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ja:ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ

Sonic the Hedgehog (Japanese:ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Romaji: Sonikku za hejjihoggu) is the flagship character for video game, arcade game (and formerly home game console) company Sega, which has released a series of video games in which he either stars or plays a role. Sonic was competeing head-to-head with Nintendo's mascot Mario for over a decade until Sega went out of the home console market. He now lives on in various Nintendo and other consoles.

Sonic replaced Alex Kidd, who was Sega's mascot prior to 1990. Naoto Oshima designed the character while Yuji Naka was the main programmer. He would later become head of the Sonic Team division.

Sonic is a blue hedgehog who lives on the planet Earth (Mobius in various American sources which is simply the name of Earth in the future). He has the ability to run at supersonic speeds, hence his name.

He is always running all over the world, rarely stopping for anything. He's carefree and relaxed, however, he's also very intolerant of injustice, and he'll do anything he can to help those in need. He's also got a quick wit, short temper, and a fairly large ego...

File:Sonic.png
A picture of Sonic the Hedgehog from the manual of Sonic the Hedgehog 3

His blue pigmentation was explained in an issue of gaming magazine Gamepro as being the result of getting caught in an explosion involving cobalt, but this is probably not canonical. There is an alternative explanation in Stay Sonic: Official Sega Handbook, a book about Sonic the Hedgehog written by Mike Pattenden. At some point it was divulged (probably from an American source) that Sonic enjoys eating chili dogs.

The premise of the games revolves around Doctor Eggman (Doctor Ivo Robotnik in the earlier releases in North America and Europe) trying to take over the world by turning the animals into robots called Badniks. Sonic is charged with saving them. In later games he is joined by Miles "Tails" Prower, Amy Rose, Knuckles the Echidna, Cream the Rabbit and a host of others. Sonic must collect Golden Rings to protect himself from the Badniks, and he ultimately must collect the Chaos Emeralds on the Emerald Isle in order to become his most powerful form, Super Sonic. However, Sonic's quest does not necessitate collecting the Emeralds himself; he must only prevent Robotnik from collecting them and dooming the world with their power.

Sonic is a poor swimmer, and will drown in water, even as Super Sonic. As Hyper Sonic in Sonic and Knuckles, he can stay alive in water.

In SatAM Sonic's love interest is Princess Sally Acorn; in the video games Amy Rose thinks she's Sonic's girlfriend (Sonic, however, is quite repelled by Amy's constant advances but in the modern day Sonic TV show Sonic X, there is a bit more of a mutual vibe between Sonic and Amy); Breezie hedgehog in Adventures of Sonic the hedgehog cartoon; and both Sally Acorn and Mina Mongoose in Sonic's Archie comics.

Sonic has faced several other adversaries in the games, such as Metal Sonic (Mecha Sonic), Fang the Sniper (Nack the Weasel in America), Shadow the Hedgehog, and Rouge the Bat.

Interestingly, one of a class of genes involved in fruit fly embryonic development, called hedgehog genes after the name given to the first member of this class discovered, has been named sonic hedgehog after this character.

The music of the first two Sonic the Hedgehog games on the Megadrive and Genesis was composed by the Japanese band DREAMS COME TRUE.

Games involving Sonic the Hedgehog

Key

  • J = Japan
  • N = North America
  • E = PAL (Europe, Asia, Australia, Brazil)
  • X = PAL excluding Brazil
  • B = Brazil ONLY

For the Sega Megadrive/Sega Genesis:

For the Sega Master System:

For Sega Mega-CD/Sega CD:

For the Sega Game Gear:

For the Sega Pico:

For the Sega Meganet Modem:

For the Sega 32X:

For the Sega Saturn:

For the Sega Dreamcast:

For the PC:

For SNK Neo Geo Pocket:

For Nintendo Game Boy Advance:

For Nintendo Gamecube:

For Sony Playstation 2:

For Xbox:

For Nokia N-Gage:

For Arcade:

Redemption Games

  • Sonic Popcorn Shop (J) (made popcorn as you played)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog AWP (slot machine)
  • Sonic and Tails Spinner
  • UFO SegaSonic (J)

Leaked prototypes

Games Sonic Characters have cameoed in:

