Considering that many fans had Sonic The Hedgehog and his games on “life support” many times over the years, it’s a miracle that SEGA and Sonic Team could turn things around and get him back into top form. Previously, they had been spinning their wheels with each mainline and spinoff game they made. They threw gimmicks at the wall, including avatar creation, to try and appease fans, but it didn’t work. However, things turned around for the better with last year’s new title. Additionally, Sonic’s foray into movies was well-received, and the Netflix series was also a hit!
So the question becomes, how will SEGA and Sonic Team capitalize on their momentum? Part of that has already been answered, as Sonic Superstars is coming soon and will harken back to the 2D days when Sonic and his friends began their journey. But in an interview with Famitsu, Sega President and Chief Operations Officer Yukio Sugino, he said that the company is looking to possibly revive many of the past titles with Sonic to give players more of what they love:
“Of course, we have to do new things, but as with all IPs, we don’t have new works or reboots,” he said. “We will develop while selecting which is appropriate at this timing for each IP, such as ‘This is the best way to do this IP’. ‘Sonic’ is also SEGA’s signature IP, and in parallel with the new game, we are considering reboots and remakes.”
He clarified that the upcoming 2D title was not a “reboot” in his mind, so he’s referring to other past titles. But that raises more questions now, doesn’t it? First, what titles does SEGA have in mind for the remake/reboot treatment?
The easy answer would be some of the mainline titles of the past, but you’d have to go back pretty far to get to a game that gamers would want to see remade. Furthermore, SEGA has already bundled and “upgraded” the original titles with Sonic and friends with mixed results.
Another way to look at this is the spinoff games that have made their own impact over the years, such as the racing titles Sonic the Hedgehog has done.
The danger here is that they must be mindful of how many of these projects they do simultaneously. While they are on a roll, it can be easy to get off of it if they focus on the wrong things instead of continuing to evolve the franchise.
