Sonic Superstars looks like a love letter to the classic 2D games in the series, reimagined with 3D character models. Much like these older games it will have local multiplayer, something that most modern titles skip altogether. However, as much as this is appreciated, it seems that this feature won't go much further than that, as Superstars won't launch with online multiplayer.
Now, a project lead has explained why this is the case, arguing that Sonic is just too fast for online play to keep up. This suggests we shouldn't expect a U-turn anytime soon, with devs unable to get it up and running before launch in autumn of this year.
This explanation comes from VGC's interview with Sonic series creative officer Takashi Iizuka, who cites technical limitations as the reason for dropping the feature.
"The gameplay is so fast. Even in one frame, you can move so far in the level," says Iizuka. "We didn’t want to put this feature in where there would be lag, and then people wouldn’t have fun because of the technical requirements. So we wanted to keep it to that local, shared experience."
This is bad news for anyone who doesn't live close enough to a fellow Sonic fan, but it does fit in with the developers' ethos going into Sonic Superstars. As Iizuka explains, the devs view Superstars as more of a casual game, whereas mainline entries like Sonic Frontiers are for hardcore fans. With that in mind, the team probably imagines most fans will be playing multiplayer with their family, especially since it's apparently easy to drop in and out.
Iizuka doesn't suggest that fans can expect online play to be added post-launch, similar to how Frontiers has received much-requested expansions over the past few months. In fact, he doesn't discuss any kind of post-launch support, so it remains to be seen what this will entail outside of the usual patches.
This hasn't been the only bit of disappointing news surrounding Superstars. In a previous interview, Iizuka had to confirm that Shadow won't appear in the game - so we're not getting a classic Shadow design for now. At the very least, he did add that he'd like to include Shadow in a future game further down the line, so Sega hasn't forgotten about our edgy boy just yet.
Sonic Superstars is coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC. It doesn't have a confirmed release date just yet but is aiming for an autumn 2023 launch window. Incidentally, around the same time that Mario is getting a 2D platformer, if you're interested in some classic console war rivalries.