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Aug 3, 2024, 3:42:37 PM8/3/24

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Sonic the Hedgehog[a] is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main Sonic the Hedgehog games are platformers mostly developed by Sonic Team; other games, developed by various studios, include spin-offs in the racing, fighting, party and sports genres. The franchise also incorporates printed media, animations, feature films, and merchandise.

Naka, Ohshima, and Yasuhara developed the first Sonic game, released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis, to provide Sega with a mascot to compete with Nintendo's Mario. Its success helped Sega become one of the leading video game companies during the fourth generation of video game consoles in the early 1990s. Sega Technical Institute developed the next three Sonic games, plus the spin-off Sonic Spinball (1993). A number of Sonic games were also developed for Sega's 8-bit consoles, the Master System and Game Gear. After a hiatus during the unsuccessful Saturn era, the first major 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure, was released in 1998 for the Dreamcast. Sega exited the console market and shifted to third-party development in 2001, continuing the series on Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation systems. Takashi Iizuka has been the series' producer since 2010.

Sonic the Hedgehog is Sega's flagship franchise and one of the bestselling video game franchises, selling over 140 million units by 2016[update] and grossing over $5 billion as of 2014[update]. Series sales and free-to-play mobile game downloads totaled 1.6 billion as of 2023[update]. The Genesis Sonic games have been described as representative of the culture of the 1990s and listed among the greatest of all time. Although later games, notably the 2006 game, received poorer reviews, Sonic is influential in the video game industry and is frequently referenced in popular culture. The franchise is known for its fandom that produces unofficial media, such as fan art and fangames.

Sonic's first appearance came in Sega AM3's racing game Rad Mobile (1991) five months before the release of Sonic the Hedgehog, as an ornament hanging from the driver's rearview mirror. The Sonic developers let AM3 use Sonic because they were interested in making him visible to the public.[16] According to Mark Cerny, who worked in Tokyo as an intermediary between the Japanese and American Sega offices, the American staff felt that Sonic had no appeal.[17] Although Katz was certain that Sonic would not be popular with American children,[18][19] Kalinske arranged to place Sonic the Hedgehog as the pack-in game with the Genesis.[18][20] Featuring speedy gameplay, Sonic the Hedgehog received critical acclaim.[21][22] It greatly increased the popularity of the Sega Genesis in North America,[23] credited with helping Sega gain 65% of the market share against Nintendo.[11]

Naka was dissatisfied with his treatment at Sega and felt he received little credit for his involvement in the success. He quit but was hired by Cerny to work at the US-based Sega Technical Institute (STI), with a higher salary and more creative freedom. Yasuhara also moved to STI.[24][23] STI began work on Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) in November 1991.[24] Level artist Yasushi Yamaguchi designed Sonic's new sidekick, Tails, a flying two-tailed fox inspired by the mythological kitsune.[3] Like its predecessor, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was a major success, but its development suffered from the language barrier and cultural differences between the Japanese and American developers.[25] While STI developed Sonic 2, Ohshima led a team in Japan to create Sonic CD for the Genesis's CD-ROM accessory, the Sega CD; it began as a port of the first game but evolved into a separate project.[26]

Following Sonic & Knuckles, Naka returned to Japan, having been offered a role as a producer.[15] He was reunited with Ohshima and brought with him Takashi Iizuka,[39] who had worked with Naka's team at STI.[27] Sonic Team was officially formed as a brand,[40][41] and began to work on a new intellectual property,[15] Nights into Dreams (1996), for Sega's 32-bit Saturn console.[42] In 1996, towards the end of the Genesis's lifecycle, Sega released Sonic 3D Blast, an isometric game based on the original Sonic 3 concept,[43] as the system still had a large install base.[44] It was the final Sonic game produced for the Genesis,[45] and was developed as a swan song for the system.[46] Since Sonic Team was preoccupied with Nights, 3D Blast was outsourced to the British studio Traveller's Tales.[42] While 3D Blast sold well,[44][47] it was criticized for its gameplay, controls, and slow pace.[48][49][50]

