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 CD
The 1991 release of "Sonic the Hedgehog", the first game in the "Sonic" series, was a major commercial success and positioned Sega as Nintendo's main rival in the console market. Lead programmer Yuji Naka, dissatisfied with Sega of Japan's rigid corporate policies, moved with several members of Sonic Team to the United States to develop "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" with Sega Technical Institute (STI). Meanwhile, Sega planned to release the Sega CD add-on for its Genesis, and wanted a "Sonic" sequel that would demonstrate its more advanced features. Sonic's character designer Naoto Ohshima was "Sonic CD"s director; the remainder of the team comprised Sega staff who had developed "The Revenge of Shinobi", "Golden Axe 2", and "Streets of Rage".