The developer aims to create a new look for the familiar universe

Mar 17, 2014 18:26 GMT  ·  By

Sonic Boom is designed to introduce a new look for Sonic the Hedgehog and the rest of the universe associated with it, but initial plans for the new characters that Big Red Button had created were apparently too alien for the original Sonic Team.

Bob Rafei, the leader of the team working on the new title, tells Gamespot that “Sonic Team and Sega were very open-minded about our approach, and accepting of a lot of things we were doing. Ultimately, because of some of our really wacky ideas, we did find the boundaries of things we could and couldn’t do.”

Apparently, one of the major topics of discussions during the initial meetings between Sonic Team and Big Red Button was whether one of the characters should wear pants or not, which led to a wider debate about the rules for clothing in the universe of the game.

Rafei adds, “We experimented with different colours and surface features on the characters, such as fur or scales, and quickly Sonic Team came back with their discomfort of that. They were great guardrails for us to understand when we were deviating too far from the character. Without their input, the character would have been a lot more alien and different from what Sonic is known for.”

The Sonic Team has been in charge of games that feature Sonic as a character at SEGA, and its leaders are obviously worried about any sort of changes that are being made to the core mechanics or to the look of the characters.

Sonic Boom is designed as an entirely new initiative that will make the franchise more attractive to modern gamers while keeping its essence intact.

The redesigned characters that Big Red Button is creating will be used for titles on the Wii U home console and the 3DS handheld from Nintendo.

At the same time, a new cartoon series and toys will introduce them to a wider audience, that might only know the old look of Sonic.

The Sonic Boom concept is set to be launched only on western markets, and the first products associated with it will be introduced in 2015, although at the moment SEGA is not ready to mention any actual dates.

The original Sonic Team is also working on a new title in the series that will use the classic look for all characters, but no details have been offered on its setting and its core mechanics.