The latest Sonic platformer Sonic Superstars made its debut on the Switch and multiple other platforms last month. Digital Foundry has now uploaded a tech review, seeing how the Nintendo version of the game compares to the rest.
All versions except the Nintendo Switch “largely share the same visual qualities”. In handheld mode, the Switch delivers a full 720p native output but some stages run at a 720p resolution. In docked, the resolution hits 720p, with reduced texture resolution and lower texture filtering.
In addition to this lighting is cut back, bloom effects are gone and so are “fogging and atmospherics”. Sonic also doesn’t have a shadow.
As for the game’s frame rate on Switch, all these cuts are the price of 60fps on the Switch and the game still plays well. Unfortunately, it’s not always perfect with too many objects or characters on screen often resulting in drops. The first half of the game on Switch apparently feels fine, but the problems become more frequent over time with some moments like boss battles dropping below 50fps.
On the loading front, the Switch has longer times but they still all load “relatively quick”. And in terms of controls, the game feels the most responsive on Nintendo hardware, apparently.