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SEGA
This article is about a real-life person.
Information in this article is about real-life people, companies, and objects, which do not relate to the in-universe Sonic series.
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Naoto Ohshima (大島 直人 Ōshima Naoto?) is a Japanese artist and former Sega employee who most notably designed and helped form the characters of Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Eggman.

History[]

Ohshima gained notability at Sega for creating characters and playing integral roles in the development of games like Phantasy Star, Sonic the Hedgehog, NiGHTS into Dreams..., Burning Rangers and Sonic Adventure. He used to be credited under the nickname "Big Island," which is a literal translation of his family name.

OHSHIMA

Ohshima next to a Sonic statue in 2018.

After leaving Sonic Team in 1999, Ohshima formed an independent game company with former Sega employees called Artoon, and later Arzest, of which he is currently vice president. During his time at these companies he has been involved with various games including Blinx: The Time Sweeper and its sequel, Yoshi's Island DS, the Nintendo 3DS version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story + Bowser Jr.'s Journey. He also remained a fan of the Sonic series himself, having enjoyed games released after his departure from Sega like Sonic Colors, Sonic Generations, Sonic Mania, and Sonic Frontiers.[1]

On July 23, 2020, it was announced that Ohshima was working with Yuji Naka, and they had founded Balan Company, Square Enix's action game brand. Ohshima was the character designer of Balan Wonderworld, with Naka as director, and with Arzest as developer. It marked the first time since Sonic Adventure that Ohshima and Naka had worked together on developing a videogame.

On June 8, 2023, it was announced that Ohshima and Arzest would co-develop Sonic Superstars alongside Sonic Team, making his first contribution to the main series since Sonic Adventure. A "mysterious new adversary" designed by Ohshima appeared, the first Sonic character designed by him since Vector the Crocodile.

Notable non-Sonic works[]

Credits[]

Games[]

Character designer[]

Direction[]

Production[]

Animation[]

Special thanks[]

Trivia[]

  • For unknown reasons, any mention of Naoto Ohshima was removed from the credits of Sonic Adventure when the game was ported to other platforms as Sonic Adventure DX Directors Cut (which Naoto had no involvement with, as he had left Sega after Sonic Adventure was completed). Curiously, he was the only staff member of the game to have his name retroactively removed.
  • Before their 2017 releases, Naoto Ohshima devoted fan artwork to both Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces on his Twitter page.

External links[]


  1. Shea, Brian (July 25, 2023). Game Informer. pp. 28-39. Archived from the original. Retrieved on July 25, 2023.
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