Interview with Steve Lycett from Sumo Digital
Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing
SO: How did you come up with the idea of a SEGA-inspired racing game?
Was it an idea which was pitched by SEGA or was it done internally.
SL: I’d love to say it was all our idea, but the truth is the idea was suggested to us by Sega! We’d just finished Sega Superstars Tennis when we were asked to look at two new Sega games. First was Virtua Tennis 2009, the second was All-Stars Racing. I got to pick first and racing games are my favourite!
So VT went first, whilst we got busy in the background starting on All-Stars Racing.
We’ve been through all manner of prototypes, early ones had Sonic running, Dr. Eggman riding on an Eggbot, Tails in his Tornado and Amy in a car. As we ran through these early prototypes we refined the gameplay and found what worked best was all characters being in similar sized cars. No-one is at an advantage (being small enough to dodge being bumped!) or disadvantage (being squashed by a bigger and heavier character). This made for a much fairer and better game.
We then set out to make a more traditional drift and speed based racing game. We went over to Japan early on and showed them our concepts for the game. The question we got asked by all the game directors was ‘Where are the special moves from Sega Superstars Tennis?’ Turns out they’d really enjoyed the special moves we’d done for SST, and we’d not planned them for ASR, so thus was the beginnings of the All-Star moves.
Even later down the line when these were in, Sega suggested we added in weapons and track gimmicks to spice things up even more! The result is now the game you’ve seen at E3 or GamesCom.
Of course there are also other things you’ve still yet to see 
.
SO: By which other SEGA racing games were you inspired?
SL: I guess it’s no surprise that we’re all fans of classic Sega racing games, especially OutRun! As such we’ve looked at AM2’s output from over the years to use as reference for this game.
So you should hopefully feel a hint of OutRun, Daytona, Virtua Racing and SCUD Race in the finished game.
Of course, all these games were very much straight racers, we’re hoping that the addition of the All-Stars and weapons will make for a new slant but with that classic Sega feel.
SO: Can you reveal some hints about other unlockable SEGA-characters?
SL: I’d love too – but we’re sworn to secrecy. Someone might do a tetsuzankou on me if I did!
Shenmue's Ryo Hazuki Joining Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
SO: What is the main target group for Sonic & SEGA Allstars Racing?
SL: We’re trying to make it a game that anyone of any age or ability can enjoy. For split-screen multiplayer it’s important the grown-ups can keep up with the kids – and for the Sega fans out there who are a little more hardcore, there’s plenty of time attack and online racing to compete with too.
As with Sega Superstars Tennis, we’re busily trying to squeeze as much Sega as we can onto a disk or cartridge to please Sega fans new or old!
SO: Which classic SEGA-game would you like to re-create on the current generation platforms?
As a confessed biker I’d love to do a take on Super Hang On. As a classic Sega fan I’d also like to do an updated next-gen Space Harrier too. If AM2 are reading and want Sega Classic Racing squeezing into an Xbox360 or PS3, they know who to call too!
[ Source: SegaOnline Magazine. ]
Lees het naar Nederlands vertaalde interview hier.
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