"Yuji Naka went to square enix in some unknown capacity" *distant screams of agony*

The real tragedy is that Sega was so fixated on the whole 15th birthday thing, that they couldn't realize that the "sweet sixteen" birthday would have been more than acceptable anyway.

SEGA is always their own worst enemy.

god. Sega how could you mishandle your MASCOT SO HORRIBLY

I cannot believe that they fixed issues and then discarded those fixes. Like that is insane

Sonic 06: The first Uphill-Snowboarding game in the world

One of my favorite moments from this game was during near end of Shadow's story when a GUN Soldier's voice actor messed up his line and does a retake without being edited into the final release. Quality control right there.

It's like Sega has a personal vendetta against thier own character, Sonic. They keep trying to kill him but he just won't die.

I’m noticing a pattern with a lot of these. All of these games seem to start out strong, but the management starts asking for more, while taking away from what they already have. The real villain behind these failed games is almost always incompetent management.

What really happened was the following. QA Department: Alright, we are ready to start bug testing. SEGA: What do you mean? We shipped the game last week!

Never has there been a game so destructive to the reputation of a once icon. It's one of the most depressing and amazing things the history of the industry.

Nakamura's acknowledgement of their shortcomings sounded so foreign compared to how other game devs handled their failures

Yuji Naka just went to buy cigarettes, he’ll be back... eventually...

I need to know about what happened with the Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. The horror of Ken Penders would be an amazing tale to hear about

Sega seems completely unable to comprehend that a bad game is bad forever, while a late release is just late. Take the time to release a good product damn you!

I can't believe Sega was so adamant about sticking to that 15th anniversary deadline. Losing crucial team members over the years was bad enough, but not allowing the smaller team time to fix the game was asinine. A 15 year anniversary isn't even a big thing! 10 years fine, 20 sure, 25 go for it. 15 is such an arbitrary number by comparison.

No Matt, you can't do this to us! It's no use!

I'd be interested in a positive Wha Happened? With Sleeping Dogs, a game with a rocky developmental cycle that ended up being a fan favorite.

"Billy Who, and the giant wha...?" I WILL FIGHT YOU, MATT!

'Yuji Naka went to Squarenix in an unknown capacity' Unfortunate since now we've seen what he's been doing there and wonder if it's better or worse than Sonic 2006.

Bold of you to asume I have faith in the games industry

When you fix all the problems in the demo but the full game gets released with all the same bugs and problems, you know you're setting yourself up for failure

Years later fans said, "Lets fixes this game," and the results are showing a beautiful gem hidden under that messy pile of code.

17:31 This hits differently after Balan Wonderland

Heh... to be fair... there are two redeeming qualities of Sonic 06... it's has an amazing soundtrack that was deserving of a much, much better game, and it is a meme goldmine... But seriously though, other than those two things, I can't think of a reason to say any of 06 was good

“Yuji Naka would never find the success he had with sega again... ...before moving on to square enix in 2018 in an unknown capacity” is the funniest line in this video two years later

10:15 Amy : "Hey! You're not Sonic!" (slap) *SCREEEEEEEE*

One reason why this project failed was the level designers. There were 6, yet none of them had worked on a Sonic game before. Director did have some experience with SA1 tho, but he had never directed a Sonic game before, or since for that matter. This was doomed to fail imo, rushed development or not.

"...the charming Rhythm Thief and the Emperor's Treasure..." God sometimes I feel like I am the only person who remembers that game existed, which is a damn shame! That game was great!

Definitely feel like Sonic: The Dark Brotherhood is worth a Wha Happun, particularly because of the entire shitstorm of drama that game was at the center of

Mephiles: "The Day of Disaster..." November 14th 2006 Mephiles: "Here are my records of this event."

i still dont understand how sonic forces ended up soo bad....there had to be some development hell going on in the background i mean how else will they go from the super refined gameplay of colors and generations ....to that....just how....why...

i'd love to see one of these for Bomberman: Act Zero

Sonic '06 has exactly three redeeming qualities: 1. *Enjoyable* music. 2. Good for speedruns. 3. Hilarious cutscenes that one can enjoy like fine wine alongside the classic Adventure games. 3.5: Have you seen Mephiles? Have you HEARD Mephiles?

It's actually a shame the PC version didn't become a thing. I'm sure fan made mods could have done wonders for it.

Gotta feel bad for Shun Nakamura. At least he was able to redeem himself with Rhythm Thief. A fantastic game that really, really deserves a sequel. As for Naka...well, I think it's pretty clear from how Balan Wonderworld turned out that he's probably cleaning out his desk at Square-Enix as we speak.

