Sonic Team: A retrospective

[Linkabel]

Even though we touched upon the subject of what Sonic Team does or doesn't do, I don't think we have ever had a conversation about them. I'm not really going to go over their history because I think most people already know their history, but if you don't I will recommend to read this, the History of Sonic book and pretty much every other article about how Sonic was created.

 

I would say that Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, Hirokazu Yasuhara and Manabu Kusonoki are considered the "founders" of the team with other notable figures like Takashi Iizuka, Jun Senoue, Yuji Uekawa, Kazuyuki Hoshino and Tetsu Katano joining later on.

 

Their influence has reached many parts of Sega and the video game world and they are not only responsible for Sonic but also other franchises like Nights, Phantasy Star, Samba de Amigo, Puyo Puyo, ChuChu Rocket and Billy Hatcher.

 

But, what do you guys think about them as video game developers? Here's my two cents on the team: I honestly think they are so fucking talented but need a lot of focus and a "mission" in order to be better.

 

For example, let's take a trip back to the Genesis days when Sonic 1 was being developed. Naka, Oshima and Kusonoki were a couple of young punks trying to prove that they could develop a game that could rival Nintendo's juggernaut: Mario.

 

They had the ambition and the goal in order to come up with Sonic 1 and even though not a masterpiece (though I honestly think it is) it's a good game and it left people wanting more.

 

I would say that kept this momentum up to Sonic 3/Knuckles but at the same time the problems that plague them today also started. Conflicts within the company and within the team itself started to arise. Though with all of that Sonic Team left their swang song on the Genesis in the form of Sonic3/&Knuckles.

 

Then came the Saturn era, an era I feel where Sonic Team wanted a break from Sonic. They did have an influence during Sonic games coming out during this era like 3D Blast and Sonic R but they obviously concentrated their efforts on Nights into Dreams and Burning Rangers.

 

And it's these games that proved that Sonic Team could do other great games that weren't Sonic. Sure, they weren't commercial hits like Sonic, but damn it they were great games. It was also during this time where they got new blood into the team by adding members or giving them bigger roles within the team that helped.

 

And you know what? I think this is what Sonic Team needs, a break from Sonic and giving new members a chance to prove themselves with the help and guidance of veteran members.

 

Sonic Adventure came out after this time and say what you will about the game, but when it came out it was a hit. History sort of repeated itself again when Sonic Unleashed came out, new members, new ideas and a breath of fresh air.

 

But let's go back to Sonic Adventure. I honestly think that's where they started to lose even more focus on what Sonic was. The "roulette genre" to me was Sonic Team's way of saying "We want to do other games but we can't so we'll just crammed what we want to do in Sonic."

 

When did I first started to think that? Do you guys remember a little game called Fifth Phantom Saga for the PS3?

 

To me, that game screamed what Sonic Team wanted to do in Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic 06. I know it's not a lot to go on but somehow I think the ideas they have for other games sometimes "bleed" into the development of Sonic games.

 

They had the chance to work on other games like Samba or the sequel to Nights but they really don't have a chance to catch their breath and try other stuff other than Sonic.

 

Like I said above, when Sonic Unleashed was being development, it was the third time Sonic Team had a mission but a little bit of focus. They needed to prove themselves after 06 but sort of drop the ball here and there.

 

It seems that Colors and Generations made them take a step back and see what made Sonic work in the first place buuuuuut they still have a long way to go. Sonic Lost World, to me, seems like they are going in the right direction though I see stuff here and there that makes me think that they are still "Lost" on what Sonic is.

 

I still stand on my view that they need a break again from Sonic (wasn't their last non-Sonic game Phantasy Star Online 2?) so they can comeback with a fresh mind and really, really think on how to completely get back that "essence" that makes Sonic work. But with Sega's financial status I don't think that's possible at the moment.

 

What's your guys opinion on this? I'll leave you to talk about the conversation and sorry if parts of the thread kind of don't make sense but I just got out of work and my brain is fried. Here's a sexy pic of Iizuka for making it through and reading the whole thread:

As you can see, even after all those turmoils, they still love Sonic.

 

 

[Chaos Incarnate]

I'm surprised this topic hasn't gotten any posts. You seemed to have a lot to say about Sonic Team, El Driver. I don't have much to say, aside from they're a developer I will always hold deeply in my heart. They developed the first Sonic game I ever played, Sonic Adventure, and I will continue to support them all the way through. They've made some stupid game design decisions, but most developers do. To be honest though, I haven't played any games from them outside of Sonic the Hedgehog. I would love to purchase Nights on Xbox Live some day, but that's for another time. Sonic Team, you will always have my gratitude for creating my favorite video game character, Sonic the Hedgehog. I look forward to seeing what they bring to the table with Sonic:Lost World and other upcoming titles.

[RK64]

I have to say Sonic Team is one of the most innovative, controversial, and very interesting developer in the last few decades.  They have a very rich history with the Genesis era and making really amazing games that hold up very, very well today, are part of the reason we never played Sonic X-treme (with Naka not letting Sega Technical Institute using the Nights engine for the game alongside not having much hope for the game), and experimented a lot during the Dreamcast/GC days by adapting the classic games into 3d (though how well that happened is up to the player).

 

They also are one of the rare examples of a Rocky esc fall in gaming history; they fell hard with both Shadow and 06, but kept training (Secret Rings), got themselves strong but had ways to go (Unleashed), got their grove and started defeating foes (Colors) and now they are knocking out their compition left and right and are back to being at the top (Generations and Lost World).

 

Edit: Forgot to mention their non Sonic games

Their non sonic tittles were all really awesome and very varied; Nights is a beautiful game with a wonderful soundtrack and taking the momentum-based gameplay from the 2d Sonics and converted it in to a flying game, heard nothing but good things from Burning Rangers (loved the theme from the game in Sonic Transformed ), Samba de Amigo being a very fun game, (I think they made this) Space Channel 5 being a great game, and I loved Billy Hatcher with it's simple gameplay mixed with fun mechanics with the eggs.

Edited June 29, 2013 by RK64

[TCB]

As far as the mid to late 90's go, I wished I had the chance to play the growth of new titles they developed like Burning Rangers. Yeah they are controversial as well as just as being creative (at least around that time period) of offering more than just Sonic the Hedgehog. I wish that they can go down that route once again.

Edited June 28, 2013 by TheChaosBlue