Right now, Sonic is riding high, but it was a rocky road to get him here.
Takashi Iizuka recently had an interview withEurogamerwhere he discussed Sonic’s recent redemption arc, and how it took both a change in approach and in his physical location to make it happen.
Since then, the series went from one of its absolute worst showings, the infamous Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, to the incredibleSonic X Shadow Generations, a remaster of one of the better 3D Sonic games attached to a new one that iseasily one of the best in the series.
All it took was for Iizuka to move halfway around the world and fundamentally change how Sonic Team handled the franchise.
Moving From Tokyo To LA
It seems like a major catalyst for this change was Iizuka’s big move from Japan to the United States.
“Ten years ago, I moved from Tokyo to Burbank,” he says. “At that time, the Sonic brand was not in a very positive space. A lot of people were bashing on the brand. They weren’t happy with the things coming out.”
That would be right around the launch of Sonic Boom, but it wasn’t the only misstep for the series at that time.
While Sonic Colors and Sonic Generations were generally solid, Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Lost World were divisive, and Sonic the Hedgehog 4 can charitably be described as a failed attempt to recapture the spirit of the original 2D games.
When I moved over from Tokyo to Los Angeles, it was like an “oh my god” moment. Like, we need to save the brand, or this brand isn’t going to be around for much longer. – Takashi Iizuka
It seems like the key to saving the franchise was to turn to the fans to see what they want, and to get their help.
That’s howSonic Mania, the Sonic 4 they always should’ve made, happened, and while it somewhat overshadowed its 3D brotherSonic Forces, Forces will always be a big moment for allowing Sonic fans to insert themselves into the story. Again, giving the fans what they want.
Sonic Racing CrossWorlds Character Roster Revealed As Series' Largest
22 characters are strongly suspected to be in the game on launch, with more on the way.
That brings us to today.Sonic Frontiers was a great reinvention of the 3D gamesin both its gameplay and storytelling, while Sonic Superstars wasa solid continuation of the 2D series, even if it never reached Sonic Mania’s heights.
There’s also the movie seriesthat helped usher in a new era of video game movies,a solid Netflix show, the rebooted comic series,which just got a DC Comics crossover, and more oddball entries like the weirdly incredibleApril Fools 2023 shadow drop The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog.
They don’t plan on stopping any time soon, either.
Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is on its way in September, and we’ve gotten a look at Sonic Team’seffortswith Unreal Engine 5.
“There’s so many things that are new,” Iizuka says, reflecting on how far the series has come in the last decade.
Ten years ago, I didn’t think any of us could’ve believed this could become the normal reality. Thinking of it now, and us being successful… compared to ten years ago, it is like… 180 degrees. We were fighting to survive. It’s totally different now. – Takashi Iizuka
Hopefully they can continue to ride this high and carry forward the success of Sonic Frontiers and Sonic X Shadow Generations.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
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