Sonic Team head and producer of the upcoming Sonic Superstars, Takashi Iizuka, believes that pixel art may not be the best art style for the future of the Sonic franchise. This might mean that, while we’ll get 2D Sonic games in the future, we might not get direct sequel to Sonic Mania any time soon.
Speaking to GamesRadar, Iizuka spoke about how it is important for the Sonic franchise to have both 3D games as well as traditional side-scrolling 2D games like the upcoming Sonic Superstars.
“When we talk about the brand, we definitely need to have a modern Sonic 3D game,” Iizuka said. “We also feel we need to have a classic Sonic 2D game. Those are our fundamental pillars that we need to have. We’re expanding into movies and TV, but we still need to have both the 3D and the 2D line up for our gaming audience.”
Iizuka goes on to talk about how Sonic Frontiers is expanding on the Sonic franchise’s 3D platformer ambitions through the use of its open zone concept.
“Last year we released Sonic Frontiers, and what Sonic Frontiers was doing is taking the open zone concept, to cement that 3D Sonic gameplay, as something we can build on for the next 10-20 years to continue bringing new gameplay experiences to players,” continued Iizuka. “It was really the evolution of where the 3D Sonic space was going, and we feel very proud in what the team was able to deliver.”
Iizuka continues talking about the art style of pixel art Sonic Mania—a critical and commercial success when it was released back in 2017. Iizuka continues, stating that the franchise might need to make use of more modern art styles to stay relevant 10-20 years into the future.
Iizuka says, “we look at the pixel art – it’s great – but when we think about 10-20 years in the future, we don’t think it’s going to be a viable art style or presentation for our players. And in order to advance and really step things up, we did want to make sure that we’re presenting something that 10-20 years down the road we’re still evolving and creating new content for.”
Sonic Superstars, slated for release on October 17 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch, will make use of a 3D art style, while still keeping to traditional 2D gameplay. The game will also feature co-op for up to four players, with each player taking on the role of a different character and making use of their unique abilities.
On the 3D Sonic front, Sonic Frontiers recently got trailer showing off its final update, dubbed the Final Horizon update. The update will bring with it new playable characters, as well as a new story.