Meanwhile, in America, STI worked on Sonic X-treme, a 3D Sonic game for the Saturn intended for the 1996 holiday shopping season. Development was hindered by disputes between Sega of America and Japan, Naka's reported refusal to let STI use the Nights game engine, and problems adapting the series to 3D. After two lead developers became ill, X-treme was canceled.[51][52] Journalists and fans have speculated about the impact X-treme might have had if it was released,[51][53][54] with producer Mike Wallis believing it "definitely would have been competitive" with the first 3D Mario game, Super Mario 64 (1996).[52] Due to X-treme's cancellation, Sega ported Sonic 3D Blast to the Saturn[55][56] with updated graphics and bonus levels developed by Sonic Team.[57][58]

In 1997, Sega announced "Project Sonic", a promotional campaign aimed at increasing market awareness of and renewing excitement for the Sonic brand. The first Project Sonic release was Sonic Jam, a compilation of the main Genesis Sonic games[59] which included a 3D overworld Sonic Team used to experiment with 3D Sonic gameplay.[60] Sonic Team and Traveller's Tales collaborated again on the second Project Sonic game, Sonic R,[61] a 3D racing game and the only original Sonic game for the Saturn.[62][63] Yasuhara moved to London to assist Sonic R's development.[8] Sonic Jam was well received,[64][65] while Sonic R's reviews were more divided.[66][67] The cancellation of Sonic X-treme, as well as the Saturn's general lack of Sonic games, are considered important factors in the Saturn's commercial failure.[62][68] According to Nick Thorpe of Retro Gamer, "By mid-1997 Sonic had essentially been shuffled into the background... it was astonishing to see that just six years after his debut, Sonic was already retro."[69]

Sonic Team USA was renamed Sega Studios USA after completing Sonic Heroes.[15] Sega and Sonic Team leadership entered flux while they experimented with diverging from the Sonic formula.[88] Sega Studios USA's first post-Heroes project was Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), a spin-off starring the popular Adventure 2 character Shadow.[104][105] While Shadow retains most elements from previous Sonic games, it was aimed at a mature audience and introduced third-person shooting and nonlinear gameplay.[106] Shadow the Hedgehog was panned for its controls, level design, and mature themes,[107][108] but was a commercial success, selling at least 1.59 million copies.[109][110]

In 2006, for the franchise's 15th anniversary, Sonic Team developed Sonic Riders,[111] a GBA port of the original Sonic,[112] and a reboot, Sonic the Hedgehog (commonly referred to as Sonic '06).[113][114] With a more realistic setting than previous entries, Sonic '06 was intended to relaunch the series for seventh-generation consoles such as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.[88][115][116] The development faced serious problems; Naka, the last of the original Sonic development team, resigned as head of Sonic Team to form Prope,[117] and the team split so work could begin on a Wii Sonic game. According to Iizuka, these incidents, coupled with stringent Sega deadlines and an unpolished game engine, forced Sonic Team to rush development.[88] None of the 15th-anniversary Sonic games were successful critically,[118][119] and Sonic '06 became regarded as the worst game in the series, panned for its bugs, camera, controls, and story.[120][121] Brian Shea of Game Informer wrote that it "[became] synonymous with the struggles the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise had faced in recent years. Sonic ['06] was meant to be a return to the series' roots, but it ended up damning the franchise in the eyes of many."[88]

Following Naka's departure, Akinori Nishiyama, who worked on the Sonic Advance and Rush games,[131] became Sonic Team's general manager.[132] Sonic Team began working on Sonic Unleashed (2008) in 2005.[133] It was conceived as a sequel to Adventure 2, but became a standalone entry after Sonic Team introduced innovations to separate it from the Adventure games.[134] With Unleashed, Sonic Team sought to combine the best aspects of 2D and 3D Sonic games and address criticisms of previous 3D entries,[135][136] although reviews were mixed due to the addition of a beat 'em up game mode in which Sonic transforms into a werewolf-like beast.[137] After Nishiyama was promoted in 2010,[132] Iizuka was installed as the head of Sonic Team[138][139] and became the Sonic producer.[70]