Yuji Naka, the lead programmer on the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, has said he doesn’t want to be involved in making any new Sonic games. Talking to Siliconera, Naka said his focus now is to “create new things” and that he believes any new outings for the spiky blue hero are “best kept within Sega”.
Naka also said that he is more interested in Nintendo’s 3DS than in Kinect or Move, although he did add that he was “a little bit interested in Kinect, as well”. So that’s just Sony’s new hardware that he doesn’t like the look of then.
Finally, he exhibited a fascination for animal life and the games they could inspire him to make: “When I’m walking around in the day and I see an interesting animal I think about what kind of game I could create with them. I’m constantly thinking of those things”. Not surprising then, that Naka’s latest creation will feature one of those animals that he found interesting.
Yuji Naka is currently the head of Prope, part of a Sega-funded scheme to encourage independent developers. That studio made Let’s Tap for the Wii and are currently working on a Wii game called Ivy the Kiwi.
via CVG
ericzap
The headline alone made me lol.
Haven’t the last few Sonic games been rubbish? Not that I’ve really gotten around to playing them, they seem to be common in bargain bins these days though.
lewis815
Half of Sonic Unleashed was pretty good, the other half was not as good..
I actually loved Shadow the Hedgehog.. As ashamed as I am to say ! :)
ericzap
Hmm. Interesting, I saw Unleashed in a bin somewhere. Might be worth dropping a fiver on. Always liked the original Sonic games, it just seems the newer games strayed fom a winning formula.
ericzap
*from, of course.
lewis815
Yeah Sonic Unleashed I enjoyed, but I wouldn’t have if I was relating it to the 2D style games.
Also the recent games lose something because they keep making them in a humanlike world. Doesn’t feel right to see humans and normal villages and towns in a sonic game. Animals only please !
STILLCANTTHINKOFAGOODPSNNAME
just buy a sega master system and be done with it
lewis815
Already have one sir/madam :)
Danza Di Fuoco
And a Mega Drive and a Dreamcast.
Don’t forget Sonic Adventure those games were amazing before the Dreamcast had fallen.
Foxhound_Solid
Sonic peaked on the Master System….
Still worth him having another outing to see if theres any left left in the old mite ridden hedgehog…
He was cool but never quite reached the dizzy heights of the plumbing italians….
chibber
Surely you mean the Mega Drive. Sonic 2 was immense
Foxhound_Solid
*life left
lewis815
As long as Sonic 4 keeps to its roots it doesn’t matter if Naka is involved. *Lives in hope of a Sonic revival*
Jordaaaan
There’s homing attacks. Homing attacks.
lewis815
Eugh don’t remind me.. I hope that’s the only setback..
Jordaaaan
We’ll have to wait and see, I hope there’s a way to turn it off though. That would give it more points in my book. And is each chapter/episode or whatever like 3 zones?
lewis815
Not sure if anything has been announced? I would like to think that each chapter is a full game in itself but continues on from the previous game. Like Sonic and Knuckles continued on from Sonic 3.
Turning it off would be great, I love the old controls.
Jordaaaan
Yeah and I hope they don’t make it so that if you hold the right button too much you can literally speed through the level. The way the screens are set out have got me a bit questionable as well, Sonic seems to take up too much space on the screen.
lewis815
Sega seems to think Sonic is all about speed. While it is one of the big parts, one of the things I loved about the original series was the option of running through a level at speed, or choosing to explore the level.
That is where Sonic Rush for the DS let itself down. Good gameplay, 2D style game, but too much emphasis on rushing through the level.
Jordaaaan
Hopefully they’ve learned from their mistakes, otherwise I’ll be picking up the Sega Mega Collection and playing that for my dose of Sonic with trophies.
Charmed_Fanatic
LOL i thought you meant his real dad … cus ive never heard of his parents before :P
Shakugan
Sonic’s dad had sex with Sonic’s mom and doesn’t want him back, maybe he got kicked out of the house :P
Xipro
Am I the only one who thought Sonic Adventure 2 on the GC was amazing?
The whole Chao thing was pretty awesome too.
Really wish they would make a third on PS3/XBOX as the Chao thing has potential for online.