America: The Godfather of Game Development

Chapter 346 Running too fast? Flying too low!

Regardless of how the outside world evaluates this incident, Sonic the Hedgehog was released as scheduled.

However, due to the time difference, the first players to get to play it were those in Japan.

Masahiro Sakurai, clutching his newly acquired Sonic the Hedgehog cartridge and the accompanying Sonic the Flash comic, walked blissfully home.

For him, these past few days have been the most exhilarating time of his life.

The reason is simple: they received a reply from Sega.

The reply clearly stated that although the headquarters did not approve of him, the newly established AM10 was very satisfied with his portfolio.

The letter even mentioned that he would be invited to the first round of interviews in a few days.

Isn't this a sure sign of reaching the pinnacle of life?

"Hehe————Hahahaha————"

Whenever he thinks of this, Masahiro Sakurai can't help but smile.

"Well, that's a story for later. The most important thing right now is to play this new game as soon as possible."

He looked at the card box in his hand, where a blue cartoon hedgehog was giving him a thumbs-up.

It's as if it also knows it's about to be promoted to Sega.

"Hey, thank you so much!"

As he walked, he overheard the conversations of passersby.

"Hey, look at that guy, the one who was grinning like an idiot just now, isn't that the newly released Sonic the Hedgehog game he was holding?"

"It seems that's really true!"

Upon hearing this, Masahiro Sakurai straightened his back even more.

It's not just a newly released game, but also a new game from the best game company in all of Japan where he's about to join.

"Hey, I heard Sega is making a side-scrolling platformer this time too."

"Platform jumping? Like Super Mario Bros.? Are they crazy? Super Mario Bros. 3 has only been out for a short time?"

In the field of platform jumping, there is an indisputable consensus within the industry.

That is, Ultra Marathon is the undisputed strongest.

No matter how excellent other works are, at most they can only reach the level of being second only to one person and above ten thousand others.

For Sega, a company that had just been reborn from the ashes, venturing into this field rashly was tantamount to suicide.

"Who says otherwise? But I've heard that Sega is now allied with Gamenova, so who knows, maybe they're giving them technical support?"

"NoNoNo."

The person who answered shook a finger, striking a knowing pose, "You're an amateur, aren't you? GAMENOVA has never done platforming before."

"Huh? So you mean—these are two laymen?"

"That's right, Nintendo is the authority in this area."

"Damn, then I don't understand. Why are they doing this—"

"Shh, stop talking, they're glaring at us."

After saying that, the two glanced at Sakurai Masahiro, whose eyes were filled with malice, and reluctantly quickened their pace to create some distance between them.

"What bad luck!"

Watching the two figures disappear into the distance, Masahiro Sakurai's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed.

Encountering two such annoying people really ruins any good mood.

Nintendo is indeed a master of platforming games; that's an indisputable fact.

Even Masahiro Sakurai would find it hard to disagree with this.

After playing Metal Slug, he developed a vague expectation for this powerful machine.

Some unrealistic expectations.

Sega is directly competing with Gamenova, so there must be a reason why they dare to release a new side-scrolling action game at this time.

"Alright, then let me see what you're capable of, baby."

Finally arriving home, Masahiro Sakurai didn't waste any time. Without even glancing at the manga, he quickly inserted the cartridge, plugged in the power, and turned on the console.

"SE~GA~"

The Sega console's signature startup sound emanates.

【Produced by SonicTeam】

With just one glance, Masahiro Sakurai realized that Sega was not as others had described.

Because this hedgehog's role is clearly different from that of the goofy Mario.

At first glance, Masahiro Sakurai could tell that it seemed to be targeting the youth market.

Sonic is handsome and confident, with the spirited and dashing air of a young man.

As the music played, his fingers swayed along with it.

It's like saying, "None of you are good enough."

It's so arrogant it's beyond measure; it's a perfect outward expression of the Game Nova state.

But this attitude actually hit everyone's bullseye.

Adolescence is a period when one has not yet clearly realized their own level and is arrogantly ignorant of the world.

Everyone claims to be the protagonist of the world, the center of the story.

This kind of distinctive character is exactly what everyone wants.

If we really trace back to the original Sonic the Hedgehog, it is indeed very similar to Super Mario in many ways.

Similarities.

