Sonic Lost World is Trying to Entice Mario Fans

In an interview with Official Nintendo Magazine the head of Sonic Team ,Takashu Iizuka, revealed that they are trying to win back the platforming fans with Sonic Lost World, particularly Mario fans:

“Sonic started out as a platform title but, as we got to the more recent ones, it changed to be a more speed-based game. Recent fans will be familiar with that speed-based gaming, but with Lost World, we wanted to win back the platform fans. We don’t just want old Sonic fans to come back, though: we want Mario players and other platform gamers to enjoy the new game, too.”

I don’t know what to make of this. New fans to a series is not a bad thing but what about long time fans who liked the Sonic speed?

Any Sonic Fans want to comment on this? Or should we not judge until the game is out?