Naoto Ohshima interview

[Crazy Penguin]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/4 ... shima_.php

Some interesting discussion.

Sonic CD really felt great in action. It doesn't have the full-on speed of Sonic 2, but the world feels really alive in the game, much in the same that it did for me in Nights -- that feeling that the game world would still be alive even if I weren't exploring it. Was that your intention?

NO: Sonic CD was made in Japan, while Sonic 2 was made by (Yuji) Naka's team over in the U.S. We exchanged information, of course, talking about the sort of game design each of us was aiming for. But Sonic CD wasn't Sonic 2; it was really meant to be more of a CD version of the original Sonic. I can't help but wonder, therefore, if we had more fun making CD than they did making Sonic 2 [because we didn't have the pressure of making a "numbered sequel"].

What I really wanted to do was just have this sonic boom, with a flash, and have the level change on you instantly. We just couldn't manage it on the hardware, though, so instead there's that sequence that plays while it's loading. (laughs) I kept fighting and fighting with the programmers, but they said it just wasn't possible.

I bet they probably could have done it.

NO: I know! (laughs) If Naka was doing the programming, I think it could've been done.

And diplomatic answers.

What did you think of the new Nights?

NO: The Wii one? That project was led by [Takashi] Iizuka, who was the lead designer on the original Nights. He really loves that character, and I'm sure that he was able to create the Nights that he wanted to create.

It didn't feel the same to me.

NO: It was, perhaps, more Americanized than before. The original Nights was chiefly made with the Japanese and European audiences in mind -- Sonic, meanwhile, was squarely aimed at the U.S. market.

---

I'd really love to see a Sonic CD remake without the loading sequence during Time Travel. It was obvious even at the time that they really wanted it to be instantaneous.

[Arcade]

Sonic CD was also suposed to be released before Sonic 2, so of course it wasnt Sonic 2!

No Remakes, Sega its killing us bit by bit every time it makes a remake... Sega Cd worked Great on a model 1 Genesis with the first Sega CD, the PC version was crap...

[Shadow Hog]

the PC version was crap

No it wasn't. The Gems version, yes, but the PC version was surprisingly faithful.

[Malchik]

Sonic CD will and forever be my favorite Sonic game. I pray to Jesus they don't decide to remake it. Every Sonic re-visit is complete shit. The only real issue I had with Sonic CD was some of the level design. Walking into a tunnel and finding a dead end is frustrating. Sonic CD is the only Sonic game I can pick up and beat all the way through. The rest I'll play for a while and put it down about halfway through. I'm under the impression Sonic CD may be the black sheep of the Sonic franchise.

I just recently picked up Sonic 2 again and found the game to be rather buggy with events I don't remember encountering before. One instance I ran through a wall and was trapped and another I fell through a solid floor.

[Neo]

Sonic CD will and forever be my favorite Sonic game. I pray to Jesus they don't decide to remake it. Every Sonic re-visit is complete shit. The only real issue I had with Sonic CD was some of the level design. Walking into a tunnel and finding a dead end is frustrating. Sonic CD is the only Sonic game I can pick up and beat all the way through. The rest I'll play for a while and put it down about halfway through. I'm under the impression Sonic CD may be the black sheep of the Sonic franchise.

I have a feeling I've said this before, but Sonic CD has the best art direction of any Sonic game, but its level design is incredibly autistic.

I'm always torn between the Mega CD and PC versions of the game. The original is by definition the most "accurate", but the PC version has full resolution graphics in the "mode 7" screens. Sometimes I wish a definitive version could be made, but then I remember Gems Collection and I go back to playing non-Sonic games instead.

[Dr. BUGMAN]

My only console experience with Sonic were 1 & 2, the former of which was a pack-in with the Genesis. I didn't get to play CD and 3-Knuckles 'til they were released later on the PC (I didn't even know of the Sega CD existed 'til much, much later). CD was overwhelming for me; all the time I was worrying about how to properly time travel and explore the game. It was, or felt like, a far more sprawling game than anything I was used to. Not much of it really stuck with me, though. I only faintly remembered Metal, and it took me a while to realize Amy was from that game and not a new character. It wasn't 'til I started surfing the internet that I even realized it had such a following.

Sonic & Knuckles Collection left more of an indelible mark on me, for better or worse.

[Malchik]

I have a feeling I've said this before, but Sonic CD has the best art direction of any Sonic game.

It does, it really does. I love how all the badniks were insect base and how all the levels combined organic and technological design. When I see Sonic CD I think of older styled anime for some reason. With this in mind I can assume much of the same team also make Chaotix as well. Lots of art is very similar and some of the badniks from CD return.

[P.P.A.]

I won't bother praising Sonic CD into infinity, both because that wouldn't be worthy enough of its excellence and creative glory and because I've done so numerous times already.
To all of you who complain about the level design though, I implore that you start going into time attack mode and speedrun the level. Once you start finding the quickest routes and master the game's physics, suddenly everything makes sense. The smallest bumps in the ground gain relevance as you realise they're there to be leapt off to reach a higher path or to pose an obstacle requiring you to know the speedcap well to not let it slow you down, enemies without purpose you suddenly realise are meant to be bounced off, and the intersecting and crossing paths make it all the more satisfying to finally discover the quickest routes though them.


Also:

he way I see it, if the director makes the sort of games he wants to make, then the end results are going to be more interesting. The gamers are important, of course, but if you make a game for yourself, that adds character to the result.

