1 THE BLUE BLUR A blue hedgehog in red and white shoes blazes down a hill collecting golden rings as he runs The hedgehog jumps to avoid spikes and bounces on top of an enemy robot Then he rolls into a tight ball as he races around a loop Sonic is on the move Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog franchise is one of the best selling video game series of all time It has sold more than 140 million games In 2020 there were more than 70 Sonic games These included main franchise games and spin offs such as racing and puzzle games Fans love the Sonic series for its fun speedy gameplay Most of all fans love Sonic himself Since his debut in the 1990s Sonic has remained a popular and recognizable video game character
When Sonic first debuted in 1991 he was history's fastest moving video game character Creators said Sonic's sneakers powered his super speed
2 DESIGNING SONIC In the 1980s and early 1990s Japanese video game company Sega was competing with rival Japanese game company Nintendo Over the years both companies released consoles and games to win over gamers This corporate battle became known as the console wars In 1989 Sega released the Genesis console in the United States to compete with the Nintendo Entertainment System NES The Genesis was unsuccessful at first Although the NES was four years old it still outsold the Genesis that year The NES's games helped make it popular Nintendo games featured well known characters such as Mario Sega RABBIT EARS had characters but none were Another of Sega's early character concepts was a very popular Sega President rabbit that could grab things with its ears However Hayao Nakayama realized that to the ear grabbing motion was too difficult for game developers to program
Yuji Naka left and Naoto Öshima right celebrate the twentieth anniversary of their creation Sonic the Hedgehog
