Unlike Frontiers, Sonic Superstars is a traditional 2D side-scrolling platformer for the series. However, unlike Sonic Mania, it offers 3D visuals and features four-player co-op with Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles as playable characters. It’s also the first game in the franchise to feature all-new Zones, with no repeats from older titles.

Sonic Superstars launches on October 17th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch. We’ll likely see more gameplay on September 21st, 3 AM PT when the first Sega News broadcast airs. Stay tuned for more details, and check out the new Emerald Powers that Sonic and friends can wield.

Set in the Northstar Islands – with none of the Zones from previous games present for the first time – the story sees Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and Amy Rose fighting against Eggman. He’s joined by Fang from Sonic Triple Trouble and a new foe named Skip. To even the odds, each character can utilize new Emerald Powers, from creating clones to traversing water at high speeds.

Of course, each character also has a Super form upon collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds, including Amy. As for co-op, it supports drop-in, drop-out functionality, and you can play through the entire story. Check out the opening animation here and stay tuned for more details.

Taking to Twitter, Gamescom Opening Night Live producer and host Geoff Keighley recently announced that Sonic Superstars will be showcased at the event next week.

A number of other titles have also been confirmed for Gamescom ONL over the last few days, including the likes of Alan Wake 2, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Crimson Desert, Mortal Kombat 1, Black Myth: Wukong, and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.

Sonic Superstars is due out this Fall for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. A specific release date hasn’t yet been announced for the side-scrolling platformer, but retailer listings have suggested that the game will be out in October.

Get ready to grab your player 2 (…and 3 and 4)! @Sonic_hedgehog Superstars news coming Tuesday to @gamescom Opening Night Live!

Tune in live, Tuesday at 8p CET/7p BST/2p ET/11a PT at https://t.co/AFycLZG9XF pic.twitter.com/8OgsH3UKsZ

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) August 17, 2023

As creative officer Takashi Iizuka told Game Informer, “We wanted to say, ‘How can we reward someone for getting just one?’ And if we reward someone for getting just one, that will motivate people to get each one and see what they are. So, part of the new ideas and how Emerald Powers started was in that process of trying to get people excited about getting each Emerald.”

The Special Stages are accessible via large gold rings and require swinging towards an objective with floating bubbles. It’s easier said than done since some bubbles can alter your momentum, increase it or halt you. As showcased in some trailers, collecting all seven Emeralds allows each character to use a Super form that makes them faster and invincible while they have rings. However, you can still use a specified Emerald’s power.

The Emerald Powers are as follows:

• Avatar (Blue Emerald) – Creates copies of the character to attack enemies. Good against bosses.
• Bullet (Red Emerald) – Shoots the character forward in a chosen direction. You can change directions mid-flight.
• Water (Cyan Emerald) – Climb waterfalls and travel underwater with ease. Not so great in areas without any water.
• Ivy (Green Emerald) – Create vines to climb and reach otherwise inaccessible areas.
• Vision (Purple Emerald) – Hidden platforms and rings are revealed.
• Slow (Yellow Emerald) – Everything onscreen is slowed.
• Extra (White Emerald) – Grants an additional ability to each character. Sonic gets the Homing Attack; Knuckles can Punch; Tails uses Tornado spin; and Amy has Hammer Throw.

You use the Emerald Powers with the right stick, but they can’t be used continuously. After using them, you need to recharge them at checkpoints. Though they sound similar to the Wisps, Iizuka says they aren’t essentially for traversing levels.

“In Colors, you need to use the Wisps to get around in the level and complete the game, but we didn’t want that to be a part of the Superstars game. We wanted the Classic Sonic gameplay to remain true, so when we were looking at the Emerald Powers and the Wisps, we wanted to make sure you could still beat Superstars without having to use any of the powers, which is what we needed to balance during game design.”

Sonic Superstars is out this Fall for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch (with retailers listing it for October). Check out the opening animation here.

Developed by Arzest (Balan Wonderworld), Sonic Superstars takes place in the new Northstar Islands, with Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles being playable. The Chaos Emeralds grant powerful new abilities, like multiplying characters, letting you traverse up waterfalls, or changing forms.

Along with Eggman, players will battle Fang from Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble and a strange new enemy. While the game is playable solo, up to four players can team up in drop-in/drop-out local co-op for the entire campaign for the first time in the series history.

Sonic Superstars releases this Fall for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch. Retailers listed the platformer for release on October 17th, so stay tuned for an official announcement from Sega in the coming months.

Sega has announced LEGO collaboration DLC for Sonic Superstars. The announcement was made with a brief trailer, which showed both Sonic himself and the villainous Dr. Eggman being transformed into blocky LEGO versions of themselves. Whether the DLC also bring similar cosmetic changes for other characters in the game remains to be seen. Check out the trailer below.

Sega has also confirmed that those who pre-order the game will get free access to the Dr. Eggman LEGO cosmetic.

Sonic Frontiers is set to launch this Fall for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC. As per recent retailer listings, the game will release on October 17.

As spotted by @Wario64 on Twitter, pre-order listings for Sonic Superstars recently went live on a number of retailer websites, including the likes of GameStop and Target, and both of them mentioned a launch date of October 17 for the 2D platformer. The listings have since been amended to only mentioned a placeholder release date of December 31, and Sega has yet to officially confirmed a concrete date.

If Sonic Superstars does indeed launch on October 17, it’ll be yet another major release crammed into what’s looking like an incredibly busy period for game releases. Currently, games scheduled to release in the middle period of October include Forza Motorsport, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Alan Wake 2, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and more.

Sonic Superstars is in development for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.

Sonic Superstars releases Oct 17th according to GameStop and Target https://t.co/W6sXUr6ARB

— Wario64 (@Wario64) June 23, 2023