Sega has one of the more interesting histories out of the biggest gaming studios. Originally one of the major players in the industry, to the point where it used to be Nintendo’s main rival, Sega was reduced to a third-party developer in the 90s and early 2000s, with the Dreamcast’s failure indicating Sega was done as a console maker. Although Sega consoles are long gone, the company’s own lineup of games never ceased. Although most of the time was spent on Sonic the Hedgehog, other Sega games were given some love after the company shifted gears. This includes having Sonic Team make a sequel to Nights into Dreams and release Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg.
Although Sega as a whole seems to be making an effort to notice its franchises aside from Sonic, with the Super Monkey Ball re-release being an example, Sonic Team itself seems content with living up to its name. Nights and Billy Hatcher, of all the Sega franchises, have been particularly starving for new content. Even Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing and its sequel were not kind enough to include both of the titular characters in the playable roster at all times. In order for Sega, and Sonic Team, to make as much of a comeback as possible as developers, Nights and Billy Hatcher have to return as either remakes or new installments.
How Nights and Billy Hatcher Could Spice Things Up
Sega, as well as its signature franchise, have been through a lot in the past several decades. No other big company in video game history, aside from Atari and Konami, suffered a downfall as harsh as the one Sega went through. Sega went from a pioneer in the console business, and the creator of one of the most famous video game characters of all time, to a third-party developer on par with the prominence of Naughty Dog, Valve, Blizzard, and Rockstar Games. To add insult to injury, its former rival stays strong, and so do the companies that replaced Sega in the "console wars" all those decades ago.
Making matters worse is Sonic spending the last 20 years entering a dark age; releasing only a few games acclaimed by fans and critics, only to enter a similar dark age again. The late 2000s were tough for the Blue Blur, but the 2010s after the release of Sonic Generations were arguably rougher, with only Sonic Mania truly impressing the Sonic fanbase. Considering that Mania was made by fans and not Sonic Team itself, it is clear that Sega’s allegedly top developer needs to steer away from the hedgehog that made it famous after the release of Frontiers.
Games like Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces show a sign of Sonic fatigue among developers at Sonic Team. The developers need to take a break from Sonic and explore original ideas in other games with unique concepts. Nights and Billy Hatcher involving arcade-like endless flight and eggs that spawn cute hybrid animals in their core gameplay already make them distinct from Sonic, other Sega franchises, and the mainstream catalog in general. A new Billy Hatcher could take advantage of the nostalgia people now have for the game and its GameCube brethren, introducing a more polished version of the egg system in the process.
A new Nights game could become a product of people wanting more simplicity in an era of gaming obsessed with cinematic quality and complex storytelling. Nights’ androgynous appearance aged well in terms of players wanting more accurate and nuanced depictions of gender in the media. The jester-like humanoid, in addition to having ambiguous looks for anyone to project themselves onto, was also designed with the traditions of North American, Japanese, and European cartoonists in mind, contributing to the universal appeal of Nights’ design.
A new Nights game would be compatible with the nostalgia-induced mindset of modern audiences due to the series’ dream setting, and the protagonist’s appeal. The original Nights game used to be considered one of the best games ever, and despite that legacy being dated, it is an ideal one to use to for Nights own advantage.
Sonic Team needs to diversify its workload to make projects more exciting, and bringing back old series like Nights and Billy Hatcher is one of the best ways to do so. This needs to be cautiously approached, especially since prominent people involved with the creation of the two games dedicate their time to other projects, like Yuki Naja and Balan Wonderworld. If the company were to properly recapture these games’ magic for a modern audience, not only will contemporary Sega have a more varied repertoire, but staying away from Sonic will allow Sonic Team to spend more time re-evaluating the Sonic formula.