NO: Well, for example none of my favorite movies were really hits. (laughs) Myself and the gaming audience, we're different. I like new things, but if something is too new, then gamers won't be able to comprehend it. So you have to think about your audience at least a little bit, or else you'll make something that runs the risk of being incomprehensible. That's why I want to keep them in mind.

Ohshima is too creative for the average gamer to handle. Oh god I love this man

[Crazy Penguin]

Lovely as Sonic CD's aesthetics are, it's a shame how many stage themes were re-used from Sonic 1. Quartz Quadrant, Wacky Workbench and Stardust Speedway were original but the other stages were more manic (yet less memorable) variations on Green Hill Zone, Labyrinth Zone, Spring Yard Zone and Scrap Brain Zone. Now that I think about it, Stardust Speedway is largely Star Light Zone turned up to 11.

The whole game really is Sonic 1 on acid.

[(No Imagination)]

Lovely as Sonic CD's aesthetics are, it's a shame how many stage themes were re-used from Sonic 1. Quartz Quadrant, Wacky Workbench and Stardust Speedway were original but the other stages were more manic (yet less memorable) variations on Green Hill Zone, Labyrinth Zone, Spring Yard Zone and Scrap Brain Zone. Now that I think about it, Stardust Speedway is largely Star Light Zone turned up to 11.

But Sonic CD wasn't Sonic 2; it was really meant to be more of a CD version of the original Sonic.

Also, Wacky Workbench wasn't that original when you consider Sonic 1 SMS' Sky Base ...and I'd point out that Stardust Speedway's gameplay and setup resembles Sonic 2 SMS' Scrambled Egg Zone more than Star Light or whatever else.

Thinking about it, I love the nods Sonic CD gives to 8 bit Sonic games.

[Ritz]

So anyway, this Nier business actually looks a lot more interesting than anything the man's worked on in the past 7 years. And yes, it was the bullet hell segment that piqued my interest. Shame that it looks to be a straight up hack 'n slash with no real distinguishing gameplay characteristics in sight (So what's with all this talk of originality?), not to mention it'll be riding on the coattails of Bayonetta, which is apparently a perfect game. He's sure as hell on the slow boat to China here, but at least he's gradually nudging himself back into the realm of respectability.

[P.P.A.]

Nier, while the graphics have their appeal, looks a bit generic to me.
But RepliCant on the other hand, wow. The character design is quite impressive, and the visuals generally ooze with style!

[Ngangbius]

From what I've seen of Nier it looks grotesque. Not just from a technical stand point, but the art direction looks ugly. Oh well, at least the main theme is nice.

Wait, isn't Nier the same game that features a girl that becomes a hermaphrodite in his/her adult years because she was possessed by a demon?

[Crazy Penguin]

Both Nier games and Bayonetta look pretty insipid. If they play well then that's fine, but the Underworldy Matrixy popcorn flick thing does nothing for me.

I'd point out that Stardust Speedway's gameplay and setup resembles Sonic 2 SMS' Scrambled Egg Zone more than Star Light or whatever else.

I don't see it. Scrambled Egg Zone was strictly a pipe maze, whereas Stardust Speedway was speed centric with lots of intertwining pathways and springs. There's the spring passageway at the end of Zone 2 I suppose, but that's a tenuous connection at best.

[P.P.A.]

I thought it looked pretty sweet. Grotesque indeed, but in a good way.

[P.P.A.]

Also this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_eHEVwuFBs

[Kogen]

What is grotesque?

Did the topic somohow begin to discuss Oshima's face and evolve from there?

[Dasher]

No, but you seem pretty grotesque yourself.

Nier huh? talk about Eggman.

[Opa-Opa]

His shoes were inspired by the cover to Michael Jackson's Bad

Scirocco strikes again.

[gr4yJ4Y]

NO: Myself and the gaming audience, we're different. I like new things, but if something is too new, then gamers won't be able to comprehend it. So you have to think about your audience at least a little bit, or else you'll make something that runs the risk of being incomprehensible. That's why I want to keep them in mind.

I think it's similar to extremely abstract, dense writing or avant garde films. Think if someone wrote, "My pulse was a seed yet to be born riding up the elevator of self-destruction condensing the sunset within its shadows, floundering the bicentennial marriage of the fourteen sphericants." However, instead of them elaborating on this or having some kind of structured plot, they go on for an entire book as if that sentence read, "The sky is blue." And every sentence in the book is like that. There might be some complex meaning behind it, but you'd have to really analyze it to the point that it probably wouldn't even be enjoyable anymore.

That's not to say that these kinds of sentences can't be used in a book to describe an event. They might even help a "mainstream" piece be more interesting to the intended audience. Likewise, advant garde films helped pave the way for all kinds of technics that are commonplace in movies today.

I don't know what the gaming equivalent for that might be, but I think he's trying to say if you make something "too advance" it can be confusing for the audience.

a perfect game.

No game is "perfect" since there's always things that can be improved. A perfect score is merely the highest recommendation from the reviewer.

[Ritz]

No game is "perfect" since there's always things that can be improved. A perfect score is merely the highest recommendation from the reviewer.

But Famitsu is never wrong!!!!


Note that I was kind enough to spare you the "X game would like to have a word with you" routine, as sarcasm is clearly reprehensible. I won't be so generous next time.

[Arcade]

Sonic 2 programers where heavy presumered to release the game on time, big deal, I still like Tails...

[CM August]

presumered