Current Events > SEGA says that it wants Sonic to surpass Mario.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.sega.co.jp/recruit/episode/episode09/
https://www.reddit.com/r/nintendo/comments/17lm122/sega_says_it_wants_sonic_to_surpass_mario/k7f1qpi/

Simply put, I want to surpass Mario. Sonic is a game that was originally developed to compete with Mario, and it still hasnt achieved that goal. Our goal is to catch up and surpass Mario because we respect Mario. I want people to play it all over the world, including Japan, like Mario, and I want the movie to be a bigger hit than Mario. I would like USJ to create a Sonic Area as well. Thats our goal for those of us who love Sonic. -Osamu Ohashi SEGA Executive Director

Umm... I think that ship has long since sailed, since the mid-90's. >_>

Maybe if they made a Frankensonic game with:

• easy, fun gameplay reminiscent of Sonic 1 & 2
• fun, gigantic, cool levels of Sonic Adventure
• same ass-kicking OST as Sonic R

I heard there's a Sonic cartoon (contemporary?) that actually had funny writing, so maybe add that in, too. Mix well, put on the stove at 400 degrees, and, baby, you got a stew goin'.

Shotgunnova posted...

I heard there's a Sonic cartoon (contemporary?) that actually had funny writing

The Sonic Boom cartoon. Considered a far cry in quality from the infamous Wii U game that it's based on.

And I want to be able to explode into a cloud of bats.

We can't all get what we want.

CountCorvinus posted...

And I want to be able to explode into a cloud of bats.

I can do that.

The Sonic movies were way better than the Mario movie

TO BE FAAAAAIIIR, there was a small, very small window of that happening in the early-mid 90's and probably even did.

But yeah NO WAY of that happening now lol Talk about delusional.

Right now this is the state of their relationship

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/0/09c7bd67.jpg

He can want that

Doesn't mean it's happening

Shotgunnova posted...

Maybe if they made a Frankensonic game with:

* easy, fun gameplay reminiscent of Sonic 1 & 2
* fun, gigantic, cool levels of Sonic Adventure
* same ass-kicking OST as Sonic R

I heard there's a Sonic cartoon (contemporary?) that actually had funny writing, so maybe add that in, too. Mix well, put on the stove at 400 degrees, and, baby, you got a stew goin'.

Honestly I can see ways to make the key points they want with Sonic to work, but I don't think they have the chops to pull it off.

Sonic talks, so he needs good writing and a lovable character. That's harder to pull off than silent protagonist, but it's not impossible. Problem is Sega's writing is, uh... unpolished.

You also want to pursue the values of speed and platforming, but if you want to move fast in a 3d environment, you need to load things quickly and efficiently, which they seem to have trouble pulling off judging by the last game.

I also think that they're going the wrong way with their 3d running segments. They have it set up to go kinda fast, and give automatic mechanics and a button to hold to go faster (and plow through enemies). This is personal opinion, but I think it would feel much better to make the default speed Really Fast but give the player a button to hold that puts things into slo-mo for players to react and do things.

Their boss fights are typically more interesting than Mario games but do have their flubs. They also have the advantage of a larger playable cast with different strengths and playstyles. They have a couple strengths in place they could work with and make use of, but they need time to polish both those things and they very much need a better metric for what feels good to play.

Even if Sega were to drop a Sonic game today that was widely hailed as the greatest game of all time, Sonic still wouldn't be as big as Mario. There's just way too much of a gap to overcome.

Sonic will always be better than mario to me.

As a kid remember being blown TF away by Sonic The Hedgehog might have been my first game but comparing the original games and Sonic Adventure vs Mario 64
I loved Sonic way more i was always shocked that people preferred Mario games over Sonic. Im rooting for them. Have they ever tried Sonic RPG? Maybe hmmmmm i dunno make an actual Sonic Adventure 3!? Sega is insane

The Sonic TV and Film portion is already better, so that's a start

https://youtu.be/lhckuhUxcgA?si=BpqNNurJo-mbtvJi

If they want Sonic to be their super game for 2026, it would need to be a killer app for the Apple VR headset or something truly brand new.

Nasty_Nitro posted...

Sonic will always be better than mario to me.

As a kid remember being blown TF away by Sonic The Hedgehog might have been my first game but comparing the original games and Sonic Adventure vs Mario 64
I loved Sonic way more i was always shocked that people preferred Mario games over Sonic. Im rooting for them. Have they ever tried Sonic RPG? Maybe hmmmmm i dunno make an actual Sonic Adventure 3!? Sega is insane

There was a Sonic RPG game on GBA. I think it's regarded as possibly the worst Sonic game.

I'm not going to knock them for saying this, it's good to set goals even if they might seem unattainable.

