Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka promises “The next big year for Sonic is 2021”

Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka is making the news because he was asked at E3 when the next big year year for Sonic will be, considering that 2017 had us get not only Sonic Forces but Sonic Mania as well. He said:

“2017 was a big year for Sonic,” Iizuka says. “The next big year for Sonic is 2021. That’s the 30-year anniversary for Sonic. We are now preparing.”

When asked if 2021 will bring a game like Sonic Generations, that came out in 2011, Iizuka said “maybe”. What if he is throwing us a curve ball and is actually working on a Sonic Adventure remake? Or would you rather have Sonic Generations 2?

[via: Gamer Informer]

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16 responses to “Sonic Team’s Takashi Iizuka promises “The next big year for Sonic is 2021”

  1. Patrick Barboza Oliveira says:

    I think they should at least port Sonic Unleashed and Colors to PC already.

  2. Trezell Whack says:

    I’m not too confident, I’ll just focus on the fact that Sega is actually giving their other IPs more attention

  3. me says:

    Hoping for something entirely new and original, such as a new Adventure-style game with fun, fluid, physics-based but predictable mechanics in a semi-open world, imagine a hub that seamlessly transitions into action stages, which lead seamlessly into other hubs (like how in Outrun the stage would change)? I think that’d be be amazing.

    We’ve already gotten so many fanservice games, Mania, Generations, even Forces had recycled level ideas and of course “classic” Sonic. I think it’s high time they make something that can stand up on its own while conveying the feeling of Sonic, sense of great adventure and fast action. Something that’ll finally help Sonic shake off his identity crisis.

    I’m not confident in Iizuka in charge, but still hoping for the best.

  4. Xander says:

    Sonic Adventure 3 would make people loose it. That announcement would get a lot of attention. The question is can Sonic Team rise to the occasion for something people have been wanting for so long. I know he said he wants to do it. I wonder what would have to happen for him to feel it’s the right time for a SA3.

  5. OriginalName says:

    I know it’s so cynical, but this really makes me wonder what would happen if they drop the ball again after a development cycle that long. From the outside it seems like the higher-ups at Sega have endless patience with Sonic Team, but surely by now the pressure’s got to be on.

  6. ikagura says:

    I cannot wait to see the next trainwreck

  7. RushDawg says:

    I am hoping for Mania 2, with 100% new zones. Not really looking forward to the next 3D Sonic. SEGA had a winning formula on their hands with Colors and Generations, but they also proved how bad that formula can be with Forces.

    • rectumrider390 says:

      I wouldn’t mind Mania 2 myself at all if it had 100% original level ideas that were actually not half baked.
      All the recycled content in Mania put me off hard and the new stages weren’t that great either. Visually creative but mechanically bankrupt. The only good parts of Mania were the recycled bits, mainly because they were already good to begin with.

      As for 3D Sonic, while I enjoy boost gameplay, I really think they should end “boost era” here and come up with something fresh (but not something stupid like Lost World). I can tell people love to idealize Colors, but really, that game was like 30% 3D gameplay and the remaining 70% was 2D platforming that you couldn’t just breeze through if you wanted that S rank. Hardly a winning formula, if you ask me.

      Sonic Team should probably just go back to the drawing board and come up with a revolutionary idea again, like in the Unleashed days where they blew everyone’s minds with the new boost gameplay style. As long as they don’t screw it all up by introducing something nobody wanted, that is.

    • ikagura says:

      Even if Mania 2 and 3 would be 100% recycled zones it will always be better than any new modern Sonic game (even if it only uses original zones)

    • Adam says:

      I agree. But this is Iizuka here. The man refuses to listen to criticism. Either it will be a another Generations clone, or it will be the Adventure remake, and a botched one at that. I’d rather have a SOnic Mania sequel by the team that made it. Iizuka needs to leave. I don’t care if he’s an original member of Sonic Team. The man is killing Sonic.

    • rectumrider390 says:

      Can’t argue with that, Iizuka is completely unfit for the job. I think what shows best how little good he does for Sonic Team is that Sega’s Sonic Channel front page only advertises Team Sonic Racing and Mania, but Forces is nowhere to be found. A below-average kart racer and a fanservice spinoff game, neither made by Sonic Team, taking center stage on Sega’s official page. Pretty sad.

      It’ll probably be as you say, half-baked Adventure remake which Iizuka’s been hinting at for a while, no doubt made using Lost World physics because fans LOVED how stiff and awkward the controls were in Forces.

    • Maver1ck says:

      Sonic will have a future the day Iizuka decides to retire. That’s all I have to say.

    • PEDRO FERREIRA says:

      Team Sonic Racing is seen as pretty good.

    • ikagura says:

      Yeah Iizuka is basically a reason why Sonic has been so low since the 3D modern era

  8. Maver1ck says:

    Iizuka it’s a curse to the Sonic franchise.
    No need to explain why his words really don’t inspire me any confidence, like at all.

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