Career
His first collaboration with Sega involved working with STI on Sonic 3 and Knuckles as a designer. Later, he helped supervise Traveller"s Tales with the development of Sonic R. In Japan he was lead designer for Nights into Dreams. He directed and headed up lead design for Sonic Adventure as well (it was his idea for a Sonic role-playing game).
In 1999, he and a small part of Sonic Team moved to San Francisco to establish, in order gain feedback from the western market.
Over in the United States. his team worked on the international release of Sonic Adventure. Afterward, his team started to develop their own games, where he was the director and lead designer for Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and Nights: Journey of Dreams.
In an effort to further broaden Sonic"s appeal to western markets, Iizuka gave western developer, Backbone Entertainment, a shot at developing Sonic titles (Sonic Rivals & Sonic Rivals 2) under his team"s supervision for the PSP console. In 2008 Sega"s American division,, was absorbed back into Sonic Team Japan.
, he is the head of Sonic Team and as of 2010, is serving as producer for all major Sonic the Hedgehog titles.
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994) — Senior Game Designer
Nights into Dreams (1996) — Lead Game Designer
Christmas Nights (1996) — Game Designer
Sonic 3D Blast (1996) — Game Concept Design, Special Stage Design, Saturn Enhancements
Sonic Jam (1997) — Director
Sonic R (1997) — Game Design Director
Sonic Adventure (1999) — Director, Character Game Designer, Chaos Game Designer, Level Designer
ChuChu Rocket! (2000) — Product Support (Sega of America)
Sonic Adventure DX: Director"s Cut (2003) — Mission Mode Game Designer
Sonic Heroes (2004) — Director, Level Designer, CG Movie Director
Sonic Mega Collection — Special Thanks
Sonic Gems Collection (2005) — Special Thanks
Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) — Director, Lead Game Designer, Level Designer, Scenario Writer, Movie Supervisor
Sonic Riders (2006) — Recording Coordinator
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) — Special Thanks
Sonic Rivals (2006) — Director, Concept Design, Scenario Writer, Producer
Sonic and the Secret Rings (2007) — Special Thanks
Sonic Rivals 2 (2007) — Director, Concept Design, Scenario Writer, Producer
Nights: Journey of Dreams (2007) — Director, Producer, Lead Game Designer
Nights into Dreams (PS2 Version) (2008) — Supervisor
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity (2008) — Recording Coordinator
Sega Superstars Tennis (2008) — Special Thanks
Sonic Unleashed (Xbox 360 & PS3 Version) (2008) — Level Design Special Thanks
Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood (2008) — Sonic Character Supervisor
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (2009) - Director, Game Designer
Sonic and the Black Knight (2009) — Special Thanks
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I (2010) — Producer
Sonic Colors (2010) — Producer
Sonic Generations (2011) — Producer
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II (2012) — Producer
Sonic Lost World (2013) — Producer
Puyo Puyo Tetris (2014) — Product Support
Sonic Runners (2015) — Producer
Tembo the Badass Elephant (2015) — Supervisor.