Afterward, the team narrowed its search down to animals that could roll into a ball, based on the idea for an attack-based move, which led them to considered and.
The global head of marketing, Al Nilsen, became involved, and play-tested the game across the United States with Mario fans: they were shown Mario and then played Sonic the Hedgehog.
Over time, Naka, Ohshima, and Yasuhara would work nineteen hours a day on the project for several months.