In Interview, Iizuka Says Why Doubters Should Believe in Sonic Colors

By
Tristan Oliver
– September 21, 2010

“A lot of our fans want to play as Sonic – just Sonic”

The full interview UK based CVG held with Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka–the one teased incorrectly as a piece where Iizuka claimed the iPhone held back Sonic 4′s release–was published in full today.

The Q&A is tougher than most, and Iizuka fields a direct question on why doubting gamers–burned by the mediocrity of past 3D Sonic fare–should give Sonic Colors a chance.  Iizuka’s response references Sonic Unleashed, which many fans appreciated despite iffy media reviews:

If you look at titles like Unleashed, for example, the game itself wasn’t highly reviewed but at the same time there were plus points, such as how the fans and critics like the daytime levels. We obviously took the good parts of Sonic Unleashed and tried to implement them here.

We also recognise that the previous 3D Sonic games were received poorly partly due to the fact that there were so many completely different actions between characters. As previously mentioned, a lot of our fans want to play as Sonic – just Sonic – and concentrate on the high-speed parts.

For this title in particular you only play as Sonic and the main focus is on high-speed. Yes, there is action but it’s more complimentary. Maybe there were several fans who were disappointed with previous 3D Sonic titles but this is more like the answer to the critics on how 3D Sonic games should be.

Depending on your interpretation, you could read the above answer–and the latter third of it in particular–as another Iizuka press blunder, when he seems to call Colors an answer to critical concerns more than ones fans have voiced.

In the interview, Iizuka also reinforces the idea of Sonic Team catering to two different types of fans:

This year the reason the team is releasing Sonic 4 and Sonic Colours in the same release window is because we recognise there are different needs in terms of Sonic games and characters. There is the platforming, the high-speed and people looking for something new. This is the style that the team thinks works best, looking at the classic fans in one way and the new one in another.

It’s pretty hard for the team to satisfy those two very different fans with just one title. We probably look forward to developing titles which are made more towards the core and casual Sonic fans, that’s probably one of the ways the team thinks it can keep Sonic popular and expand fans for the future.

The interview can be read in full at the link cited above.  In case you didn’t know, TSSZ News reporter Danny Russell also had a chance to sit down with Iizuka recently.

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