New Video Games Coming in 2023

photo courtesy of Google Images

By Nathan Marvin

As many people Know, a Nintendo direct was released on Youtube in July of 2023, showing off all the new games that will be released towards the end of the year or early next year. Most games announced on this direct were Nintendo products or games that are sold for the Nintendo Switch. Here are two games that are releasing for the Nintendo Switch that many different kinds of gaming fans will find interesting.

First up is a brand new game for Sega's Most  popular franchise: Sonic the Hedgehog. They are releasing a brand new game on October 17th 2023. Its name was revealed in a trailer released by the Sega company in June of this year to be called: Sonic Superstars; this happening a month before the Nintendo direct would reveal more details about superstars.

This next addition to the Sonic franchise will be a 2d platformer with an art style that resembles that of the genesis era of Sonic games; and although the game is 2d, it will not be a 16 bit game like Sonic Mania is. Instead, it will be more like Sonic Generations, where the classic Sonic stages were made in 2d, but with a more modern art style. The game will be the first classic style game in the series to have a multiplayer co-op mode.  However, at this current point in time we have no details on how it will work exactly or if it will have an online mode. But information on this topic will be announced soon.

Sonic Superstars will be released on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox series X, and will retail for $60 in the US.  This game will also feature entirely new zones that look and feel like the Genesis games but are all entirely brand new. 

This game will also have new powers for the chaos emeralds that will be able to be used to attack enemies or platform through the levels more easily. In addition, each colored gem will have its own power: green emeralds will create a vine-like platform to help you reach higher up areas, blue emeralds will create clones of the player to take out enemies which will be able to be used during boss fights, purple emeralds will reveal hidden platforms and rings, red emeralds will turn you into a bullet, yellow emeralds will slow down time, cyan emeralds will turn the player into water and allow you to traverse underwater easier and even climb waterfalls, and finally the white emeralds will be a character exclusive power where each character will have a different ability when using it. An example of this exclusive power would be: Sonic getting his homing attack, Tails would be able to call in a tornado (not the plane, a real one), Knuckles would be able to punch things, as well as Amy getting the hammer throw from the Sonic origins plus game. 

The game will also feature three enemies, the main villain being Dr. Eggman, the second being Fang the Sniper (also known as Knack the Weasel in other countries), and last but not least, the final villain will be a brand new character created specifically for this game trip.

Recently we have been told that Sonic Superstars will feature unlockable skins for players to choose from. Sega even partnered with Lego to give us a Lego Sonic the Hedgehog skin to go along with the new Lego Sonic the Hedgehog sets that recently came to stores on August 1st.

Along with this, a new trailer dropped that will show the players how to use the multiplayer mode while also revealing a battle mode and a digital deluxe mode that includes new Lego skins such as Lego Amy, Lego Tails, Lego Knuckles, as well as a playable rabbit that references Sonic the Hedgehog's original design!

There are also going to be exclusive mech parts for the battle mode to unlock Mecha Sonic, as well as a digital artbook and mini original soundtrack listing, and bonus main menu wallpapers.  

There is a lot to expect from Sonic Superstars, giving us brand new features but still being a blast from the past is making Sonic fans out there really hyped for Superstars.

Next up is the latest installment in the Mario franchise, Super Mario Bros. Wonder.  This new Mario game has surprised everyone with its brand new features and art style. It has been confirmed to be set in the Flower Kingdom rather than being set in the Mushroom Kingdom, and also will feature a ton of new playable characters and power ups.

The characters that will be present in this game will be: Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Toad, and for the very first time: Princess Daisy. As well as this, the ability to play as Yoshi is also going to be a new feature. Up to four players will be able to play as Yoshi and it still seems like you will be able to ride him as Mario. 

Super Mario Bros. Wonder, will it also feature a companion that is a talking flower that uses real voice acting, along with the new feature being the wonder seed/flower that can change the level layout to a wacky version of the stage.  It also includes a world map like the new super Mario games, and even includes a power up slot like in old super Mario. The game brings back old powerups like the classic super mushroom and fire flower but adds two new ones, the only one revealed so far is the elephant Mario (it doesn’t have an official name yet) but more power ups will be revealed in due time. 

The game will have a brand new art style and all of Mario's movement and character models have already been completely redone. We have little to no information on the mechanics of the game, we can only predict info from the trailer that they revealed. Like any physical Nintendo Switch game copy, the game will retail for around $60 in the US and will also have a digital copy.

These two games will both be released in October and are pretty different in their own way. I know it looks like Mario has less to expect than Sonic, but it's only because Sonic Superstars revealed more with two different reveal trailers while Mario only had one. This is all the information for now but I'm sure more will be announced soon.  🐾