Would you like to see Yuji Naka return to Sonic Team?

No. He was still in Sonic Team in Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes and 06. His presence has no real meaning anymore, sadly.

 

Nah. He's had his time, but his contributions were getting sloppy towards the end. And now we have a new team that understands how Classic gameplay works so we don't really need him anymore.

Iizuka could stand to leave though. I feel like we've been in a rut where he's very insistent on certain things that are kinda stupid (wisps in everything, Zavok where he doesn't belong, the weird "Mighty, Ray, Fang, Bark, and Bean" can't exist in the modern cast thing, Green Hill, Chemical Plant, and the Death Egg Robot in everything, etc). He just doesn't seem like much of a visionary. 3D Sonic needs some fresh blood.

 

I think it's a horrible game and Yuji Naka is just a very skilled programmer, not a game designer.

 

Only if he's genuinely passionate about it. I think everything points to him having wanted to leave Sonic and Sonic Team behind long before he got around to it. And if he comes back, he should be allowed to have more direct participation in the games' development. Wasn't that one of the reasons he left?

 

While I don't think the later games are horrible, they aren't even in the same league as the earlier games.

The newer stuff got less "arcade-y" and more story driven. Mechanics where before story in older games, but it's the opposite when the 3D games came along. Not that newer stuff is bad for having it that way IMO, it's just not the same.

If Naka came back with an arcade style game first and story second, then I'll be down. Otherwise, nope.

 

They made some "arcade style" 3d games during Naka's tenure, namely SA2 and Heroes.

 

I'm cautiously optimistic about the idea. The man's ambitious, if Sonic Adventure 1 & 2 are anything to go by. I wonder if his ambition could be better-achieved with a new game which scope is limited to be on par with the Dreamcast titles, but using better tech to allow for a more polished end-result. And don't worry, I'm not trying to say "give us an Adventure remake"; I've never played the Adventure titles.
Then again, limiting his scope would go against his ambition, so maybe what I'm saying is for naught.

 

Pass. He quite clearly had mentally checked out by the end of his time with Sega. If he's tired of Sonic he wouldn't put in the effort to make it good.

...no. I will always love the Chao Garden, and I do still think the Sonic/Shadow levels are fun, but as a whole package? Not even close. It's time for the nostalgia goggles to come off.

If there ever is a Sonic Adventure 3, I want it to be Sonic Adventure 3, not Sonic & Friends Adventure 3. Get Sonic right, then add additional characters to it.

 

That wouldn't be Sonic Adventure 3 though. Like it or not the characters/gameplay styles are kinda what make that series what it was. Like I think they were considering making Unleashed an Adventure 3 but they changed their minds, probably because that game ONLY focused on Sonic. I still think the Boost gameplay is fine for Sonic, but mix it up for the other characters. Tails can get Sonic's old Sonic Adventure gameplay, Knuckles can be like the Werehog with more platforming, less fighting, and a lot less Jazz, Shadow can maybe use the wispons like the Avatar did, and Silver can play like he did in his boss fight in Sonic Generations. Maybe that'd work?

 

I don't think there's ANY particular individual that can make or break a modern game. Back in the 90s, sure, teams were smaller and the individual could have a large influence, but now that's just no longer the case.

Beyond that, as much as I respect YU2's work (I am a programmer, after all) ultimately Sonic Team doesn't have programming challenges so much as they have design challenges.

If he wanted to come back? I say give him a shot. But I don't think it's worth hypothesizing over.

 

To me, it still sounds like the dev team still having to split their attention too many ways. I just recently had another game I love go through the same thing (I know Fire Emblem Three Houses won GOTY, but the Silver Snow route is genuinely awful and the game would've been better served to devote its dev time and budget to Crimson Flower and Verdant Wind). As for "That wouldn't be Sonic Adventure 3"...then change the name. I literally could not possibly give less of a shit what you name the game. All I mean is, if they try that style of gameplay for Sonic again, then get Sonic's gameplay perfect before they even think of adding more characters.

 

Oh no I agree, name it something else I don't care either. Just the name "Adventure 3" carries certain expectations.

 

That might be good thing. I know the Sonic games under him always had effort put into it's stories. Even if they weren't always the best.

 

When I picked up Sonic Adventure 2 on Steam the other day, I still got all A-ranks. Felt good, man.

The games he’s been involved with have a lot of flair, IMO. Has anyone of you ever played Rodea the Sky Soldier?

 

His games do have a certain style to them. Like that, NiGHTs, whenever I see that abstract colorful Saturn era graphics he def comes to mind, even if he wasn't exactly responsible for that. He is good at making very arcadey experiences though.

Well that's a different issue. Hire Flynn to write or something he knows what he's doing.

 

Not so sure about Yuji Naka, but I would really like Hirokazu Yasuhara to comeback.

I feel like he definitely would've contributed a lot to projects like SA1, so I'm curious to see what he would bring to a modern Sonic game.

 

Oh I very much agree. In fact his arcadey style of Sonic stayed consistent from 1991 to 2006. ( I believe he had a hand in Sonic 2006 before he left Sega then)

 

I can't say I have. What's it like? Rodea the Sky Soldier that is.