It’s time to grab some Time Stones! We are elated to announce the very first Summer of Sonic 2013 appearance of Sonic Team artist Kazuyuki Hoshino!
In keeping with the theme of badniks this year, we will be joined by none other than the creator of Metal Sonic himself! Hoshino-san, as well as also credited as the creator of Amy Rose, is responsible for a whole host of design work across the ages including work on Sonic CD, Sonic Adventure and Sonic Heroes to name a few titles he has worked on across nearly 20 years of Sonic the Hedgehog. NiGHTS fans attending should also be excited, as Hoshino-san was also a crucial character designer for the original NiGHTS into Dreams title, as well as the lead character designer for NiGHTS: Journey Into Dreams.
Hoshino-san will also be joining us on-stage to take part in a live Q&A session, and once again we invite you all to send us your questions! If you want to submit a question, here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Write your question down in the comments section of this article.
- We will look through all of the questions and select those we think will are the most interesting to pose to Hoshino-san.
- Be original! The more creativity that goes into your question, the more likely we are to select it!
- Respectful and sensible questions only please. Hoshino-san is a very much respected artist, and has taken time out of his very busy schedule to join us – bear this in mind when thinking of something to ask.
Hoshino-san will also be available for a meet and greet session during the day at which he will be available to sign autographs for Summer of Sonic attendees. We will publish more details on the signing booth schedule in the coming days.
Mr. Hoshino, since you made such a popular villain in Metal Sonic, have you ever wanted him to be a hero at any point in time?
Here’s my question. What made you create the metal sonic we know and love today?
While in the development of Sonic Heroes, what lead to the decision of changing Metal Sonic’s look in that game and how did the process go to that new look?
In Sonic CD, a subject of particular interest was a missing stage known in the Sonic research scene as “R2″. It supposedly included a worm-like Badnik, a antlion-like Badnik and a Burrobot-like Badnik. My question is that did this stage ever actually have a name and if it was assigned a zone name, what was it?
Here’s a simple one (I think..).
When he originally designed Metal Sonic, did Mr. Hoshino ever see him becoming such a key character in the Sonic franchise? (going as far as to become a main part of the recent Sonic 4 plot, and even as a primary villain in Sonic Heroes) Or was he originally designed to be simply a throwaway one-shot character purely for Sonic CD?
(Another way to phrase the question could be..)
Did Mr. Hoshino design Metal Sonic with the idea of future possible appearances in mind?
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Apologies if I’ve worded it awkwardly. I’m sure whoever’s asking the question could phrase it better. (if it’s a worthwhile question)
Metal Sonic is often described as resembling James Cameron’s ‘The Terminator.’ Did you take any influences from robots in science fiction during his creation? If so which ones?
Awesome! Guess I’ll grab the easy question first…
Sonics design was influenced by things like Micheal Jackson for the shoes etc, but what were your influences when designing metal Sonic and Amy?
If there were a sonic adventure 3 would you give metal sonic his own adventure about his origins?
>Sonic Adventure 3
Not this again.
What do you think of Metal Sonic 3.0?
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Was the idea that Metal Sonic should be as aerodynamic as possible (because of the incredible speeds he would be traveling) a factor for making him look as streamline and slick as he does?
What specific purpose was Metal Sonic originally intended to serve?
Amy started out as a typical damsel-in-distress character but these days she frequently fights alongside Sonic as an equal. Was this a role and personality you imagined for her from the beginning that didn’t fit into Sonic CD’s story or is it something that naturally developed over time after she became a playable character?
What do you think about some fancharacteres you see in internet?, the most original ones
I heard that developing for Sega Daturn is a very hard thing to do. What was it like devolping Nights Into Dreams and what were Sonic Team like then.
Since you worked on the design of Sonic CD did you have anything to do with the secret images?
In terms of Metal Sonic’s personality in the games, ranging from ‘the silent rival’ to believing he is ‘the real Sonic’, which one is your favourite/least favourite and what do you personally believe his personality should be like?
Dear Kazuyuki Hoshino,
In regards to the OVA, what do you think of it? What I mean is, do you think that they did justice to Metal Sonic’s character as a whole? Also, regarding Amy Rose, was she ever intended to be something other than Sonic’s love interest (such as a younger sister, perhaps), or was she supposed to be his girlfriend from the start?
Thank you for your time! ^_^
Mr Hoshino, whilst working on Sonic Adventure did you go on the trip to South America? If so, can you remember any stories from your travel?
