Sonic Team
The initial team formed in 1990 and was composed of developers from Sega's Consumer Development division, including programmer Yuji Naka, artist Naoto Ohshima, and level designer Hirokazu Yasuhara. The team took the name Sonic Team in 1991 with the release of "Sonic the Hedgehog" for the Sega Genesis. The game was a major success that contributed to millions of Genesis sales. The next "Sonic" games were developed by Naka and Yasuhara in America at Sega Technical Institute, while Ohshima worked on "Sonic CD" in Japan. Naka returned to Japan in late 1994 to become the head of CS3, later renamed R&D #8. During this time, the division took on the Sonic Team brand but developed games that do not feature Sonic, such as "Nights into Dreams" (1996) and "Burning Rangers" (1998).
Sonic Gems Collection
Developer Sonic Team conceived the compilation to introduce younger players to older "Sonic" games. One game they wished to include, "SegaSonic the Hedgehog", was excluded due to emulation difficulties. Sega released "Gems Collection" for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 in August 2005. Reviews were mixed or average; critics were divided over whether the package would satisfy players. They preferred "Sonic CD" and "Vectorman", but found "Sonic the Fighters" and "Sonic R" mediocre, and disliked the Game Gear games. Some were disappointed by the absence of the "Streets of Rage" games in the American version and other "Sonic" games like "Knuckles' Chaotix" and "Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure".