Kazuyuki Hoshino Explains Why Sonic’s Proportions Changed for 3D

Sonic’s jump from 2D to 3D changed more than the way his games played. According to longtime Sonic artist Kazuyuki Hoshino, it forced Sonic Team to rethink the character’s actual proportions too.

Speaking with Game Informer for Sonic’s 35th anniversary, Hoshino explained that Sonic’s original 2D design created an unexpected problem once the team began viewing him from every angle.

In the 2D games, Sonic was normally seen from the side or front, which meant the artists could control exactly how his face, hands and feet appeared. Moving into 3D introduced depth, rear views and a constantly changing camera.

That exposed a problem with Sonic’s oversized head.

“His hands and feet sometimes would be hidden because of his big head.”

The solution was to make Sonic’s limbs, hands and feet longer so they remained visible from more angles and his movements still looked dynamic in 3D. Hoshino described that as one of the major adjustments needed when Sonic Team rebuilt the character for a three-dimensional game.

That visual problem came alongside a much larger change in how Sonic Team made games. Hoshino compared the small teams behind the 2D titles to a band, where replacing one person could noticeably change the entire result because every individual had such a large influence.

As the series moved into 3D, those teams became much larger. Hoshino and Takashi Iizuka increasingly found themselves leading separate groups rather than working as closely together on every part of a project.

The art department had its own upheaval. Pixel artwork could be drawn directly in two dimensions, but polygonal characters needed to work from every side. Artists suddenly had to think about forms, angles and parts of characters they had never needed to create before.

“We had to use new technology and new equipment.”

Hoshino said some designers were highly skilled at 2D artwork but were not accustomed to the new production methods, forcing the art team itself to change as Sonic Team adapted to polygonal development.

The comments add another side to Sonic Team’s difficult transition into 3D. As Sonic City recently covered, Iizuka has discussed how Sonic Adventure needed new camera rules and the Homing Attack to make Sonic’s speed work in a three-dimensional space. Hoshino’s account shows that the same transition was forcing equally fundamental changes behind the scenes, right down to the length of Sonic’s limbs.

Hoshino also reflected on seeing characters he helped create move far beyond the games. He designed Amy Rose and Metal Sonic for Sonic CD and later worked with Iizuka on Shadow the Hedgehog.

Shadow has already reached the movies, with Keanu Reeves voicing him in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, while Amy and Metal Sonic are set to appear in the next film. For Hoshino, seeing people discover those characters through a movie without ever having played the games is especially meaningful.

“It’s a priceless thing to know.”

The full interview was published alongside the 35 Years of Speed: The Sonic Art Exhibit, which opens its Los Angeles edition on September 26 and 27. Hoshino says he still checks social media every day to see what Sonic fans are creating and how they respond to the series.

Thirty-five years later, Sonic’s modern proportions can look like they were always meant to be that way. Hoshino’s explanation is much more practical: when Sonic entered 3D, the artists had to make sure you could still see his hands and feet.

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