SEGA Nerdcast: Episode 71 (How to fix Sonic the Hedgehog)

How to fix Sonic?

SEGA has a brand crisis on their hands. People don’t trust them or their Sonic game line anymore. Their need to make it an annual franchise is quite a bit to blame, but there could be ways of working with that.

This one is for free SEGA! I present to you my 5-year plan for Sonic that will hopefully put things back in order. (My pompous, ill-informed plan, since I know nothing about game design or marketing)

Y+1= 2015: I assume that there is already a game in development for this coming holiday. SEGA… listen. Cancel it. Or at least significantly delay it by going back to the drawing board and give Sonic Team enough time to know exactly where the series needs to go.

What will you sell in 2015? More importantly, what could possibly still be made this year with only a year dev time? Two words: Re- makes. My suggestions? 1-Sonic Colors HD as a cross-platform game. It is a technically solid title, and all that would be necessary is recreating the graphics (I know, I have no idea how hard this actually is). Many people point to Colors as one of the good titles in recent years, so a little bit of tightening and polish (and some added content ONLY if there is time) could go a long way, especially since Xbox and PS3 owners didn’t play the game. Game 2- Knuckles Chaotix on 3DS. Yeah, I’m sure that this game would probably be called “Sonic & Knuckles Chaotix,” ultimately, and Sonic and Tails would be shoe-horned in (and probably several other characters), but Chaotix was a beautiful game, and again, a very underplayed title also. Pretty it up, get M2 to layer all that 3D for you, and you’ve got a solid title for holiday 2015. I know it’s just a year away, but if you jump on them now, I think there may be enough time to knock these out.

Y+2=2016: Clearly the easy answer here is another Mario & Sonic at the Summer Olympics. I doubt that there will be any stopping that game from happening, so I’m okay with just letting it happen. Alas, poor Smilebit…

Y+3=2017: Sonic & All-Stars Racing 3. Cross-platform. That’s three years from now, and everyone in the know trusts that series (as long as Sumo is at the helm).

Y+4=2018: Sonic Generations sequel. Call it Sonic Dimensions. You know how great Generations was? So does everyone else. While Generations had the “best-of Sonic” stages as a hook, Dimensions would take that further. Instead of just young and modern Sonic, Dimensions can tap the comics universe, the Sonic Boom universe, why not even the old Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog tv show universe? Can you see the exchange between Roger Craig Smith’s Sonic and Jaleel White’s? That would be fan service gold, and there are plenty of options to create some pretty cool stages, not to mention the possibility of an unlockable, playable Princess Sally. Otherwise, Dimensions just has to do what Generations did, blend the 3D and 2D gameplay, don’t go nuts with giant swords or were-hogs, though I could go without being prevented from advancing without completing the mandatory side challenges.

Y+5=2019: HD Sonic Jam. Think of it as a “Master Chief Collection” of the original 2D Sonic games, 1-3, Sonic & Knuckles, & Sonic CD. SEGA, give Chris Whitehead a job, put him behind a desk, and get busy on this. Include the option to play with original graphics, updated (completely redrawn) HD graphics, a REALLY robust speed run leaderboard (including stages linked together to create larger, continuous stages) and a simultaneous multiplayer mode for these “races.”

Y+6=2020: The new Sonic game hits. I don’t know what it should look like. I’m not Sonic Team. But six years is plenty of time to work out where the series really needs to go, and I’m sure there will be plenty of mobile games in the mix, too. But I only care about console games since everything else isn’t a real game. JAY – KAY!!