When it comes to the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, it appears that the games are either really good, or really bad, with very little middle ground (and if there was, it’d be the racing game franchise). The main series hasn’t had a good entry since Sonic Generations, And despite some decent hype, Sonic Forces was not a hit in any way. Ironically, the best-selling Sonic game in recent history was actually the fan-made, and SEGA supported, Sonic Mania.
This game went back to basics and brought back what made the 2D Sonic games fun, and then added some fun twists and additions to make it feel fresh. Eurogamer actually spoke with the head of the dev team, Christian Whitehead, who talked about what he felt makes a Sonic game feel good:
“The core premise of the game is really simple – it’s just get to the end of the level and win – but there are so many different ways you can interact with the stages, picking up speed at certain angles, jumping off at certain angles. It’s got a very playground feel. Going fast feels good – and at the time on the Mega Drive that was a very impressive technical feat – but also the freedom of gameplay, it’s what appeals to me as a Sonic fan.”
And it definitely appealed to many, as Sonic Mania sold well across all platforms, and in very quick time. So much so that fans are wondering if he’d be up for doing a 3D Sonic game:
“Speaking of games in general I love 3D. I’ve worked personally with my own tech with 3D, not for Sonic. 3D interests me as a game developer a lot. It presents a whole different world of design challenges. The retro aesthetic, the reason I started doing it chiefly was that when I was younger – it’s a lot easier to develop 2D stuff, because I only had the computer my family had. But to do a 3D game you need a larger team, though personally I’m interested in it. I’m definitely down for it.”
We’ll have to see if SEGA lets him do it.
