Sonic Superstars originally began development as a 2.5D prototype developed by Sonic Team and Evening Star Studio, a new company formed by members of Sonic Mania's development team shortly after that game's release. Producer Takashi Iizuka and lead developer Christian Whitehead agreed that they did not want to reuse the pixel art from Sonic Mania or any content from previous Sonic games, and wanted to "try to make something fresh" to appeal to a broad audience while still utilizing the "classic" gameplay that made Sonic Mania successful. However, some time after Evening Star started working on the prototype, "everything came to a stop" according to Iizuka, and both parties amicably decided to end development. It's not entirely known why their work ended this abruptly, but Whitehead denied rumors that it was due to creative differences and that Evening Star was still on friendly terms with Sega. On the 8th anniversary of Sonic Mania's release in 2025, Whitehead and series composer Tee Lopes revealed prototype screenshots and a song from an unnamed zone inspired by the Australian Outback, as well as an early design of the Kanga Clanga enemy that would appear in Sonic Superstars.