Good luck, hahahaha!!!

Nearly every Mario game is a fundamentally good game. Nintendo has a level of quality control that just doesn't exist in Sega.

If they'd said this 30 years ago I'd say it was a possibility but for someone to say this in 2023 sounds like a joke

Oh God. Maybe their "super game" is going to be a Sonic game afterall. Not sure if they can balance that well enough to not flop.

IMO the issue is the speed gimmick. While it seems cool, there's only been a handful of actual good Sonic games. It's kind of limiting. Take it away and suddenly you've pissed off the fanbase.

Whereas Mario has the freedom to do whatever because there isn't a gimmick tied to him that HAS to be in every single game. So he's more versatile, and so are the games, and they're more fun because of it.

Ryven posted...

IMO the issue is the speed gimmick. While it seems cool, there's only been a handful of actual good Sonic games. It's kind of limiting. Take it away and suddenly you've pissed off the fanbase.

Whereas Mario has the freedom to do whatever because there isn't a gimmick tied to him that HAS to be in every single game. So he's more versatile, and so are the games, and they're more fun because of it.

I think they could actually lean into the speed gimmick more. Like in the lore, Sonic is supposed to be able to run at the speed of light in short bursts. It's a ridiculous piece of lore, but I could see some fun segments being created around Sonic basically covering vast distances in an instant.

Or they could do more segments where Sonic rides on something. Like Sonic Adventure 2's opening level had Sonic snowboarding through a city. In Sonic 3 on Genesis, there was a segment where he was on a snowboard as well. They were short, but they were fun because it was different than his usual running.

Sonic Mania was the closest they could ever be and it was just a greatest hits comp of Sonic from yesteryear. Then they disbanded the group and said fuck off.

Sega is terrible.

I get they want to do that, but itll never happen. Part of the reason is the games are not that great anymore and the Fanbase turns off a lot of people.

It is kind of funny they tried to recently copy Zelda and didnt do too bad with the movies. Then Nintendo made a Mario movie and proved why Sonic is way in the distance from being legit competition for Mario.

well they have to try harder then...

Sonic Mania is probably the best Sonic game they put out in a long time. No idea why they aren't banking on it more is beyond me.

Shotgunnova posted...

Maybe if they made a Frankensonic game with:

* easy, fun gameplay reminiscent of Sonic 1 & 2
* fun, gigantic, cool levels of Sonic Adventure
* same ass-kicking OST as Sonic R

I heard there's a Sonic cartoon (contemporary?) that actually had funny writing, so maybe add that in, too. Mix well, put on the stove at 400 degrees, and, baby, you got a stew goin'.

Sonic Boom is a genuine riot.

https://youtu.be/iqYx--1ZI-c?si=aDOMI2cOKNUFqJlB

Dalthine posted...

There was a Sonic RPG game on GBA. I think it's regarded as possibly the worst Sonic game.

DS, actually. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Developed by Bioware.

From what I understand, it actually did decently and would have gotten a sequel, but a lawsuit from the infamous Ken Spenders nixed any attempts at a follow-up.

Solar_Crimson posted...

DS, actually. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Developed by Bioware.

From what I understand, it actually did decently and would have gotten a sequel, but a lawsuit from the infamous Ken Spenders nixed any attempts at a follow-up.

Ahh. Shows how much I know. I mostly only heard about it because people memed on how bad the music was.

Lol

Ryven posted...

IMO the issue is the speed gimmick. While it seems cool, there's only been a handful of actual good Sonic games. It's kind of limiting. Take it away and suddenly you've pissed off the fanbase.

Whereas Mario has the freedom to do whatever because there isn't a gimmick tied to him that HAS to be in every single game. So he's more versatile, and so are the games, and they're more fun because of it.

There is

He is JUMPMAN after all

Dalthine posted...

Ahh. Shows how much I know. I mostly only heard about it because people memed on how bad the music was.

game's eh anyway

NoxObscuras posted...

I think they could actually lean into the speed gimmick more. Like in the lore, Sonic is supposed to be able to run at the speed of light in short bursts. It's a ridiculous piece of lore, but I could see some fun segments being created around Sonic basically covering vast distances in an instant.

This is literally the boost formula

They should probably set the bar lower... maybe start at making a good 3d Sonic game first

mehmeh1 posted...

game's eh anyway

This is literally the boost formula

Nah I mean really ramp up the ridiculousness and take advantage of the SSDs in current Gen consoles. Like a level segment that has you completely change locales partway through because he ran to another continent in less than a second. Like one second you're at the beach, then the next you're on top of a mountain peak. And give him an enemy that's either attacking multiple locations at once, or moves fast too, so he has a reason to location hop like that.

We all have impossible dreams, Sega.