Do you still need to roll to hit for each adjacent target of the original target? And also, could adjacent targets use energy shield/deflection and super senses to dodge those attacks? This came up the other day in a game I had. I thought that you still have to roll to hit and that I can still use super senses or energy/shield deflection. Was I right or wrong?

You use the attack roll for the initial attack to determine if characters in the area of effect are hit. You get to use Supersenses and ES/D.

He was claiming that the adjacent characters weren't being attacked and since this wasn't an attack, they don't get super senses or esd.

Next time just show him the rules for area of effect.

2014 rulebook page 18:

AREA OF EFFECT
Some powers and abilities use the term “area of
effect.” An area of effect allows a power or game
effect to target more than one character. Characters
within the area of an effect are affected even
though they may not be within the character’s
range or line of fire. When it includes an attack,
only one attack roll is made and the Attack Total is
compared to each target character as well as any
other characters specified by the area of effect.
When a character is attacked exclusively as a result
of being in an area of effect, it is not considered
a target of the attack and it may be friendly to the
attacking character. The game effect including an
area of effect will define how damage is dealt to hit
characters and may specify targeted characters’
damage differently from other hit characters. When
a power or ability uses a ranged combat attack
with an area of effect, if the game effect describes
target characters, then the attacking character may
multi-target normally, possibly creating multiple areas
of effect.

Ty for that. It's what I was looking for.

They are quite definitely attacked.

VP's rule quote shows it quite clearly

Energy Explosion: When this character is given a ranged combat action and deals damage, an area of effect may include all untargeted characters that are adjacent to one or more hit targets assigned at least 1 damage. Hit targets are dealt damage normally, other hit characters are dealt 1 damage for each printed on this character’s base.

The bolded shows it is a ranged combat attack (which always follows a ranged combat action) so ESD is a go and, since it is an attack, Super Senses can be rolled if the attack succeeded because they were hit by an attack, which is its trigger event. What they are not is targeted. So, Shape Change, for example, is of no effect.

Also, the secondary targets of EE will not get a hindering terrain bonus because no line of fire is being drawn

Oh, no cover is something I didn't know.