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What would be the best company to handle the Sonic franchise?

Discussion in 'General Sonic Discussion' started by Endgame, Oct 17, 2019.

  1. Endgame

    Endgame

    Formerly The Growler Member
    Sonic's certainly had his share of companies/developers [and clients, as well as the restructuring of Sonic Team] handling him, but of course many of them (I'm looking at you BRB), haven't had much success.

    Sonic Team has obviously been the major player throughout the Hedgehog's history, but what if SEGA/Sonic Team decided to sell the whole franchise to another company? There are quite a few to choose from, but the answer may not be all that straight forward.

    Like I said, I'm referring to the whole franchise here, and not just the game development itself (which could be for another topic, though we know Sonic is safe in Mania hands; the question would be whether they can pull off a 3D Sonic game).

    My thoughts would be leaning towards Disney as an obvious contender, however they have a zero track record for the gaming side of things, so they'd still have to hand him over to dedicated game developers (or stick with Sonic Team).

    Nintendo's had mixed success (and failures) dealing with Sonic games, but if they can pull off an Odyssey with Sonic, that would be amazing.


    There would be a lot of things to consider for this, so let's hear your thoughts on it.


    Ps. As you might have realised, I'm not that good at understanding the structure of how Sonic is 'organised' (I know we have SoA, Sega Europe and SoJ as well), so please just bear with me here.
     
  2. Jason

    Jason

    *Results not lab tested. Member
    Evening Star.

    We're talking about a company selling their most iconic brand and mascot, so let's be ridiculous. Mania is the best reviewed Sonic game in 15 years. Give it to the people who made it. It will never happen though.
     
  3. Covarr

    Covarr

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    This is gonna sound crazy as hell but I'm gonna say Microsoft. They have a good knack for choosing partners to work with, so even if they did precious little themselves, they'd work with the right people. Phil Spencer, in particular, is just the right blend of passionate and not a moron.
     
  4. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    Yea that's like the only answer, for 2d anyway.

    For 3d? I'm going to go out on a limb and say the guy who made Spark the Electric Jester 2. That game does 3d Sonic better than Sonic in many aspects, and while itd need some refining it's a great start. And he had a history of making Sonic fangames so he knows what he's doing
     
  5. Sir_mihael

    Sir_mihael

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    Okay, the obvious one's been mentioned :V

    Thinking purely the big name game companies... I feel like the one I'd feel the least dread might be Namco Bandai maybe. Of course that depends on which team handles the game dev side of things. Then again, they've not let Klonoa out of his prison for a good long time...

    I'd love to say Nintendo if it was guaranteed to be Koizumi as director or someone who cares a bit more about the creative side of things over appeasing money/business suits. Then again, I've got other 'what if' thoughts. eg Platinum Games, Vanillaware for a different take on 2D, Wayforward...
     
  6. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    Actually Platinum would make a brilliant 3D Sonic game. Fast paced, momentum based, over the top nonsense. With a bit of a Sonic crash course they'd do great
     
  7. Laughingcow

    Laughingcow

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    The only dev team that should be making mainline 3d sonic games is SONIC TEAM.

    If they can't get their own internal shit in order, the last thing I want is that dysfunction spilling over to competent dev teams (see Platinum games with Starfox Zero). This discussion pops up every so often of "Why my favorite dev team should work on Sonic" or "Why Nintendo should buy Sonic" and shit, I used to fall for it. No, if Sega (who is a publisher capable of making at least good games) isn't doing their job of beating Sonic Team with a stick to get them in line, an external dev isn't going to fair any better. Especially when it may be Sega's fault (Hi, Big Red Button).
     
  8. Sir_mihael

    Sir_mihael

    DON'T TRUST THIS MAN Member
    Those concerns are definitely valid if it was just SEGA outsourcing Sonic to another dev, but this thread is about removing SEGA from the pool entirely. Giving another studio complete control over the franchise. Think of how Disney have the entire playground of Star Wars to work with without having to answer to George Lucas.
    It seems a lot of what you're saying (especially using Sonic Boom/Star Fox Zero as examples) comes from those with prior control trying to meddle too much. So hypothetically, removing that would allow for any possibility.

    Another example would be Konami owning all of Hudson's IPs. Granted Konami hasn't done anything with them save for a few releases here and there, but that's the kind of "we can do as much or as little as we want with this franchise and no-one can say otherwise" control we're talking about here.

