Pixel art is not “a viable art style” says Sonic Team head

Over the decades we have seen many franchises move away from pixel art aesthetics – due both to the effort required, as well as the overall technical evolution in the video game space. While many indie games still take advantage of 8/16-bit art styles, it seems as though Sonic the Hedgehog may never go back to his iconic look from the 90’s – at least according to the head of Sonic Team.

In an interview conducted by GamesRadar+ during Gamescom, Takashi Iizuka – the head of Sonic Team and producer for the upcoming 2D ‘Sonic Superstars’ – spoke on the decision to go with a polygon-based art style, saying:

“We look at the pixel art – it's great – but when we think about 10-20 years in the future, we don't think it's going to be a viable art style or presentation for our players. And in order to advance and really step things up, we did want to make sure that we're presenting something that 10-20 years down the road we're still evolving and creating new content for.”

While many studios moved away from pixel art once the 3D gaming revolution came about in the late 90’s / early 2000s, we have seen a resurgence in the aesthetic thanks primarily to the indie gaming space – popularising the style for a whole new generation of players.

That said, Iizuka’s statement is still valid, especially due to the many new mechanics being implemented into Sonic Superstars. Hopefully we will still see a new pixel art Sonic game at some point in the future though, even if it takes a while.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of Sonic Superstars? Do you like its art style? Would you like to see pixel art Sonic return in the future? Let us know down below.

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