For anyone who’s a fan of Sonic the Hedgehog games, it’s been impossible to get away from the recent rumours of a possible remake of one of Sonic’s most iconic games of the franchise.  Ever since Takashi Iizuka’s interview in  Retro Gamer magazine, people have speculated whether a remake of Sonic Adventure is happening and whether it really is a good idea or not.

Sonic Adventure was one of the biggest games in Sonic history and is one of my favourite Sonic games ever made.  The game was a favourite of mine and many others not only for this new gameplay but the fact that it just worked – with a new brand voice cast (Sonic had never had proper voices before) and beautiful new 3D environments and levels to explore.  The game also became a healing tool for me personally after I had suffered a bereavement.  Playing the game over many days and  eventually weeks, when I was sad, gave me a release and helped me to smile again.  It was a game that has always been seen as one of the best Sonic games of all time and is still very popular today.

In the interview with the magazine, Takashi Iizuka, head of Sonic Team, spoke about the making of Sonic Adventure.  During the interview, towards the end he said: “It was the first 3D game that we worked on and looking at it now I can see the rough edges it has, which really makes me want to remake it again”  This statement, has fuelled speculation among gamers that a remake of the game is definitely being done, but are people jumping to conclusions and if there is a remake on the table, will it live up to the success of the original?

Will a remake happen?

I personally think a remake is possible but I won’t say it’s definitely being done.  Just because the head of Sonic Team feels like remaking the classic game, doesn’t mean that it’s definitely happening.  Let’s not forget that only about a year ago he stated that there will never be another Sonic Adventure game because that’s not the direction they were taking – regardless of what gamers wanted.

However, the more people speculate the more it seems likely that a remake of some kind is possible.  Sonic the Hedgehog’s 30th anniversary is in 2021, and with that being just two years away, that could be the perfect time to release a remake, to relive the glory days of Sonic.  Last year there was a poll on the Sonic twitter feed that found fans overwhelmingly loved the Chao Gardens of the original game – could it have been a hint to something that Sega plan to make in future?

There is also the matter of the ‘boost’ style of gameplay becoming tiring for fans.  This is a newest style that modern Sonic has played in since the game Sonic Unleashed.  For those that don’t know, a large portion of the 3D levels are played with Sonic charging forwards and you the player pressing a button to ‘boost’ him forwards, charging through enemies and obstacles.  The gameplay is becoming tiring for fans who have played other styles, especially as most of the recent games seem to be very easy to win by just pressing the boost button and doing little else.

Classic 2D Sonic gameplay which existed in the 1990s and involved the classic 2D side-scrolling platforming game,  is now reliving it’s glory through the modern Sonic games as many levels of the game now switch to 2D gameplay (albeit with 3D rendered backgrounds and levels).  With these two styles of gameplay being prevalent in recent Sonic games for years now, the ‘adventure’ style gameplay – which is just moving about freely in every direction in a 3D environment – has been left behind and many people who have played this style in the past miss the freedom to move about levels and the different paths you can take.  So with fans missing the adventure style of play, maybe it’s time for Sonic Team to bring it back…and maybe they just will!

Should a remake happen?

There’s many different opinions on whether a remake of Sonic Adventure would be a good idea.  In my own opinion, although I’m no fan of remaking things that work, I also think a remake could be good, as long as it’s done right.  Remaking the original game, copying every single line and detail might not work for a modern audience and will certainly look and feel weird to play, especially as it’s unlikely the old voice cast would be used, and their lines weren’t always that great to hear.  A remake trying to completely emulate the original will probably go down badly.  But a remake that improves on the old and changes some things could actually work.

In order for a remake to work, in my opinion, Sonic Team would have to put together an exceptionally good game and not release it until they’ve thoroughly cleaned out every pesky bug they can find.  They also need to make sure the levels are fantastic and play just as well or even better than the original.  Along with that new boss battles, especially between characters would make the game feel better as well as fresh new cutscenes that look spectacular and push the game and story forward.  There are so many things to explore – new chao gardens, voice cast, storyline – but one thing is clear, that a remake can work if it’s done the right way.

Remake or New?

While there could be a remake of the original game, and there are many things that point to this happening, it’s not clear whether it actually is.  The anniversary of Sonic could spell a re-release of the original game with a new more polished finish, or Sonic Team could do something else.  While they could go to great lengths to remake an original, they could also try to create the Sonic Adventure 3 that so many fans have wanted for years.  But of course that has it’s own issues, and making this game out of the blue could spell disaster for Sega if it didn’t go down well with players.

Whatever Sonic Team do, I hope they do return to the adventure era of games.  Although I grew up with retro/classic Sonic, my favourite style will always be adventure and the games of that era are ones I will always play the most.  If Sonic Team do look to creating a remake, I only hope they finally learn from the mistakes of the past and only release the game when it’s fully ready, and not whenever the schedule demands, regardless of all the errors and bugs.  A remake of the original would never take away the original’s value…but it could be fun to see a new and updated version of a Chao Garden, and a wonderful and detailed 3D world where you can wander around for hours 🙂

-Image is copyright of the publisher/creator and is shown here under fair use.

Have you ever played Sonic Adventure?  Would you like to see a remake?  What are your favourite style of Sonic games, or what other videogames to you like to play?  Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

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