Summary
Sega and Sonic Team have given more details regardingSonic Superstars' newest villain, Trip, who is working alongside Dr. Eggman and Fang the Hunter. This new entry in the long-running franchise is a throwback to the series' roots on the Sega Genesis, being a 2D platformer focused on speed. Unlike previous games in the series,Sonic Superstarshas a focus on multiplayer co-op, where four players can all play at once in one session, with Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles all being playable characters. The game will also introduce a brand-new character introduced to the franchise, known as Trip.
SinceSonic Superstarsis a throwback to olderSonicgames, it features the classic versions of Sonic, his friends, and Dr. Eggman. Fang the Hunter fromSonic Triple Troublemakes his grand return to the games, after only making comic book-only and cameo appearances in past media as well. Trip, who is designed by Sonic’s original character designer, Naoto Ohshima, makes her debut inSuperstarsas the third member of the villainous trio. Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka gave some more information about Trip and what to expect from her.
RELATED:Sega Reveals Sonic Superstars' First Six Zone Names
According to an interview between Iizuka and Game Informer aboutSonic Superstars, Trip was designed as a collaboration between Sonic Team and Ohshima, who is the president of the game’s co-developer, Arzest. This newcomer was added to compliment Eggman and Fang, where the former was an omnipresent villain in the franchise, while Fang is a classic villain making a grand comeback. The team also explained their design process, where Ohshima went back and forth with Iizuka in designing the armored villain, basing it off of the ouroboros. According to Iizuka, Trip is a sungazer lizard, though in Japanese she is an “armored lizard,” which compliments her lizard-like tail and armor.
Unlike otherSonic the Hedgehogvillains, she isn’t the same world ending threat that fans have seen in games likeSonic Adventure,Sonic Unleashed, orSonic Frontiers, but rather is a weak and lost character inSuperstars. The interviewer noted that they first encountered Trip in one of Amy’s Acts in Lagoon City Zone, where she helps escort Trip out of the level. Iizuka commented on this, stating that Trip starts out as a rather clumsy enemy, hence her namesake, but as the game progresses, players will get to see her transformation into an effective villain, while keeping it consistent with the same limited storytelling conventions of the classic games.
Fans havespeculated about Trip and her role inSonic Superstarsvery early on, ever since fans first spotted her in the game’s opening title animation. Many believed that she could potentially be a brand-new playable character, while others think she could end up usurping both Eggman and Fang in some way. While it’s possible that Trip can become playable after initially beatingSuperstars, this is just speculation at this time.
Sonic Superstarslaunches in Fall 2023 for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:Why the Separation Between Modern and Classic Sonic is a Double-Edged Sword
