Summary
Sonic Superstars' producer, Takashi Iizuka, has confirmed where the new game takes place in the series' winding canonical timeline.Sonic Superstarsrecently released earlier this week, a gameplay reboot of the franchise where the blue hedgehog and his friends embark on a new adventure on Northstar Island. It takes the franchise back to its 2D platforming roots from the Sega Genesis, while imbuing it with fresh ideas and new gameplay features, such as the Chaos Emerald powers and newplayable characters inSonic Superstars, like Classic Amy Rose. With the game firmly using the franchise’s “classic” era look, it’s been confirmed the game is one of the many adventures set in the past.
TheSonic the Hedgehogfranchise timelineis a long and windy one, while simultaneously being loose enough that the series' canon events seem to change placement. The official timeline has always been segregated by two periods, Classic and Modern, ever sinceSonic Generations. All of Sonic’s adventures in the past take place beforeSonic Adventure, as that game would establish Sonic’s 3D gameplay jump.Sonic Superstarsis another one of the series' retroactive adventures that took place in the past, which longtime Sonic Team executive Takashi Iizuka confirms while clarifying where it takes place.
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In an interview with Eurogamer, Takashi Iizuka was asked about a number of decisions that went into developingSonic Superstars, including where it takes place in relation to the other games. According to Iizuka,Sonic Superstarsis set afterSonic Mania, where they both take place after the original Genesis trilogy andSonic CD.Superstarsas such takes place an indeterminate amount of time beforeSonic Adventureas well, since the game is part of the franchise’s “Classic” era.
Iizuka states that when the developers make a new game in the franchise, they always make sure the story fits theSonicfranchise’s lore. The current timeline in regard to the “Classic” era, established as ofSonic Origins, would beSonic 1,Sonic CD,Sonic 2, and thenSonic 3 & Knuckles. Based on Iizuka’s comments, following those four games,Sonic ManiaandSonic Superstarsoccur after that, which eventually leads intoSonic Adventureand beyond.
Sega and Sonic Team have also been doing a lot of recentlore cleanup via the TailsTube series, where it clarified a lot of details that were bugging fans, such as how Sonic’s adventures in the Classic era did take place in his past and weren’t an alternate universe like some believed. The recent fifth episode of TailsTube leading intoSonic Superstarsalso had the characters reminiscing on characters like Mighty, Ray, and Fang, with Fang having a prominent role as a secondary antagonist inSuperstars.
Sonic Superstarsis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
