There are some games that are forever grounded at the forefront of any franchise regardless of the time that passes and in the case of the Sonic Franchise, that series is Sonic Adventure which is the biggest example of that fan-driven longevity. Gamers, Twitch Streamers, and Youtubers still play Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 to this day, live streaming it to Twitch or Youtube or making Let’s Plays that still rake in hundreds of thousands or even millions of views. But it isn’t just the fandom that still adores Sonic Adventure, the lead director of both Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 wants the series to make a return as well. Though that might not happen considering the amount of support and backing the project would need from Sega.
Sonic Team Lead Takashi Iizuka Discusses the Possibility of a Sonic Adventure 3
Whenever Takashi Iizuka is interviewed, he definitely likes to bring up Sonic Adventure as well as the possibility of a Sonic Adventure 3. The Sonic Adventure Series has been dead for over 20 years now with the last iteration, Sonic Adventure 2 coming out back in 2001. But Takashi Iizuka doesn’t like to give up that easily and he addressed the possibility of the title once again quite recently. In a recent interview, the Sonic Team lead stated that he really wants to make a follow-up or a new entry in the Sonic Adventure franchise, specifically Sonic Adventure 3. But Iizuka stated that creating a new Sonic Adventure from scratch in 2023 would require a tremendous budget from SEGA due to the vision and scale of the game. It would require a lot more investment than what was needed back in the old days of the now long-gone Sega Dreamcast. Still, Iizuka isn’t ready to give up that easily as his go-to choice for the next iteration of the Sonic franchise would be Sonic Adventure after the development of Sonic Frontiers comes to an end, that is if SEGA approves it. Dot Esport interviewed Iizuka and asked him what he would prefer to do if he were given free rein to introduce anything he wanted to a Sonic game. But he diverged from the question and stated that he’d like to actually work on Sonic Adventure 3. It was back in June that Iizuka first mentioned Sonic Adventure 3, expressing his wishes to one day create a sequel to the Dreamcast Adventure series. “When you look at all the games that are out there now and knowing the kind of expectations for the next Sonic Adventure game would be, it would take a whole of investment from the company, a lot of development time, and a lot of game volume to really bring something to market. But that is what I would use the golden keys for. – Takashi Iizuka But in the following days at the Summer Game Fest, Iizuka was interviewed once again where he was asked clearly and directly about the future of the Sonic Adventure series and if it would ever be revived again and that’s where we got a clear answer. During that time, Takashi Iizuka had one single goal in mind and that was the completion of development for Sonic Frontiers which is scheduled for November 8 of this year. I just want to reiterate that the entire team is focused on Sonic Frontiers and they really want to make it the best game that it can be. In the future, yes, Sonic Adventure 3 is there as an idea that at some point it would be cool to maybe explore, but that’s not part of the plan and that’s not what I’m doing. It’s all about Frontiers [right now] and we have no plans for Sonic Adventure 3 at this point. I just want to be clear with everyone! But yeah, as somebody who made Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, it is on my mind as some idea that I could potentially think about in the future. – Takashi Iizuka at the Summer Games Fest Takashi Iizuka has been working at Sega for over three decades now. His work started back in the time of Golden Axe III and Sonic 3 in the early 1990s. Right now, he’s the Vice President of overall product development for the Sonic The Hedgehog series and the Head of the Sonic Team. He’s been working as a producer and a supervisor for every Sonic game since the dawn of Sonic Rivals for the PSP back in 2006. I think this is what everyone gets stuck in the trap of: Whenever I say, ‘there’s no plan, it’s not happening’ and I then follow that up by stating that, as somebody who was close to the Adventure series, in the future in this ‘what if’ scenario yeah, I think it could be cool to one day make a game in that Adventure format for the future, that would be cool as an idea… I think people respond to that by assuming that I’m making it. But we have no plans to do that. If you ask me if it would be cool to do in the future yeah, it would be cool. But maybe people are reading a bit too much into what I say! – Takashi Iizuka His history and his roots within Sega and the Sonic Franchise run pretty deep and perhaps it reached its thickest in the lead-up to the 1998 Sonic Adventure, a game that he poured his heart into. He not only directed the game but also worked on the characters as well as the level designs. He proceeded to do the same for the follow-up to the franchise, Sonic Adventure 2 and he’s still been longing for the chance to jump back into the series that has been in limbo for over 20 years. Iizuka mentioned Sonic Adventure in the past as well and fans took this as a sign that a Sonic Adventure 3 is currently in development. Unfortunately, that’s not the case as Iizuka mentioned it as an idea that would be interesting to explore. Despite the enthusiasm to revisit one of the most beloved 3D iterations of the Sonic franchise and highly requested revivals in gaming history, Iizuka is still pretty skeptical if it would be feasible to do so in the current landscape given the resources and budget required to develop a game that returns to the roots of a title that’s been dead for over 2 decades. In the long and short of it all, Iizuka states that he would go back to Sonic Adventure in the future if he’s granted the opportunity and heads up by SEGA, but currently, there are no plans to do that. For now, Iizuka and the Sonic Team are making the final touches on the development of Sonic Frontiers. The game seems pretty vague in terms of its direction as we don’t have a clear idea of what kind of open-world game it is. Iizuka stated that it’s a different kind of open-world experience and fans would have to play it to get an idea later in November. Sonic Frontiers is coming to the Xbox Series S|X, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and Windows PC. We wonder what a revival of the Sonic Adventure series would look like. Would it introduce entirely new elements to the series or would it return to its roots with the linear levels and their awesome design? Sadly, we won’t know for sure because Sonic Adventure 3 is currently an idea and hope floating in the minds and imaginations of fans and the Sonic Team Lead, Takashi Iizuka. So, are you excited about Sonic Frontiers? Do you still have hopes for a Sonic Adventure 3 in the future? Let us know in the comments below. We upload daily on Appuals so stay tuned for more. Till then, see you later and goodbye!
