Despite Our Era of Remakes, Sonic Producer Says No Sonic Remakes
Sonic's producer does not believe in remakes without meaningful updates.
The games industry is currently obsessed with remakes, but Sonic Team boss Takashi Iizuka would rather spend his resources making something new.
Speaking in a recent interview with Automaton, Iizuka acknowledged that fans regularly ask Sega to revisit older Sonic games, specifically calling out requests for Sonic Unleashed to return.
He says the problem with remaking an old Sonic game is nowhere near as easy as simply rebuilding the graphics.
“With remakes and remasters, you’re essentially providing the same experience again,” Iizuka said. “But these days, remaking an old game requires about as many resources as creating a new title.”
According to Iizuka, an older game would need new graphics, updated controls and other changes to bring it up to modern standards. With Sonic Team working with a limited number of developers, he would rather put that effort toward creating something players haven’t seen before.
“Rather than using those limited resources to make remakes and remasters, we have a stronger desire to provide fans with new games and deliver new surprises,” he added.
It is an interesting position considering how comfortable Sega has been with revisiting Sonic’s past.
Sonic Colors: Ultimate brought the 2010 Wii game to modern platforms in 2021, while Sonic Origins repackaged Sonic 1, 2, 3 & Knuckles and Sonic CD with modern enhancements. More recently, Sonic X Shadow Generations combined a remastered Sonic Generations with an entirely new Shadow campaign rather than settling for a straight rerelease.
That last example feels like the philosophy that Izuka wants to follow for future Sonic titles. If Sonic Team is going to revisit something old, there needs to be a reason beyond simply giving it a fresh new coat of paint.
However, he didn’t completely shut down the idea of getting a Sonic remake.
Iizuka acknowledged that some older Sonic games are increasingly difficult to play on current hardware, and in another recent interview said the team is aware of how strongly fans want older titles back. If the right opportunity comes along, he said, Sega would still like to revisit them.
So Sonic Adventure fans probably shouldn’t give up entirely.
