62 Facts About Sonic The Hedgehog

1.

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega.

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2.

Sega developed the first Sonic game, released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis, to compete with Nintendo's mascot Mario.

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3.

Games typically feature Sonic The Hedgehog setting out to stop Eggman's schemes for world domination, and the player navigates levels that include springs, slopes, bottomless pits, and vertical loops.

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4.

Sonic the Hedgehog is Sega's flagship franchise and one of the bestselling video game franchises, selling over units by 2016 and grossing over as of 2020.

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5.

The Genesis Sonic The Hedgehog games have been described as representative of the culture of the 1990s and listed among the greatest of all time.

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6.

Sonic The Hedgehog's color was chosen to match Sega's cobalt blue logo, and his red and white shoes were inspired by the cover of Michael Jackson's 1987 album Bad.

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7.

Sonic The Hedgehog's personality was based on Bill Clinton's "can-do" attitude.

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8.

The Sonic The Hedgehog developers let AM3 use Sonic The Hedgehog because they were interested in making the character visible to the public.

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9.

Sonic The Hedgehog quit but was hired by Mark Cerny to work at the US-based Sega Technical Institute, with a higher salary and more creative freedom.

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10.

Once development on Sonic The Hedgehog 2 concluded, Cerny departed and was replaced by Roger Hector.

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11.

The first, an 8-bit version of the original Sonic The Hedgehog, was developed by Ancient to promote the Game Gear and released in December 1991.

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12.

Sonic The Hedgehog was reunited with Ohshima and brought with him Takashi Iizuka, who had worked with Naka's team at STI.

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13.

Sonic The Hedgehog Team began to work on a new intellectual property, Nights into Dreams, for Sega's 32-bit Saturn console.

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14.

Since Sonic The Hedgehog Team was preoccupied with Nights into Dreams, 3D Blast was outsourced to the British studio Traveller's Tales.

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15.

Sonic The Hedgehog Jam was well received, while Sonic The Hedgehog R reviews were more divided.

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16.

Sonic The Hedgehog Adventure, directed by Iizuka and released in 1998, was one of the first sixth-generation video games.

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17.

The game, again directed by Iizuka, was designed for a broad audience, and Sonic The Hedgehog Team revived elements not seen since the Genesis era, such as special stages and the Chaotix characters.

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18.

Reviews for Sonic The Hedgehog Heroes were mixed; while its graphics and gameplay were praised, critics felt it failed to address the problems of previous Sonic The Hedgehog games, such as the camera.

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19.

Sonic The Hedgehog Team ported Sonic The Hedgehog Adventure with additional content to the GameCube in 2003 and Windows in 2004, to mixed reviews.

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20.

Sonic The Hedgehog Advance was the first original Sonic The Hedgehog game released for a Nintendo console after Sega and Nintendo's fierce rivalry in the 1990s.

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21.

Shadow the Hedgehog was panned for its controls, level design, and mature themes, but was a commercial success, selling at least 1.

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22.

None of the 15th-anniversary Sonic The Hedgehog games were successful critically, and Sonic The Hedgehog '06 became regarded as the worst game in the series, panned for its bugs, camera, controls, and story.

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23.

Sonic The Hedgehog ['06] was meant to be a return to the series' roots, but it ended up damning the franchise in the eyes of many.

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24.

Iizuka felt Sonic The Hedgehog was struggling because it lacked unified direction, so Sonic The Hedgehog Team refocused on more traditional side-scrolling elements and fast-paced gameplay.

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25.

The first game in the partnership, 2013's Sonic The Hedgehog Lost World, was the first Sonic The Hedgehog game for eighth-generation hardware.

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26.

Sonic The Hedgehog Lost World was designed to be streamlined and fluid in movement and design, borrowing elements from Nintendo's Super Mario Galaxy games and the canceled X-treme.

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27.

Sonic The Hedgehog Team released Sonic The Hedgehog Runners, its first game for mobile devices, in 2015.

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28.

Sonic The Hedgehog Runners was an endless runner, but was unsuccessful and was discontinued a year after release.

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29.

Sonic The Hedgehog hoped, from then on, that the Sonic Team logo would stand as a "mark of quality"; he planned to release quality games and expand the Sonic brand, while retaining the modern Sonic design.

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30.

Iizuka and most of Sonic The Hedgehog Team relocated to Burbank, California to oversee the franchise with a new team.

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31.

Sonic The Hedgehog Mania was developed by the independent game developers PagodaWest Games and Headcannon with a staff comprising members of the Sonic The Hedgehog fandom; Whitehead conceived the project and served as director.

