Sonic the Hedgehog (1991 video game)

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This article is about the Sega Genesis game. For the Master System and Game Gear game, see Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit video game).

Sonic the Hedgehog
Windows
  • Nintendo 3DS
  • iOS
  • Android
  • Amazon Fire TV
  • Apple TV
  • Nintendo Switch
    • Release
    June 23, 1991
    Arcade
    Game Boy Advance
    • NA: November 14, 2006
    Windows
    • WW: October 26, 2010
    Nintendo 3DS
    • JP: May 15, 2013
    • WW: December 5, 2013
    iOS
    Android
    • WW: May 16, 2013
    Nintendo Switch
    • WW: September 20, 2018
    Single-player

    Sonic the Hedgehog

    health
    , and a simple control scheme, with jumping and attacking controlled by a single button.

    Development began in 1990 when Sega ordered

    Naoto Oshima after he won an internal character design contest, and named themselves Sonic Team to match their character. It uses a novel technique that allows Sonic's sprite to roll along curved scenery which was based on a concept by Oshima from 1989.[2] Sonic the Hedgehog, designed for fast gameplay, was influenced by games by Super Mario series creator Shigeru Miyamoto. The music was composed by Masato Nakamura, bassist of the J-pop band Dreams Come True
    .

    Sonic the Hedgehog was very well received by critics, who praised its visuals, audio and gameplay. It is widely considered one of the greatest video games of all time and became one of the best-selling video games of all time with approximately 24 million copies sold worldwide. It established the Genesis as a key player in the 16-bit era and allowed it to compete with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It has been ported to multiple systems and inspired several clones, a successful franchise, and adaptations into other media. It was followed by Sonic the Hedgehog 2 in 1992.

    Gameplay

    level: Green Hill Zone

    Sonic the Hedgehog is a 2D

    platform game. The gameplay centers on Sonic the Hedgehog's ability to run at high speed through levels that include springs, slopes, bottomless pits and vertical loops.[3] The levels are populated with robot enemies, inside which Dr. Robotnik has trapped animals; destroying a robot frees the animal, but is not necessary to complete the game.[4] The player must also avoid touching spikes, falling into bottomless pits, being crushed by moving walls or platforms, and drowning, which may be prevented by breathing air bubbles from vents.[5] Sonic's main means of attack is the spin attack, in which he curls into a ball and spins his body, damaging enemies and certain obstacles upon collision. This may be performed by jumping or rolling.[6]

    At the start of the game, the player is given three

    continues.[8]

    Scattered around each level are gold

    rings.[6] Collecting 100 rings rewards the player with an extra life.[6] Rings act as a layer of protection against hazards: if Sonic holds at least one ring when he collides with an enemy or dangerous obstacle, all his rings will scatter.[4] He can recollect some of them again before they disappear. If he is hit without holding any rings, he loses a life.[6] Shields and temporary invincibility can be collected to provide additional layers of protection, but certain hazards, such as drowning, being crushed, falling into bottomless pits, or running out of time, kill Sonic regardless of rings or other protection.[3]

    The game is split into six principal

    boss fight. For most of the fights, Robotnik's vehicle is fitted with different weapons.[11] After completing the sixth zone, the player continues to the single-level Final Zone for a last encounter with Robotnik inside a large machine environment.[8]
    Destroying Robotnik's machine ends the game. A brief animation shows Sonic's return to the first zone, with animals liberated from Dr. Robotnik.

    If Sonic reaches the end of any zone's Act 1 or Act 2 while holding at least 50 rings, a large ring appears through which he can jump to enter a "

    continues for each multiple of 50 rings collected, but the main goal is to obtain the Chaos Emerald hidden within the maze. Colliding with any of the blocks marked "GOAL" ends the level.[5][6]

    Plot

    In an attempt to steal the six Chaos Emeralds and harness their power, the evil

    Dr. Ivo Robotnik[d] has trapped the animal inhabitants of South Island inside aggressive robots and stationary metal capsules. The player controls Sonic, who aims to halt Robotnik's plans by freeing his animal friends and collecting the emeralds himself.[3] If the player collects all the Chaos Emeralds and completes the game, an ending sequence is shown. If all the emeralds are not collected, Robotnik taunts the player while juggling any of the Chaos Emeralds not collected by the player.[8]

    Development

    Background and character design

    A middle-aged Japanese man with glasses, a white button-up, and a black coat
    Sonic the Hedgehog artist Naoto Ohshima

    In the 1980s, Sega had limited success with Genesis ports of its

    in-house development studio to develop a game featuring a mascot for the company.[3][15] Sega's president Hayao Nakayama wanted a character as iconic as Mickey Mouse.[12]

