From RoBUTTnik@AOL.COMTue Apr 16 11:06:07 1996 Date: Mon, 15 Apr 1996 22:31:05 -0400 From: RoBUTTnik@AOL.COM Reply to: sonic@bort.mv.net To: sonic@bort.mv.net Subject: interview with Yuji Naka I dont know if any one cares but I came across an Interview with Yuji Naka (creater of sonic/robotnik) . Note this interview took place just before the relase of sonic 2. Interview with Yuji Naka: the creator of sonic the Hedgehog We recently had the opportunity to vist with Yuji Naka, the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, at the SEGA Technical Institute in Palo Alto, Calfifornia. Naka and the original Sonic team are currently working on sonic the hedgehog 2, the exciting sequel planned for relase later this year. The combination of Japanese programmers and artists with local resources make the development of sonic 2 a truly exciting American-Japanese joint effort. SEGA VISSONS: We understand youre busy working on sonic the hedgehog 2. What can you can you tell us about it? NAKA: For one thing, sonic 2 is twice as long as sonic 1. For another, sonic has to run through more levels...many more then sonic 1. Also, the new Mobius worlds are brighter, crisper, and much more detailed. However, we think players will be too busy getting through the game to spend any time enjoying the scenery. Especially since sonic will have a new friend. SV: A new friend? NAKA: A fox with two tails. We call him tails naturally. He helps sonic out of tight spots, and can help sonic defeat enemies. SV: How many people are working on sonic 2? How does this compare with the oreiginal sonic 1? NAKA: A total of 12 people are working on sonic 2. Thats 30% more then worked on the original game. Its basically the same team as the original, with another programer and more designers and artists. The original team had 3 artists, 2 game designers and 3 sound and music guys. SV: Who is writting the music? NAKA: The bass player for the famous Japanese band called Dream Come True wrote the original music for the game. The other 2 guys worked on the sound effects and on converting to a video game format. The same guys are working on the music for sonic 2. SV: What were some of the things you thought about when you first created the sonic character? NAKA: At first we used a character that looked like a rabbit with ears that could extend and pick up objects. As the game got faster and faster, we needed to come up with a special characteristic to give our character some power over his enemies. I rembered a character I had thought about years ago who could roll himself into a ball and slam into enemies. Hedgehogs can roll themselfs into a ball, so we decided to go from a rabbit to a hedgehog. SV: How about the name sonic? NAKA: Because our new character could move really fast on the screen we were looking for a name that suggested speed. One of the designers said supersonic and the sonic part stuck. SV: Where did the other characters in the game come from? NAKA: We wanted one of the characters in the game to be eggshaped, so we created Robotnik. It was a great character, but since it couldnt be the main character, we made him the bad guy. SV: What were some of your other games? NAKA: Ghouls & Ghosts, Phantasy Star I and II and Super Thunder Bolt for the Genesis. For the Master System I did Phanstsy Star I, Space Harrier, Outrun, Blackbelt, Spy Vs Spy, F16 Fighting Falcon, and Great Baseball. SV: How and when did you get started creating video games? NAKA: I joined SEGA in 1984, after I finished school. SV: Were you programming games in school? NAKA: I had a part time job programming games while I was in school. I worked on Fujitsu and Sharp computers. I joined Sega in Japan and then came to America last year. SV: What is your ongoing philosophy about creating video games? NAKA: I want to make interesting games. I want to show my dreams and visions to kids. But most important, I want to create something that will make the player happy. I want the player to be surprised and have fun. SV: Do you have any advice for people who want to creat video games? NAKA: Yes. Play lots of games. Not just play them to win, but think about them critically and analyze their strengths and weaknesses, constantly looking for ways to improve them. They should also draw on their own experciences for insperation. Everything I do in my daily life, I think about how it would fit into a game. During our vist to the SEGA Technical Instittute, we