SGF 23 – The Sonic Stadium

The Sonic Stadium is on the ground at Summer Game Fest 2023, and we’ve been able to capture loads of off-screen clips of the game in action! For anyone curious, we’ve got some gameplay footage of the windmill/seaside stage presented in the trailer. Let’s take a look at some of the gimmicks and interesting things we’ve seen!

There’s a lot to unpack in just a couple of minutes here, so let’s dive in and see what we can see:

First off, classic Badniks are back – but it looks like some of them may come with a few modernised tweaks to catch veteran 2D players off-guard. This Buzzbomber comes complete with a full-fat laser that doesn’t leave any room for Sonic to dodge from.

We also get to see one of the Chaos Emerald powers at play here – this one allows Sonic and friends to ascend through waterfalls. You’ll notice that there’s a meter in the bottom right corner there, which likely tells you how long you have left to use this special ability.

This stage is full of unique gimmicks that throw Sonic upwards into the air and even back and forth into the scenery! In this screenshot, you can see one of the curved silver loops that litter the stage – when Sonic runs into one…

…he shoots in the direction of the curve. Players can seemingly use these broken-loop pieces in clever ways to navigate to higher platforms.

Finally, there’s this little glimpse of a couple of collectables found within the stage. One is a giant blue ring, which looks similar to a Special Stage ring from Sonic 3 & Knuckles/Sonic Mania. The other is a golden Sonic coin. We wonder what these are for and where they take you…?

We’re capturing lots of media from the Summer Game Fest show floor, and we’ll be sharing our hands-on impressions of the game in a day or so’s time as well! Here are some more videos we captured as well, for your entertainment (be careful, some of them may be spoilery):

Knuckles vs Speed Jungle Boss