America: The Godfather of Game Development

Chapter 347 One Step to Supersonic Speed

"Ring ring ring————"

As he ran, each time he caught a gold ring, the speaker would play a crisp and pleasant sound effect.

Compared to the electronic synthesized sound under 8-bit, it is significantly cleaner and does not have that harsh, tiring feeling.

The entire opening section consists entirely of long straightaways.

It wasn't until they reached the end of the road, where a ring floating in the sky appeared in the distance, that Masahiro Sakurai suddenly realized what was happening.

I haven't even jumped yet!

This was the first time Masahiro Sakurai had encountered a platforming game like this.

But clearly, it's time for my first jump.

"Whoosh"

As he pressed the jump button, Sonic, who was almost a blur, suddenly took to the air and curled himself into a ball like a real hedgehog.

Then—it started spinning!

Well, this kind of situation is not uncommon in old games like Contra.

However, in an era when graphics technology was not advanced, this design was purely to prevent the jumps from appearing too stiff.

As for where we are now, Masahiro Sakurai can clearly sense that this was deliberately designed.

We need to make him turn it!

Sonic's original thick spikes curled out after he was curled up, making him look like the serrated tracks of a steel slug, quite aggressive.

This uncompromisingly sharp design style is indeed quite different from the family-friendly atmosphere that Ultramarathon emphasizes.

Although the visuals are vibrant, they don't rely heavily on dark tones and unsettling color schemes like those used in Resident Evil, which is known for its oppressive atmosphere.

But the feeling it evokes is that unstoppable drive that belongs only to youth.

Admittedly, Sonic may not be as universally appealing as Nintendo's style.

But in his area of ​​expertise, he has indeed achieved the highest level of excellence.

"So deeply moved that even Masahiro Sakurai himself couldn't help but cheer."

This moment feels like sitting on the back of a motorcycle, feeling the wind.

All that's needed is the purest sense of speed to awaken the madness hidden deep within.

Suddenly, the game slowed down, as if it had entered bullet time.

"Press A"

A prompt that could hardly be called a QTE popped up, instructing him to press the jump button again.

At the same time, a cursor, resembling a scope, was locked onto the enemy monster not far away.

As he watched Sonic spinning rapidly through the air, Masahiro Sakurai felt a stirring in his heart.

He didn't even need to do anything; he already knew what would happen next.

"boom!"

Sonic, who was spinning so fast he was practically spitting out sparks, suddenly left a long trail after Masahiro Sakurai pressed jump again, and then crashed into the locked enemy in an instant.

Before he could even process the indescribable feeling of exhilaration, the cursor suddenly moved directly to the next enemy.

Sonic didn't land directly; instead, he used the recoil from hitting the enemy to roll and bounce back into the air.

Almost instinctively, Masahiro Sakurai pressed the jump button again.

"boom!"

Then again and again—

"Boom! Boom! Boom! ————"

With several consecutive charges, he sent an entire enemy flying through the air.

In a world where we've long been accustomed to the fast-paced gameplay of 8-bit games, and even 16-bit games haven't seen much improvement, Sonic's pace, which is even more exaggerated than arcade games, is simply unbelievable.

It had only been a short while, but it had already instantly transported Sakurai Masahiro back to the first time he played Metal Slug.

when.

That completely arcade-style, super-fast-paced gameplay seems to have become a symbol of Sega's game culture.

Looking at the whole world, it seems that only they can achieve this style.

Bring the arcade experience home!

At first, everyone just took it as a slogan used by Sega for advertising.

It's just about promoting how excellent Genesis's performance is.

But now it seems that with games like Metal Slug, Sonic the Hedgehog, and even older games like Temple Run, these...

It was only after the work was adapted that Masahiro Sakurai gradually realized his previous understanding of this GG language —

That seems completely wrong!

Bringing an arcade machine home isn't just about showing off its features—

What people are talking about is the kind of smooth, fast-paced gaming style that only arcade games can achieve.

These are things that other gaming platforms find difficult to do.

Despite it being an act that seemed to be pushing the console's lifespan to its limit, Masahiro Sakurai couldn't sense Sega's concerns.

It's as if they have absolute confidence that Sega is not worried about whether you will get tired of it quickly due to aesthetic fatigue.

It's as if they were already prepared to continuously release new games that stimulate players' senses before players get bored.

"No wonder they have the eye to discover my talent, they're amazing!"

Thinking of this, Masahiro Sakurai threw his head back and laughed.

However, in such a fast-paced environment, even a moment's lapse in concentration could be fatal.

