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If Sonic was created in America instead of Japan...


Mountaindewandsprite

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On ‎2‎/‎4‎/‎2019 at 12:35 PM, Tornado said:

 

Nope. It still pretty obviously would have been a platformer, for starters; and very early on the idea of Sonic was to be a fast paced game to contrast the speed of Super Mario 3/World because that was what Sega preferred. The main difference possibly would have been that it would have controlled something akin to Super Mario Bros. 2 or Jazz Jackrabbit instead since it was Naka who decided to get rid of the throwing mechanic to reduce the complexity; but most of the basic ideas of the game were established even before Naka was brought on board.

 

 

 

 

NO, No

 unless by some super chance that some other devs happen to come up with same idea, and the same game play, I really think it would have been a VERY different game. What's more even putting a pin in the actual history of the game's development, you only have to look at the historical-social context of both countries at that time to know that the approach to the game and style would have been HUGELY different.

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Something that made Sonic interesting to me is that it is basically an interpretation of western cartoons from a Japanese perspective. I think it would be interesting to see the inverse of this scenario, but being realistic, I think that a Sonic developed in the US, especially during the 90's, would not have that timeless appeal that still brings in fans despite some of the franchise's shortcomings.

I think Sonic would have this 90's attitude going on all over the place. Design wise, I dunno but I kind of picture him like something that rejects the cute  aesthetics in favor of something more like Rocky Rodent (yeah, one of the many anthro characters that wanted a piece of Sonic's fame and said "me too"). That being said, just like the 90's, Sonic would had faded away a long time ago.

Some of the other things I can magine is that some of the cast members would be very different. Instead of Amy, we'd had a voluptuous female for whom Sonic goes ga-ga. Tails wouldn't even exist and instead the Knuckles equivalent would be there as his bromigo compadre and together say those cringy words that where once considered cool by kids back then. Also instead of rolling to go fast, Sonic would ride a skateboard. Oh, and wear "rad" clothes similar to his favorite outfit from the OVA... Maybe even use a slingshot to copy that other 90's bad boy Bart Simpson. 

At least, in that scary and bizarre alternate timeline they won't have a live show where people disguised as the characters sing rap songs like they did for TMNT.

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Well that's a thought I didn't want in my head. Thanks, @Skull Leader, hahahaha. 

It's interesting too, because here's the thing. Sonic has been this huge balancing act of two different cultures in America and Japan. A lot of the team building Sonic onward from Sonic 2 onwards was the American Sega Technical Institute and members of Sonic Team who flocked over to Sega America including Hirokazu Yasuhara. 

The Sonic series has a fantastic documentary that isn't shared enough. It's really eye opening. 

 There's even stuff that's only come to light in the last few years in here and it's really fascinating stuff. Did you know that Sonic Spinball was made in less than half a year to make up for Sonic 3 & Knuckles being delayed?  

See, Sonic would have been really damn toyetic (and while that may sound good it has... effects if we look at goofy things like Dino Saucers and Street Sharks) moreso than he already is if made in America. Remember, this is the 90s. We're coming in after the 80s. He-Man and Ninja Turtles have skyrocketed the children's mascot toy market. America is looking for the cool new thing to compete in the toy market still. So, a videogame about a speedy animal like Speedy Gonzales. It would have been very basic platforming with the focus being on running fast. You know, it would probably look a lot like this: 

 We all remember this bootleg by now, right? 

Sure. Maybe someone would have thought of pinball physics and platforming with intense momentum skill based play. But as it is, it's hard to imagine it coming from another team that probably didn't have that mindset going in. And it's funny. Sega's search for a mascot went a lot like this Find the New Hottest Thing We Like Best. But if it had come from anyone who wasn't Naoto Oshima, Yuji Naka, Hirokazu Yasuhara, and Takashi Iizuka and their teams in both Japan and America then I don't think we'd have the same thing today in design, engine, or sense. It's funny too. In Sonic's inception, he had his own April O'Neil too. Madonna would have basically filled in for that (ugh....) mandatory spot as the human girl who Sonic really likes to hang out with while on Adventures. 

