Sonic creator Yuji Naka caused quite the stir on Twitter again this week by posting a photo celebrating the anniversary of Nights Into Dreams with one member of the team crudely edited out. People have clearly been asking why Naka scribbled over his former workmate before sharing the photo. As you might have guessed, it all links back to the Balan Wonderworld controversy.
Nights Into Dreams launched on the Sega Saturn 26 years ago this week. To mark the occasion, Naka shared a photo of himself with other team members who worked on the game at the presentation during which it was announced. Bomberman and Enemy Zero were announced for the Saturn at the same time.
What Naka didn't address, at least not at first, is the big black scribble over Naoto Ohshima. Naka and Ohshima have worked together on numerous projects across more than three decades, and are the main two minds behind the creation of Sonic the Hedgehog. Odds are they won't be working together again anytime soon, and Naka has since explained why he removed Ohshima from the photo before sharing it.
“How would you feel if you were suddenly removed from a game that you had worked hard on for over two years, and when you went to court, you found out that they had been talking about me behind my back?” Naka wrote in the first of a series of tweets. Naka is referencing his work on Balan Wonderworld. Following its lackluster launch, Naka revealed he had been removed from his role as director on the game six months earlier.
Naka also revealed at the time that he had filed a lawsuit against Balan Wonderworld's publisher Square Enix following his dismissal, but that suit has now been settled. Naka appears to be in the mood to drop bombshells on Twitter as of late. Shortly after the launch of Sonic Origins last month, Naka appeared to confirm a long-standing urban myth that Michael Jackson worked on the Sonic 3 soundtrack. However, that confirmation seems to have had its legend status re-established since.