Games Radar sat down with Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuki to talk all things Sonic the Hedgehog. Iizuka says that when they looked at the various art styles they could implement in Sonic Superstars they wanted something that would be future proof. He went on to say that the team didn’t believe pixel art would be viable for Superstars, so they went with the current art-style, which admittedly also looks good. Iizuka concluded by saying that they are constantly thinking about the future of the beloved Sonic franchise.
Regarding both 2D and 3D Sonic games:
“When we talk about the brand, we definitely need to have a modern Sonic 3D game,” Iizuka said. “We also feel we need to have a classic Sonic 2D game. Those are our fundamental pillars that we need to have. We’re expanding into movies and TV, but we still need to have both the 3D and the 2D line up for our gaming audience.”
“Last year we released Sonic Frontiers, and what Sonic Frontiers was doing is taking the open zone concept, to cement that 3D Sonic gameplay, as something we can build on for the next 10-20 years to continue bringing new gameplay experiences to players. It was really the evolution of where the 3D Sonic space was going, and we feel very proud in what the team was able to deliver.”
Regarding pixel-art:
“We look at the pixel art – it’s great – but when we think about 10-20 years in the future, we don’t think it’s going to be a viable art style or presentation for our players. And in order to advance and really step things up, we did want to make sure that we’re presenting something that 10-20 years down the road we’re still evolving and creating new content for.”
Well this kind of art style could work for a few games, but eventually you will need to change it up. Even 10 years seems a bit overkill to reuse the same aesthetic design. At some point in the next 5~8 years you will need to shake things up so people don’t get New Super Mario Bros. kind of fatigue.
Agreed.
I disagree.
The art style could do well for future Sonic games depending on Superstars reviews. It’s ok to change things up nowadays.
It’s “timeless” because it’s the original designs…
I don’t like Modern Sonic Team, at all.
Classic Sonic >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> modern sonic.
At first, I thought Sega had officially gone crazy. But then I kept reading and see they’re taking a step in the right direction. Sort of. Kind of. Not really, but still. I’m tired of them catering only to the Classic fans and they can’t use sprites forever. If it didn’t work when Mega Man returned to the original sprites, why would it work with the objectively inferior Sonic?
I know this may be a hot take, but I personally feel that anything 3D or 3D adjacent it should be saved for modern Sonic: I personally love the pixel art in most classic Sonic games
Well it’s better the Generations/Forces.
But don’t forgo Mania-style sprites entirely. You can still make some good games out of those.
“Well it’s better the Generations/Forces.”
Speak for yourself.
Pixel art will obviously still be a viable style in 10-20 years. No issue with them taking a different approach with Superstars but have they not learned anything from the last 10 years of gaming (basically since Minecraft and growth of indie games). There will always be a demand for games with minimalistic graphics.