Takashi Iizuka, Chief Creative Officer of Sonic the Hedgehog at SEGA, tells Vince Pavey about the thought process that went into making (what Vince considers) the best kart racer in a kart racer heavy year, and what sets it apart from its racetrack competition
S
EGA has a strong legacy in racing games, but many of the Sonic Racing titles were made by external
partners. Why bring CrossWorlds in- house? We’ve worked with some fantastic partners in the past, and those games were undeniably important to the franchise. With Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, we decided to develop the title in-house to focus on cross-play. To create the cross-play feature, we had to build our own server and maintain it every day, and the best way to do that was always having everything accessible and available to the team.
CrossWorlds has been received much more positively than Team Sonic Racing. What lessons did the team take from that game into this one? Team Sonic Racing taught us a lot, but most importantly about what players want out of a Sonic racer. One big lesson was around variety. Fans wanted a vast character lineup, track diversity, and more surprises. We also saw a strong desire for solo and competitive modes that go beyond just team-based racing. So, we focused our efforts on building a more dynamic and content- rich experience from the ground up with Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.
What are the most important elements to get right when developing a kart racer? There are many elements needed to make a good kart racer. When beginning production on Sonic Racing:
CrossWorlds, we made sure to work closely with our expert Arcade Racing Team here at SEGA. We utilized their valuable expertise and knowledge in order to create a fast-paced, fun kart racer. The team focused on important elements like controls, which need to feel tight and fun throughout. We also placed an emphasis on
keeping variety with tracks, items, and characters to keep players engaged. But most importantly, we wanted the game to have as much personality as possible. Players should feel immersed in the
“When beginning production on Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, we made sure to work closely with our expert Arcade Racing Team here at SEGA.”
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