Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese platform video game series and media franchise created by Sega and featuring their mascot, Sonic. It is a series of fast platform games. Sonic is the main character. He is a bright blue hedgehog with supersonic speed. Usually, Sonic must stop the villain, Doctor Eggman's, plans for taking over the world. Sonic is often helped by his friends like Tails, Amy Rose, and Knuckles.
| Sonic the Hedgehog | |
|---|---|
| Genres | Platform |
| Developers | |
| Publishers | Sega |
| Creators | |
| Artists | |
| Platforms | List
|
| First release | Sonic the Hedgehog June 23, 1991 |
| Latest release | Sonic X Shadow Generations October 25, 2024 |
| Spin-offs | Sonic Boom |
The first Sonic the Hedgehog game was released in 1991. It was created by Sega's Sonic Team division after Sega wanted a new mascot character. This was because they wanted to replace Alex Kidd, and they wanted to compete with Nintendo's mascot, Mario. Its success made many sequels, and it helped Sega become one of the biggest video game companies during the 16-bit era of the early 1990s. The first major 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure, was released in 1998 for the Dreamcast. The first 3D Game is technically Sonic 3D Blast released on November 5, 1996 on the Game Gear.
The series made over $5 billion by 2014.[1] As of 2018, the series has sold 800 million copies. This includes free-to-play mobile game downloads.[2]
Reception and legacy
Sales
Sonic The Hedgehog Media
Sonic the Hedgehog co-creators: programmer Yuji Naka (left) and artist Naoto Ohshima (right)
The original Sonic the Hedgehog was released on June 23, 1991, for the Sega Genesis, boosting Genesis sales dramatically.
Hirokazu Yasuhara (pictured in 2018) designed most of the Genesis Sonic games.
Few Sonic games were released for the Saturn. The cancellation of Sonic X-treme is considered a significant factor in the Saturn's commercial failure.
Sonic Adventure, the first major 3D Sonic game, was released for the Dreamcast in 1998
Takashi Iizuka, who directed the first three 3D Sonic games, has been the head of Sonic Team and Sonic's producer since 2010.
Jun Senoue (left) and his band Crush 40 have composed music for most Sonic games since Sonic 3D Blast (1996).
Jaleel White voiced Sonic in DIC Entertainment's three Sonic animated series.
Ian Flynn has been a lead writer on Sonic the Hedgehog comics since 2006. He also contributed to other Sonic media, including the script for Sonic Frontiers (2022).
Sonic was the first video game character to have a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which occurred in 1993. In the above time lapse of the 2012 parade, the balloon can be seen at the 46-second mark.
Note
- ↑ Sonic Adventure 2 Battle: 1.44 million in US,[62] 192,186 in Japan,[64] 100,000 in UK[65]
- ↑ Sonic Advance: 1.21 million in US,[62] 204,542 in Japan,[64] 100,000 in UK[65]
- ↑ Sonic Mega Collection: 1.38 million in US,[62] 72,967 in Japan[66]
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Mario & Sonic series:
- Up until March 2011 – 19 million[84][85]
- Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games – 3.28 million[86]
- Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games – 65,377 in Japan[87]
- Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – 430,033 in Japan[88]
- ↑ The Sonic franchise (including Mario & Sonic) had sold over 89 million units by March 2011.[84] In addition, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games sold 3.28 million copies and Sonic Generations sold 1.85 million units as of March 2012, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed sold 1.36 million units as of March 2013, Sonic Lost World sold 710,000 units as of March 2014, and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric & Shattered Crystal sold 620,000 units as of March 2015.[92][93][94][95] The iOS games Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (released June 23, 2011) and Sonic Jump (2012) sold over 16.7 million and 8.8 million paid downloads, respectively, as of 2013.[96] Sonic Mania (2017) sold over 1 million units as of March 2018.[97]
References
- ↑ Gaudiosi, John. Sonic the Hedgehog still running fast for Sega (July 9, 2014)Time. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
- ↑ SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS – INTEGRATED REPORT 2018 (2018)Sega Sammy Holdings. p. 30. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog CD Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog CD Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog CD Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic & Knuckles Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Adventure DX Director's Cut Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Adventure Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Adventure Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Adventure 2 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Adventure 2 Battle Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Adventure 2 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Adventure 2 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Advance Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Advance 2 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Heroes Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Heroes Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Heroes Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Heroes Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Advance 3 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Rush Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Rush Adventure Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Unleashed Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Unleashed Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Unleashed Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Unleashed Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Colors Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Colors Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Generations Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Generations Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Generations Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Generations Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Lost World Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ 'Sonic Lost World Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved February 4, 2011.
- ↑ Sonic Mania. Metacritic. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ↑ Sonic Mania. Metacritic. Retrieved October 14, 2017.
- ↑ Sonic Mania. Metacritic. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
- ↑ Sonic Mania. Metacritic. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
- ↑ Sonic Forces for Xbox One Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
- ↑ Sonic Forces for PC Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
- ↑ Sonic Forces for PlayStation 4 Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
- ↑ Sonic Forces for Switch Reviews. Metacritic. Retrieved November 15, 2017.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog GameTap Retrospective Pt. 3/4.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog GameTap Retrospective Pt. 3/4.
- ↑ Boutros, Daniel. Sonic the Hedgehog 2. A Detailed Cross-Examination of Yesterday and Today's Best-Selling Platform Games (August 4, 2006)Gamasutra. p. 5. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
- ↑ BUSINESS WIRE: SALES YEAR FOR SEGA'S GENESIS, GAME GEAR AND SEGA CD. Accessed via factivaBusiness Wire. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog GameTap Retrospective Pt. 4/4.