    The team developed ideas for characters, an

    Dr. Robotnik, was in second place.[16]

    Sonic was originally teal-colored,[15] then a light shade of blue, but he was changed to dark blue so he would stand out against certain backgrounds[17] and to match the Sega logo. According to Ohshima, Sonic's basic design was created by combining Felix the Cat's head with Mickey Mouse's body.[18] His shoes had buckles through the inspiration of Michael Jackson's boots on the album cover for Bad and the red and white color scheme of Santa Claus, whom Ohshima saw as the most "famous character in the world".[15] Sonic's spikes were emphasized to make him sleeker, and he was given the ability to spin while jumping (so attacking and jumping could be controlled with one button).[19] The new character was originally named "Mr. Hedgehog", but the eight-member team[20] changed his name to "Sonic" and took the name Sonic Team.[12][e]

    Ohshima said that "Sonic" was chosen because it represented speed.

    California Raisins.[24] They proposed a full-scale recreation of the character, but compromised with Sonic Team to simply make design changes for western audiences.[15] The antagonist was named "Dr. Eggman" in Japan and "Dr. Robotnik" in other regions as a result of a dispute between Sega's American and Japanese divisions.[18]

    Concept and programming

    With a satisfying protagonist established, Sega turned to the programmer Yuji Naka, who had impressed them with his work on Phantasy Star and the Genesis port of Ghouls 'n Ghosts.[15] Naka was a fan of Super Mario Bros. but wanted something faster, so the game was made to play quickly,[25] which was where he focused most of his effort.[26] Naka explained that the reason he wanted a fast game was that he had ported Ghouls 'n Ghosts, and wanted to work on its movement but found it slow.[27]

    Sonic the Hedgehog was developed by a team of seven: two programmers, two sound engineers, and three designers,[27] although it began with just Ohshima and Naka.[22] People came onto the team as the need for content increased.[22] After being assigned a project with the code name "Defeat Mario", Ohshima and Naka began work, but encountered problems: Ohshima's Rabbit proved hard to program. Catching items and throwing them caused the action's rhythm to break. Naka stated that the rabbit was not suitable for his game engine, and he also wanted the game to be playable with only one button. Hirokazu Yasuhara came onto the team to supervise Ohshima and Naka and develop levels. He became the lead designer due to his greater experience, and found the way to make the game playable with only one button by having Sonic do damage by jumping. The trio came up with the idea of him rolling into a ball. After the hedgehog character was chosen, many characters were redrawn, and the team agreed on the environments' visual complexity, with particular focus on the colors. After this, four people came onto the team to speed development up.[28]

    Due to the popularity of Mario, Naka wanted Sonic to take over the American market. Sonic's default speed was set to that of Mario while running. Tests were run using the Genesis' tool library, and problems such as flickering, slow frame rates, and shaky animation soon became apparent. Increasing Sonic's speed caused animation problems. Naka solved this by developing an algorithm retained fluidity. All that was left was to optimize of the game speed to adhere to the staff's expectations. The team noticed that different people had different perceptions of the game's speed: some believed it was too fast, which caused disagreements. As a result, it was slowed down.[28]

    The loop running was implemented in a tech demo by Naka, who developed an algorithm allowing a sprite to move smoothly on a curve by determining its position with a dot matrix. Naka's prototype was a platform game with a fast-moving character rolling in a ball through a long, winding tube, and this concept was fleshed out with Ohshima's character designs and levels by Yasuhara.[29] Yasuhara originally intended to work on the game for three months due to the delay of his planned move to the United States by the outbreak of the Gulf War, but was engrossed in the project for nearly a year.[29][30] His designs for levels were intended to attract both hardcore and casual gamers by integrating occasional challenging set pieces into the mostly accessible level design.[15] The color scheme was influenced by the work of pop artist Eizin Suzuki, and the aesthetics of Green Hill were influenced by the geography of California.[15]

    In designing the gameplay, Naka was inspired by Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, whose games he had enjoyed playing years earlier. Admiring the simplicity of Miyamoto's mechanics in complex environments, Naka decided that Sonic would be controlled with only a directional pad for movement and a single button for jumping. He also wanted his creation to be more action-oriented than the Mario series;[31] while playing Super Mario Bros., he had wondered why the levels could not be cleared more quickly.[15]

    Ohshima, Naka and Yasuhara worked 19 hours a day on the project for several months.[29] Due to the need to demonstrate the Genesis' technological prowess, the game underwent extensive testing and redesign, which took over six months. According to Naka, the game had the fastest-ever character speed in a video game and a rotation effect in the special stages that had been considered impossible on the console.[31]

