacles.

Sonic Superstars’ new energy ups have been maybe the one factor that did not actually click on in the course of the gamescom demo.

Sonic and mates can unlock new powers as the sport progresses, together with the flexibility to summon a wave of clones to assault enemies and destroy obstacles, in addition to a water-based skill to climb waterfalls and entry new areas.

While the brand new skills are intriguing and are seemingly key to unlocking most of the recreation’s secrets and techniques, they did not really feel instantly helpful or significantly intuitive in the course of the demo.

Indeed, if you’re whizzing alongside at 100mph, doing loops and leaping on enemies, hitting the power-up button is not one thing you will naturally gravitate to. 

Hopefully we’ll discover a higher use for them when the sport launches in October.

Either approach, it is a good demo with some superior platforming motion and plenty of secrets and techniques to find. It seems like Sonic of outdated, however seems contemporary and glossy just like the video games of immediately.

Sonic Superstars has an October 17 launch date on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.