Sega's third CS Research and Development producer, Yosuke Okunari, knows what it takes to make a good, faithful remake. He’s had plenty of experience over the years seeing old games get new life, but really, Sega is most concerned about what the fans want.
"I started with Dragon Force of the Sega Ages 2500 series that was released on August of 2005," Okunari said to Famitsu (via Siliconera). "This series features remade titles from the past, but Virtua Fighter 2's faithful remake that was released in 2004, was very well received.
"From that, I was able to understand what it takes to make such a faithful remake, and it's something I've put a lot of importance in, since I've started working on the series. So, we developed the Space Harrier Complete Collection, an entire compilation of the series, to go with the various generations of our customers."
The louder the voices of the fans, the better the chance that a particular game will be made. Remakes are for those who have some sort of attachment to the past, so it’s crucial that the product being redone has enough of an audience to justify the work.
"The concept was to recreate the games exactly the way they were originally made,” he continued. “The things staff members wanted to express in the past but couldn't, are now possible with today's technology. And we'd like to share that joy. For our next lineup, it will depend on all of your voices, so please continue to support us."
Sega might believe that it just launched the best Sonic game yet, but that won’t stop the company from continuing to rekindle its past with known names.