- Takashi Iizuka (game designer)
Takashi Iizuka is a Japanese
game producer ,game director ,game designer ,level designer , scenario writer and keySonic Team member.Early career
His first collabaration with Sega involved working with STI on "
Sonic 3 and Knuckles " as a senior game/level designer. He also helped superviseTraveller's Tales with the development ofSonic R . In Japan he directed "Nights into Dreams... ", and "Sonic Adventure " (it was his idea for a SonicRole-Playing Game ).ega Studio USA
In 1999, he and a part of Sonic Team moved to
San Francisco to establishSonic Team USA , now known as Sega Studio USA, to gain feedback from the western market. Over in the U.S. his team helped with the international releases ofChuChu Rocket! and Sonic Adventure. After that, his team started to develop their own games, where he was the director and lead designer for "Sonic Adventure 2 ", "Sonic Heroes ", "Shadow the Hedgehog", and "". In an effort to further broaden Sonic's appeal to western markets, Iizuka gave western developer,Backbone Entertainment , a shot at developing Sonic titles (Sonic Rivals &Sonic Rivals 2 ) under his teams supervision for the PSP console. From 1999 - 2005, Iizuka andEitaro Toyoda were the main game/level designers for the series, until Toyoda left the U.S. branch after the completion of Shadow the Hedgehog, to work at Sonic Team Japan. In 2008, Sega Studio USA was shut down, and all of the members were possibly absorbed back into the Japan division. Takashi Iizuka hasn't revealed specifically what happened though.Miscellanious
He is also notable for creating the popular character,
Shadow the Hedgehog . Despite his work on Sonic 3 and Knuckles, he has stated that his favoriteMega Drive Sonic game is stillSonic the Hedgehog 2 . He's also stated that he's a hugeMario fan.Due to
Yuji Naka 's departure from Sonic Team in 2006 to formPROPE , Iizuka has had to taken the additional role of game producer for his studio. He works very closely withKazuyuki Hoshino (the original character/sprite designer forSonic CD ) in the direction of the series.Production History
*
Sonic 3 and 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 of steam turbine and gas turbine systems Design, Saturn Enhancements
*Sonic Jam (1997) — Director
*Sonic R (1997) — Game Design Director
*Sonic Adventure (1999) — Director, Character Game Designer, Chaos Game Designer, Field Designer
*ChuChu Rocket! (2000) — Product Support (Sega of America)
*Sonic Adventure 2 /Sonic Adventure 2 Battle (2001) — Director, Game Designer, Field Designer, Enemy Game Designer, Level Designer
* (2003) — Mission Mode Game Designer
*Sonic Heroes (2004) — Director, Level Designer, CG Movie Director
*Sonic Mega Collection /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, 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
* — Director, Producer, Lead Game Designer
* — Recording Coordinator
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