Developers are indeed taking notice of Rockman 9's success: Konami has previously expressed an interest in creating a retro styled Castlevania, the popular Cave Story is seeing an enhanced 8-bit port on Wii and now Sonic Team is looking at the possibilities of a new 16-bit Sonic.Akinori Nishiyama (Sonic Unleashed producer) recently discussed the topic with Kotaku:
Nishiyama: "There's always the possibility. Whether it would be viable remains to be seen, but having a new game - or even a remake of the GBA games, which we now can't use [thanks to the DSi] - would certainly be possible. If we made one, would you buy it?"
Kotaku: [nods]
Nishiyama: Really?
Kotaku: [nods]
Nishiyama: [laughs] Great! One of our ideas has been that on older consoles, you may have had only 16 colours. One thing we could do is make a game like Mega Man 9; do a new Sonic, but in an old style."
Props to SEGA for even considering this. I know I'm not the only one disappointing in Sonic for the past decade. A 2D/retro Sonic title would definitely makeup for all the crap we've had to put up with as of late (Shadow, Princess Elise, unnecessary crappy friends and the Werehog).
Isn't it amazing how a single game manages to continuously inspire an entire industry? Rockman 9, a title that daringly presented its 8-bit self to a over-saturated "1080P, high definition, dark and gritty, FPS" market, is paving the way for simplistic/retro games. That's just simply amazing.
I see a very, very awesome industry trend before us.
ReplyDeleteI very much hope this happens. First Rockman, then Sonic? All we need now is a new Mario...
ReplyDeleteThanks to Nintendo DSi. Now, anything is possibly. :)
ReplyDeleteKnuckles+game= life of sega
ReplyDeleteAll I can say is, if this doesn't save Sonic, nothing will. And I have high hopes that it'll save Sonic. : )
ReplyDeleteBack to basics.
ReplyDeleteHell yeah.
I'm always amazed at how cynical some Sonic fans are. Whether or not SEGA chooses to make new characters is not a matter of necessity, nor does it matter to them that some people may think that they are "crap". Characters like Rouge and Shadow have huge fanbases--as they should, considering that the game that they were introduced in, Sonic Adventure 2, is now considered a classic among Sonic fans.
ReplyDeleteWhy should SEGA have to "make up" for anything? Kids like Sonic. Sonic makes money. It's just business as usual.
On a somewhat related note, Sonic and the Secret Rings was awesome, Sonic Heroes was awesome, the Sonic GBA games were awesome. Plenty of good Sonic games since 1998 (when SA1 was released). Sonic fans should stop making mountains out of molehills and find something to appreciate about Sonic instead of just focusing on the negatives all the time. Such as kick-ass music and great character design.
- R. Richardson (Marketing & Research, SEGA of America)
There will probably be something like this in a review:
ReplyDeleteGraphics: 1/10
xD
@Sonic fan:
ReplyDeleteI appreciate he statistics. I know kids love Sonic and they don't give two hoots about the characters, and whatnot. But I am an avid believer that Sega has lost it's touch with franchise since Adventure (even though I enjoy that title very much).
The funny thing is, even Sega admitted that the recent Sonic games lack what you would call quality:
http://kotaku.com/5034055/sega-admit-ok-sonic-has-been-a-bit-crap-lately
Thankfully, they've taken notice and hope to change things up a bit with Unleashed, regardless of the presence of the Werehog.
I do give major props to Sega for the Advance and Rush titles, those are magnificent. However, even these titles can't outmatch the sheer quality and heart of the 16-bit originals (Sonic 1-3&Knuckles).
Calm down, sonic fan. :P Yeesh.
ReplyDeleteAnywho, this is cool, but I'd prefer just doing a 2.5D Sonic, a la Sonic Rush. The 16 bit games are awesome, for sure, but I could go with better graphics on the same gameplay mechanic.
I think HD is overrated. :P And FPS's are "the thang" right now. Sure, they'll always be around, but their extreme popularity is a fad. :)
I'd hate to say it, but people see Rockman 9's success at how cheap a game they can make and still turn a profit. This won't start a huge revolution, but I am happy that developers might start doing games they WANT to make instead of games they HAVE to make, which is just great.
ReplyDeleteA 16 bit Sonic won't be enough to save the franchise. You see, the people who made it great all left. It's not 16 bit graphics that made Sonic great, it's great level design and well thought out platforming design that made Sonic great. If they make a 16 bit Sonic game with the GBA games or Sonic Rush in mind, I'm not optimistic.
Pfft, In my view all they're doing is copying. Trying to get in on the trend.
ReplyDeleteI'm a sonic fan since his first game.
ReplyDeleteI loved the games from Sonic 1 to Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic Heroes wasn't so good, but still it's fun.
Well i'm looking for this one and unleashed (that looks good comparing with other recent sonic games)
and i won't let purist ruin my fun