Sonic the Hedgehog is the main character in a number of video games published by the Japanese video game developer Sega. He was created in 1990 by the game designer Yuji Naka and the artist Naoto Ohshima, both of Japan. Sonic is a cartoon hedgehog known for his super speed.
Sega created Sonic to be the company’s mascot and a rival to Mario, the mascot of the video game company Nintendo. Sonic is blue to match Sega’s logo, and he wears red and white shoes. He can run fast or move even faster by curling into a ball and rolling over enemies. Many Sonic games feature special items called Chaos Emeralds. By collecting them, Sonic can transform into Super Sonic. In this form, Sonic is golden yellow in color. Super Sonic can fly through the air and is virtually indestructible.
Sonic first appeared in the video game Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), for the Sega Genesis video game console. The character’s speed helped to show off the capabilities of the Genesis, which could process graphics (the visual elements of a video game) more quickly than could rival Nintendo consoles. The game became a huge hit. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992) introduced the character Miles “Tails” Prower as Sonic’s sidekick. Tails is a brown fox with two fluffy tails that he can spin to fly like a helicopter. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994) introduced the character Knuckles the Echidna as a rival to Sonic. Knuckles could glide through the air using his long dreadlocks (twisted, ropelike hair) and climb walls with his spiked hands. Sonic and Knuckles later became allies, and players could play as either character in the game Sonic & Knuckles, released later in 1994.
Sonic Adventure was released in 1998 for the Sega Dreamcast game console. This game was the first to bring Sonic into fully three-dimensional gameplay. Previously, most of the Sonic games had been two-dimensional—that is, the figures appeared like drawings on a page. The enhanced graphics capabilities of the Dreamcast led to new designs for each of the characters in the series. Sonic became slimmer and taller, with longer spines on his back.
Sonic has been featured in several animated television series, including the comical “Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog” (1993) and the action and adventure series “Sonic the Hedgehog” (1993-1994), “Sonic X” (2003-2006), and “Sonic Boom” (2014-2017). He was also featured in “Sonic the Hedgehog” (1993-2017), a popular comic book series from the publisher Archie Comics, and in the motion pictures Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022).