confirmed what we had suspected all along--sonic 2 is going to be the hottest title of the year. Period. Heres why: Sonic 2 is bigger, faster, more challenging, and more fun then the original. It has more levels, with a secret zone that you'll have to work hard to find, a new bonus rounds that youll have to get through to get the Chaos Emeralds. Sonic 2 will be coming out on Genesis, Game Gear, and Seag CD. The increased capacity of the Sega CD version will allow addational zones, as well as special bonus rounds between zones. In these bonus rounds, sonic takes you on a first person roller coster ride, a half pipe maze complete with enemies, traps and dead ends. You control sonic as he tries to get through the maze, and you go with him as he takes on those 360 degree loops and 90 degree turns. And thats just between the zones. All versions of sonic 2 will have new zones, with new tricks, new enemies, and new challenges. Wait till you try the new Green Hill Zone, or the new Metropolis Zone, or the Chemical Factory. Or Death Egg, where you get to visit Robotniks ship. The Hill Top Zone will take sonic to new heights. The Chemical Factory Zone is the acid test of sonics prowess. The New Green Hill Zone is even bigger and more challenging then the original. The Green Hill Zone has sonic and his friend running through corkscrews and other strange structures. Well hope you enjoyed. Gotta Speed Keed Sth JJ1 Sal+++! Son++ Tal++t Wes++^ P+ $++++ E27 A17 GM From cmugg1@gl.umbc.eduTue Apr 16 11:11:33 1996 Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 10:18:55 -0400 (EDT) From: mugg charles Reply to: sonic@bort.mv.net To: sonic@bort.mv.net Cc: sonic@bort.mv.net Subject: Re: interview with Yuji Naka On Mon, 15 Apr 1996 RoBUTTnik@AOL.COM wrote: > I dont know if any one cares but I came across an Interview with Yuji Naka > (creater of sonic/robotnik) . Note this interview took place just before the > relase of sonic 2. Kiken here, well, Naka Yuji-san (or "YU2" as he likes to be called) did create Sonic, but he didn't create Eggman. I believe that Ohshima Naoto-san (or "Big Island" as he likes to go by) created Eggman. > SV: What were some of the things you thought about when you first created the > sonic character? > > NAKA: At first we used a character that looked like a rabbit with ears that > could extend and pick up objects. As the game got faster and faster, we > needed to come up with a special characteristic to give our character some > power over his enemies. I rembered a character I had thought about years ago > who could roll himself into a ball and slam into enemies. Hedgehogs can roll > themselfs into a ball, so we decided to go from a rabbit to a hedgehog. Jeez, talk about the "long and short" of it. There were over 200 original illustrations by the programmers and artists at Sega Enterprises (Japan). After about one month, they managed to narrow the selection down to four individual characters: A wolf wearing a stars and stripes t-shirt (he looked very Sonic-esque) A bullbog wearing a "cowboy" outfit A roundish, egg-shaped human wearing loud hawaiian style clothes and carrying an airboard And well, guess! Its kinda obvious who made it in the final decision, but its interesting to see how Eggman was originally intended to be the hero. I still think that would have been odd, running around the screen with some large, round guy. > Sonic 2 is bigger, faster, more challenging, and more fun then the > original. It has more levels, with a secret zone that you'll have to work > hard to find, a new bonus rounds that youll have to get through to get the > Chaos Emeralds. Oh, that secret zone. Formerly called "Hidden Palace". Damn, they hid it so well it wasn't even in the final program. > Well hope you enjoyed. > > Gotta Speed Keed > > Sth JJ1 Sal+++! Son++ Tal++t Wes++^ P+ $++++ E27 A17 GM Kiken signing off. ASOBIWA...OWARIDA! Sayonara. This message from the Baltimore Ronin, homepage at: http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~cmugg1 Ikuze! /---/ |\ /\ "To live a life of power, / / | \ / \ you must have faith in what you / / | / / \ believe, even if others tell you ------- |/ /------\ you are wrong; / __ |\ __|__ The first step to living a life of / | | | \ | | | power is to find courage, you must / | _| | / |__|__| be prepared to reach beyond the / |_____| |/ | boundaries of time itself; | / \ And to do that, all you need is the will to take that very first step." Sonic