Sonic Forces has a cool 3D world.
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Sega goes for nostalgia and modern 3D with two new Sonic games

  • Posted byby Dean Takahashi
  • Updated
  • 4 min

Sonic is coming out shooting at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), the big game trade show in Los Angeles this week. Sega is showing off two games with its famous hedgehog, which has generated more than 350 million units sold or app downloads since his debut in 1991.

Sega is showing Sonic Forces, a game with modern 3D graphics, and Sonic Mania, a classic 2D game with blazing-fast speed. The architect behind these titles is Takashi Iizuka, who has headed the Sonic Team since 2010. I played both games at a preview event and interviewed Iizuka afterward. We spoke through a translator, but it was clear that he is on a mission to bring back the reputation of Sonic for a new generation of fans.

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Written by

Dean Takahashi

Dean Takahashi is editorial director for GamesBeat. He has been a tech journalist since 1988, and he has covered games as a beat since 1996. He was lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat from 2008 to April 2025. Prior to that, he wrote for the San Jose Mercury News, the Red Herring, the Wall Street Journal, the Los Angeles Times, and the Dallas Times-Herald. He is the author of two books, "Opening the Xbox" and "The Xbox 360 Uncloaked." He organizes the annual GamesBeat Next, GamesBeat Summit and GamesBeat Insider Series: Hollywood and Games conferences and is a frequent speaker at gaming and tech events. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.