SEGA Promises Improvement for Sonic Series
Sonic the Hedgehog hasn’t been really made a splash in the videogame market since his the release of Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast. Despite being such a popular gaming icon, Sega’s blue-tinged hero has been consistently stumbling in terms of sales and quality, and SEGA realizes that.
Last November, Sonic Unleashed was “unleashed” upon the world. The game was hyped to be the return of Sonic’s past glory, but once again, he slipped on his shoe laces, and the game scored a lousy [shal]Metacritic[/shal]score of 54. IndustryGamers recently sat down with Sega of America’s VP of Marketing, Sean Ratcliffe, and asked him about the quality issues with recent Sonic titles.
“The quality is something that will be fixed over time. It’s not something where you wake up one morning and say, ‘You know what, we’re going to improve our quality on this franchise,’ and it magically happens. A lot of hard work goes into striving for quality. Interestingly, I think Sonic Unleashed was very well received by the kids. There was some talk about the werehog aspect, the slower pacing and more combat-oriented gameplay, but when we go out and test this stuff and sit down with the consumers, kids actually like that.”
“I think older, die-hard Sega fans who grew up with the franchise and the first Sonic the Hedgehog associate Sonic more with 2-D side-scrolling super fast, and they liked the daytime gameplay, but when it came to the slower paced gameplay they were fairly critical of that, and that’s fine – they have their opinions.”
Sonic Unleashed scored an average of 54 on PS3, compared to 60 on Xbox 360, and 66 on Wii.
“The point in terms of quality is that we’re constantly trying to improve the quality. When we were in Tokyo recently there was talk about several Sega properties and how we can best make sure we’re constantly pushing that quality bar on Sonic.”
“Yes, it’s always a challenge to raise that quality bar, but our competitors are trying to put the best product out there and we’re no different. Given that it takes a couple of years to make some of these games, it’s not surprising that we’re not going to see the effort that’s being put in over the past 12 months until another 6-12 months.”
When spoken about revisiting the classic gameplay for Sonic the Hedgehog, Ratcliffe did say that the team is always looking at that as well.
“The answer is yes; we’re constantly looking at our classic IP, be it Sonic or anything else. And now we have different avenues open to us to deliver that. On iPhone, for example, we launched the original Sonic and consumers loved that.”
“So that’s a big part of our strategy, in terms of taking classic IP and making it available digitally, rather than spend a huge amount of money trying to re-imagine that IP on 360 and PS3; there’s a lot more financial risk attached to that.”
So, can we expect the next Sonic game not to be lackluster? Will there finally be improvement to the series? Post what you would like SEGA to do in the comment section below.
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7 Responses to “SEGA Promises Improvement for Sonic Series”
I’m no longer bothered by Sonic, it’s simply something i feel they need to put to rest. Its really at the point of why do they bother, find something new and work from that. I understand its harder to bring out a new IP however if there isn’t much of a story then don’t keep bringing out sequels with only new gameplay elements. Unlike other games with many many sequels they have a proper and enjoyable story that allows the game to feel new and refreshed ie. MGS, Final Fantasy, Rathet and clank, etc.
I wanna see a Sonic game like the old Sonic Adventure games. Just build one big bad ass Sonic Engine and build the rest of the games off of that 1 so that way you have the quality. Then just lower the resolution if you put it on the wii.
Sonic should have his speed levels. No question about that.
Miles should have both his racing levels and the ability to play the race levels with a mech for a shooting level (different layout obviously)
Amy can be Werehog like gameplay.
Big the cat should stay FAR away from this game…
I’m one of the few people that liked Knuckle’s Levels.
I also wouldn’t mind having the option to tackle a level with a partner (I.E. either online or using the Heroes switch mechanism but with only 2 characters maybe)
I mean why work on rebuilding Sonic… Why not just take the things that people enjoyed, and borrowing some aspects from other franchises?
For example give Sonic a couple stages where he is maybe running and jumping over obstacles a la Battle Toads Style…
If they’re worried about losing money by spending too much time perfecting the engine, why not just make a PSN title for crying out loud. Use the engine and redo a Sonic game in 3-D, or make some experimental PSN Sonic games of high caliber and see what people want in a sonic game. Get some useage statistics to see what is most often used… Do something…
Sonic is living on by name alone. I don’t see how it’s that hard to take such a well known franchise and keep it alive and well.
Give knuckles the abililtiy to dive off of a wall. Release the game in parts at 20 dollars a piece but make it a full game… There are SOOOoooo many options available. Uncharted has taught us a few things about how a game doesn’t have to innovate at all, just take aspects from games and what makes them great and integrate them well.
The space station in Sonic Adventure 2 where you get to do all those rail grinds… Favorite Sonic Level. I love trying to find shortcuts. I sometimes beat Eggman by almost half a level on Tail’s City Escape.
Hell maybe just revisit Sonic Shuffle but with some distinctive changes…
i wish theyd lay sonic to rest.
What an idiot. No wonder SEGA’s in the mess they’re in. It’s not risky to make another 3D Sonic game, it’s risky to keep trying to reinvent the series.
Err, 2D, I mean. I was never a fan of Sonic, but how is it riskier to make a 2D Sonic game than it is to keep coming up with new crap in the hope that it sticks?
There will always be a special place in my heart for blue hedgehogs but better to let him retire than to keep ruining his rep.
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