Sega president says it’s ‘considering’ more Sonic remakes and reboots

Sega President and COO Yukio Sugino has said that the company is considering more Sonic remakes and reboots as well as new titles.

Speaking to Famitsu (translated by VGC), the Sega boss said that while reboots and remakes don’t work with all of Sega’s properties, it is focusing on what is best for each IP. In the case of Sonic, this could mean more remakes and reboots.

“Of course, we have to do new things, but not all IPs are the same for new releases and reboots,” Sugino said.

“For each IP, we will choose which method is appropriate at this time. Sonic is Sega’s flagship IP, and we are considering reboots and remakes for it in parallel with new titles.”

In an interview with VGC at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, we asked Sonic creative officer Takashi Iizuka if the return of 2D Sonic and the recently announced revival of Samba de Amigo could lead to the return of other classic franchises such as Nights or Burning Rangers.

“I can’t say yes to anything right now,” Iizuka replied. “These days I’m the creative officer for Sonic the Hedgehog, so I’m totally focused on that side of the business.

“So I can’t really speak for anyone else, but Sonic Team in Japan has been ramping up and hiring lots of people recently – they have more people than ever. So there may be some future where you’ll be hearing about these kinds of titles.”

Further reading

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Sonic boss says there ‘may be a future’ where Sega brings back Nights or Burning Rangers

Takashi Iizuka says Sonic Team is larger than ever

Last year a Bloomberg report claimed that Sega is working on big-budget reboots of Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio, and that they’ll be the first titles in Sega’s ‘Super Game’ initiative, a five-year strategy involving “the development of AAA titles that cross over Sega’s comprehensive range of technologies”.

A brand new Sonic game, Sonic Superstars, will be released later this year. It’s a four-player side-scrolling platfomer being developed by Arzest, the Japanese studio run by the mascot’s original creator Naoto Ohshima.

According to Sega’s description: “Sonic and his friends’ journey starts on the beautiful North Star Islands, a mystical place offering never-before-seen environments, as well as a mysterious story waiting to unfold.

“Enormous creatures, exhilarating adventures, and evil plans from Dr Eggman await Sonic and his friends, who can now obtain brand-new abilities known as the Emerald Powers when Chaos Emeralds are collected.”