Press Interviews With Takashi Iizuka: New Details on Sonic Origins, Sonic VR, 30th Anniversary and Sonic’s Future
A couple days ago many Chinese gaming press interviewed Takashi Iizuka due to the recent release of Sonic Colors Ultimate. We found some interesting Q&A about Sonic and the future he has in store for us. Thank you Knuxsam for translating this for us.
Context:
Q: Other than the new game “Sonic Colours Ultimate”, are there any other new titles or events planned for Sonic’s 30th anniversary that you can talk about?
A: In addition to this year’s latest release, “Sonic Colours Ultimate”, There will be a new game “Sonic Origins” in 2022, so please look forward to it! Besides, there is also now a crossover gameplay experience within Minecraft. We are also thinking about more joint activities like that for the future, so please pay attention to further related news.
Q: The teaser trailer for the new game was released at the end of the 30th anniversary event “Sonic Central”, which was the biggest surprise for many fans. Can you please reveal a little bit more about whether this is a brand new work or a sequel to a certain game?
A: This is a completely new game for Sonic, but only a small amount of info is to be known at this time. The new game has come with new challenges for us, so we are developing it step by step, I hope everybody looks forward to it.
Q: The Sonic series is celebrating its 30th anniversary. Reviewing the development of a new Sonic game nowadays, what do you think is the difference in these aspects compared to the past?
A: The difference is that the development team has become significantly larger. When Sonic 3 was developed in the past, there were only a dozen people on the team. Now it is about 50-60 people. In the past, any idea that came to mind during the development process could be implemented immediately, but now before the game’s development, a very detailed plan has to be made. This means that developers can feel a lot of pressure as well as expectations. In addition to that, nowadays we have to draw opinions from various aspects of the game’s development. In early days, the game may be released directly once it’s made, but now we will listen to opinions continuously during the development process. For example, the feedback from players testing the demo version, which is also a large difference from then and now.
Q: Since Sonic Colours is an HD remaster of a previous title released in 2010, are there any plans to continue the Sonic series by porting previous games to the next-gen platforms?
A: There are no plans to do so at the moment, but our team will be looking at the reviews and comments of Sonic Colors Ultimate after its release. If the reception is good, we will consider bringing previous titles to HD and/or remastering them to various platforms.
Q: Taking “Sonic Colours Ultimate” as an example, will players see more remastered editions of the series? What was the reason for remastering this game in particular?
A: Previously, the Sonic series was considering how to go about making new games and did not really consider remasters or anything like that. The launch of the remastered version is due to the recent Hollywood movie “Sonic the Hedgehog”. Many people who did not know much of Sonic got in touch with the series through the movie. We’re releasing “Sonic Colours Ultimate” in order to let more people get in touch with a game that is fun for everyone. We are still discussing whether there will be more remasters in the future.
Q: According to previous interviews, it was mentioned that the development team has always taken the challenge of trying to innovate with much trial and error. So, what do you personally think is the biggest challenge or problem in the creation of Sonic series games, Iizuka-san?
A: With “Sonic Adventure” in 1998, the biggest issue was always how to better represent the characters moving at high speed in a 3D space. How to achieve the same feeling as 2D Sonic in 3D was the biggest challenge. Thus the system developed was to adjust the camera’s perspective as much as possible under the 3D space according to the player’s movement. This system has contributed a lot to the future development of the Sonic series.
Q: The Sonic franchise has always been popular with gamers. If you had to choose one Sonic title to remake or remaster, which one would you most like?
A: It’s a pity that certain classic Sonic titles can’t be played on next-gen platforms. So our first step is to bring Sonic Origins to these next-gen consoles, including the game of which I was involved with the development of, Sonic 3.
Q: In the next Sonic game, will there be a new and different experience based on the usual high-speed gameplay?
A: As developers, we always want to further evolve the nature of Sonic’s high-speed gameplay and various designs are based on this criteria.
Q: Nowadays more and more games have adopted open-world gameplay. Has the Sonic series ever considered making an open world entry?
A: The development team has been thinking about and discussing various directions to take the series including open world, battle royale, online play, etc. Gameplay modes which can attract more players to play Sonic are in discussion. We are still discussing ideas like open-world and other things like including matchmaking and online gameplay.
Q: Will future games in the Sonic franchise experiment with different game genres such as RPGs?
A: As a team, we’re keen to challenge ourselves with a wide variety of genres. Previously the Sonic series has been mostly about action and racing type games, which of course has been widely popular with fans. Our main direction will still be in the action and racing game genres, but the development team wants to let more players get in touch with the Sonic series, so more genres will be taken into consideration.
Q: Is there any chance we’ll see future titles featuring other characters from the Sonic franchise? Like Shadow the Hedgehog?
A: Personally, I’d be very interested in doing a spin-off, but I’m already working very hard on the current main Sonic series right now. Thus, I don’t have the extra energy to work on a spin-off at the moment.
Q: As one of SEGA’s mascots, will there be more plans for the Sonic brand in the future? Besides games and animation, are there any other possibilities for Sonic to be involved in more areas?
A: There will be a new things in store for Sonic in 2022 such as the sequel to the previous Hollywood live-action movie which is expected to be released next year. There is also a Netflix animated series in production and a comic book series is currently being serialized in the US. Our team is also thinking of more other ways to expand the IP beyond games and animation.
Q: Sonic’s DLC in Minecraft is also a continuous combination of further series innovation, so will there any ideas for the Sonic series to crossover with other games and anime in the future?
A: This year is Sonic’s 30th anniversary and we are negotiating with various manufacturers to collaborate with them. Besides Minecraft, there are a number of unrevealed collaborative projects that have yet to be announced. We hope to expand Sonic by collaborating with as many games as possible.
Q: We’ve already seen Sonic as a Vtuber before and it was a surprise to everyone. So we’d like to know if this Vtuber Sonic will come back in the future.
A: Vtuber Sonic was projected by our Japanese team and has received a lot of positive feedback from fans. It was pity for the team that it was a one-off project for a limited time, so we’re right now we are thinking about the future of the Vtuber Sonic.
Q: Many Japanese companies are currently releasing their classic games on mobile, such as the Final Fantasy series from Square Enix. So are there any plans for Sonic games to come to mobile in the future? Or is there a new title in the works for the mobile platform?
A: The RPG genre is relatively more suited to mobile platforms, but there are some limitations for action games like Sonic. We’ve tried games like Sonic Dash and Sonic Forces: Speed Battle. However, porting console games directly to mobile devices isn’t a great experience for the players. Therefore, the team will try to re-think and re-design these kinds of games in the future.
Q: The success of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie last year gave a good start to the future of the Sonic franchise’s multimedia roll-out. Can you give us brief insight on what other forms Sonic will take in gamers lives next?
A: The impact of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie was massive. After the film was released, we had quite a few talks about merchandise and development. Of course, our goal as a game team is to let players around the world learn more about Sonic and we will continue to think more about future exploration of the Sonic brand.
Q: Finally, I would like you to say something to the Sonic fans in China, thank you.
A: For most Chinese gamers, Sonic may not be very well-known. So we will be adding more content such as the introduction of the Sonic movie and Chinese localization of the series in the future, which is also the goal of the entire Sonic production team. Stay tuned for future information and more content from the Sonic brand. Thank you for your support.
