Takashi Iizuka

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Takashi Iizuka

Takashi Iizuka is a key producer, director and designer within Sonic Team. Early in his career, he worked directly under Hirokazu Yasuhara as a senior game designer on Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, and quickly progressed to direct NiGHTS into Dreams and supervise development of Sonic R. In 1999, he is credited as the driving force behind Sonic Adventure, the franchise's third adventure in the third dimension, as it had been his idea to create a role-playing game featuring Sonic.

After the success of Sonic Adventure, Iizuka headed to America, where he and a few other members of Sonic Team began work on such games as Sonic Adventure 2 and NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams. Iizuka continued as head of this department, known as Sega Studio USA, until 2008, when it was disbanded, and team members, including Iizuka were absorbed back into the Japanese division. Thus, he became the head of Sonic Team.

Production History

• Golden Axe III (1993) — Planner (as Iiz)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) — Senior Game Designer
• Sonic & Knuckles (1994) — Senior Game Designer
• Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994) — Senior Game Designer
• NiGHTS into Dreams (1996) — Lead Game Designer
• Christmas NiGHTS (1996) — Game Designer
• Sonic 3D Blast (1996) — Game Concept Design, Special Design, Saturn Enhancements
• Sonic Jam (1997) — Director
• Sonic R (Saturn Version) (1997) — Game Design Director (Sega Enterprises Ltd.)
• Sonic R (PC Version) (1998) — Game Design Director (Sega Enterprises Ltd.) (Sega), Special Thanks to (Sega)
• Sonic Adventure (1998) — Director, Character game designer, Field designer, "Chaos" game designer
• ChuChu Rocket! (2000) — Product Support (Sega of America)
• Sonic Adventure 2 (2001) — Director, Field Designer (Level Designer), Enemy Game Designer
• Sonic Advance (2001) — Special Thanks
• Sonic Adventure 2: Battle (2002) — Director, Field Designer (Level Designer), Enemy Game Designer
• Sonic Mega Collection (2002) — Special Thanks
• Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut (2003) — Mission Mode Game Designer
• Sonic Heroes (2004) — Director, Level Designer, CG Movie Director
• Sonic Mega Collection Plus (2004) — Special Thanks
• Sonic Gems Collection (2005) — Special Thanks
• Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) — Director, Lead Game Designer, Level Designer, Scenario Writer, CG Movie Supervisor
• Sonic Riders (2006) — Recording Coordinator
• Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) — Special Thanks
• Sonic Rivals (2006) — Director, Concept Design, Scenario Writer, Producer
• Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007) — Special Thanks
• Sonic Rivals 2 (2007) — Director, Concept Design, Scenario Writer, Producer
• NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (2007) — Director, Producer, Lead Game Designer
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (2007) — General Producer
• Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (2008) — Recording Coordinator
• NiGHTS into Dreams (PS2 Version) (2008) — Supervisor
• Sega Superstars Tennis (2008) — Special Thanks
• Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (2008) — Sonic Character Supervisor
• Sonic Unleashed (PS3 & Xbox 360 Version) (2008) — Level Design Special Thanks
• Sonic and the Black Knight (2009) — Special Thanks
• Puyo Puyo 7 (2009) — Special Thanks
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (Wii Version) (2009) — Director, Game Designer (Game Design Section)
• Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (2010) — CS2 R&D (Sega Japan)
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode I (2010) — Producer
• Puyo Puyo 20th Anniversary (2011) — Special Thanks
• Sonic Generations (PS3, Xbox 360 and PC Versions) (2011) — Producer (Sonic Generations Development Team)
• Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (2011/2012) — Sonic Character Supervisor
• Sonic Generations (3DS Version) (2011) — Producer
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode II (2012) — Producer
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (2012) — CS2 R&D (Sega Corporation)

Interviews

• Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka interview by Sega Score (December 12, 2003)
• Takashi Iizuka interview by EGM (February 3, 2004)
• Takashi Iizuka interview by GMR (February 10, 2004)
• Takashi Iizuka and Ethan Einhorn interview by 1UP (March 22, 2005)
• Takashi Iizuka interview by Digital Chumps (September 3, 2010)
• Takashi Iizuka interview by Danny Russell (September 17, 2010)
• Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka interview for Sonic Heroes website