In the 90s, Americans making anime was usually... not even on par with Avatar or Steven Universe or She-Ra these days. That Sonic would have been stuck in the 90s forever unless a reboot happened that was actually really good. 

... but at that point, we're talking about Thundercats, now aren't we? And that didn't go as planned in 2011. 

I'm just saying that I kind of appreciate how Sonic has been even if it sometimes has games that play more like Speedy Gonzales and Crash Bandicoot with a boost button (and no that is not a diss on Crash Bandicoot). 

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Despite knowing how much of his original conception ended up being heavily westernized after a bunch of stuff they didn't like about his initial, more Japanese take was taken away, there's still a part of me that realizes that the Japanese side of things played a heavy part in making him what he was. If it hadn't been there, I feel like instead of the Blue Blur we might have gotten something more like the Blue Bubsy...

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On 2/4/2019 at 7:23 PM, Skull Leader said:

Something that made Sonic interesting to me is that it is basically an interpretation of western cartoons from a Japanese perspective. I think it would be interesting to see the inverse of this scenario, but being realistic, I think that a Sonic developed in the US, especially during the 90's, would not have that timeless appeal that still brings in fans despite some of the franchise's shortcomings.

I think Sonic would have this 90's attitude going on all over the place. Design wise, I dunno but I kind of picture him like something that rejects the cute  aesthetics in favor of something more like Rocky Rodent (yeah, one of the many anthro characters that wanted a piece of Sonic's fame and said "me too"). That being said, just like the 90's, Sonic would had faded away a long time ago.

Some of the other things I can magine is that some of the cast members would be very different. Instead of Amy, we'd had a voluptuous female for whom Sonic goes ga-ga. Tails wouldn't even exist and instead the Knuckles equivalent would be there as his bromigo compadre and together say those cringy words that where once considered cool by kids back then. Also instead of rolling to go fast, Sonic would ride a skateboard. Oh, and wear "rad" clothes similar to his favorite outfit from the OVA... Maybe even use a slingshot to copy that other 90's bad boy Bart Simpson. 

At least, in that scary and bizarre alternate timeline they won't have a live show where people disguised as the characters sing rap songs like they did for TMNT.

Actually, Rocky Rodent, believe it or not, was developed by Irem in Japan.

6 hours ago, Dr. Detective Mike said:

Despite knowing how much of his original conception ended up being heavily westernized after a bunch of stuff they didn't like about his initial, more Japanese take was taken away, there's still a part of me that realizes that the Japanese side of things played a heavy part in making him what he was. If it hadn't been there, I feel like instead of the Blue Blur we might have gotten something more like the Blue Bubsy...

And due to the Blue Bubsy, there would likely be no True Bubsy. The landscape of gaming was very different. Now, what if Sonic were made in the UK? 

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  • 5 months later...

we never would have gotten the beautiful character design, that was used on the box art for the non American markets of the original game (the game itself is a different story). which would have been a deep shame :( 

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Probably might wind up being the Simpsons' Poochie of the gaming industry and be more in tune with the 90s marketing trends. Also, might reflect more of the crappy cartoons during that decade as well along with the Ken Penders comics concepts/ideology.

Not a good sign overall.

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Sonic's design would be a lot different 

His Design while Made with a Western taste in mind was heavily influenced by Japanese Style , said style was also influenced by Disney's early work, you could put Japanese Classic Sonic in a lot of retro Kid's Anime and he wouldn't feel out of place like he does in SATam where hes the only Mobian who's fur color isn't realistic 

This helped create a universal timeless design that's not too cute and not too cool, but balanced 

Looking at a lot of the American Mascots of the 90's I doubt Sonic would look the way he does today 

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