Sonic The Hedgehog is in a very different place than he was 10 years ago. What was once a consistently mocked series is now back to being on a level akin to its 90s popularity. Takashi Iizuka, who has led the series through this rough spell until today – and is the de facto face of the franchise following Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara's exits from Sega – is reflecting on this difficult time.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Iizuka says, "Ten years ago, I moved from Tokyo to Burbank. At that time, the Sonic brand was not in a very positive space. A lot of people were bashing on the brand. They really weren't happy with the things coming out."
He added, "We need to save the brand, or this brand isn't going to be around for much longer."
Looking back at 2015, Sonic had just been through a very rough 10-year run, with the likes of Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic 06, Sonic Free Riders, and Sonic Boom making headlines for how terrible they all were.
While there were good games in the mix, too – like the Sonic Rush duology, Unleashed, and Generations (and, of course, one of the best kart racers ever made, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed) – conversation around Sonic had definitely skewed negative.
Since then, Sonic has been on an upswing, with the beloved Sonic Mania, the beloved (by some) Sonic Frontiers, and three blockbuster movies that includes the second-ever video game movie to be certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Iizuka says when he thinks about 10 years ago, "I can't really believe some of the things that have changed."
"We were fighting to survive," he says. "It's totally different now."
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