What makes Sonic the Hedgehog great? A Revisit (1991)
The birth of a Sonic (and a mascot).
Sonic the Hedgehog was created as a request from Sega to develop a mascot strong enough to compete with Nintendo’s Mario yet different enough to stand on his own.
Alex Kidd, the unofficial mascot at the time, was not popular enough, so Sega started an internal competition to create his replacement and Mario’s future rival.
After a few animal attempts, including that of a rabbit who could grab items with its ears, Sega landed on two specific animals: Armadillos and Hedgehogs. They wanted aggression, and spikes helped convey that need. They chose the Hedgehog; the armadillo eventually became the basis for Mighty the Armadillo, another character from Sonic’s universe.
The Megadrive/Genesis hardware was capable of faster processing speed(marketed as Blast Processing by Sega), which led the powers to decide that this game needed to show off this capability. This speed factor forced the team to change the character’s name from “Mr. Needlemouse” to Sonic. The development team took on the name for themselves by becoming Sonic Team.
Plot
The evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik(Eggman in Japan at the time) has captured the animal inhabitants of South Island and placed them inside his mechanical creations. The rest of the animals were trapped in metal capsules that Sonic would break open at the end of each boss fight, thus concluding the zone.
Dr. Robotnik is also attempting to collect the six Chaos Emeralds in order to harness their power and rule the land. It is up to Sonic, the fastest thing alive, to put a stop to Robotnik’s plan and save the day.
It was very simple, but like most games back in the day, the story was second to the gameplay.
Sonic the Hedgehog Zones
Sonic the Hedgehog is comprised of six main zones (or levels). They each follow a different theme; all zones carry 3 acts (or stages). The third act culminates with a boss fight against Dr. Robotnik.
There is also a Final Zone; this last zone is essentially just a boss fight in which you must defeat Dr. Robotnik one last time to complete the game. Let’s not forget the special zones (a minigame of sorts whose goal is to collect the chaos emeralds).
Click on the slideshow below to see the zones:
Most of the screenshots came from Sonic the Hedgehog: Remastered. (Thank you, Anthony Jr., for the screenshots).
Sonic’s Significance
Sonic has become significant over the years. Sonic helped catapult Sega’s 16-bit system and solidified it as a true competitor to Nintendo. Back in those days, Nintendo was the dominant force in gaming. In the US, it helped Sega Genesis reach a 65% market share by the beginning of 1992.
He was the first mascot character that actually challenged Super Mario in terms of sales and popularity. Sonic remains Sega’s number one franchise to date, spawning multiple videogames, cartoon shows, comic books, games, clothing, toys, and souvenirs, among many more.
A recent and successful movie was released in 2020, and a sequel was released in 2022. Those who follow video game-based movies know that they are never as good as the source material. (The original Mortal Kombat excluded). Yet, the Sonic movies are actually good. The Second one is even closer to the source material.
Sonic’s creation and popularity led to the creation of other video game characters with an attitude over the years. Whereas Alex Kidd was rather tame, Sonic not only had an attitude but was also perceived as cool by gamers.
All developed and inspired to follow Sonic’s lead, hoping for them to become popular characters in their own right. Earthworm Jim, Bubsy, and Gex come to mind. However, there are plenty more, some carrying a higher degree of success, for example, characters like Rayman and Crash Bandicoot.
The original Sonic the Hedgehog game was inducted into the World Video Game Hall of Fame @ the Strong Museum in Rochester, NY, 2016. Further cementing its iconic status in gaming history.
Reception
Over the years, Sonic games have seen mixed receptions. Some games are rated high, and some are at an all-time low. I can only hope that the Sega developers can continue bringing quality into Sonic games. Sonic Mania was a great example of making it right.
For me, Sonic has become synonymous with my childhood years and continues to be a favorite of mine. Playing Sonic the Hedgehog constantly brings me back to my childhood days of playing Sonic with my younger brother on our old CRT monitor. I miss the 90s.
As such, Sonic continues to have a special spot inside me, along with other classic video games from the era, such as Super Mario, Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Megaman, and Final Fight.
Miscellaneous Trivia
*Michael Jackson’s boots from his Bad album were the inspiration for Sonic’s now-famous shoes.
*Sonic the Hedgehog is considered the hardest in the classic saga.
*Mickey Mouse’s body was used for Sonic’s basic likeness.
*Pop art was the inspiration for the colorful setting.
*Dr. Ivo Robotnik’s name has been Dr. Eggman in Japan since the first game. It didn’t hit North America until the release of Sega Dreamcast’s Sonic Adventure in 1999.
*Green Hill Zone was inspired to a degree by the California landscape.
*Sonic wasn’t always planned to be blue. He was colored blue to match Sega’s blue color scheme, as seen on their logo.
*Sonic does not swim, yet in real life, Hedgehogs can.
*Only six chaos emeralds in the original version. The 7th one, Super Sonic, was introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2(1992)
*Green Hill Zone, the game’s first stage, was remade in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Generations.
