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Interview Shorts - Naka discusses Hidden Palace · Akadoko
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 1:54 am
by big_smile
Naka Interview: Hidden Palace secrets revealed and more
Gamespy interview answers some of the biggest Sonic mysteries
Sonic Team seem to be conducting interviews on a monthly basis, yet interviewers rarely use the opportunity to ask interesting questions. Gamespy, however, clearly have their ear close to the Sonic community, as their recent interview with Yuji Naka finally clears up some of the biggest Sonic mysteries.
Naka-san talks at great length about the Hidden Palace Zone that was cut from
Sonic 2. He confirms that Sonic Team have been unable to include the zone in recent Sonic collections, as the source code for the level was lost quite some time ago. The stage was supposed to show the origins of the Chaos Emeralds and would be where Sonic would receive his Super abilities.
He was surprised to learn that a beta version of
Sonic 2 exists on the internet and suspects it may have been dumped from a pre-release copy of the game that was stolen from a 1992 toy show in New York.
Whilst on the topic of deleted ideas, Naka also discusses some of the elements that were cut from the original
Sonic game, including the rabbit enemy and Sonic Band intro.
The rest of the five page interview focuses on variety of games, both old and new including
Sonic the Hedgehog,
Sonic Rush,
Sega Sonic Aracde and
Sonic the Fighters. Read the full text
here.
Akadoko Interview
Japanese interview with designers Takumi Yoshinaga and Masahiro Him
Dengeki recently conducted an interview with Takumi Yoshinaga and Masahiro Him the creators of forthcoming Sonic Team title
Akadoko (
Where do Babies Come From?).
The duo confirm that the characters in the game are not the same as those that appeared in
Kimishine, which is one of the reasons why the game hasn’t be called ‘Kimishine 2’.
The interview also discusses the new multiplayer modes, package designs and soundtracks.
^ Takumi Yoshinaga and Masahiro Him
Hi-Res Hedgehog
Kikizo post Hi-res Sonic the Hedgehog videos
Although it isn’t really an interview,
Kikizo have posted hi-res videos of Yuji Naka demonstrating
Sonic the Hedgehog at TGS and the official
Sonic the Hedgehog trailer.
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:27 am
by firemario1001
Does Naka have mood swings this time of year? That interview sounds fishy.
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:30 am
by Kishi
His story about the discarded sound test is the best part. Also,
What really surprises me, though, is how well the PSP's UMD movies are currently doing in the West. I don't get it. How can you watch those big, spectacular Hollywood movies on such a tiny little screen? I thought everybody wanted BIGGER screens and BIGGER TVs. I suppose it is nice to have your favorite flicks with you on the go, but ... it's a Western mystery to me. *laugh*
Cool, so it's not just me.
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 3:14 am
by CM August
firemario1001 wrote:Does Naka have mood swings this time of year? That interview sounds fishy.
Yes, he almost sounds like an AMERICAN developer here. And it sounds like he... y'know... has a soul. How strange.
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 8:10 am
by Baba O'Reily
Uh-oh, Naka! Your personality is showing!
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 10:33 am
by Frieza2000
Yeah...it's scary. Must be cocaine.
GameSpy: There's actually a beta ROM with the Hidden Palace code that's been floating around the Internet for a while.
Naka: What? You're kidding! Tell me more.
Gotta love how in touch with the fans they are.
GameSpy: Most of the recent Sonic titles have featured Sonic with a large cast of supporting characters. Is there any chance that, in the future, you might want to do a game starring Sonic alone again?
Naka: We have given it some thought, yes. But you see, "volume" seems to be a big thing in games these days. The media's always going on and on asking about every single little thing about a game. "Who's in it? How many stages are there? What are the play modes?" It's practically all I ever hear! And the Sonic world has a bunch of established characters, so if we did a game with just Sonic ... I can already hear people saying, "But where's Tails? Where's Knuckles? Where's Shadow? How does he do this by himself?" And then I'd have to explain, "No no, see, it's just SONIC this time." But yes, it is a challenge I'd like to do. After all, the games in the series since the first have been constantly introducing and adding new characters, so maybe Sonic deserves some "alone time" again.
