Sonic Rush – 2005 Developer Interview

―Was it a challenge to make a Sonic game for the DS?

Nishiyama: Sonic Rush released about 1 year after the Nintendo DS came out, but in the beginning of the development when we were solidfying our plans, we spent a great deal of time figuring out how best to utilize the DS' two screens. The obvious option of having the gameplay on the top screen, and some kind of status screen on the bottom, seemed too boring, and as creators, of course, we wanted to do something different, something that others hadn't already done. (laughs)

So we let our imaginations run wild, and we had some really out-there ideas… honestly we were kind of lost for awhile. Then at some point we looked at all these outlandish ideas and realized, "You know, this just isn't Sonic." So we settled on a more straightforward arrangement where Sonic could dynamically jump between screens, or use the lower screen for long downslopes that Sonic could race through. We tried to pursue the core roots of Sonic in this way.

Using two screens as one is probably the first idea anyone would come up with (and then toss for being too obvious!) For us, it was precisely because most people wouldn't do something so obvious that we decided, hey, if we can do it well, it will be a huge plus for us. It was like defiantly planting a flag: if Sonic can't do the 2-screen action game, no one can! (laughs)

In the beginning of the Sonic Rush development, we actively changed the camera perspective to help link the bottom and top screens, sort of like a pinball game. Our thinking was that this would relieve any issues associated with moving your eyes between screens. However, we soon learned that a fixed screen and a scrolling screen are very different, and in practice it was hard for the eye to follow.

With scrolling games, something we unconsciously take for granted is that no matter how fast the screen moves, the character is always in the center of the screen, so as long as you're looking there you'll be fine. With the Sonic games, in all the other games if Sonic goes off-screen he quickly comes right back, so we knew that it wouldn't feel natural to players to have Sonic suddenly be on another screen. And as we predicted, when people first playtested the game it was like, "Where the heck did Sonic go…?" It wasn't really in a playable state.

There was a period where I wondered if the whole thing might be a bust, but then we noticed that there were some areas where it was easy to visually track Sonic. So we investigated this and tried to discern where it felt natural and where it felt unnatural... what we realized was that there were moments when the player would anticipate Sonic moving to another screen and automatically shift their vision, but then Sonic would come back! And that caused a feeling of weirdness. So we hunted down all those moments and tried to remove them and make it feel more natural, and the Sonic Rush you see today is the result of those many adjustments.

―Given the 3D capabilities of the DS hardware, why did you opt for a 2D action game for Sonic Rush?

Nishiyama: For the GBA Sonic there were definite hardware limitations, but there's undeniably a big part of me that wants to see 2D gameplay live on in today's world. I joined Sega's development team during Sonic Adventure, a full-3D title, but before that I'd been a huge fan of the 2D Sonic games, so even while making Sonic Adventure I always felt, "this is cool, but it's not the only way to make a modern Sonic game." Even 3D games ultimately have to be represented on a two-dimensional screen, where it is impossible to accurately express depth, and in that sense 2D games have less "ambiguity" and tighter gameplay, I believe.

Of course, there are many interesting avenues to pursue within 3D gameplay, and I think we should continue to challenge ourselves there. But it would be a terrible waste, I thought, if that meant abandoning the 2D Sonic games. That's why Sonic Rush uses 2D action as its basis, but adds 3D presentation and a more modern arrangement. Only in very limited areas, like the boss fights, did we push the 3D to the fore. Our goal there was visual impact and freshness―but I think you'll realize if you play, though, that the battles themselves have a distinctively 2D action feeling to them.

As Sonic Rush marks the beginning of a new series on the DS, we especially wanted it, as much as possible, to have simple, fun gameplay. In a fast game like Sonic, that sense of tempo is very important. We aimed for a kinetic non-stop action feel where you can fill the tension gauge to chain together boosts and do cool flashy tricks and jumps, all at a tempo that you, the player, set. So as you get better at Sonic Rush, you can enjoy zooming through the stages without interruption, and I think in that sense it's a game that gets more fun the more you play it.

―How did you come up with the new character, Blaze?

Nishiyama: Since the DS has two screens, initially we thought to have two protagonists, and the story would advance alongside each of them. Shadow the Hedgehog already exists as the "opposite Sonic", and for a new character I wanted someone from another world who would kind of shake up the status quo that exists amongst the Sonic characters, which I guess I would describe as "good-natured rivalry."

Personally, for me there is no question that the main protagonist of Sonic Rush is not Sonic, but Blaze. She finds herself thrust into an unknown world, and in order to protect her sense of self that she has cultivated up to now, she secludes herself in a shell. But through her experiences with Sonic she realizes "It's OK to be myself" and she gradually opens her heart more. The game depicts that growth in her character.

Also, it came out differently in the end, but I had intended for Blaze's world to be the world of the Special Stages from the previous 2D Sonic games. In that world, Blaze is the counterpart to Sonic, and Eggman Nega is the counterpart to Eggman… well, anyway, if we get to do a sequel I perhaps I'll expand on that. (laughs)

―I feel like the music of Sonic Rush has a different vibe from the previous games, too.

