Yuji Naka Still Wants Sonic and Mario to Co-Star in an Action Game

‘Tis the season for the Summer Olympics, and everybody knows that Sonic the Hedgehog is no stranger to sporting events. SEGA recently released Mario and Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic games, which is the fifth title in the long-running series.

For quite some time, Sonic creator Yuji Naka had spoken about potential games that star Mario and Sonic, which would be different from the current crop off games that we’re accustomed to. During the GameCube era, Yuji Naka proposed and action game that had Mario and Sonic partner together, which never lead to anything fruitful.

Yuji Naka recently spoke with Famitsu magazine about the topic, and mentioned that he would still like to see it happen.

“Actually, I wanted Mario [and Sonic] to appear together, so one time I went to give Miyamoto-san a presentation on how I want to create an action game which is co-starred by Mario and Sonic. It was in the GameCube days, and I took around four planners with me. It is a pity that the discussion was ‘clearly it isn’t necessary for Mario and Sonic to co-star in an action [game]’ and it didn’t become a reality, but SEGA was able to get the license for the Olympics just at that time, so in order to make the best use of the license, companion characters appeared together.

A little later Sonic appeared in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. However, this too came into reality because I requested from Sakurai-san, ‘I want Sonic to appear [in Smash Bros.]’. The Olympics is a bit different from my wish, but I think it’s a good thing that children around the world are happy about them co-starring. But someday I want to realize an action [game] together with Mario. I think I’m going to give another presentation so that Takashi [Iizuka] finds the necessity [of a Mario & Sonic action game] (laughs).”

Here’s to hoping that this game actually becomes a reality someday! What kind of game would you like to see Mario and Sonic in? Discuss in the comments below!