Entrevista a Yojiro Ogawa (Sonic y los anillos secretos)

onic and the Secret Rings is both a platformer and a racing game... and a bit of a party game... and a nice use of the Wii Remote... and a mini-game collection. Think Sonic R without strict racing rules, or Sonic Adventure without the need to slow down. With all that going on, gaming's little running man hasn't been the easiest thing to define in his latest adventure. So at this year's Tokyo Game Show, we sat down with producer Yojiro Ogawa (you may prefer his sexier title: Section Manager, Game Design Section, Global Entertainment R&D Dept. #1) to find out what the new game is all about. In his eyes, the genre can be summed up in one word: action.
"I do think it is an action game," says Ogawa, "in the same sense that Sonic on Mega Drive had time attack features, but was also classified as an action game." Fair enough -- "action" is a broad enough term to cover most bases. Perhaps a better way to look at it is that Sega is finally giving players control over a roller coaster ride. Previous Sonic games have always featured roller coaster elements, such as the uncontrollable pipe sequences that threw you into the spin cycle in the classic games and the reverse speed bumps that propelled you forward in the 3D titles, but these have never been the centerpiece of the game as much as they are in Secret Rings.

The entire single-player game is 50-60 missions of this sort, with boss battles mixed in, and you will be running almost that entire time. There will be a special power you can use to slow down time to accomplish special tasks, but unlike in the old games, that's the exception rather than the rule.

Given the Arabian setting, we wondered if Ogawa had gone on any research visits to get the look of the game down. "I wasn't able to arrange a business trip for research," he says. However, "I went to an Arabian pub in order to enjoy the Arabian atmosphere. Someone dressed as Ali Baba did a performance for the guests, and we also went to watch belly-dancing."

According to Ogawa, a big part of the approach was to make a game that could be played with one button -- not just a desire to use the tilt functions in the Wii Remote. For those expecting a revival of the message board Photoshop image of a GameCube controller with only a "win game" button on it, however, we'll have to disappoint you. "We didn't want to use the d-pad and wanted to create a complex action by using just one button," he says. "That is what I think is a new aspect, more than just the tilting of the controller."
Of course, the game relies heavily on the tilt aspects as well, as that is how players move left and right in the game. In coming up with the control scheme seen at E3 (where players hold the Wii Remote horizontally with two hands), the team at Sega experimented with a variety of approaches. "The Nunchuk, pointer, and using the controller vertically -- we tried all of the basic uses we could come up with," says Ogawa.

"I implemented the basic ideas I already had in mind for quite awhile," he continues. "Basically, the ideas became vivid when I touched the controller."

That's the single-player game. A big part of Secret Rings is the game's multiplayer side, which features mini-games that won't stick to such a simple control scheme. "In the main story, I [want] players to use the controller transversally in order to prevent them from getting tired. For the [multiplayer] mini-games, I would like to have players fully enjoy the function of the controller with as much variety and [as many] different actions as possible." So basically, get ready to stand up and get some exercise.

According to Ogawa, there will be 30 mini-games that up to four players can tackle together. One sees players each shaking their controller to determine which treasure box they pick up has the most treasure in it -- the more noise shaking makes, the more treasure in the box. Another has players pulling back on the controller like a bow and arrow. Despite the use of shaking in the treasure game, however, Ogawa says there are no plans to include a Samba de Amigo-style mini-game in the collection.

With a decent-sized focus being put on the multiplayer modes and the quick play nature of the single-player levels, one of the concerns that has been following Secret Rings since its E3 showing is if the game will be lengthy enough to satisfy players accustomed to traditional Sonic titles. In this respect, Ogawa encourages players to master each of the levels in the game and promises some bonuses for hardcore players who don't want to be done with the game after seeing each environment once.

"The total time required to finish a map won't be that long," he says. "However, with features such as missions for Sonic to perform, the gameplay length and variety is greatly expanded. Also, I am planning to have special features for core gamers, which will further increase the gameplay length."

The developers aren't sure if they will be using online rankings for fastest times through levels in the game, but they are looking into ways to let players compete with each other via Wii Connect 24.

These features revolve around the idea of customizing Sonic with special powers. Ogawa refers to Sonic as a "superhero" and says that because of that moniker, it is not unusual for players to be able to give him different abilities. As players go through the game, they will be able to get special powers, and even combine these later in the game. Having worked on Phantasy Star Online Episode III: CARD Revolution and creating the trading card game system there, Ogawa feels that this Sonic customization system is staying in that same strategic mindset.
We don't know all the details about how this works at this point, but tying in with the Arabian Nights story, players will get to know a "ring fairy" that will dish out powers and bonuses. Ogawa describes the entire system as "a little bit more complicated than an RPG," even.

Perhaps due to the need for enough content to satisfy hardcore players, Ogawa says the development team working on Sonic the Hedgehog for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is only "a little bigger" than the team on Secret Rings, a fact he attributes to the other team working on two platforms simultaneously rather than the Wii requiring fewer art assets or resources, as other developers have stressed.

There is still a bit we don't know about Secret Rings -- it will be interesting to see how the level variety changes and how the customization and special powers aspects play out long term. One thing we know for sure, though, is that it will be nice to play a Sonic game where Sonic is the only character you control. We haven't seen one of those in years.

Resumen:

Pues que hay 50-60 misiones,que no niveles,con bosses por medio.(lo de que no niveles es lo que yo creo,vamos,si no sería una burrada para un Sonic)
Hay un poder special para decelerar
Habrá un multiplayer con 30 minijuegos y te habla un poco de ellos.
Promete extras.
No esta seguro de incluir un ranking online pero si estan intentando meter un modo competitivo mediante wiiconect 24(será un multiplayer?)
A lo largo del juego podrás conseguir diferentes poderes y combinarlos.Habrá un hada del anillo que dará poderes y extras.