IGN recently interviewed Sonic Team's Takashi Iizuka regarding the upcoming
Sonic Colors game for the Wii. Iizuka revealed that the new Sonic title was being designed to appeal more to Mario players...
"From a general game design perspective, in recent years we've been able to introduce Sonic to new fans, a lot of the Nintendo/Mario fans, and because of that, we've made changes to the design, and we've designed things in Sonic Colours that we think will really appeal to people who are unfamiliar with the Sonic brand and the Sonic gameplay. So from that perspective we hope that fans of Mario will really be able to enjoy playing as Sonic in Sonic Colours."
It would appear that Sega has finally admitted defeat, and is attempting to make the new Sonic game more like the Mario games. Given the
slight critical (and fiscal) disparity between the last few Mario and Sonic games, this can only be a good thing.
Sonic fans, we welcome you home.
Source:
IGN: Sonic Team Talks Sonic Colours