Sonic Team

[cube_b3]

I am really sleepy but I want to start this discussion before I go to sleep if any errors are made durring posting forgive me and let me know I shall fix them at a later point.

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It's has been 2 years since they last released a good game on Dreamcast or for that matter any console.

It has the largest number of employees(50+) even after Yuji Naka and ten other members have left.

In truth Sonic Team almost has 3 studios in 1.

Team Andromeda : Best Known for Saturn Super Hit Panzer Dragoon.

United Game Artists: Best Known for REZ and Space Channel 5

AM8: Yes this is the orignal Sonic Team best work includes Samba De Amigo, Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heros (it was good).

Now this studio should be top making kick ass titles. But They are making Back to back critically panned games.

The ones that I am aware of are

Astro Boy General Rating 5/10
Shadow The Hedhehog General Rating Under 5/10
Sonic Riders General Rating Under 7/10
Phantasy Star Universe General Rating Under 7/10
Sonic The Hedgehog Majority Under 6/10

Note: Handheld games are not included or Sega Superstars.

This studio is destroying there own franchises and others as well.

[Skynet]

But what can I do? I'm just..... 1 man.

[Prophet][]

I'm sure they are not that stupid they would destroy themselves. I think its just a case of they aren't telling people what is going on. They have probably helped out on games or are planning something.

[Phantom]

Shadow The Hedhehog General Rating Under 5/10

This game sold pretty well, though. Some reviewers gave it low scores, but the user scores on IGN are between 7.1 and 7.5 for all three platforms, which isn't that bad.

[cube_b3]

I've played Shadow on Playstation 2 and I have struggled to find good things in that game.

Even if I try my level best at giving it a high score it can not logically surpass 6/10 I could get into the game details but anyone who has even rented the game would know how bad it really is infact apart from a visual stand point it doesn't even surpass Sonic Adventure 2.

Why can they spend more time with there games if the graphics can not meet the mark then make the gameplay worthwile but they do nothing I as a fan am pretty much heartbroken seeing one of my favourite studios just crash like that. If Sonic Team was a Capcom Studio it wouldn't have been terminated right after Shadow but Sega continues to give them chances and they don't even redeem themselves.

Yuji Naka walks out in the middle of a game and they give him ten million dollars or something I mean that guy owes so much to Sega it is not even funny he's an undergraduate who no body would hire but Sega took him in and made him what he is today and he has intentionally destroyed games in the past as well but that is another story let's just stick to Sonic Team...

[Phantom]

Sega want to sell as many games as possible, and Shadow the Hedgehog was one of their most successful games of the last few years. Sure, you may not like it, hardcore Sonic fans may not like it, but all that Sega cares about are game sales.

They invested time, money and effort into epics like Shenmue 2 on the Dreamcast and it did not pay off for them. Awesome game, great reviews... but not many people bought it. Result, they don't make those games anymore. The only one we can blame for that is the gaming community.

[cube_b3]

But wouldn't shadow have sold even better with more responsive controls & camera perhaps just 1 more month in the owen...

[Phantom]

But wouldn't shadow have sold even better with more responsive controls & camera perhaps just 1 more month in the owen...

Possibly, I was just saying that contrary to what the reviews indicate, the game sold pretty well. And judging from the IGN user scores, many people are happy with how the game turned out.

Most people liked Sonic Heroes and I didn't like that game at all. To each his own.

More importantly though, Sega-Sammy stock has dropped a lot over the past few months. I hope Sega can turn the tides.

[Sweater Fish]

More importantly though, Sega-Sammy stock has dropped a lot over the past few months. I hope Sega can turn the tides.

If what you say is true about how they've moved away from the wonderful games we all know them for and are now more concerned with big sales numbers at the expense of things like quality and innovation, I don't really see how it matters whether Sega is able to stay afloat. There's plenty of other companies churning out popular shitty games, so Sega wouldn't really be missed, I guess.


...word is bondage...

[GyroVorbis]

Sonic Heroes was TERRIBLE. That was the start of the end for Sonic Team.

I personally think Phantasy Star Universe is the best thing we've seen from them since the Dreamcast.

I don't know what to say, but I do hope that they either shape up or kill themselves. I hate to see games like Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog in "PS2 Greatest Hits" boxes. I guess the kiddies who didn't grow up with good Sonic Team games actually buy that garbage, but the rest of us know better.

I'm afraid to say that I don't think Sonic Team will die. They still remain popular with the 7-year old group, while the rest of us who had Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast want to shoot them in the face.

[Phantom]

There's plenty of other companies churning out popular shitty games, so Sega wouldn't really be missed, I guess.

Yeah. Actually there's very few games I look forward to these days. In my opinion the entire gaming industry has gone downhill since 1996.

I guess I'm just getting old.

[Sultan of Saturn]

Sure...Sonic Team has dropped some bombs, but all studios drop some bombs. Plus, you can't judge stuff simply based upon what the reviewers say. How many people gave Dirge of Cerberurs 7's? Honestly, that game wishes it could be on display next to a demo disc of Resident Evil 4, but it sucks... How about when State of Emergency came out? Everybody was so googly eyed over GTA III, that they were bending over to give it 9's and 10's. Nevertheless, Sonic Team really hasn't been doing the job in the platform department. The only thing that is clicking happens to be the Phantasy Star series. As far as remnants of UGA, I wouldn't expect much as they creative genius Tetsuya Mizuguchi has moved on to greener independent pastures. All we can do is just hope that Sega does smarter moves like having Treasure work on more of its games.

[Smiley]

Imo, the Sonic franchise turned to crap once they tried to make it a 3d game. I still believe Sonic's best games were Sonic 2, Sonic 3 and Sonic cd.

And while I enjoyed the first Sonic game for the genesis, it wasn't that great and had many overlooked flaws. Like the short levels, dumber then hell/easy bosses, and equally short levels. At least with Super Mario World, its biggest 2d competitor at the time, mario's game had diverse levels and lots of hidden levels to keep you busy. Granted Bowser was just as easy to beat at the end of the game, but thats a small price to pay for a superior game.

[cube_b3]

Why does everyone say that?

Sonic R was fun and critically a hit.
Sonic Adventure was good, sure the camera let you down sometimes but it also had a lot of fun moments like running instead of falling down a building.
Sonic Adventure 2 the camera issues got worse but the speed doubled, station square and other annoying places removed (although I liked some of them) and great story "Shadow The Hedgehog".
Sonic Heros was 7/10 do not compare it to Shadow.

Then probably things went down hill not before that.

[Calavera]

There's plenty of other companies churning out popular shitty games, so Sega wouldn't really be missed, I guess.

Yeah. Actually there's very few games I look forward to these days. In my opinion the entire gaming industry has gone downhill since 1996.

I guess I'm just getting old.

I feel the exact same way.

[HomerCIDAL]

I've also been disappointed with the releases from "Sonic Team" over the last couple of years. It would seem the glory days of Sonic are gone and are better left as fond memories of when Sonic Adventure was fresh and new on the scene back in '99.

**EDIT**

I would like to add, however, that Sonic Rush for the DS is an incredible game. It's too bad Sonic Team can't get them right like they did with this one more often.