Jump up and stomp enemies to death, search for hidden items concealed in the tree canopy—

If you're familiar with Super Mario, the first time you see the original Sonic the Hedgehog, you'll probably have a strong sense of déjà vu.

In that era, this was Sega's own predicament.

In that era when Sonic's unique mechanics were not yet fully developed, all they could do was proceed cautiously, learning as they went.

However, regardless of the circumstances, this design was ultimately not satisfactory for Lin Lixin, who was busy establishing new IPs for Sega.

So, Ping and Lin Lixin simply used the increasingly mature version from later generations as a blueprint to create a simple plan for Zhong Yusi and his team.

This includes changing the combat to the more sophisticated, accelerated, aimed impact style of later generations, instead of Mario's stomp style.

At the same time, there is the most important design concept: simplified operation.

Apart from the necessary directional keys, almost all of Sonic's interactions in this generation can be accomplished using the jump button.

Of course, Lin Lixin also gave Zhong Yusi and his team some extra help with the level design.

The imprint of thought is a terrifying thing.

If Sonic doesn't actively break away from this layer of common-sense assumptions, his map design could very well become a disaster.

Because in this day and age, when you mention platforming, everyone probably thinks of the classic first stage of the ultramarathon.

The design process will naturally be subtly influenced by it.

To be fair, if it were any other platforming game, there would be no problem in learning from or imitating Nintendo's level design.

After all, Nintendo is indeed a master when it comes to level design.

But not Sonic the Hedgehog.

Its map must be expansive, incorporating numerous straightaways and ramps, as well as a multitude of 360-degree loops and tunnels purely for technical stunt.

If we were to design a map in a way that would be too detailed like in Super Mario, it would actually ruin the player experience.

Simply put, it means stopping at the inch.

Sonic's acceleration is linear; it takes a certain amount of time to accelerate from a standstill to top speed.

If numerous obstacles and enemies interfere with the process, then each time the player hasn't had time to add...

If you rush through it, it will be interrupted.

If you hold your breath in your chest, unable to let it go up or down, you'll eventually be unable to feel any pleasure.

Whether the early Sonic was intentional is uncertain, but given the limited capabilities of the technology, it's understandable that it couldn't achieve the same level of smooth running as later versions.

But—understanding doesn't mean it's acceptable.

Now that Lin Lixin has taken over and even switched to the ATHENA chip, which is much better than MD, we naturally have to find a way to make it the best it can be.

Thus, what is ultimately presented to the players is this seamless super-large map achieved through streaming data.

Masahiro Sakurai blinked as he gently pressed start.

Surprisingly simple.

There were no fancy tricks, the game just started.

It's like an ultramarathon.

There is no character selection, no level selection, and no complicated character creation system.

The game is simply and directly told to the player that the game has begun.

He had hoped to see a design like the one in Metal Slug.

From the very beginning, Masahiro Sakurai noticed the most fundamental difference between this game and Hyper Mario.

It's almost as if it's just for showing off; Sonic's world is filled with a lot of sloping and curved surfaces.

A row of golden rings floated and spun not far ahead.

Even players who have never played any video games can instantly understand this thing when they see it.

This is clearly a collectible.

Veteran players like Masahiro Sakurai, who could memorize the stages of the Super Marathon long ago, are naturally even more familiar with it.

This thing is clearly modeled after the gold coins in ultramarathons.

In platforming games, collectibles not only provide extra challenges for scoring points, but also serve as guides.

It is a soft guide left by the designers for the player, providing a recommended route.

"Ugh————"

At least so far, apart from its excellent graphics and more three-dimensional map design, this game hasn't given Masahiro Sakurai anything truly eye-opening.

"Don't let me down, Sonic."

This guy calls himself Sonic the Hedgehog.

Press the forward button, and Sonic obediently begins to move his feet.

At the beginning, he seemed no different from Mario or other platform action game characters.

The only thing worth noting is Sonic's bright red shoes.

Even in such a colorful world, his shoes were exceptionally eye-catching.

Sakurai Masahiro was not kept waiting for long.

Within just a few seconds of starting, he immediately realized that the situation seemed to be far beyond his expectations.

Sonic's feet were getting faster and faster, visibly faster and faster.

He then ran faster and faster.

When it reaches a certain threshold, it even transforms into the turbine shape that you only see in cartoons.

Sonic's feet curled up, making his steps impossible to see, leaving only a faint red outline.