Greetings Hoshino-san!
1a. In the Sonic the Hedgehog manga that was published in Shogaku Yonensei, there’s a female hedgehog character named “Amy” which seem to have inspired you to create the “Amy Rose” we all know in Sonic CD. How did this all come about?
1b. Similar question. There was also a male bee character in that Sonic manga named “Charmy Bee” which may have inspired the creation of the “Charmy Bee” we all know in Knuckles Chaotix. Were you in any way involved in the creation of Charmy Bee for Knuckles Chaotix? Even if you weren’t, do you know how that may have came about?
Example picture – http://info.sonicretro.org/images/9/9d/Sbook49bigger.jpg
2. Back to when you were developing Sonic CD as a Character Designer, Visual Designer and Special Stage Designer. Do you remember working a Special Stage/Bonus Level which looked vaguely like the rotating Special Stage in Sonic 1? It seemed to also have a slot machine like element to it. If so, would you be able to shed some light on what that was?
Example picture – http://info.sonicretro.org/images/a/a8/Scd_Sega_Summer_Catalogue_1992_Cropped.JPG
3. Back to when you were developing Knuckles Chaotix as an Original Character Concept, Character Designer, and Enemy Designer. Apart from Knuckles and some of the Chaotix, there’s strong evidence that Sonic and Tails were to be playable at one point during the early stages of it’s development. Do you remember anything about this? If so, what was the reason for their removal; only to have a cameo appearance instead?
Example picture – http://info.sonicretro.org/images/8/86/Chaotix1207_pal1.png
4. Back to when you were developing Sonic Adventure as an Art director, Lead field artist, and Enemy character designer. There was a stage which looked similar to Windy Valley with the floating ruinous platforms and a giant tornado you go into. Every character was playable in this stage. It seemed quite massive. There was loads of pictures and videos of this stage at the time of it’s development. It was the only known stage that didn’t make the final cut. Do you remember anything about this?
Example picture – http://info.sonicretro.org/images/0/04/SA_WV1.jpg
Note: Will try to bring copies of the example pictures to Summer of Sonic in case Hoshino-san has no way of seeing these example pictures during the Q&A event.
Hello Hoshino-san,
1) What was the biggest challenge you faced when designing Metal Sonic? Did the character go through many changes during the design process?
2) In Sonic R there’s a character who is designed in a similar way to Metal Sonic – Metal Knuckles. Were you at all involved with the creation of Metal Knuckles, and if so, would you like to see him return to the series in the future?
3) As you’ve worked as a designer for many different Sonic games over the years, I have a question about the design process. With some of the older games, did any of the hardware limitations ever hinder the design process, or did you design with these limitations in mind first? (what I mean is, limitations such as the amount of colours that can be displayed on-screen at any one time, possible slowdown from too many polygons, etc)
What would you change about Metal Sonic now, if anything?
Just a few things
With sonic’s gameplay going back to 3d in sonic lost worlds could this mean there may be a chance of you bringing chao and other playable characters back as well?
have u guys ever thought of taking advantage of what fans do by creating fan characters? Such as letting us have the optin to play as our fan character in a game such as a sonic mmo rpg.
In what direction do you guys plan on going in terms of plot for example old character new characters new places and will they be long plots?
Dear Hoshino-san,
Is there more of a future for Metal Sonic?
Did Eggman think like you when he created Metal Sonic?
Mr Hoshino.
You have created tons of iconic characters and images in various videogames… isn’t it about time that we had a hardback artbook of all your creations? And if it’s not upto you, who do we have to pester to get one?
Hey Hoshino-san!
have you ever thought about a Sonic RPG???
Hoshino-San, thank you for taking the time to come to the UK and meet the fans, it is hugely appreciated.
How does it feel to know that since joining Sonic Team, you have created characters that have had a huge impact/influence on fans of the Sonic series and also with the NiGHTS games, that have also became some of the most popular and best loved characters associated with these games?
As one of the most prolific character designers in the video game industry, what have been your influnces when creating some of these iconic characters?
Again thank you for your time and thank you so much for your work on the series and for providing us fans with some of the most dynamic and interesting characters.
In the American release of Sonic CD, the instruction manual for the game claimed that Amy Rose was Princess Sally in order to tie the game in a bit with the American Sonic the Hedgehog Television cartoon. Were you offended by the fact that they took the liberty to rename your character?
Forgot this one…
Should we expect any design changes to Amy in the future?
Does Sega have plans for Sonic 4 Episode 3!?