 Development ultimately focused on the Wii U and 3DS because of the success of previous Sonic titles on Nintendo platforms . Because Wii U " has two monitors to use " , Sonic Team decided to include both cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes . The Wii U GamePad 's touch screen and gyroscope were employed to activate the returning Color Powers . The 3DS version , co @-@ developed with Dimps , was designed to " fully utilize " the 3DS hardware with 3D gameplay and motion controls . Development was harder on 3DS due to its more limited processing power . Iizuka stated that the Color Powers are " essential " to the level design of the 3DS version , while they work as an " additional tool " in the Wii U version . A simple art style was used to make objects stand out more against the backgrounds , and to keep the game running at a consistent 60 frames per second . The design of the new " Deadly Six " villains was based on that of an ogre , and each one 's appearance was intended to reflect a certain key characteristic of their personality , which the developers hoped players could see " just by looking at them . " The Wii U version of the game was directed by Morio Kishimoto , the director of Sonic Colors and the lead designer of Sonic and the Black Knight , while the 3DS version was directed by Takao Hirabayashi , the director of Sonic Colors DS . 
