At the 1997 Tokyo Game Show, Sega announced "Project Sonic", a promotional campaign aimed at increasing market awareness of the "Sonic the Hedgehog" brand. Yuji Naka, the creator of "Sonic the Hedgehog", declared that "phase one" of the project would introduce "Sonic Jam" as a compilation of games with several improvements rather than being direct ports. At the time of the Tokyo Game Show, the game was "88% complete". According to Naka, the purpose of "Project Sonic" was not only to increase consumer awareness but also renew excitement for Sega, as "Sonic the Hedgehog" was only initially successful outside of Japan.