We know that Sonic Lost World is a Nintendo exclusive, it's one of the three games that represent the global partnership between SEGA and Nintendo, but that still doesn't answer the question.

How did Sonic Lost World actually become a Nintendo exclusive?

The head of Sonic Team and producer of Sonic Lost World, Takashi Iizuka said this in interview with ONM (Official Nintendo Magazine)in this month's issue:

Takashi Iizuka: “The Wii U hadn’t been revealed when development began for Sonic Lost World, so we were working on a PC version in order to see what kind of platformer we could make. Then, when we tried to think about which platform would be best for this game, we chose Nintendo.”

Clearly the team was head-deep in development prior to the Wii U reveal, and we know that they were trying to pick the best platform for the game, and when you consider the large backlog of Platformers that the Wii had alone, including some of the best games of this generation, not to mention the similarities between itself and the Super Mario Galaxy series, Sonic Lost World was a good fit for Nintendo.

Takashi Iizuka: "With Lost World we wanted to evolve how Sonic works in 3D. When you think about a 3D level, it's still limited - the sides are limited - so we talked about making levels as cubes or tubes. Expanding the sides around 360 degrees enables players to take many paths, not just two or three. We ended up with a tune stage and realised we were a bit close to Mario Galaxy!"

Sonic Lost World is less than three months away when it arrives on October the 18th on the Wii U & 3DS. Are you looking forward to this Nintendo exclusive?