Who would you want to develop new Sonic games?

I have thought for a long time that the best company who could possibly take on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise would be...

INSOMNIAC GAMES

Here are a few reasons why.

http://www.insomniacgames.com/ (Look at this stuff!)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratchet_%26_Clank (This is what Sonic should be like... minus the weapons)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5aZBgk8p9s (Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDkNM3A8Tx8 (How Sonic's death SHOULD have been done)

They also seem to be doing the whole "Ratchet & Clank 4" thing tons better than "Sonic the Hedgehog 4".

 

holy crap yes

Arc makes damn good fighters, and their sprite animations and music are always top notch.

 

I have to say that Traveller's Tales would be a good choice. I mean, they DID make Sonic work in 3D (even if they had reduced speed - like in 3D Blast) and they've gone on to produce some great games.

Heck, maybe they could give Sonic the same treatment that they've done with Star Wars, Indy and Harry Potter, and create a Lego Sonic game. Besides, it could happen. (If you believe everything that goes into Games TM, that is - they messed up by saying Unleashed had multiplayer!)

 

Good-Feel.

They make fantastic 2D platformers with tight controls and game mechanics, interesting level design, great music, and crazy amounts of visual flair.

I'm positive that a Good-Feel Sonic game, given Sega let them work without insisting on the game being dumbed-down into Rush-type tripe, would be absolutely incredible.

 

This.

 

The people on this forum involved with the best hacking projects are the people that SEGA should hire to make Sonic games.

At this point, I've given up hope that anyone else that could do it wants to do it.

 

Let Artoon take over, and give Oshima the creative reins of the title. Let Oshima hire the art directors of Chronicles, and collaborate in designing the game and premise; while letting Oshima hire Hirokazu Yasuhara to create the level layouts. Also since it just would just make sense for him to do such, Oshima would also most likely hire Naofumi Hataya to resume as the lead music composer for his new Sonic title.

And that's what you call a recipe for a GOTY-level title.

 

Dingdingdingdingding! You got the right answer!

 

Ideally SEGA would outsource the license to several experienced developers and allow them free reign to create a bite-sized game each, whichever genre/direction they please - we could have Konami with a side-scrolling beat-em-up, Capcom with a mock NES game, Treasure with a platformer or SHMUP, Insomniac Games with a large free-roaming level full of missions, Sonic Team possibly throwing their hat into the ring, possibly a surprise reveal from Nintendo... then all these mini games could be made available for budget price on WiiWare, XBLA and PSN as a sort of anniversary celebration (25th?). Personally I think it would be a good use of the online services, and maybe later they could release a compilation disc for each console with extras.

 

The team that made the Galaxy games, that would be absolutely perfect.

 

I agree, but keep in mind that Good-Feel's two previous platformers were both divergent from their classic inspiration. I have a feeling that a Good-Feel Sonic game would be quality, but might not be what we expect from a Sonic game.

Whether or not that's the same level of "dumbing down" as what Dimps did is a matter of opinion. I know as a long-standing fan of the Wario franchise, it took me a while to get used to Shake It! being somewhat different than Wario Land 2 - 4.

 

I'm not sure about every single element of Sonic game development, but I know I'd absolutely leap at the opportunity to get the music composers and directors from Crash Bandicoot 1 to 4 on board. They were fucking awesome music makers.

The Crash Bandicoot series before Sierra has some of the most kick ass, level-fitting, memorable, and varied music tracks I've ever listened to. In fact, one of the main reasons I love the soundtracks so much is because of the epic use of varied instruments and sounds. Pretty much each different level environment in Crash Bandicoot 2 had a different music style that suited the level very well. Crash Bandicoot 2 in many ways reminds me of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 audio-wise, because both games have multiple music tracks for different parts of one level that sound somewhat different to each other, but at the same time both tracks stay true to a similar style and overall melody. Crash 2 did this with the normal section, skull route, and bonus stage of a level; Sonic 3 did this with Act 1 and Act 2 of a zone.

I don't know much about the music makers for the old Crash Bandicoot games, but if any of them are still around composing stuff, I'd love for them to contact SEGA and get permission to work on a Sonic game audio-wise. Specifically, Sonic 4 Episode II. Yeah, it's not likely whatsoever. Still, one can dream of it....

 

Someone ought to to make a game that plays exactly like a Sonic game, but create their own characters and make it a new franchise. The market is ripe for someone to capitalize on this without even having to get Sega's permission. Also, without Sonic in the game, the expectations would be lower, and therefore it would probably get better reviews.

 

This. A thousand times this.

 

You're looking for Mutato Muzika. They only did the first three Crash games (and Crash Team Racing), but you're right in saying that they were amazing. They're mostly doing TV shows and movies now, but to see what they can do with Sonic would be a dream.