You are a gamer, and you love Sonic the Hedgehog. You've played every Sonic game since his original outing on the Genesis, and you desperately want more of what made those 2D titles so fantastic. Sega is not making Sonic Colors for you.

In a recent interview with Game.co.uk, Takashi Iizuka, the lead designer of Sonic Colors, has confirmed what he stated in an earlier interview, that the team is no longer trying to please everyone with every game they put out. Instead, they have gotten much more specific with the demographic for Sonic Colors:

"We know there are sometimes opinions about control from core gamers, but we're intending Sonic Colours to be played by children of probably between six and twelve years-old."

Honesty can be refreshing, but it is sad to hear from the lead designer himself that the next installment of the series is no longer for the gamers that have stuck with Sonic through his best moments (Sonic 2) and his very worst (Sonic Riders).

You can't really blame Sonic Team for aiming at a new market though. They have been consistently ridiculed by their "fans" for years now. Personally, I loved the Sonic Adventure games, but many gamers gave up on Sonic the minute he gained a dimension. Now that doesn't mean Sega has given up on our generation altogether. Quite the contrary, as Iizuka states:

"I think that there are two types of Sonic players.

One is the people who have played since the MegaDrive, who are mainly fans of 2D Sonic games and didn't really play the 3D Sonic games so much. For those gamers Sonic Team will be giving them Sonic 4 [for Xbox Live and PlayStation Network] so they can pick the Sonic game they want to play.

The other is the ones who have played 3D Sonic games and felt that the game was too difficult. Sonic Colours is the game for those types of players. It's still a 3D Sonic game but the controls are more user-friendly; it's an easy to pick up and play type of game.

So through the two Sonic games I feel the needs of both of the two core groups of Sonic fans are being addressed."

Those game designers may have finally learned their lesson! They truly do understand that there are those out there that will never enjoy another Sonic game unless he can only move left and right. The only thing that worries me is that I do not fall under either of those two groups. No, I haven't liked a Sonic adventure since... Sonic Adventure 2, but I still believe they know how to make 3D Sonic games. They did it at least twice! Sonic Heroes wasn't bad either!

What do all you Ranters think? Will making Sonic Colors more kid-friendly also make the game more fun, or is the fat female hedgehog singing when it comes to the future of 3D Sonic titles?

Sonic Colors spins on to the Wii and DS November 16th, 2010.

Source: Game.co.uk (via Nintendo Everything)