Expresses Interest in Returning to Help with Franchise
In an interview with GamesIndustry International, Prope’s Yuji Naka, one of the key individuals behind the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog, conceded that in his opinion, recent Sonic fare simply doesn’t compare to the past.
“I also think that recent iterations have not been as fun when compared to those of the past,” Mr. Naka said in the interview. “I think the number one reason for this is that the games have become much easier, so the gamer doesn’t feel that extreme joy that comes with the satisfaction of accomplishing something that was very difficult to achieve.”
In the interview, Mr. Naka suggests Sonic games of today are tailor made to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. He believes it would do Sega some good to up the challenge a bit.
“Sonic has a very simple control scheme that is capable of doing a lot of advanced things while sprinting at a high speed, that’s what makes it a good game in my opinion,” Mr. Naka explained. “I think even moderately raising the difficulty level in the future could work well.”
Those remarks led to Mr. Naka expressing an interest in returning to Sega in the future to perhaps work on Sonic again, or properly revive another of his classic franchises, such as NiGHTS into Dreams.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to do so but perhaps at some point in the future if I could come back and contribute, that could be fun and gratifying,” he said.
Mr. Naka also noted he’d like to see the rivalry between Mario and Sonic from the revived again. You can read the piece in full at the link cited above.
