Sega Superstars is a game developed by Sonic Team in 2004 for the PlayStation 2 EyeToy. It features a series of games based on previous Sega titles. It also contains the Chao.
This is Sonic's first appearance in a game rated higher than E for Everyone by the ESRB. He would again appear in games like this such as Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic and the Black Knight, and Sonic Lost World all rated E10+, Sega Genesis Collection and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, both rated T.
A Sega Superstars sequel was produced named Sega Superstars Tennis which was developed for multiformats, including Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Wii and Nintendo DS. However, rather than having been developed by Sonic Team themselves, it was developed by Sumo Digital.
Gameplay
Gameplay is similar to that of Eyetoy: Play. However, whilst that game only picked up player's movement, Sega Superstars uses a more advanced system. Before the start of each game, a setup screen with an orange area is shown. In order to start the game, players have to stand in a position where the orange area won't pick up any movement and select the continue button. This method determines what area is the background, allowing Eyetoy to pick up the player's position, as opposed to just what areas are moving. This is particularly prominent in games like Puyo Puyo, that uses the player's entire body.
Games
There are a total of 12 different full games to play in the main mode of Sega Superstars:
- Sonic the Hedgehog - As Sonic runs down a round tunnel, he follows the position of the players hand. Using this method, the aim of the game is to gather rings and Chaos Emeralds in order to obtain the highest score at the end of the game. It is a combination of the full pipe Special Stages from Sonic Heroes with the goal of the Half-pipe Special Stages that first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and similar gameplay was used in Sonic Rush's special stages.
- Samba de Amigo - Players choose a song, and then must hit 6 different targets around the screen as the 'beat balls' reach them in time with the music. Posing with hands over 2 of the targets, or holding one position until a trail of beat balls is complete, may also be required from the player.
- ChuChu Rocket! - Movement over a certain target on the screen will cause a bridge to raise, which the chu-chus then follow to the goal. The bridge also must be dropped at certain moments to prevent KapuKapus from destroying the score.
- Puyo Pop Fever - Differently colored Puyos will fall from the top of the screen, and the player's body must be positioned to guide them into the corresponding pots and allow bombs to topple off the bottom of the screen.
- Crazy Taxi - Large movements and loud sounds must be undertaken to stop the Crazy Taxi and complete the level.
- Super Monkey Ball - The player must move their arms into different positions in order to guide the Monkey Ball around obstacles and towards the goal, picking up as many bananas as possible along the way.
- NiGHTS Into Dreams - NiGHTS must be controlled and navigated through rings, collecting chips along the way, by raising your arms into a 'flying' position and adjusting them along the way.
- House of the Dead - A multitude of different zombies must be attacked and defeated by hitting them. An innocent woman who occasionally appears must not be hit by the player.
- Virtua Striker - As footballs drop from the top of the screen, the aim is to head them into differently colored and scored balloons on the opposite side of the screen in order to obtain the highest score.
- Virtua Fighter - Standing to one side, players kick and punch the corresponding attack prompts on the screen in order to defeat the opponent. Block and counter prompts also appear, and must be reacted to accordingly.
- Space Channel 5 - Different dance move combination must be remembered when shown by the Morolians, and then repeated in time to the music by hitting six different buttons on the screen.
- Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg - By waving their hands over two different targets, players must move Billy and the egg around, and crush enemies and collect fruits along the way to the goal.
Characters
These following characters are playable:
- Sonic the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)
- Shadow the Hedgehog (Sonic the Hedgehog)
- Chao (Sonic the Hedgehog)
- Aiai (Super Monkey Ball)
- Meemee (Super Monkey Ball)
- Baby (Super Monkey Ball)
- Gongon (Super Monkey Ball)
- NiGHTS (NiGHTS into Dreams...)
- Ulala (Space Channel 5)
- Amigo (Samba de Amigo)
- Billy Hatcher (Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg)
- Akira Yuki (Virtua Fighter)
- Jacky Bryant (Virtua Fighter)
- Sarah Bryant (Virtua Fighter)
- Axel (Crazy Taxi)
Extra modes
- In the "Sonic the Hedgehog" game, successfully completing all three difficulties with Sonic will unlock Shadow's story, which allows to control Shadow instead of Sonic, although this story is much harder.
- In the "Puyo Pop Fever" game, by successfully completing all three levels, the player will unlock a mode called "Free Mode" that allows players to simply play around with puyos and experiment with moving them around.
- In the "NiGHTS into Dreams" game, successfully completing all three levels opens up a new night-time area (Twin Seeds) with harder levels and different scenery.
- Completing all three levels on both "Samba De Amigo" and "Chu Chu Rocket" unlocks an extra-hard difficulty setting.
- Also available is a variation of the Tiny Chao Garden from different Sonic games. Here, a Chao can be hatched and petted via different movements. It is also possible to interact with some scenery (shaking trees for fruit) and purchase items for the Chao using rings collected in the main game mode.
- In the "Samba De Amigo" game, if you play every song, DLC songs from the first game will be added.
Trivia
- This is the only Sonic-related game to be released exclusively on the PlayStation 2.
- This is the only Sega Superstars game to get a Japan release, though Sumo Digital stated that they plan to release All-Stars Racing Transformed in Japan in the future due to fan demand.
- Despite getting a 3+ and A rating from PEGI and CERO, Sega Superstars somehow got a T rating from the ESRB.
- This is the only Sonic game on PlayStation 2 that was on CD-ROM instead of DVD-ROM.
- Despite having the EyeToy compatible with the PlayStation 3, it is one of the only two Sonic games (along with Sega Superstars Tennis although a PS3 version of that game is available) that is incompatible with the PS3 on all of its current models.
- The name "Sega Superstars" was also used since Sonic the Comic began 11 years prior to this game. Megadroid refered to the stories and characters based on Sega franchises other than Sonic as Sega Superstars.
Gallery
Artwork
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Discs and box artwork
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 European box artwork  North American box artwork  Game Disk |
Screenshots
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