GOTTA GO FAST

SUPERPOWER, AND SONIC’S IS EVERY SUPERHERO NEEDS THEIR DEFINING HIM RUNNING OUT OF CONTROL? SPEED – BUT HOW DOES SEGA KEEP

What would Sonic be without his speed? Roadkill, probably – after all, he does have a habit of being chased by trucks, whales and other large things that could very easily crush him. a But in gaming terms, Sonic’s speed is both blessing and a curse – a spectacular superpower to that makes the games potentially unfriendly newcomers, as hazards hurtle along at a pace that can be tricky to deal with.

So what’s it like, designing games for a character whose defining power is his extraordinary speed? “There are a lot of

‘up benefits and challenges to keeping Sonic of the to speed’ per se,” says Iizuka. “In terms challenges, it motivates us to always push the envelope on technology. In fact, that’s how Sonic was created! The original creator Yuji Naka was a videogame programmer developing an algorithm that allowed an object to move smoothly on a curve. With the idea of a ball in mind, he partnered with artist

Naoto Ohshima to come up with a hedgehog character, as the animals ball up as part of their nature.” Of course, that doesn’t quite match up with the rather relaxed pace at which most hedgehogs move, and that’s where Iizuka feels the team faces adversity. “While hedgehogs aren’t particularly fast, that’s where we were challenged to think outside creative freedoms,” of the box and use some the theme he says. “In terms of the benefits, a variety of speed has allowed us to explore racing games, of genres such as platformers,

RPGS and more. It’s such a versatile theme because it plays into Sonic’s key characteristic going of perseverance, and keeps the storyline as he races toward his next objective.”

What Sonic’s speed has meant to the game early design has evolved over the years. In the days, going fast was very much a privilege rather than a right – indeed, many fans are surprised by the slow pace of stages such as Marble Zone in the original game. “When thinking about the stage design for the entire game, we want to make sure we aren’t just that repeating the same fun over and over, but each stage is going to have something unique how about it,” says Iizuka, before highlighting tedious the games could become. “If we just the had Sonic running fast through all the levels gameplay would be too simple, so we design things to balance out that exhilaration of highspeed running with tense moments of action platforming,” he says. In the very first game, you had to earn the more spectacular moments after leaving Green Hill Zone.

“Moving through a 3D space at high speed in has been a challenge since we first did it

Sonic Adventure and is something the team then,” has been refining as an experience since

Iizuka continues. Indeed, if Sonic’s mechanics went largely unchanged then the precision demanded of players would likely have up hampered their speed, as they tried to line the to strike enemies. “A lot of work is put into dynamic balancing and adjusting of handling

all at high speed, including camera work that needs to be managed at super high speeds, and not to mention the fundamental level design that needs to guide the player through a fun experience even at maximum speeds,” says Iizuka, who also points out the new the mechanics added to mitigate the issue. “All and iconic features such as the homing attack to grinding were actions born out of this need design for a fun experience at high speed.” Over the last 15 years in particular, the emphasis on how to represent Sonic’s speed have has shifted. “In the more recent games, we included a boost mechanic and added stages focused on high speed to amplify the speed, but if you looked at the balance in comparison games, the current games probably to the older

In have more action platforming,” says Iizuka. games like Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Forces, it can feel as though anything less than top speed is wrong. But at the other end of things, Sonic Lost World raised eyebrows by including a dedicated run button. It seems as though the team keeps an open mind as to the best are approach, too. “Sonic’s speed capabilities uniquely designed for each game, and vary we do depending on the game’s objectives, but on always try to take the community’s feedback the fan-favourite features into account during design process,” says Iizuka.

Some stages and games are particularly beloved by true speed demons – Chemical Plant Zone’s enormous slopes and boosters allow for Sonic to hit his maximum speed, while Sonic Advance 2 is particularly renowned for how fast you go through its many loops and jumps. Which games would Iizuka recommend to thrill-seeking fans? “Some of the best stages to hit top speeds are featured in Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Mania,” he replies. “Moreover, we have achieved the fastest speed in Sonic Forces. In addition, we designed the game with seven special stages that unlock Super Sonic, and as players collect the seven Chaos Emeralds, they’ll be able to move the stages at lightning speed.”