Sonic Team leader and co-creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, Yuji Naka, has revealed that the Sonic Adventure series is currently on hold as the studio looks to “do something different” for the next mainline game in the Sonic franchise.
In an interview with XenGamers, Naka was asked if any more Sonic Adventure games will be made, as there was a no-show of mainline Sonic titles at the recent E3 show. The developer’s answer:
I think we’re going to stop the ‘Sonic Adventure’ series at 2 for the time being. We want to do something different for the next title in the series. We are working on a number of Sonic games now, including ports of older titles. We’ll be able to announce these in the near future.
The games we currently know of that are in development at Sonic Team include compilation Sonic Mega Collection, Sonic Advance 2 and a port of the original Sonic Adventure – all destined for Nintendo platforms. But when asked if any future Sonic games will be platform-exclusive, Naka-san revealed;
No, we’re not thinking in those terms. There is a good chance that Sonic will appear on a number of platforms.
Naka also confirmed that no Sports-based spinoff titles are currently in development for consoles (after being asked about whether the success of the Japanese mobile phone games would convince Sonic Team to work on something similar on home platforms). Perhaps the most fun question was related the one below, which we’ll just include verbatim. Very philosophical.
XenGamers: How would you respond to comments that Sonic moves too fast in a 3D environment for the players to appreciate the scenery?
Naka: The player can slow down or stop and enjoy the scenery if something grabs his/her eye. I think Sonic himself doesn’t always run full-tilt. I’m sure if he finds some nice scenery he stops to take it in. I hope players will do the same.