Interview: Mike Wallis (1996-05-04) by Game Players

This is an unaltered copy of an interview of Mike Wallis, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below. Language: English Original source: Game Players Vol. 9 No. 6 pg. 39

Q&A with Mike Wallis

Mike Wallis is the very young and very excited producer of Sonic X-Treme. Though he was none too eager to be put in the limelight, we did manage to convince him to answer a few questions about our spiky blue friend and other related issues...

GP: Has the Sega Technical Institute worked on any of the other Sonic titles?

MW: Yes, STI was responsible for Sonic 2, Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles.

GP: How does someone your age end up being Producer on such an important title as Sonic X-Treme?

MW: I've been at Sega for about 18 months now. I started at Electronic Arts and then I was at 3DO. I guess it was my diverse product background - I worked on all types of games - sports games, acton games. So, a lot of hard work as well as having a diverse background gives you that experience to be able to work on such a high profile title.

GP: In your opinion why has Sonic become so popular?

MW: There's sort of an intangible there. I mean, he's cool and he's got an attitude but he's not like a Mickey Mouse type - you know, everyone's lovable character. I don't know, how do you define cool? (laughs at his own answer.)

GP: How does it feel to have the fate of one of the biggest video game characters of all time resting in your hands?

MW: It's extremely exciting. The whole team is very jazzed about it which is great because it keeps their motivations high. They're working late each night and as producer I don't have to go out there and say 'Get to work!' because they do it on their own (laughs at his position as authoritarian). I help them in any way I can, keeping the entire project in view, and lending input and assistance. I'm also very lucky to have such an amazing team working on this game. Ofer Alon, besides being technically brilliant, makes considerable contributions on the design side. Andrew Probert's artwork is, well, fantastic! And Chris Senn, a creative force like no other, is the glue that binds this team together. It's really a whole team effort, and this team is one of the best.

GP: Outside of changing the game from 2D to 3D, what are the other big challenges of making this game?

MW: The bottom line is that it has to be fun. The gameplay needs to be top-notch. We also need to keep Sonic's image up. He's cool and he needs to do cool things so we've given him some new moves. The graphics also need to be top-notch as well, keeping in line with the past Sonic titles. And the speed, Sonic is about being fast.

GP: What are the main aspects that must be maintained in Sonic X-Treme from the earlier Sonic titles?

MW: The three big aspects are speed, graphics and gameplay.

GP: Are there any achievements that you're not expecting to be able to do that would really add to the game?

MW: Right now we're experimenting with a lot of different (camera) viewpoints. It would be great to develop a time machine so that we could spend as much time as we wanted with the game. Bringing Sonic into a 3D world in itself is a huge achievement. Just being able to see him running around in a non-linear 3D environment is huge.

GP: What are the advantages to working with the Saturn over any other platform?

MW: The Saturn's strength lies in its diversity. It has strong support for sprites and geometry, which fits in well with our game design.

GP: How do you plan to use the Saturn's strengths?

MW: Well, with the Saturn, of course we're going for a 3D environment. The world will be built out of fully texture-mapped polygons, while the actors, objects, and Sonic himself will be 3D-modeled sprites. With VDP1, the Saturn is capable of pushing a lot of sprites, and with VDP2, we can manipulate some fantastic backgrounds. I think you're going to see that we've got a lot of surprises! (The Saturn's VDP1 processor handles all the action of the game while the VDP2, a totally separate processor, handles the backgrounds.)

GP: Is there anything that you and your team hope to do with Sonic this time that has never been done?

MW: We want to keep all the main aspects of the previous Sonic games - the exploration, the speed, the bonus rounds and a lot of hidden stuff, but we want to give Sonic new moves. We're giving him a ring throwing move. I mean, why did he carry all these rings in the other games? But now he can throw rings and so it's kind of a trade off. Do you want to throw your rings, which are, in essence, his life or do you want to hang on to them and use your spindash?

GP: How did you arrive at the story for Sonic X-Treme?

MW: We've had a number of different iterations of the story. In this latest one, Robotnik is up to no good again, trying to steal the Rings of Order from their proper keepers Boobowski and Tiara. We were also trying to keep the image of Sonic evolving into what is considered cool today, like surfing and bungee jumping. Sonic is a character of the times.

GP: What is your favorite Sonic game?

MW: Personally, I like Sonic 3 because it's more open, there are cool bonus rounds, and there is a lot more exploration over Sonic 2.

GP: What other kind of games do you enjoy playing?

MW: I like Virtua Fighter 2 and World Series Baseball. I think World Series Basebal for the Saturn is a top-notch title! I also just completed Wing Commander over the weekend and I just ROCK at Command & Conquer!

GP: Have you had a chance to see any of the other comparable 3D action/adventure games?

MW: Well, I've seen Jumping Flash!, but of course that's all first-person and some of the graphics are flat polys. It had a lot of good gameplay value. The graphics could be better, but a lot of people don't care about that because it did have good gameplay. Captain Quasar for the 3DO is a good example because it's a 3D modeled guy (although the perspective is different from Sonic). However, I think he's too big, which restricts your field of vision. If you run around a lot, you'll often find yourself in a mess real quickly because you don't have enough time to react. So there are issues with size and speed during development that you need to balance, especially when you're talking about a third-person, 3D game.

GP: Beyond Sonic X-Treme, is there somewhere you'd like to take Sonic after this game?

MW: This isn't going to be the only Sonic game on Saturn by any means. He is Sega's flagship guy.

GP: How is Sega supporting the product?

MW: From a marketing and PR end, Sega is devoting all available resources to this title. From a product development standpoint, if we needed additional people, we would not have a problem getting them.

GP: Describe the gameplay for Sonic X-Treme.

MW: Sonic can be controlled with virtually full freedom of movement, running into or out of the screen, left, or right. Of course he has a spin-dash, can jump, and duck. He can attack using the traditional 'bopping' or with his new moves, one of which is the ring-throw. There will be a secret areas, bonus rounds, and areas where he can take advantage of his speed. Plus there are some really big gameplay elements that are not yet ready to be revealed.

GP: How will it differ from a 3D game like Bug!?

MW: It will involve 3D worlds, but you won't be constrained by linear paths. Sonic is free to roam the game's sequence of Acts and take advantage of one of the Sonic game's hallmarks - physics. Sonic's a speedy guy and can keep up with the times.