In May, Sega held a special Sonic Central broadcast for the blue blur’s 30th anniversary. The live stream went out with a brief teaser of the next mainline entry in the series.
While details are still scarce, during an interview with Game Informer recently, Sonic Team’s head Takashi Iizuka noted how the team had thought a lot about what the modern gameplay experience should be for a Sonic title, along with the path forward for the next decade.
While he can’t say a lot just yet about the upcoming 2022 entry, he believes it’ll likely be an “advancement” for modern Sonic games and what they “can be”:
“There is a lot I can’t say yet about the title, but I do believe we will see an advancement in what a modern Sonic game can be. Of course, we will not deny the high-speed action that characterized previous modern Sonic games like Sonic Generations or Sonic Forces, rather we will create a title that our current gaming fans and new gamers will enjoy.”
Iizuka mentions how one “key point” in the history of the series was the transition from 2D to 3D gameplay, so how can Sega take the next step to truly advance the modern version of Sonic?
If the recent rumours are anything to go by, the next Sonic game (which Sega’s PR reportedly referred to as Sonic Rangers) will be an open-world adventure drawing inspiration The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
In the brief trailer we’ve so far, we can see Sonic running through a forest environment – so who knows how big it might be…
Do you think an open-world adventure could be the next step for modern Sonic the Hedgehog games? How else do you think Sega could take its longtime mascot to new heights after 30 years? Leave your thoughts down below.
An open world game can be amazing IF they stop forcing Sonic’s speed into the gameplay. Sonic’s biggest problem, even with the “Holy Grail” of Sonic games (the original trilogy) is the speed. If you’re making a racer or rail-type game then great, but you’re not. Players need to be able to handle the information overload and Sonic Team never seems to grasp that concept. Take the open world approach, give him some speed but not enough to feel loose or flighty, and map some special moves that take advantage of his skillset in confined, limited spaces. For instance, an attack that sees Sonic use his speed for a multi-slash attack. His speed remains, the action is contained and controlled, and the player can process what happened.
Use his rolling attack in puzzles, to confuse a shielded enemy by encircling them, or destroy barriers blocking new paths.
Sonic is a fun character, but as far as games go he really hasn’t had a memorable one yet. Some have been good, but they all fall short of great. Slow him down a bit, develop him beyond ‘super fast blue blur’, and give him a game people can finally talk about that doesn’t involve comparison to how good it is in relation to ’06.