    Unless you're saying the very idea of it being Sonic means a studio will be cursed with the same problems as SEGA/Sonic Team no matter what - maybe that's worth looking at, but seeing what the fans have been able to experiment and try with 3D Sonic does seem to imply a fresh take would be a nice thing to see.
     
  9. Covarr

    Covarr

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    It occurs to me that if Nintendo owned Sonic, they could assign Retro to make new 3D and 2.5D games and work with team Mania for future true 2D games. That would be a good future.
     
  10. Laughingcow

    Laughingcow

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    That is the worst example you could have given Disney has gotten Star Wars its first flop with Solo.

    And if you mean "remove Sega" from the equation then this thread is little more than mental masturbation of what fantasy dev in perfect world circumstance will make greatest sonic game evar.....Nope, not gonna entertain that nonsense. And no, Sega is never gonna sell the rights to Sonic any more than Randy Pitchford will sell off the rights to Duke Nukem or Take Two selling off the publishing rights to Duke Nukem games (even though they haven't done anything with Duke with both refusing to fund games for the series).

    I'm out.
     
  11. Sir_mihael

    Sir_mihael

    DON'T TRUST THIS MAN Member
    Don't know what to tell ya man. That is the exact premise of this thread as it was outlined:
    Hence the Disney analogy (I mean, what they've done since getting the SW IP itself is obviously a whole different story, but that's entirely on them).
    Still, nothing wrong with being hypothetical every once in a while to get a fun discussion going :V
     
  12. Gestalt

    Gestalt

    Sphinx in Chains Member
    Urgh, brain teased!

    Because Sonic games don't require much from your brain and he's a little bit of a hedonist:
    [​IMG]Blizzard.
    Idk, looks kinda cool on the box art ...
     
  13. Dark Sonic

    Dark Sonic

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    Oof, yea after all the shit Blizzard's gone through I don't want them anywhere near a franchise I enjoy.
     
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  14. Sir_mihael

    Sir_mihael

    DON'T TRUST THIS MAN Member
    Nah. It'll be fine, just pay your monthly Sonic Subscription and make sure not to advocate freedom for Angel Islan[YOU HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM EGGMANLAND]
     
  15. Chainspike

    Chainspike

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    How about Aspect? Aspect was responsible for the production of the majority of the 8-bit Sonic titles during the 90's and I think they did a pretty decent job for what they were given.
    1. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Master System & Game Gear)
    2. Sonic Chaos (Master System & Game Gear)
    3. Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble (Game Gear)
    4. Tails Adventure (Game Gear)
    5. Sonic Blast (Game Gear & Master System) ~ Master System port made by TecToy

    Yes, while it is true some of these games had some problems, the biggest limitation was the the hardware. Sonic was simply too much for the Genesis's old predecessor. Despite this, many of these games are still fun to play and overcome these limitations. Tails Adventure is particular is such an overlooked gem due to being released later in the Game Gear's life span. Tails Adventure had a unique gameplay experience that was never seen again, probably the closest Classic Sonic game to an RPG.

    It's interesting to wonder what could have been had this company had another chance at a newer title. Perhaps not a 3D game, but they certainly had the skill to make a good 2D Sonic game.
     
  16. Overlord

    Overlord

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    Aspect died a year ago, I think the discussion topic is who it'd go to today. =P
     
  17. Chainspike

    Chainspike

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    Wow, that is unfortunate news. Was not aware that happened.
     
  18. Sir_mihael

    Sir_mihael

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    Yeah. All things considered, I think they did a pretty stellar job. Capturing the magic of 2D Sonic on not only a smaller screen, but also a less powerful system was never going to be simple, but somehow they gave us some great results.

    Definitely agree in regards to Tails Adventure too. It's such a unique title, and also an amazingly beautiful Game Gear game. One of my favourite parts of having SA:DX on Gamecube was unlocking, finishing and writing down the complete password for that game.

    Funny that I mentioned Namco Bandai in my first post, as it seems Aspect's last handful of games were developing for them before they shut down. :V
     
  19. Korou Tenshi

    Korou Tenshi

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    3D I have no clue, but I'd imagine Wayforward would do a good job at a 2D Sonic?
    If only to hear what Jake Kaufman would do with the soundtrack <3
     
  20. SuperSnoopy

    SuperSnoopy

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    Slice of life visual novel, coming soon...?
    Jake Kaufman doing a Sonic soundtrack would be better than the cure to cancer.