Sonic creator dreams of a Sonic RPG before retiring

Sonic Team head Takashi Iizuka has expressed a desire to create a Sonic the Hedgehog role-playing game before his retirement from Sega. In a recent interview, Iizuka revealed that he is puzzled by the absence of a Sonic RPG despite the character being around for over 30 years. While there are no concrete plans at the moment, Iizuka hopes to eventually work on such a project. The only existing Sonic RPG, *Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood*, developed by Bioware and not Sonic Team, received mixed reviews upon its release in 2008. In contrast, Sonic Adventure incorporated some RPG elements, hinting at the potential for a dedicated RPG game featuring the iconic blue hedgehog.

Iizuka himself is unsure why Sonic Team has not developed a Sonic RPG in the past 30 years, although he hopes to work on such a project before his retirement.

Background Information: Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood was the only Sonic RPG released to date and was created by Bioware, a developer known for *Mass Effect* and *Dragon Age*. The game was launched in 2008 on the Nintendo DS and featured turn-based combat and an original storyline. Although it attempted to meld the platformer mechanics of Sonic with RPG elements, it was met with mixed reviews, particularly due to its execution and comparison with other superior RPGs available on the DS platform at the time.