Involvement of Yu Suzuki on OutRun 2

[Erik_Twice]

Yu Suzuki isn't credited as the designer or director of OutRun 2, but as the Producer. Is it a considered one of his games, or a joint collaboration? It's extremely hard to know how involved was Suzuki on the game, and while the game has his fingerprints all over it, it's not something I feel too confortable saying.

Any thoughts?

[fahlim003]

Yu Suzuki isn't credited as the designer or director of OutRun 2, but as the Producer. Is it a considered one of his games, or a joint collaboration? It's extremely hard to know how involved was Suzuki on the game, and while the game has his fingerprints all over it, it's not something I feel too confortable saying.

Any thoughts?

I'm sure as a producer he oversaw the development and how the game played out. Given the time difference (1986 to 2003), I'm sure Suzuki's role as a designer would've been limited regarding a game such as OutRun which is pretty straightforward. He essentially made the design with the first game which isn't altered to any great degree here.

[Erik_Twice]

He essentially made the design with the first game which isn't altered to any great degree here.

I don't agree with that at all. Simply making new traffic patterns and other general design would be enough of an alteration but drifting changes the game radically.

[Sload Soap]

It's an interesting question. I'd guess he was there to make sure Outrun didn't lose its unique "feel". Perhaps if you found out in more detail what roles people like Makoto Osaki and Daichi Katagiri (the directors) had on the project, it may shed more light on Suzuki's influence?

[Erik_Twice]

It's an interesting question. I'd guess he was there to make sure Outrun didn't lose its unique "feel". Perhaps if you found out in more detail what roles people like Makoto Osaki and Daichi Katagiri (the directors) had on the project, it may shed more light on Suzuki's influence?

It's a good idea but information of them is scarce and quite confusing.

Makoto Osaki's position of Sega is of Development Director and is credited as Director of OutRun 2. Daichi Katagiri's position is unclear but he is credited as Game Director of both OutRun 2 and OutRun 2 SP. It also seems "Director" and "Game director" are different positions from "Lead Designer", which makes it even more confused.

Suzuki is only credited as Producer of OutRun 2. There's no producer listed for OutRun 2 SP, which makes me think Suzuki had a significant amount of creative control over OR2. In Japan the title of Producer often carries more involvement than it does in the West.

This leads me to think Osaki and Katagiri were the directors on a day to day basis, they ran most of the project but Suzuki often came in and changed things as well as setting the core principles of the game.

[RyaNtheSlayA]

Perhaps an overseer role as Miyamoto has taken with the Mario series?

Also *whips out PSP* thanks for reminding me about this awesome game.

[fahlim003]

He essentially made the design with the first game which isn't altered to any great degree here.

I don't agree with that at all. Simply making new traffic patterns and other general design would be enough of an alteration but drifting changes the game radically.

What I'm suggesting is what was followed up here:

It's an interesting question. I'd guess he was there to make sure Outrun didn't lose its unique "feel".

The general design of OutRun is already established in 1 and it likely Suzuki's involvement in 2 is to keep that carrying on considering in 1 he was very involved in the research portion as well as overall design/development. The feel/vibe is quite important and while that plays a large role with there is a need to move forward(update/modernize). There is hierarchy too and because of Suzuki's status/seniority at Sega he wouldn't be tasked with an in-depth or work heavy position such as director this time around on 2.