A piranha suddenly emerged from the water the moment he looked up and bit him unexpectedly.

"Ring ring—"

The golden rings rang out, and the golden rings that Sonic had put in his pocket were all spat out by the injury, scattering all over the ground.

Surprisingly, despite being a punitive mechanism, this approach has been surprisingly well-received.

It's much better than dying outright.

Although the score boost from the gold ring was gone, in its place, I was no longer sent back to the checkpoint to start all over again because of a small mistake.

For a work that emphasizes speed, coherence, and fast pace, this design does indeed protect the sense of speed that has been painstakingly built up.

"That was close!"

Masahiro Sakurai quickly gripped the handle, no longer daring to lose focus.

It seems that the gold had saved his life.

"A sharp downward slope?"

After passing through the previous area, a long, downward slope clearly appears ahead.

This design is not commonly seen in past platform jumps.

Typically, if there is such a need, people will use the splicing of tiles to create a stepped sloping effect.

Such smooth and continuous lines and curves are simply unheard of.

"he?"

However, before he could speed up, Masahiro Sakurai suddenly noticed something unusual.

The slope appeared to be densely packed with enemies.

This is very wrong.

Logically speaking, this map design is clearly intended to help him relax after the earlier challenges.

It should be meant to let him guzzle it all in one go and have a good time.

The presence of monsters means he needs to constantly deal with them, making it impossible for him to run away freely.

Judging from the level of the previous map design, this is clearly not the level they should be at.

PressX

Just as he was thinking this, the game seemed to have guessed his thoughts, and a new UI suddenly appeared in the lower left corner of the screen.

It was a progress bar, a blue-framed progress bar, which was now full.

【X-Boost】

What else is there to say? Let's go!

"Bang!"

The moment the push button was pressed, a white, umbrella-shaped cloud of air burst out around Sonic and enveloped him backward.

At the same time, a deep, full, and violent airburst sound came from the speakers.

Then, in a very short instant, Sonic accelerated to an unprecedented speed, sprinting forward at a speed almost like teleportation.

As for the monsters that were originally on the road?

Sorry, I thought it was a speed bump. We're all trying our best to live.

"Sonic boom?"

That white cloud just now looked exactly like a sonic boom from an object breaking the sound barrier at high speed, right?

Does that mean Sonic accelerated by one millisecond just now at 0-100 km/h?

A single step can propel you directly to supersonic speeds?

What was the point of fiddling with my legs on the way here?

Is it Figure 160?

I recall Sonic's arrogant pose with his finger waving in the title sequence.

Masahiro Sakurai suddenly chuckled.

Isn't this what they call "Hey, just kidding"?

A typical "no rush, let's play along" approach.

Only those with absolute confidence in their own abilities have the capital to play like this.

"This...this is so cool!"

Not only is he handsome, but he's also awesome!

It was so awesome!

Rather than a skill-based platforming game, it's more like a pure work created for pure enjoyment.

Even with poor skills, you can easily complete the run.

However, to achieve the goal of collecting everything and completing the game faster, certain skills are obviously required.

This is a typical work that is easy to learn but difficult to master.

However, Sega seemed determined to deliver a series of climaxes in one go. Before this exhilarating acceleration had even completely ended, at the end of the steep downhill slope, something unexpected appeared—

A 360-degree loop!

It's like the kind of structure you only see in a roller coaster.

You have to rely on the centrifugal force generated by high speed to hold onto the ground tightly in order to pass.

"Whoosh!"

But who exactly is Sonic?

Without pausing for even a moment, it glided through the large loop, leaving a trail of shadows.

For a fleeting moment, even Sonic himself—the entire hedgehog—was suspended upside down on the giant loop.

It's less like running and more like riding a roller coaster.

Whether it's the sense of speed, the exhilaration, or the thrill of rushing past enemies and collecting gold rings, everything has been done to the extreme.

"When I get into Sega, I'm going to make games like this too!"

If a person can have one work like this in their lifetime, perhaps they can live a life without regrets.

If he were the one who developed this game, he would even have the urge to have it engraved on his tombstone.

Having lived most of my life and played countless games, it seems that this is the kind of work I've been waiting for all along.

"With a whoosh, in Masahiro Sakurai's already somewhat dazed eyes, Sonic slid from one side of the screen to the other in the blink of an eye, passing through the ring at the finish line."

He didn't even look at his customs clearance and settlement data.

Because none of that matters anymore.

Regardless of the outcome, he had already enjoyed the process.

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