What if Naoto Ohshima had hung on to Sonic after Sonic 2 v. Sonic CD?

[jp]

So lately I've been playing Sonic CD. Sonic CD is a damn good game. Many would argue its possibly the best Sonic game because they love the exploration that goes with it. I love it simply because its where Metal Sonic (the real Metal Sonic) originally came from and the "race" is fucking awesome. That, and I find it to be fairly clever making you try to find ways to get into the past and what not.

So what if Naoto Ohshima had been the one to keep running with the Sonic series as opposed to Yuji Naka? (or Hirokazu Yasuhara). I mean, Naoto Ohshima directed NiGHTS and that game turned out fucking brilliant, so would we have had better Sonic games if Ohshima had been at the helm? An awesome Sonic game for the Saturn? Would the Dreamcast Sonic have been better?


*Note: Anyone bringing up Vampire Rain in this thread will be given an infraction. :)*

[Specineff]

I think I can answer that with a better question: If Oshima is so good, why do Pinobee and Blinx suck so bad? Or even better yet, does he have a good game to his name, outside of Sega?

That's like saying Carmack would make a good horror director because of the scary-ness of Doom.

Or expecting Romero (ID Software's) to make a decent action game just because he's got a track record and a studio dedicated to his vision. :p

[jp]

I think I can answer that with a better question: If Oshima is so good, why do Pinobee and Blinx suck so bad? Or even better yet, does he have a good game to his name, outside of Sega?

That's like saying Carmack would make a good horror director because of the scary-ness of Doom.

Or expecting Romero (ID Software's) to make a decent action game just because he's got a track record and a studio dedicated to his vision. :p

Well, the time frame we're talking about is a bit different. I'm talking about back in the days when Sega wasn't a shit company all together. Back then, Ohshima could've still delivered some wonderful Sonics on the Sega CD/Genesis/Saturn/maybe even Dreamcast. That was more along the lines I was thinking: Would Naoto Ohshima have done as well if not better than Yuji Naka and co. with the Sonic franchise back when Sega and Sonic were worth a shit?


Also, I disagree with Blinx being a bad game. I think it was just rushed by Microsoft. Never played Pinobee though so I can't comment.

[Frogacuda]

So what if Naoto Ohshima had been the one to keep running with the Sonic series as opposed to Yuji Naka? (or Hirokazu Yasuhara).

Yasuhara was the real genius behind Sonic. I'm completely convinced of this. Ohshima was an artist, he helped define the look of the games, but Yasuhara designed how they moved and played. I think if they brought him back tomorrow and gave him full control they could get the series back on track.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the roles in game credits vary wildly either, jp. Director or not, Yuji Naka absolutely was the main driving force behind NiGHTS. He directed and programmed it himself. You can't just hand credit over to Ohshima because you like him better. Ohshima was not the one "in charge" of that project. Director means different things on different projects. At Sega, Producer is usually more like what American companies would call a director and the director is more like the assistant director.

P.S. Pinobee is a fun little game.

[jp]

Ohshima was the driving force behind Sonic CD though. And thats what I'm getting at. I know he mostly only did art for the first Sonic, but he was the main factor in Sonic CD.

[Frogacuda]

But to what extent was he just following Sonic 1's lead? I mean Sonic CD is great, but if you look at where Sonic 2 went, it's hard to deny that there's a reason that was the future of the series. Not to deny Sonic CD or anything, but I really saw it as Sonic 1 with a time travel gimmick (which still makes it an A+ game) but Sonic 2 really kind of took it to the next level.

If Sonic CD was Sonic 2 and cart based I just don't think it would have been as commercially successful as Sonic 2.

[jp]

I think you have completely and utterly missed the point of this thread.

I'm not saying Naoto Ohshima >>>> Yuji Naka. I'm not saying that I wish Naoto Ohshima had taken over the Sonic series. I'm just asking what people think Sonic could have been like if Naoto Ohshima had kept running things.

And I disagree about Sonic 2 or 3 going to the next step. I've always vastly preferred the original Sonic to the later ones. And I prefer Sonic CD to them as well. :shrug: I thought as Sonic went on it got more and more dumbed down. Sonic CD was the last actually challenging Sonic game IMO.

[DarthArcturus]

Don't forgot Vampire Rain :satan:

[Frogacuda]

I'm not saying Naoto Ohshima >>>> Yuji Naka. I'm not saying that I wish Naoto Ohshima had taken over the Sonic series. I'm just asking what people think Sonic could have been like if Naoto Ohshima had kept running things.
Ah, ok, I got you. Well I think even if Ohshima stayed at the helm we wouldn't necessarily see a continuation of Sonic CD's thought process, though we probably would see the series get a bit more experimental in the broad sense. Ohshima is not a man in love with convention and I think he would have gravitated more towards mixing things up.

Could be a good thing (Sonic CD) or a bad thing (Chaotix), so it's really anyone's guess, but I think at least in the 16-bit generation it wouldn't have been as commercially successful.


And I disagree about Sonic 2 or 3 going to the next step. I've always vastly preferred the original Sonic to the later ones. And I prefer Sonic CD to them as well. :shrug: I thought as Sonic went on it got more and more dumbed down. Sonic CD was the last actually challenging Sonic game IMO.
I understand the preference and I might even agree depending on my mood, but if Sonic was Off the Wall, Sonic 2 was Thriller. It was just this flashier, more polished thing that took the series where it needed to go to continue to grow its audience. Get what I mean? I'm not even saying it was better, but it was the right direction for the series.

Although I have to disagree completely on the challenge. Sonic 2 was the hardest of the 16-bit Sonics and none of them were very challenging.

[jp]

Well, I never thought Sonic 2 was challenging until the last boss. And the Special Stages, those were fucking stupid though.


I always thought Sonic CDs levels were a bit challenging, though not as challenging as levels in the original Sonic.

[Da_Shocker]

I haven't played SCD as thoroughly as I have played the others but I think Yuji Naka was burned out with Sonic once the Saturn came around. And i've never understood why the Sonic games were the only Sega games that would sale on a consistent basis.