SEGA’s Sonic Community Manager got a little more than they bargained for this past weekend after a seemingly harmless question about new Sonic game genres generated thousands of responses from Sonic fans desperately seeking their favourite hero in a new RPG or fighting game.
It all started simply enough. Sonic social lead Katie Chrzanowski casually posted, “What’s your dream genre to see a Sonic game (or more Sonic games) created as?” But before too long, an army of Twitter users with starry eyes and big dreams bombarded the reply box with requests for a follow-up to cult spinoff games such as Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles.
Of over 2,200 replies in just over a day, it was clear that the fanbase has long been yearning to see the blue blur in a role-playing scenario once again. Former Sonic social manager Sergio Montealegre elaborated on this by suggesting IDW’s work could form part of the universe:
Honestly? After Sonic the Fighters and Sonic Battle, I think we’re due for another official Sonic fighter. Runner up is an earnest attempt at a Sonic RPG. Chronicles left much to be desired, but there’s a viable path if you put IDW characterization with a good battle system
IDW writer and author Evan Stanley added, “my greatest wish is for a little point and click adventure game or an RPG,” but generally wanted to see more done with the open zone mechanic introduced in Sonic Frontiers. ‘MrPasquale’ referenced BioWare’s Nintendo DS RPG, Sonic Chronicles, while explaining how SEGA could pull it off with a seasoned internal team…
I would go crazy to see another full on Sonic RPG. Chronicles had the right idea, it just needed way more budget. If Atlus got involved with a project like this, that would legit be a dream come true.
Twitter user ‘Arcade Awesome’ took the role-playing concept to the extreme however and suggested a dating sim that… well, you can read the full thing on his social post here but here’s the elevator pitch.
I need a Sonic the Hedgehog RPG dating sim…. However, it would star Big the Cat and Sonic is his wingman (the player). The mission is helping Big go from being a zero to a hero with the ladies. Level up Big the Cat and turn him into the ultimate bachelor.
Elsewhere, there was just as equal a response for a new Sonic fighting game. Many users referenced GBA brawler Sonic Battle and arcade classic Sonic the Fighters, but a few fans had ideas of their own – like Sonic Stadium member Linkabel suggested the following:
A 2.5D fighting game, especially something with a similar visual style to the Uekawa artwork. It could even be a three-on-three fighting game to keep the teams that other games have used. (Team Sonic, Team Dark etc etc)
Even the NiGHTS fanbase got involved! ‘Digi Valentine’ went big with the vision, imagining a full-on SEGA roster that matches up with that of Sumo Digital’s kart-racing series, SEGA All-Stars Racing.
SEGA All-Stars fighting game (that features a selection of Sonic characters). You can put Sonic front and centre because that’s to be expected, but it would be incredibly cool if such a game could utilise SEGA’s catalogue of other IP’s too.
‘TRiPPY’ also felt that a fighting game was the most exciting idea, as “Fighters Megamix was such a great game and I’d love to see the Sonic lot take on other famous iP again.”
And then you had fans who went right down the middle of both action-RPG and fighting. “A Beat ’em up in the style of Shredder’s Revenge. I’ve always wanted to see something like that,” wrote Balena Productions, while everyone’s favourite Meme Bean Machine threw in a concept image to illustrate what that may look like.
So! Everyone has lots of ideas! If anything can be learned from this madness, it’s that Sonic really is quite a versatile enough character to fit into most genres of games. And everyone wants to see him in everything! So really, if this was some secret exercise by SEGA’s social media team to poll what their next Sonic spinoff project could be… well, let’s hope the response has helped them get a little bit closer to a decision!
What’s your dream genre / type of game for Sonic that hasn’t been realised yet? Let us know in the comments section below!