Small sliver of hope for those of you rooting for a Sonic-only game. And judging from the context, it looks like it's not going to be Sonic Next-Gen.
GameSpy: You drive Ferraris, so does Nago-san and a few others here. Why do you think so many people at Sega have Ferraris?
Naka: Ferraris are the best cars out there, period! They're so special that not even everyone who wants one can get one. The design is amazing, the styling is amazing... it's all amazing.
No comment necessary.
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 11:00 am
by Professor Machenstein
The problem with all these supporting characters is not their presence in the Sonic games, but how SONICTEAM intends to make every single one of them playable, taking away Sonic's role as the main playable-only character. What makes these characters "supporting" characters is what they do in the story. Think of all the "better 3D action games" out there and name one that forces you to play as any other character besides the main one.
This is why I am looking forward to Shadow the Hedgehog. You only have one playable character in the game. The focus is on Shadow and his past aboard the ARK and beyond. The game will not force you to look for shards of the Master Emerald as Knuckles, or play through linear mech-shooting levels as Tails, or do any of that team-action faggotory from Heroes. Just Shadow, and seeing how it happens to be that the title is "Shadow the Hedgehog", I wouldn't expect any other character to be playable.
My point? In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), the presence of any other character besides Sonic or Eggman will not hurt the game so much as to making every single character in the Sonic universe equally of importance as to Sonic, for instance, making them all playable and whatnot. If Tails and Knuckles take part in the story, good for them. But if they are given equally big roles as Sonic's, then yes, there will be a problem.
Re: Interview Shorts - Naka discusses Hidden Palace · Akado
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 2:33 pm
by Psxphile
big_smile wrote:He confirms that Sonic Team have been unable to include the zone in recent Sonic collections, as the source code for the level was lost quite some time ago.
I'm sure it didn't stop with just <b>one</b> level.
Re: Interview Shorts - Naka discusses Hidden Palace · Akado
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 7:09 pm
by Nova
Psxphile wrote:big_smile wrote:He confirms that Sonic Team have been unable to include the zone in recent Sonic collections, as the source code for the level was lost quite some time ago.
I'm sure it didn't stop with just <b>one</b> level.
Yeah, it must had been at least 2 levels, the last one with a Boss, but I guess they only made a level before dropping the idea.
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 9:30 pm
by Kishi
It could have very well been a one-Act Zone, since it was to be one of the special ones, like Sky Chase, Wing Fortress, and Death Egg.
Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 10:00 pm
by Plorpus III
Except for the fact that there's an act 2 in the beta.
Re: Interview Shorts - Naka discusses Hidden Palace · Akado
Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 1:44 am
by big_smile
Psxphile wrote:big_smile wrote:He confirms that Sonic Team have been unable to include the zone in recent Sonic collections, as the source code for the level was lost quite some time ago.
I'm sure it didn't stop with just <b>one</b> level.
I’m still not entirely convinced that Sega have lost the source code for the original games. The forthcoming
Sonic the Hedgehog (for mobile phones), doesn’t appear to use emulation, which means that they would have needed the source code to produce it.
^_^
Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2005 1:51 am
by CM August
Perhaps they're only missing the source code for those beta levels.
Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 12:02 am
by LocalH
Plorpus III wrote:Except for the fact that there's an act 2 in the beta.
Yeah, an act 2 that uses the same exact level layout, with no objects, and Sonic's origin set to 0000 0000 - the very upper-left of the level. I figure they would have turned it into a one-act zone if it hadn't been cut, seeing as they were running short on time anyway.
Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2005 2:32 am
by Opa-Opa
I wish they asked about Naoto Ohshima's part on the early Sonic games. I was surprised Naka even mentioned him on the sound test part...