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Sonic the Hedgehog[a] is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by 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.
While Sonic games often have unique game mechanics and stories, they feature recurring elements such as the ring-based health system, level locales, and fast-paced gameplay. Games typically feature Sonic setting out to stop Eggman's schemes for world domination, and the player navigates levels that include springs, slopes, bottomless pits, and vertical loops. Later games added a large cast of characters; some, such as Miles \"Tails\" Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, and Shadow the Hedgehog, have starred in spin-offs. The franchise has crossed over with other video game franchises in games such as Mario & Sonic, Sega All-Stars, and Super Smash Bros.
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 $6 billion as of 2020[update]. Series sales and free-to-play mobile game downloads totaled 1.5 billion as of 2022[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 series reboot, 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.
In a 2015 interview with Polygon, Iizuka acknowledged that contemporary Sonic games had been disappointing. He 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.[143] Iizuka and most of Sonic Team relocated to Burbank, California to oversee the franchise with a new team.[89] At the San Diego Comic-Con in July 2016, Sega announced two Sonic games to coincide with the series' 25th anniversary: Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces.[173] Both were released for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and Windows in 2017.[174][175] Sonic Mania was developed by the independent game developers PagodaWest Games and Headcannon with a staff comprising members of the Sonic fandom; Whitehead conceived the project and served as director.[176] The game, which emulates the gameplay and visuals of the Genesis entries, received the best reviews for a Sonic game in 15 years.[177] Meanwhile, Sonic Team developed Sonic Forces, which revives the dual gameplay of Sonic Generations along with a third gameplay style featuring the player's custom character.[178][179] Sonic Forces received mixed reviews,[180] with criticism for its short length.[178][181][182]
In 2019, Sega released a kart racing game, Team Sonic Racing (2019), developed by Sumo Digital.[183][184][185] In May 2021, Sega announced several Sonic projects for the series' 30th anniversary, including a remaster of Sonic Colors, the compilation Sonic Origins, and the 2022 game Sonic Frontiers.[186][187] Frontiers was the first Sonic game to feature open-world inspired design,[188] and Iizuka expressed hope that it would inform future games in a similar way to Sonic Adventure.[187] Frontiers received moderately positive reviews, with critics and fans considering it a flawed but solid new direction for the franchise,[189] and sold strongly.[190][191]
The Sonic franchise is known for its large cast of characters;[192] Sonic the Fighters (1996) producer Yu Suzuki joked that anyone who makes a Sonic game has the duty to create new characters.[193] The first game introduced Sonic, a blue hedgehog who can run at incredible speeds, and Doctor Eggman, a rotund mad scientist.[4] During the Genesis era, Eggman was referred to as Doctor Ivo Robotnik in Western territories.[194][195] Sega of America's Dean Sitton made the change[196] without consulting the Japanese developers, who did not want a single character to have two different names. Since Sonic Adventure, the character has been referred to as Eggman in all territories,[194] although the Robotnik name is still acknowledged.[195][197][198]
Some Sonic characters have featured in spin-off games. Eggman is the featured character of Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, a Western localization of Puyo Puyo. Sega replaced the Puyo Puyo characters with Sonic characters because it feared Puyo Puyo would not be popular with a Western audience.[222] In 1995, Sega released the Knuckles spinoff Knuckles' Chaotix for the 32X,[39] and two Tails spin-offs for Game Gear: Tails' Skypatrol (a scrolling shooter) and Tails Adventure (a Metroidvania game).[223][224] Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) was developed in response to the Shadow character's popularity and to introduce \"gun action\" gameplay to the franchise.[225] Iizuka has said that future spin-offs, such as sequels to Knuckles' Chaotix and Shadow the Hedgehog or a Big the Cat game, remain possibilities.[226][227]
