Current president of Sega Yukio Sugino is interested in some of the company’s classic IPs, includingSonic the Hedgehog, getting more “reboots and remakes” in the future. TheSonicfranchise is one of the company’s most iconic names in gaming, with 2023 looking to be a bright year for the blue hedgehog. The same cannot be said of most of its other IPs, though in recent years has seen some love being thrown its way. This can be seen with re-releases like theVirtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdownremakein 2021 andSamba de Amigo: Party Central.
The latter game in particular is part of a rather dormant Sega franchise which hasn’t seen a new release since 2007. The niche rhythm series had been regulated to crossover appearances and remasters, with little chance of seeing a new game. WithSamba De Amigois making a comeback on Nintendo Switchin 2023, Sega president Yukio Sugino comments on the possibilities of more games in the same vein.
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This was brought up during an interview between Sugino and Japanese magazine Famitsu, where after the interviewer referred toSamba De Amigo: Party Centralas a reboot, Sugino corrected him and stated that he considers it a new game in the series. Sugino then stated that Sega takes “reboots and remakes” into account when planning out what to do with the company’s current IPs, singling outSonic the Hedgehogspecifically. He states that since the franchise is the company’s signature IP, alongside developing new games, it is considering making reboots and remakes for the franchise.
Sugino then discussed the upcomingSonic Superstarsco-op platformer, stating that since it also a new game, he would like to implement “reboot-like measures” too. The president also expressed his excitement over the upcoming release, where he seemed rather hopeful of the game’s return to classic 2D gameplay, along with the implementation of co-op multiplayer.
When Sugino was asked what impressed him about Sega’s previous fiscal year, he pointed towards the strong 2022 thatSonichad. Specific examples included the critical and financial success of the second theatrical movie, along with the mostly positive reception andsales success thatSonic Frontiershas been seeing, even stating that the game exceeded his sales expectations. He also stated that he was happy to receive the positive comments from gamers in the West, where he believes thatSonic the Hedgehogis also heading in the right direction.
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