His sidekick Miles "Tails" Prower joined him in the game's 1992 sequel Sonic 2, which also introduced Sonic's Super Sonic form and signature "spin-dash" move.
Sonic started his battle against his nemesis Doctor Eggman in the 1991 platform game Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System and Game Gear. This explanation, in which the shockwaves Sonic experienced when he first ran at supersonic speed turned him blue and streamlined his spikes, later became the basic origin for many subsequent UK publications such as Egmont Fleetway's Sonic the Comic. One origin story was provided in a promotional comic for the original game featured in Disney Adventures, Garfield Magazine, and other children's periodicals, which was later elaborated upon in Mike Pattenden's Stay Sonic, a book about the character published in the UK. Sonic's cobalt blue pigmentation was chosen because Sega and Sonic Team's logos are cobalt blue, so they decided to have Sonic be blue also. Spin-off media such as comics and cartoons have featured variations on all these videogame designs, with restrictions set by the standardised model sheets. Further subtle changes to the character's design have been made in subsequent games. Beginning with Sonic Adventure in 1998, Sonic was redesigned by Yuji Uekawa as a taller character with longer legs and a less spherical body, longer and more drooping spikes, and green-colored eyes. Artwork featuring this design and drawn by Akira Watanabe was displayed on the package artwork for Sonic the Hedgehog, and most subsequent Sonic videogames featured similar designs. In the videogames, Sonic's original design by Naoto Ohshima was quite short and childlike, with short quills, a round body, and no visible irises. Sonic's precise age, weight, height and other physical characteristics vary depending on the continuity in which he appears and the style in which he is drawn. Sega sponsored the group's "Wonder 3" tour, painting Sonic on the tour bus, distributing pamphlets advertising the game, and having footage of the game broadcast above stage prior to its release. The game's soundtrack was composed by Masato Nakamura of the band Dreams Come True. A group of fifteen started working on Sonic the Hedgehog, and renamed themselves Sonic Team. Eventually, Naoto Ohshima's spiky hedgehog, initially codenamed "Mr Needlemouse", was chosen as the new mascot. Several character designs were submitted by its AM8 research & development department, including an armadillo (who was later developed into Mighty the Armadillo), a dog, an over-sized Theodore Roosevelt in pajamas (which would later be the basis of Doctor Eggman's design), and a rabbit (intended to use its extendable ears to collect objects these aspects were later incorporated into Ristar).
In April 1990, Sega did request a game capable of selling over one million copies and a character to replace Alex Kidd as the company's mascot.
He is 15 years old, and, as a hedgehog, is significantly shorter and lighter than humans his age, being about 100 centimeters (3 ft 3 in) tall and weighing 35 kilograms (77 lb).
Since then, Sonic has become one of the world's best-known video game characters, with his series having sold over 44 million copies.Īrtist Naoto Ōshima, designer Hirokazu Yasuhara and programmer Yuji Naka are generally credited with the creation of the character, a blue, male, anthropomorphic hedgehog, whose ability to run faster than the speed of sound is a major part of the gameplay of the series. The first game in the franchise was released in 1991 in order to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's flagship character Mario. Sonic the Hedgehog ( ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Sonikku za Hejjihoggu ?) is a video game character and the protagonist of a series of video games released by Sega, as well as numerous spin-off comics, cartoons and books. Sonic the Hedgehog has been Sega's mascot for over fifteen years. Related subjects: Computer & Video games Sonic the Hedgehog