Since 2007, Sega has collaborated with former rival Nintendo to produce Mario & Sonic, an Olympic Games-themed crossover with the Mario franchise. The first Mario & Sonic game was released in 2007 for the Wii and in 2008 for the DS to tie in with the 2008 Summer Olympics.[303][304][305] Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, based on the 2010 Winter Olympics, was released in 2010 for the Wii and DS,[306] and Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, based on the 2012 Summer Olympics, was released for the Wii in 2011 and the 3DS in 2012.[307] The fourth game, 2013's Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, was exclusive to the Wii U,[308] but the following game, Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games (2016), was released on both the Wii U and 3DS.[309] After a brief hiatus, the series made a return in 2019 with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 for the Switch, based on the 2020 Summer Olympics.[310]
Sonic appears as a playable character in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. crossover fighting games, beginning with Super Smash Bros. Brawl in 2008. Alongside Solid Snake from Konami's Metal Gear franchise, Sonic was the first non-Nintendo character to appear in Smash.[311] He was considered for inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001), but the game was too close to completion so his introduction was delayed until Brawl.[312] He returned in the sequels Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U (2014) and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018).[313][314] Shadow and Knuckles appear in Smash as non-playable characters,[315] while Tails and Knuckles costumes are available for players' Mii avatars.[316] A Sonic amiibo figurine was released for the Smash games, and is also compatible with Mario Kart 8 (2014), Super Mario Maker (2015), and Yoshi's Woolly World (2015).[317][318][319]
Sonic Boom, a computer-animated series produced by Sega and Genao Productions,[339] premiered on Cartoon Network in November 2014.[340] It features a satirical take on the Sonic mythos,[328] and the franchise's cast was redesigned for it.[340] According to Iizuka, Sonic Boom came about as a desire to appeal more to Western audiences, and it ran parallel with the main Sonic franchise.[341] Sonic Boom lasted for two seasons and the last episode aired in 2017. In May 2020, Sega brand officer Ivo Gerscovich stated that no further episodes of Sonic Boom would be produced.[342]
Licensed Sonic merchandise includes books, clothing, soundtracks,[401] board games,[402] and toys such as figures and plushes.[403][404] By 2004, the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise had generated more than $1 billion in licensed merchandise sales.[405] Sega and McDonald's collaborated for Sonic-themed Happy Meal promotions in 1994 for Sonic 3 and in 2004 for Sonic Heroes.[29][406] Sonic was the first video game franchise promoted in McDonald's, and over 50 million Sonic Happy Meal toys were sold worldwide.[407] A million pairs of Sonic trousers were sold by 1996.[408]
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the bestselling video game franchises. The series' cumulative sales reached 89 million units by March 2011[452][453] and over 140 million by 2016.[454] The Mario & Sonic series alone sold over 19 million units as of 2011[update].[453] The Sonic the Hedgehog video games grossed over $5 billion in sales by 2014,[455] and over $6 billion as of 2020[update].[456] Series sales and free-to-play mobile game downloads totaled 920 million units by 2019,[457] and over 1.14 billion units by 2020.[458] In 1993, Sonic was tied with Mario as the highest-earning entertainment personalities of the year, each generating $500 million ($940 million adjusted for inflation) in digital game sales that year.[459] In the United Kingdom, Sonic was the sixth-bestselling game franchise between 1996 and 2012.[460]
The franchise is known for its eccentric and passionate fandom, which produces unofficial media, including fangames, fan fiction, modifications and ROM hacks of existing games, fan films, and fan art. Caty McCarthy of USGamer noted that many fans have continued to support the series in spite of poorly received games like the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog, and she credited the fandom with helping maintain public interest in the franchise.[517] Notable Sonic fangames include Sonic After the Sequel (2013), set between the events of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and 3,[518] and Sonic Dreams Collection (2015), which satirizes the series' fandom.[519] Sonic Mania's development team included individuals who had worked on Sonic ROM hacks and fangames,[517] while Iizuka said the character customization system in Sonic Forces was influenced by the Sonic community's tendency to create original characters.[520] Summer of Sonic, an annual fan convention dedicated to the Sonic series and hosted in the United Kingdom, was founded by Svend Joscelyne and Adam Tuff and first held in 2008.[521] 59ce067264