Despite what we’ve seen in recent years, there were a handful of Sonic games that both sold and played pretty well, notably Sonic Generations in 2011. As the name implies, the game saw Sonic returning to both his classic formula and art style, following the platform-based gameplay that made the hedgehog popular. And it looks like SEGA is headed back to those roots once again (especially in light of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric).
Jon Rooke, the Marketing Director for SEGA Europe, is definitely aware of this struggle and promises to return Sonic the Hedgehog back to the way it used to be.
“Sega has publicly apologised to the fans as the quality of console games in the Sonic franchise hasn’t been acceptable over recent years. It’s been tough translating that iconic side scrolling 2D experience from the 90s into 3D but Sonic is still huge for us so the new games will be more inspired by how it played in its heyday.”
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of those perfect examples of a video game franchise having an incredibly difficult time breaking out from two dimensions into three. It’s complicated to take a game so perfectly crafted to the character’s momentum, like in the original Sonic games, and adapt it to the modern era. Sonic has gone from behaving like a vehicle boosting down a pathway, to bashing enemies as a werewolf, to slicing up his enemies with his sword, Caliburn. None of these concepts really stuck all too well, with the latter two serving as mere spin-offs of the Sonic formula.
But you have to wonder Jon Rooke means exactly. Sure, there’s mention of Sonic’s heyday being in 2D, but I can remember a time when the Sonic Adventure series on the Dreamcast was absolutely on fire. It was everyone’s favorite back in elementary school. But maybe someday soon we’ll have a shiny new Sonic game that we all can agree is a comeback for the beloved series.
Would you rather see more “Classic Sonic” inspired games? Or are you a little more nostalgic for the era of Sonic on the Dreamcast? Let us know!
