Yakuza Creator Wants to Do His Own Take on Sonic The Hedgehog

Published: November 16, 2020 4:02 PM /

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Sonic The Hedgehog Yakuza Creator game cover

Yakuza franchise producer (and longtime game developer) Daisuke Sato has indicated that he'd like to do his own take on the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise, ultimately aiming to make something "completely different" from previous games.

Sonic The Hedgehog has been around for nearly 30 years. The Yakuza franchise, meanwhile, is roughly half of Sonic's age with its first game being released in 2005. Both properties are owned by Sega, and that presents an interesting opportunity for something we've never seen before — a Sonic game made by one of the driving forces behind Yakuza: Like a Dragon (and all of the games before it).

You can see Daisuke Sato's comments on the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise for yourself in this interview starting at 5:37:

'I Wouldn't Do [Sonic The Hedgehog] As It Was,' Daisuke Sato Says

Sega recently celebrated its 60th anniversary with a sale and the creation of four unique video games that it gave away for free. As part of this celebration, the company also hosted a series of interviews with some of its most prominent developers including the longtime Yakuza producer Daisuke Sato.

The interview is certainly worth a watch for fans of the Yakuza franchise, but Sonic The Hedgehog fans also have something special to look forward to. Here's what Daisuke Sato had to say on the subject in his interview with Sega of Europe's Senior Marketing Manager Derek Seklecki:

Derek Seklecki: Of the Sega IPs that you never had the chance to engage in, is there anything you would like to work on?

Daisuke Sato: It's an IP that I haven't come to before. In the sense that I want to try it... well, Sonic. After all, when you hear Sega you think Sonic. I'd like to get involved once at least[.] But for me, the so-called Sonic is, well, if I were to do it, I wouldn't do Sonic as it was. I would like to make a completely different Sonic.

Derek Seklecki: I would love to play Sato-san's Sonic game.

Daisuke Sato has spent more than 15 years in the gaming industry. While he's largely known for his work on the Yakuza franchise, his work also includes Binary DomainResident Evil, and Super Mario Galaxy 2.

That lengthy list of credits may one day include a Sonic The Hedgehog game as well. For now, you can buy the franchise's latest title Yakuza: Like a Dragon for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X starting at $59.99 or your regional equivalent; the PS5 version of the game launches March 2, 2020.

Would you like to see Daisuke Sato put his own spin on the Sonic The Hedgehog franchise? What do you think that game would look like? Let us know in the comments below!

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A photograph of TechRaptor Senior Writer Robert N. Adams.
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One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N