Sega wanted a game capable of selling over one million copies and a character to replace Alex Kidd as the company's 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 extendible ears to collect objects; these aspects were later incorporated into Ristar). Eventually, Naoto Ôshima's spiky hedgehog, initially codenamed "Mr Needlemouse", was chosen as the new mascot. Sonic's cobalt blue pigmentation was chosen to match Sega's cobalt blue logo. A group of fifteen started working on Sonic the Hedgehog, and renamed themselves Sonic Team. The game's soundtrack was composed by Masato Nakamura of the band Dreams Come True. 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.
In the video games, Sonic's original design by Ohshima was quite short and childlike, with short quills, a round body and no visible irises. Artwork featuring this design and drawn by Akira Wantabe was displayed on the package artwork for Sonic the Hedgehog, and most subsequent Sonic video games featured similar designs. 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. Further subtle changes to the character's design have been made in subsequent games. Spin-off media such as comics and cartoons have featured variations on all these video game designs, with restrictions set by the standardized model sheets.
Sonic's debut occurred in the 1991 platform game Sonic 1 for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, which also introduced his nemesis Dr. Ivo Robotnik. 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 CD released in 1993 introduced Sonic's self-proclaimed girlfriend Amy Rose, and his robotic doppelgänger Metal Sonic (although Sonic 2 also featured a robotic Sonic boss, often referred to as Mecha Sonic or Silver Sonic) as Sonic travelled through time to ensure a good future for the world. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 and its direct sequel Sonic & Knuckles, both released in 1994, saw Sonic and Tails, battle Robotnik again, with the additional threat of Knuckles the Echidna, tricked by Robotnik into fighting Sonic.
Other two-dimensional platformers starring Sonic include Sonic Chaos (1993), Sonic Triple Trouble (1994), Sonic Blast (1996), and Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure (1999). In 2001, 2D Sonic games started to move to Nintendo hand-held platforms. These include Sonic Advance (2001), Sonic Advance 2 (2002), Sonic Advance 3 (2004), Sonic Rush (2005) and Sonic Rush Adventure (2007). Also, a sequel to Sonic Rivals, Sonic Rivals 2, will be released for the PSP.[13] An untitled Sonic RPG game will be released 2008 and will be developed by Canadian developer BioWare.
The first Sonic platform game in true 3D (previous games were "2.5D" isometric games), Sonic Adventure (1998) was Sonic Team's return to the character for a major game. It featured Sonic returning from vacation to find the city of Station Square under attack by a new, very powerful foe named Chaos, under the control of Dr. Robotnik (now known as Doctor Eggman). In addition to Sonic, who was given a full voice-over for the first time, six other characters were playable: Tails, Knuckles, Amy, E-102 Gamma, Big the Cat, and Super Sonic. The game featured interaction with non-playable characters and objects in 3D "Adventure" sequences, during which the game world could be freely explored. Sonic Adventure 2 (2001, on the 10th anniversary of the original 16-bit game) placed Sonic on-the-run from the military (G.U.N) after being mistaken for a new enemy, Shadow the Hedgehog, the Ultimate Life Form. This was the first game where players could play as antagonists Dr. Eggman, Shadow, and Rouge the Bat, who are enemies. The game introduced a "grinding" gameplay aspect utilizing Soap shoes, which was retained in later 3D action games such as the team-based Sonic Heroes (2004) and the 15th anniversary title Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) which introduced the being from the future Silver the Hedgehog. A Wii game, Sonic and the Secret Rings, is the latest 3D Sonic game and the first one to feature Sonic as the only playable character in the main mode.
Sonic has also been featured in games of many genres other than 2D and 3D platform games. The first of these was a pinball game, Sonic Spinball (1993), which expanded upon the pinball sequences in the first two platform games. Sonic has also appeared in "2.5D" isometric platformers (Sonic Labyrinth and Sonic 3D Blast), racing games (Sonic Drift, Sonic R, Sonic Riders, and Sonic Rivals) and fighting games (Sonic the Fighters and Sonic Battle). A sequel to Sonic Riders is currently in development. Sonic will be appearing with long-time mascot and former rival, Mario, in an official sports game called Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, which will be released on the Wii and Nintendo DS near the end of 2007, and is the most requested third party character in the upcoming game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which will be released on December 3, 2007 in the Americas.
Video games such as Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (1993), Knuckles Chaotix (1995), Tails' Skypatrol (1995), Tails Adventures (1995), and Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) starred supporting characters of the Sonic series. Sonic has had cameo roles in some of them. He has also made cameo appearances in numerous other Sega games such as Daytona USA and Christmas NiGHTS. Also, there have been several collections, including Sonic Mega Collection, that included the classic Sonic games.
Abilities
Sonic is known as "the fastest thing alive," with the ability to run at speeds higher than Mach 1. He can run backwards just as well as forwards, shown in the Team Sonic opening cutscene of Sonic Heroes and near the end of the first episode in Sonic X. In the games, his super speed has not been explained. When Sonic runs fast enough, he can create a sonic boom, which can destroy enemies in Sonic's way, and increase his momentum. Soap shoes with a similar design and color scheme were featured in Sonic Adventure 2, which introduced Sonic's ability to grind on rails.
Many of his abilities are variations on the tendency for hedgehogs to roll into tight balls for protection. Since his introduction in the first Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic's primary offensive maneuver is the basic Spin Attack (or "Sonic Spin Attack"😉. As Sonic jumps or runs, he curls up and spins into a spiky ball that can damage, destroy or burrow through many obstacles. Later games in the series expanded on this basic attack. Two of these enhancements have become mainstays of his: the Spin Dash was introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and involves Sonic spinning on the spot before blasting off at full speed, and the Homing Attack, introduced in Sonic Adventure, allows Sonic to dash in midair toward a target.
Super Sonic as seen in Sonic the HedgehogThe Chaos Emeralds, a common feature of most Sonic games and comics, allow him to transform into his "Super form", much like the Dragonball Z manga/anime series, of Super Sonic, which increases his speed and power, grants him the ability of flight, and makes him nearly invincible. In Sonic 3 and Knuckles, he can collect an additional seven Super Emeralds in order to become Hyper Sonic. In Sonic and the Secret Rings, Sonic absorbed three of the seven World Rings and became overwhelmed with power and transformed into another form, called Darkspine Sonic.