- ↑ 62.0 62.1 62.2 62.3 62.4 US Platinum Videogame Chart (December 27, 2007)The Magic Box. Retrieved August 3, 2008.
- ↑ Daniel Boutros. Sonic Adventure. A Detailed Cross-Examination of Yesterday and Today's Best-Selling Platform Games (August 4, 2006)Gamasutra. Retrieved December 8, 2006.
- ↑ 64.0 64.1 Sonic (February 4, 2013)Garaph (Japan). Retrieved April 13, 2012.
- ↑ 65.0 65.1 ELSPA Sales AwardsEntertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Retrieved February 3, 2009.
- ↑ 2003 Japan ChartsGeimin. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
- ↑ Annual Report 2004 (March 31, 2004)Sega Sammy Holdings. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
- ↑ SEGA SAMMY HOLDINGS ANNUAL REPORT 2006 (July 2006). p. 47. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
- ↑ 69.0 69.1 Fiscal Year Ended March 2007 Full Year Results (May 14, 2007). p. 15. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
- ↑ Financial Results (May 25, 2005)Sega Sammy Holdings. Retrieved June 11, 2017.[dead link]
- ↑ Annual Report 2005 (May 25, 2005)Sega Sammy Holdings. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
- ↑ Full Year Results Presentation (May 16, 2006)Sega Sammy Holdings. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
- ↑ Ben Parfitt (May 29, 2008). "Sonic rings mobile success". MCV. http://www.mcvuk.com/news/30705/Sonic-rings-mobile-success. Retrieved May 29, 2008.
- ↑ Full Year Results (May 14, 2007)Sega Sammy Holdings. Retrieved June 11, 2017.
- ↑ Financial Results (in Japanese) (May 13, 2009)Sega Sammy Holdings. p. 7. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
- ↑ 76.0 76.1 Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2010 (May 14, 2010)Sega Sammy Holdings. p. 5. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
- ↑ Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2011 (May 13, 2011)Sega Sammy Holdings. p. 3. Retrieved April 13, 2012.
- ↑ Tom Ivan. Vanquish sells 820,000 copies. Computer and Video Games (February 4, 2011). Retrieved February 18, 2011.
- ↑ 79.0 79.1 79.2 79.3 The Sonic franchise sold approximately 80 million units as of June 2011: See Smith, Jamin. 'Sonic the Hedgehog celebrates his 20th birthday. VideoGamer.com (June 23, 2011). Retrieved September 8, 2016. Additionally, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games sold 3.28 million copies, Sonic Generations sold 1.85 million units by March 2012, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed sold 1.36 million units by the end of March 2013, Sonic Lost World sold 710,000 units by March 2014, and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric/Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal sold 620,000 units by March 2015. See Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2012. Sega Sammy Holdings (May 11, 2012). p. 6. Retrieved September 8, 2016.; FY Ended March 2013 Full Year Results Presentation. Sega Sammy Holdings (May 13, 2013). p. 21. Retrieved September 8, 2016.; FY Ended March 2014 Full Year Results Presentation. Sega Sammy Holdings (May 12, 2014). p. 21. Retrieved September 8, 2016.; and Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2015. Sega Sammy Holdings (May 11, 2015). p. 6. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
- ↑ Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2012 (May 8, 2012)Sega Sammy Holdings. p. 6. Retrieved April 13, 2015.
- ↑ Kuo, Li C.. Sega Sammy posts fiscal net profit (May 10, 2013)joystiq. Retrieved May 18, 2013.
- ↑ FY Ended March 2014 Full Year Results Presentation (May 12, 2014)Sega Sammy Holdings. p. 21. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
- ↑ FY Ended March 2015 Full Year Results Presentation (March 31, 2015)Sega Sammy Holdings. p. 21. Retrieved December 15, 2015.
- ↑ 84.0 84.1 Annual Report 2011 (2011). p. 43. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
- ↑ Sega/Nintendo (April 21, 2011). "London's Calling Mario & Sonic". Press release. http://www.sega.com/news/?n=5048. Retrieved April 21, 2011.)
- ↑ Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements: Year Ended March 31, 2012 (May 11, 2012)Sega Sammy Holdings. p. 6. Retrieved May 17, 2012.
- ↑ Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games. Japan Game Sales Database. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
- ↑ Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Japan Game Sales Database. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
- ↑ The 'Godfather' of Gaming is Back! (May 2010)Guinness World Records. Retrieved May 31, 2010.
- ↑ Crecente, Brian. Another Mario Sonic Collaboration in the Works? (July 18, 2008)Kotaku. Retrieved July 30, 2008.
- ↑ Ivan, Tom (February 5, 2010). "Sega Posts Decline In Nine Month Game Sales". Edge. Archived from the original on October 11, 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20101011232625/http://www.next-gen.biz/news/sega-posts-decline-in-nine-month-game-sales. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
- ↑ Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2012. Sega Sammy Holdings (May 11, 2012). p. 6. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
- ↑ FY Ended March 2013 Full Year Results Presentation. Sega Sammy Holdings (May 13, 2013). p. 21. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
- ↑ FY Ended March 2014 Full Year Results Presentation. Sega Sammy Holdings (May 12, 2014). p. 21. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
- ↑ Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2015. Sega Sammy Holdings (May 11, 2015). p. 6. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
- ↑ "Delivering Quality Games to Even More Customers" (in en). Annual Report 2013 (Sega Sammy Holdings). https://www.segasammy.co.jp/english/ir/ar2013/future/future_02.html. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
- ↑ Sato. Sonic Mania Reaches 1 Million In Worldwide Sales. Sliconera. Retrieved April 24, 2018.