More “reboots and remakes” of classicSegagames could be finding their way back to consoles if the top executive at the company has his way. Ina recent interviewwith Japanese publication Famitsu about the state of the gaming industry, Sega President and Chief Operations Officer Yukio Sugino addressed issue of reboots, and he particularly pointed to theSonic the Hedgehogseries as one that could be ripe for rebooting.
The issue originally arose after the interviewer asked Sugino about the upcoming Samba De Amigo: Party Central, itself a revival of the classic 1999 rhythm game, which isset for release on August 29on Nintendo Switch. While the interviewer referred to Party Central as a reboot of the original Samba de Amigo, Sugino corrected him, saying it “is not a reboot in my mind, but a new game in the series.” Sugino then immediately went to talking about Sonic Superstars, which has no firm release date but is planned for later this year, citing it as “a return to 2D action, and although it is a new game, I would like to implement reboot-like measures as well.”
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Continuing that train of thought, he went on to infer that Sega takes the idea of “reboots and remakes” into account when setting the course for its intellectual properties—although again, he singled out Sonic as the prime example. “Of course, we have to do new things, but as with all IPs, we don’t have new works or reboots,” he explained. “We will develop while selecting which is appropriate at this timing for each IP, such as ‘This is the best way to do this IP’. ‘Sonic’ is also SEGA’s signature IP, and in parallel with the new game, we are considering reboots and remakes.”
Earlier in the interview, Sugino had been asked what had impressed him the most about his company in the previous fiscal year, and he again pointed to Sonic. Specifically, he brought up the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 film, which grossed more than $405 million worldwide in box office revenue (about $85 million more than its predecessor), as well as the warm reception to 3D platformerSonic Frontiers, which had sales figures that exceeded his expectations. “That in itself makes me happy, and I was also happy to receive a lot of messages, mainly from users in North America, such as ‘I’m very happy that Sonic is heading in the right direction,'” he noted.
Looking towards the future, especially as it pertains to Sonic Superstars’ launch later this year, Sugino seemed hopeful, remarking, “When the people involved see this, they always say, ‘Oh!’ The gameplay also incorporates quite new elements, and you’re able to enjoy it, including multiplayer, so stay tuned.”
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