Team Sonic Racing Video Goes Behind the Scenes at TGS 2018

Sega has released a video it produced back during the 2018 Tokyo Game Show, giving Sonic the Hedgehog fans a backstage look at the company’s Team Sonic Racing showcase. This included a bizarre sequence in which footage of a dancing Sonic mascot was superimposed over other footage of the dancing Sonic mascot, which then hard cut to a sick guitar solo. Series producer and Sonic Team leader Takashi Iizuka was also interviewed for the video, and he talked about the inspiration behind the game, his favorite racer, and some of the content we can expect from Team Sonic Racing.

Take a look at the Tokyo Game Show 2018 footage below.

Most interesting is Iizuka’s story behind Team Sonic Racing‘s concept. As we know, the central mechanics are based around forming a team, and working with your team members in the midst of a race to achieve victory. This involves various items, character-specific abilities, and even rivalries with other teams.

Iizuka said that while watching his kid play kart racers together with friends, it was inevitable that while one would come away from the race happy, the others would be upset. (That sounds like Mario Kart.) He found himself wondering why that needed to be the case when playing together with friends. This lead to the team mechanics here.

Iikuza also talked about the tracks that will be available in Team Sonic Racing. He said there will be twenty-one total and recapped the Tokyo Game Show reveals, which were Wisp Circuit, Ice Mountain, and Market Street. After that, Iizuka talked about how Shadow is his favorite character in Team Sonic Racing, about being a car enthusiast, how impressed he was after the team settled on the final design for Shadow’s car, and how well his personality is captured in the game’s dialogue.

Team Sonic Racing will launch on May 21, 2019.