Video Q&A with Sonic Team on Sonic-Next
The GameTrailers peeps sat down with Sonic Team’s Masahiro Kumono (Producer) and Shun Nakamura (Director) in this short video interview to talk about two things Sonic: old-school and next-gen speed. One of our QJ writers hovered over this writer’s shoulder and mentioned that Shun bears a passing resemblance to Jet Li. Uh, (name deleted for privacy), likely not…
Ahem, back to topic. The prime hallmark of Sonic the Hedgehog for the PS3 and Xbox 360 is its “return to Sonic’s roots.” Masahiro especially emphasizes how they wanted to bring back old-school Sonic, and yet update him and his game for the next generation. Also, the Team wanted to bring in a new generation of consumers into the Sonic world, as well as satisfy long-standing Blue Streak fans.
To that end, Sonic certainly gets an updated look – the Team’s made him a bit taller, more adult-like (okay, young adult-like) and “cooler” (yeah, especially when the babe of the game happens to be voiced by long-time Sonic fan Lacey Chabert, damn if the hedgehog ain’t cool). Masahiro emphasized Sonic’s origins in Sega‘s 16-bit Genesis/Mega Drive console, but he didn’t exactly elaborate much on the “roots/old-school” aspect of this next-gen title.
As an aside, perhaps that old-school aspect goes towards gameplay. This writer had a hand with the Live Marketplace Sonic demo, and found the gameplay surprisingly Genesis-familiar. You run, jump, attack, spin-dash, complete the level at the speed or heat – or die trying… The only way this game can get even more old-school is if we started calling Eggman Dr. Ro-butt-nik again.
The Sonic Team wanted to exploit all the next-gen capabilities of the 360 and PS3 to bring to the game a world of speed. Shun talks about wanting to make gamers feel the sensation of speed as they zip past each of the “huge” worlds in the game. And that’s all the interview’s wrote, or at least its high points. (No, really, (name deleted for privacy), he bears absolutely NO resemblance to Jet Li…)
Download: [GameTrailers TGS interview with Sonic Team]
The GameTrailers peeps sat down with Sonic Team’s Masahiro Kumono (Producer) and Shun Nakamura (Director) in this short video interview to talk about two things Sonic: old-school and next-gen speed. One of our QJ writers hovered over this writer’s shoulder and mentioned that Shun bears a passing resemblance to Jet Li. Uh, (name deleted for privacy), likely not…
Ahem, back to topic. The prime hallmark of Sonic the Hedgehog for the PS3 and Xbox 360 is its “return to Sonic’s roots.” Masahiro especially emphasizes how they wanted to bring back old-school Sonic, and yet update him and his game for the next generation. Also, the Team wanted to bring in a new generation of consumers into the Sonic world, as well as satisfy long-standing Blue Streak fans.
To that end, Sonic certainly gets an updated look – the Team’s made him a bit taller, more adult-like (okay, young adult-like) and “cooler” (yeah, especially when the babe of the game happens to be voiced by long-time Sonic fan Lacey Chabert, damn if the hedgehog ain’t cool). Masahiro emphasized Sonic’s origins in Sega‘s 16-bit Genesis/Mega Drive console, but he didn’t exactly elaborate much on the “roots/old-school” aspect of this next-gen title.
As an aside, perhaps that old-school aspect goes towards gameplay. This writer had a hand with the Live Marketplace Sonic demo, and found the gameplay surprisingly Genesis-familiar. You run, jump, attack, spin-dash, complete the level at the speed or heat – or die trying… The only way this game can get even more old-school is if we started calling Eggman Dr. Ro-butt-nik again.
The Sonic Team wanted to exploit all the next-gen capabilities of the 360 and PS3 to bring to the game a world of speed. Shun talks about wanting to make gamers feel the sensation of speed as they zip past each of the “huge” worlds in the game. And that’s all the interview’s wrote, or at least its high points. (No, really, (name deleted for privacy), he bears absolutely NO resemblance to Jet Li…)
Download: [GameTrailers TGS interview with Sonic Team]