Takashi Iizuka, Kazayuki Hoshino, and Jun Senoue, three prominent members of Sega’s Sonic Team, sat down with Continue magazine in Japan to discuss the 35th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, during which they shared experiences on developing various games throughout the franchise’s history. They said that the original Sonic Adventure was perhaps the most difficult to put together, while also citing challenges with developing a few of the more recent titles in the franchise.

Asked which of the games across the history of Sonic left the deepest impression, Iizuka, the current head of Sonic Team, said, “Because I wrote the specifications and worked on the development staff for the game, I would have to say Sonic Adventure left the biggest impression on me. However, that first game, rather than being fun, I remember it being a very difficult development. Sonic Adventure 2 was a lot more enjoyable.”

Senoue, composer and sound director for Sonic Team, concurred, adding, “We started work on that game in 1997, and I’d never experienced anything like the volume of work that game took before then. We developed stories for six characters, plus the Chao and Chao Garden, and worked on the field music. Then we had voice acting. That was something I wasn’t familiar with at the time, so having to manage everything was quite challenging.”

Until they actually tried to bring Sonic into 3D, Iizuka hadn’t realized how difficult it could be. “We first tried bringing Green Hill Zone into 3D, but just running around that wasn’t fun.

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