One of the producers on the Yakuza series is interested in making a Sonic game, creating a potential marriage we didn’t know we wanted. The developer says it’d be something very different from the platform games we’re used to from the blue blur.
Speaking to SEGA as part of the company’s 60th anniversary (cheers, Tojo Dojo), Daisuke Sato, a producer for Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio on the Yakuza games, says that of SEGA’s properties he’d be interested in trying, Sonic’s the top choice. “It’s an IP that I haven’t come to before. In the sense that I want to try it… well, [it’s] Sonic,” Sato says. “After all, when you hear SEGA you think Sonic. I’d like to get involved once, at least. But for me, the so-called Sonic is, well, if I were to do it, I wouldn’t do Sonic as it was. I would like to make a completely different Sonic.”
Obviously Yakuza and Sonic have some very broad differences, but imagine the heroic hedgehog in a sharp suit, belting out ‘Today is a Diamond’ in karaoke. Maybe even a duet with Kiryu? The possibilities are endless, and palpably terrifying. Now that Sato’s put the idea into the universe, this might be something that needs to happen.
The latest Yakuza, Yakuza: Like A Dragon, came out towards the start of this month. It’s more of an RPG game that previous installments, and our Ian Boudreau had a very good time reviewing it. He wasn’t the only one, either.
We’ll see if anything comes to fruition from this – SEGA owes Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio a favour for porting Virtua Fighter 5 to PC.