Nishiyama: Actually, I initially requested something very different for the music. (laughs) I always felt like the music that Masahito Nakamura of Dreams Come True wrote, with those catchy, instantly hummable melodies, was the best musical fit for the 2D Sonic games. But this time, the sound director asked Hideki Naganuma, who helped write the music of Jet Set Radio, to try writing some music for Sonic Rush. It was so different from what I had imagined, I was flabbergasted at first. (laughs) But as I played the game while listening, I felt it really clicked. So we ended up asking Naganuma to write nearly all the music for Sonic Rush.

―What do you think the secret of Sonic's popularity is?

Nishiyama: In addition to his excellent character design, there's also the fact that Sonic doesn't have the typical cliche personality. Actually, around the time of Sonic Adventure, designer Yuji Uekawa helped re-design Sonic. You see, with each Sonic game, Sonic's design was becoming rounder and more cute. The team felt that a Sonic without any kind of expressiveness in his brow was boring, so they returned his design to the very early Megadrive period: that is, more of a cheeky, impertinent kind of vibe, and we've taken care to maintain that imagine ever since.

―I was very happy to see Tails return! Knuckles must be lonely though. (laughs) Please find a way to include him next time, even if its just a cameo!

Nishiyama: Sonic is essentially an action game, but one with very strong character game elements. So that feeling players have―which I think is shared with RPGs too―of wanting to go on an adventure with the characters you love, that is something that's very important to us. Unlike movies and other dramatic mediums, in video games you can't just rewind or fast-forward; you're stuck with the creators intent, so if we put a boss that's too hard or a puzzle that's too difficult, then the narrative effectively ends there. Since the player may never experience the whole story, I think the most important thing for us to do as game creators is make sure the characters' personalities are well-defined and clearly presented. When players feel the characters are cool and can develop an emotional attachment to them, I think that is a kind of entertainment that's unique to video games.

―Next I have some more general questions for you, Nishiyama. First off, what are some of your favorite things?

Nishiyama: Watermelon. It's what I look forward to in the summer. I cant eat it much during the week, but on summer vacation I buy two big watermelons and eat 1/4th each day.

―What are some things you struggle with?

Nishiyama: Well, it probably sounds funny since I made a Sonic game, but I'm bad at action games. (laughs) I grew up on RPGs, so frenetic games really aren't my thing. I've gotten a lot better though since I started working on Sonic.

―What's the most interesting game you've seen to-date?

Nishiyama: I was super into the original Zelda on the Famicom. I beat the second quest too. It was the game I was most obsessed with at the time. As a creator, when you play a game you often feel a sort of challenge―"I could make something better!"―but with Zelda it was more like, you got me. I could never top this. (laughs) To me Zelda's refined gameplay expanded the scope of what makes games fun as a unique medium.

―How would you express your personality in one word?

Nishiyama: Optimistic, I guess? Normally I don't spend too much time worrying about things, and do my best to keep my thinking in a positive direction.

―What was something you thought was really cool as a kid?

Nishiyama: I loved tokusatsu. I guess I was excited by big, huge things. I still have dreams quite often where I'm being chased by Godzilla. Though nowadays that's probably more about being pressured by deadlines. (laughs)

―What's been your most challenging game development?

Nishiyama: The last month of Magic Knight Rayearth, for the Sega Saturn. It was my first time working on a CD-ROM game. I remember only sleeping for two hours each day, and only getting to go home two nights a week… and then only to do my laundry. I'm not young anymore, so I don't ever want to do that again. (laughs)

―What's the biggest pinch you've found yourself in?

Nishiyama: Hmm, I'm not sure there's been anything like that. (laughs) I've had two projects go belly-up, ones that took two years, and of course I felt dejected then, but I woke up each morning and tried to stay positive, telling myself "You got this!" as I headed into the office. No matter how difficult a development is, if the players enjoy it and say it was fun, it feels worth it. When your game doesn't get released though, yeah, that's rough.

―What's the most enjoyable aspect of game development for you?

Nishiyama: The beginning and the end are fun for me. In the beginning it's fun to come up with all these characters and gameplay ideas, and see that take shape. When the voice recording and audio post-production gets completed later in the development, it feels like your characters have really come to life. This is the actual peak of any development in terms of the work, but you can start to see how the game really feels, and I love that.

―And what's the hardest part?

Nishiyama: Ironically it's also that same fun period. (laughs) Especially as we get towards the end, unlike earlier in the development when you can just focus on making the game, now you have to do producer stuff like advertising and making sure you meet the production schedules, which is all stressful.

―If you were to give a title to your life, what would it be?

Nishiyama: "Shinjitsu Ichiro" (Truth Above All) or "Futoufukutsu" (Indomitable Spirit), maybe? (laughs) When my game fell apart and things were really rough, it happened to coincide with Chiyonofuji Mitsugu's retirement. So I wrote those words, "Futoufukutsu" (Indomitable Spirit) on a piece of paper and taped it to my monitor for encouragement.

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