Sonic Superstars Introducing New Series Villain

Trip the sungazer lizard will play a major role in Sonic Superstars.

By Marc Deschamps

When Sonic Superstars releases this fall, the game will feature two returning Sonic the Hedgehog villains: Dr. Eggman and Fang. However, the game will also see the addition of a new character named Trip. Right now, details surrounding the character are minimal, but Trip is based on the real-life sungazer lizard, which is known in Japan as an "armored lizard." That name inspired Trip's design, which makes the character look like she's wearing a full suit of armor. Speaking to Game Informer, Sonic Team boss Takashi Iizuka revealed that Trip won't seem like an immediate threat when players first meet her.

"The team wanted to show that Trip is not that usual enemy, and we wanted to introduce her in a way that's not the obvious 'Oh, I'm super strong' way," Iizuka told Game Informer. "When we presented Trip in the very beginning, I think she even falls on her face in the very first scene that you see her in. The first thing I think people will be thinking is, 'Who is she, and why is she a super strong enemy? What's going on?' We wanted to introduce the character in that way to make it different from how enemies have always been presented in Sonic games."

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(Photo: Sega/Game Informer)

Trip was co-created by Iizuka and Naoto Ohshima. Ohshima is the co-creator of Sonic, and designed both the character and Dr. Eggman. From everything revealed thus far, it seems Trip will play a pivotal part in the narrative for Sonic Superstars, though players should not expect to see the kind of voice acting that appears in games like Sonic Frontiers. Instead, the story will play out the way that it does in classic 2D games like Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

"We're in the Classic format for storytelling as well, so we're not going to be using voiceover, we're not going to be having long monologues about this and that," Iizuka told Game Informer. "We really wanted to present it in a way that fits in that Classic storytelling way of just showing the actions of the character and still being a cool character with all these interesting traits. We think as people enjoy watching Trip and watching her go through the story as an enemy, they'll really appreciate her as one of the enemies."

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From the way Iizuka talks about Trip, she seems like the kind of character that could start out as a villain, but end up as one of Sonic's friends before the game's end. We've seen that dynamic play out a number of times over the years, starting with Knuckles. It remains to be seen what side of the fence Trip will end up on, but she certainly seems like an interesting new addition to the world of Sonic the Hedgehog!

How do you feel about Trip so far? What do you think of Sonic Superstars? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

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