Wow. I knew the game was rushed, but I didn’t know just how screwed the game was. I actually have some respect for the ‘06 dev team now. They tried so freaking hard...

It's honestly ridiculous on how Sega still managed to get up on two feet after this game, though pretty much limping everywhere it goes to this day. Though I will say I think with how the company is still around and Sonic being battered and bruised as a franchise doing whatever it can to say up is weirdly comforting in a way. I honestly dunno what a world without Sega would be like, I dunno if any of their franchises would survive or continue to this day without the company and those involved with it. After 2006 despite the thumbing around, there have been various game that are honestly some of the most fun I had with a game and I don't mean just the Sonic ones but other IPs of theirs in general. We've gotten a butt load of Yakuza games since then that are also localized, they've been thriving with Football Managers in the PC space, they've allowed some of Platinum Games line-up to be published and no matter how bad things get, still try to treat fans and customers with respect (except for maybe Colonial Marines). And in an industry where there's a lot of lies and hidden secrets they at least try to be transparent about what they do. Call me crazy to still have some faith in them especially with the rather unremarkable Team Sonic Racing soon coming out as a half-baked tribute to Sonic running on the S&SASR engine, there are areas that I think indicate that there's people wanting to do their all for what they're working on. And basically what I have to end this with is. Sega should give literally every team they have a similar leniency they gave Christian Whitehead, Simon Thomley and the rest of their guys. Maybe the same leniency the Yakuza team has also.

Sega: We’re making the most technically advanced Sonic game in HD. Staff: Good thing we have Yuji Naka to help us, right? Sega: … Staff: Good thing we have Yuji Naka to help us, right?

“Yuji Naka went to Square Enix in an unknown capacity” I miss when it was unknown…

Oh, Sonic and the Dark Brotherhood. A Bioware game so bad, it killed not only it's own sequels, but an entire comics line.

Sonic Boom is the obvious next one.

Absolutely losing my mind that the 360 demo just WORKED and Sega was just like "but it's not the PS3 build so let's trash it!" 😭😭😭😭😭😭

Crazy how the discussion around 06 is still: "Sonic Team's incompetent for releasing a game of this quality". and not: "Sega's insane for rushing 06 out despite knowing Sonic Team bled Yuji Naka plus a bunch of other staff during a keypoint in development and didn't hire more devs or delay the game."

The Xbox 360 Era is perfect for Wha Happun? So many bold ideas stepping forward and confidently into fields of dung. I'd propose an episode on Two Worlds, the game that taught me that bad games existed.

Makes you look at the game in a new light. It wasn't the games fault. It could have been good. But hey, they got what they wanted. Nobody will EVER forget Sonic's 15th anniversary.

"before moving on to Square Enix in 2018 in an unknown capacity" .... now we know. Oh... now we know.... NOW WE KNOW.....

The AVGN ripped this one so badly he had to make it a two parter! Also, this video came out on my birthday!

I’d love to see a Wha Happun on Sonic Boom

I would like to shoutout: if anyone is actually interested in seeing like an ACTUAL playable/good (as good as it can be) version of Sonic 06, youtubers like somecallmejohnny have also recently played the sonic p-06 prototype, a "remade from the ground up on pc" demo of Sonic 06 and it shows you how much polish was added. Great vid Matt !

My god this explains that inexplicable memory I have of thinking the demo was actually kind of not bad. Thank you Matt for saving my sanity

Tbh I kinda groaned when I saw the title; this game has been discussed so many times because lol it’s awful. I was wrong. Your research and dedication to the game at hand is always so pristine. My mate bong and I thank you 👍🏻❤️

Well... The music was ok, that’s one positive.

13:38- Rich Evans sighting confirmed

17:29 Gee, I wonder what WORLDS of WONDER Yuji Naka would've been working on at that time...

"Moving on to Square Enix in an unknown capacity" Oh the delicious foreshadowing lmao

It's amazing that they managed to make Sonic Unleashed two years later and becoming one of the better Sonic games. And one of my favorite games

this and the sonic 06 fandub makes me happy that this trainwreck is being revisited

If only development was smooth on this game it could have been one of the best 3D Sonic games ever. 🤦🏾‍♂️

7:40 Yep, he left Sega just to make the hit game "Oh God No," and then landed in jail for insider trading business...

Mighty No. 9 needs to be talked about.

"Gotta work fast!" -Sega

oof, another wha' happun foreshadowed here, Balan Wonderworld.