  • Flicky (The blue bird character, Flicky,
became one of many animals that Sonic rescues in the classic games after his apperance in this game.)
  • Art Alive (An art game. Sonic appears as "stamps" to be placed.)
  • Gale Racer (A racing game. A Sonic keychain hangs on the rearview mirror.)
  • Popful Mail (The main character Mail examines a billboard in the game, which has a small drawing of Sonic off to the side.)
  • Crusader of Centy (An action RPG. In a small beach, Sonic lays in a lawn chair. Talk to Sonic and he says: "Tsk, tsk. I'm a gallant hedgehog. Don't mess or you'll get burned.")
  • Daytona USA (A racing title, Sonic appears carved in a stone mountain on the Three-Seven Speedway course.)
  • Outrunners (Another racing title, in the intro Sonic and Tails fly in two versions of their biplane, the Tornado, and sprinkle the Sega logo. In the game, Sonic billboards appear off to the sides.)
  • Spider-Man for Sega CD (In the game's ending, a carving of Sonic's head can be spotted on a cave in the background.)
  • Tom & Jerry: The Movie for Game Gear (An ad for Sonic appears on the windows of a bookstore in one level.)
  • F1 World Championship: Beyond the Limit (Sonic and Tails' heads can be spotted on billboards on some tracks.)
  • Wacky Worlds (Another art title, this game is composed entirely of stamp placement. Sonic and Tails are on the game's cover, Sonic is in a spaceship and is your cursor to select a world to play in, and Tails is a stamp in the jungle area.)
  • Metal Head (Sonic appears on a billboard in the scenery.)
  • Bug! (One of the game's bonus stages features the character, Bug, racing against Sonic.)
  • Virtua Fighter 2 (In the Saturn version, when Jacky Bryant and Sarah Bryant fight, a hidden stage called Chicago is chosen. There's a brick wall in the background with graffiti, including a doodle of Sonic.)
  • Clockwork Knight 2 (In a hidden movie, a Sonic toy can be seen sitting on a shelf.)
  • Donkey Kong Country 2 (At the end of the game, Diddy gets rated as a video game hero according to how many of the DK Coins you collect. On the screen is a trash can labeled "No Hopes" with Sonic's shoes next to it.)
  • Fighting Vipers (In the intro movie, Sanman's pile of toys contains a model of the Lunar Fox, the spaceship Tails creats in Sonic the Fighters.)
  • Virtua Fighter Kids (Same as Virtua Fighter 2's cameo.)
  • Scud Race (Sonic appears on a billboard in the Beginner track.)
  • Fighters Megamix (Bark the Polarbear and Bean the Dynamite Dux are unlockable fighters)
  • Last Bronx (In Tommy's stage, there is a poster of Sonic on a building in the background. Also, there's a sticker of Sonic on Tommy's outfit.)
  • Waverunner (Sonic appears on the back of a racer's lifejacket.)
  • Virtua Striker 2 (A hidden team has Bean the Dynamite and a slew of other weird characters.)
  • Tamagotchi on Sega Saturn (Treat your tamagotchi right, and it'll become a Sonagotchi.)
  • Spikeout (Sonic appears near an elevator in one of the levels.)
  • Le Mans 24 (Sonic is a hidden racer.)
  • LA Machineguns (Sonic and the Sonic Adventure logo appear as neon signs in the Las Vegas stage.)
  • Blue Stinger (A store is occupied by copies of Sonic Adventure.)
  • Get Bass (In the Dreamcast version, after a few courses you receive a Sonic lure.)
  • Toy Commander (Sonic appears on a calendar on the floor in some stages.)
  • NBA 2K (Players can create a team called the Hedgehogs, which features Sonic holding a basketball as the logo.)
  • NHL 2K (Sonic appears on the Jumbotron occassionally.)
  • Shenmue (Sonic character dolls are available.)
  • Phantasy Star Online (Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails have cameoed online numerous times.)
  • Christmas NiGHTS (One of the presents is to play as Sonic in the Spring Valley Time Attack)
  • Virtua Striker 3 (A hidden team has Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Dr. Eggman, and a Chao as players, with Yuji Naka as the coach)
  • Beach Spikers (A giant inflatable Sonic floats above one of
the volleyball courts)

Pirated games which are not from above starring Sonic the Hedgehog

Public domain

Television Series

Comic Books

Sonic Manga and Sonic Doujinshi have also been released in Japan