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
Sonic Gems Collection is a 2005 compilation of Sega video games, primarily those in the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series. The emulated games span multiple genres and consoles—from the Sega Genesis to the Sega Saturn—and retain the features and errors of their initial releases with minimal edits. Player progress is rewarded with demos of other "Sonic" games, videos, and promotional artwork spanning the history of the "Sonic" franchise. While its 2002 predecessor, "Sonic Mega Collection", comprised the more popular "Sonic" games, "Gems Collection" focuses on more obscure games, such as "Sonic CD" and "Sonic the Fighters". Other non-"Sonic" games are included, but some, such as the "Streets of Rage" trilogy, are omitted in the North American localization.