Balan Wonderworld co-dev Arzest is "leading development" on Sonic Superstars
Headed up by original Sonic creator, Naoto Ohshima.
Talking to Eurogamer at Summer Games Fest today, Sonic Team vice president of product development Takashi Iizuka has clarified the question of the newly unveiled Sonic Superstars' main developer: it's being led by Arzest, the Japanese studio which recently co-developed Fantasian and the troubled Balan Wonderworld - and that's headed up by Sonic's original creator Naoto Ohshima.
"This is a brand new classic Sonic Game that's been developed," Iizuka-san said, via translator, "and in order to recreate that classic Sonic gameplay, we needed someone who understands the classic Sonic series and understands that gameplay format, in order to really execute well on the final product."
"And so we're working together, with Naoto Ohshima-san, who is the creator of Sonic the Hedgehog and was there at Sonic 1, creating and developing the game. We're working with Ooshima-san and his team at Arzest, they're leading development on the title and they're doing a great job of making a brand new classic Sonic game."
The question of Superstars' main developer has been a prominent one for Sonic fans since its unveiling during the Summer Games Fest showcase last week - Ohshima-san was alread confirmed as working on it in some capacity, although just what capacity was unclear, which might have caused some a little concern given Balan Wonderworld's less than stellar reception.
We'll have plenty more from our interview Iizuka-san on Sonic Superstars shortly, including his suggestion for which classic Sonic game he reckons it's most similar to (spoilers: it borrows from a few different ones), how the team's tried to balance classic Sonic with more "modern" features, plus our impressions of a quick play session with the game - and the answer to the all-important question of whether Shadow's in it. Be sure to look out for that very soon.