A common thread I'm noticing in the "Wha Happun?" series so far is that every time (again, so far; I haven't watched them all) Japanese developers fuck up a game, _they own it._ They claim fault, and say it was their burden. Project leads and directors say "This was _my_ fault as the leader, not the individual developers." Western development heads... don't seem to do that. They'll point at the janitor's _dog_ to be at fault before they'll own up to their own fuck ups. lol

Wow, these are really well animated and the content is so much better than the "Top 10 heroes who have been through a DIVORCE" content we're seeing more and more of, can't believe you don't have more views on your videos man, really enjoying this series

9:16 Did they consider Dark Prognosticus at some point? Great to hear someone cover the whole story behind this infamous game! People normally shorten it to "it got rushed" and call it a day. While that's definitely true, there was a lot more that happened beyond rushing. And as per usual, you explained it very well.

As impressive as it was that people stuck with the project until release, I would've just quit to make a point. If Sega wants their sonic game, they should support their sonic team.

Whew I had no idea this would tie into Balan Wonderworld

Wow, I feel really bad for the development team. You constantly see people saying that the game must have been made by incompetent buffoons; it's sad to know that these people took the blame in the public's mind for problems that were really out of their control.

Theres SO MUCH value in making a character that people love . Look at sonic- No matter what garbage sonic the hedgehog is attached to, people still love the character and will always suppourt sonic products regardless of quality . Thats a testament to how well designed the character is. Say what you will about sonic, but you cant deny how well the character works.

Oh if only they could see what Naka would go on to make.

"Non-playable presentation which showed Sonic moving across a grassy landscape..." Oh god it's happened agaiiiin!

At least we got a now legendary Game Grumps LP out of it

Should have waited a couple days, Matt. You could have had nightmare pictures of Sonic the Manhog from the live-action movie trailer to add!

9:23 That is by far the most cursed loading screen tip I've ever seen in my entire life.

"Sonic was never good." Well he must be fun at parties...

These are always so well-researched and comprehensive. I really enjoy these videos. Thanks so much!

17:32 and then Balan happened.

My favorite part of this entire video is the epilogue about Yuji Naka joining Square Enix in some then unknown fashion

that final line about Yuji Naka hits different now that Balan "my last chance" Wonderworld has come out cant wait for that episode

This just makes me feel bad for 06 knowing how badly treated the project was and why it became a buggy mess.

Im not into sonic but it seems like yuki naka is a common denominator when it comes to subsequent games failing.

9:27 I had to do a double check I was like “did that say twitter?

I just randomly came across your channel and I'm in love. Astounding work. Subbed.

"All of them ripe for future episodes" "Shows Black Knight* Yeah, okay. Sure.

13:25 Rich Evans would be proud to know that his likings was used for a Sonic 2006 reference.

I love this series. Keep it up, Matt.

2:09 Fathers escaping their responsibility be like

I watched the What Happened Balan Wonderworld video before this, I almost spit my coffee at the end when this video mentions Naka...

Sonic free riders? Dude, its just sonic riders. The last one was free riders and we try to forget it ever happened

16:10 Sonic Free Riders was the 3rd Sonic Riders games released in 2010 for Kinect. The original you were trying to mention also 15th anniversary branded .

I noticed a pattern with both 06 and Boom. Both of them started seeing problems once Nintendo's less powerful Consoles got involved, with 06 the team had to split up to work on a Wii Sonic title which left the 06 team missing half its staff and the Boom team had to scale back a lot of their game due to them finding out last second that it would be exclusive to the Wii U which wasn't as powerful as what they were originally developing for. Its kinda like Mario's secret revenge lol. It does seem like Sega got better at it though with the Switch since Sonic Forces on the Switch is similar to its PS4 and X1 versions with the main differences being a 30fps instead of 60 and lower resolution.

Redeeming Quality: You can break the game in hilarious ways without even trying

17:29 Ooooo, that didn't go so well..

"Sonic goes fast, so development must go fast too!" - Sega probably.

lmfao dude! I couldn't help but laugh at the subtlety of seeing the zoom in on the time it took the werehog to complete the stage. How while you explained that Sega took a werehog-sized poop load all over the revival of Sonic, you see him running around in the background with excitement over attaining an S rank while reminding us that it took a whopping 17 minutes to complete it! 0_0 Great job on that, and on all the little details you did to make the entire video entertaining. Awesome!

Great video exploring the turbulent development of 06 in detail! It’s often just dismissed as a failed deadline when games that crash this hard crash for SO MANY other reasons. Also 06 does have a redeeming quality: That bumpin’ soundtrack

can't wait for the sonic frontiers episode

Love these vids Matt keep it up! These videos will ensure I never have to ask myself "WHA HAPPUN!!?" ever again 😅

So wait. They fixed the game but didn’t fucking put the fixes in the game they released as a final product? I’m honestly just confused