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32.

Sonic The Hedgehog Forces received mixed reviews, with criticism for its short length.

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33.

Sonic The Hedgehog 2 introduced Sonic The Hedgehog's sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower, a fox who can fly using his two tails.

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34.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 introduced Sonic The Hedgehog's rival Knuckles, a red echidna and the guardian of the Master Emerald.

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35.

Shadow the Hedgehog was developed in response to the Shadow character's popularity and to introduce "gun action" gameplay to the franchise.

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36.

Games since Sonic The Hedgehog Unleashed have blended 2D and 3D gameplay, with the camera shifting between side-scrolling and third-person perspectives.

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37.

Sonic The Hedgehog Colors introduces the Wisps, a race of extraterrestrial creatures that act as power-ups.

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38.

Sonic The Hedgehog Unleashed introduces the Werehog, a beat 'em up gameplay style in which Sonic The Hedgehog transforms into a werewolf-like beast and must fight enemies using brute strength.

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39.

Many Sonic games contain multiplayer and cooperative gameplay, beginning with Sonic the Hedgehog 2.

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40.

Ohtani said he attempts to "express through music the greatest features each game has", citing the diverse and energetic score of Sonic The Hedgehog Unleashed and the more science fiction-style score of Sonic The Hedgehog Colors as examples.

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41.

The 26-episode Sonic the Hedgehog features a bleak setting in which Eggman has conquered the world, while Sonic is a member of a resistance force that opposes him.

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42.

Sonic The Hedgehog Underground was planned to last 65 episodes, but only 40 were produced.

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43.

In Japan, Sega and Sonic Team collaborated with Studio Pierrot to produce a two-part original video animation, Sonic the Hedgehog, released direct-to-video in Japan in 1996.

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44.

The Sonic The Hedgehog cast teleports from their home planet to Earth during a scuffle with Eggman, where they meet a human boy, Chris Thorndyke.

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45.

Sonic The Hedgehog Boom lasted for two seasons and the last episode aired in 2017.

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46.

Sonic The Hedgehog was initially redesigned to be more realistic, with fur, new running shoes, separate eyes and a more humanlike physique.

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47.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was announced in May 2020, and principal photography began in March 2021.

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48.

Sonic The Hedgehog was the first video game franchise promoted in McDonald's, and over Sonic The Hedgehog Happy Meal toys were sold worldwide.

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49.

Sonic The Hedgehog platformers released during the 1990s were acclaimed and have been listed among the greatest video games of all time.

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50.

The original Sonic The Hedgehog was touted as a faster, cooler alternative to Nintendo's Super Mario World.

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51.

However, journalists began to feel the series was straying from its roots, with some commenting that Sonic The Hedgehog Adventure failed to reinvent Sonic The Hedgehog for the 3D era as Super Mario 64 had for Mario.

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52.

Sonic The Hedgehog Colors, released shortly afterward, was hailed as a return to form, as was 2011's Sonic The Hedgehog Generations.

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53.

Sonic The Hedgehog Lost World was released in 2013 to more mixed reviews, with some critics considering it a fresh take on the Sonic The Hedgehog formula and others a poorly designed mess.

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54.

In 1993, Sonic The Hedgehog was tied with Mario as the highest-earning entertainment personalities of the year, each generating in digital game sales that year.

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55.

Every time console games have pushed to obtain an older target age group, that's something that Sonic The Hedgehog was on the leading edge of – and broadening demographics has been important to the growth of the games industry, whether for reasons of content.

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56.

Sonic The Hedgehog appears as a playable character in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros.

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57.

Alongside Solid Snake from Konami's Metal Gear franchise, Sonic The Hedgehog was the first non-Nintendo character to appear in Smash.

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58.

One of the world's most popular video game characters, by 1992 Sonic The Hedgehog was more recognizable to children ages 6 to 11 than Disney's Mickey Mouse.

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59.

In 1993, Sonic The Hedgehog became the first video game character to have a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and was one of the four characters inducted on the Walk of Game in 2005, alongside Mario, Link, and Master Chief.

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60.

Notable Sonic fangames include Sonic: After the Sequel, set between the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 3, and Sonic Dreams Collection, which satirizes the series' fandom.

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61.

Sonic The Hedgehog has inspired various internet memes, which have been acknowledged by Sega and referenced in games.

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62.

The character stemmed from a 2017 review of Sonic The Hedgehog Lost World by YouTube user Gregzilla, as well as fans of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds streamer Forsen, who often reference the African country Uganda.

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