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 Spinball
The game was developed by the American staff of Sega Technical Institute, as the Japanese staff was occupied with developing "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" and "Sonic & Knuckles". When Sega management realized that "Sonic 3" would not be completed in time for the 1993 holiday shopping season, they commissioned another "Sonic" game that would be. The game was hastily designed amid time constraints, with most work taking place over two months. "Sonic Spinball" was released for the Sega Genesis in November 1993, and for the Game Gear and Master System in 1994 and 1995, respectively.