    The team intended to add a two-player mode displayed via

    Vector the Crocodile in Knuckles' Chaotix in 1995.[32] The sound test was scrapped for time reasons and Naka used the freed up memory to add the "Se-ga!" chant used in TV commercials as a startup sound.[32]

    Naka's relationship with Sega was tenuous during this time, and he received little credit for his work. He left the company shortly after the game's release, although Sega of America hired him later. Before leaving, however, he defied Sega's prohibition of developer credits by displaying a few names in black text on a black background, identifiable only by looking at the code.[18] Naka stated that level design was a major challenge: he created maps much wider than normal and tried to ensure players would not get lost. It took him around eight months to develop Green Hill Zone as he kept restarting from scratch.[26][28] He stated that he found the process "very interesting".[26] Naka also stated that the team was trying to create smooth maps, and that implementing looping structures was a challenge because Sonic would break through them instead of running around them. The backgrounds were also a challenge, as the game's speed created the impression of going backwards.[27] The zones were based on designs by Naka and Ohshima, with the goal of creating the world's fastest action game. According to Ohshima, Robotnik was based on Humpty Dumpty.[33]

    Yasuhara wanted the game to appeal to both Japanese and American players, which was why Green Hill Zone was redesigned many times. Sonic Team wanted the level to portray the character correctly. Its checkered ground was inspired by 3D image rendering from computers, an idea Naka obtained from Sega developer

    Famitsu to stay informed of what their rivals were doing so they could avoid their mistakes.[28]

    Music

    Main article:
    Music of Sonic the Hedgehog 1 and 2 § Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

    Sega director Fujio Minegishi had connections to the music industry and suggested his friend Yūzō Kayama write the Sonic score. However, Sonic Team did not think Kayama's music would fit, and so commissioned Masato Nakamura, bassist and songwriter of the J-pop band Dreams Come True.[15][34] Nakamura said he was surprised, as he had just started with Dreams Come True, but accepted as he was inspired by the team's desire to outperform Nintendo. He said the hardest part was working with the limited number of sounds that could play concurrently: he was limited to four, and said that his lack of knowledge of music on computers made it "impossible". He wrote the soundtrack concurrently with the Dreams Come True album Million Kisses.[28] After he finished the compositions, they were digitized using an Atari ST and the program Notator.[35]

    On October 19, 2011, over 20 years after the release, a three-disc compilation of music from Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was released in Japan. The first disc features original tracks from both games, the second contains Nakamura's demo recordings before they were programmed into the Genesis, and the third has songs by Dreams Come True and their associated Akon remixes.[36]

    Packaging and release

    Game-package illustrator Akira Watanabe said that his goal was to make the characters "colorful", using clear lines and gradation to "finish them neatly".[37] According to Watanabe, the developers asked him to create a package design "similar to pop art ... without being particular to conventional packages" – something "original" and "stylish".[37] The game was not revealed until the January 1991 International Consumer Electronics Show because Sega wanted to wait until the right time and because they saw an opportunity to "steal the show". At the show, Sonic the Hedgehog was believed to be the most impressive game shown, and won the CES award for innovation.[38]

    packaged it with American Genesis consoles,[43][44] replacing Altered Beast. This tactic enabled Sega of America to sell 15 million Genesis units.[38] Genesis owners who bought their consoles before the switch could request free copies of Sonic the Hedgehog by mail.[31] Sega of America created a marketing campaign, making Sonic its new mascot.[15]

    Other versions and rereleases

    8-bit version

    Main article: Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit video game)

    A version of Sonic the Hedgehog was developed by

    Sonic Mega Collection Plus for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Windows.[52]

    Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis

    To mark the game's fifteenth anniversary, a port for the Game Boy Advance, Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis, was released on November 14, 2006 in the United States. While the port is mostly identical to the original, it includes several new features not seen in the original Genesis release, such as the ability to save game progress and the inclusion of the Spin Dash move.[53] This version, unlike others, received poor reviews, with a Metacritic score of 33/100.[54] The chief complaints concerned its poor conversion to the Game Boy Advance, resulting in a bad performance and poor implementation of the original music and gameplay.[55]

    As a response to the poor reception and claims that the system could not handle the original game, Simon "Stealth" Thomley, who later assisted with the development of the 2013 mobile port, released an unofficial,

    proof-of-concept version of Sonic the Hedgehog for the system. The unofficial version contains a complete Green Hill Zone and two special stages, as well as Tails and Knuckles as playable characters.[56]

    2013 remaster

    A

    super forms).[57][58] The iOS version was updated in 2016, adding compatibility with Apple TV.[59]

    3D Sonic the Hedgehog

    A

    CRT-style filter, and the option to start from any level.[61]

    Compilation releases

    Main article:
    List of Sonic the Hedgehog compilations

    With its sequels for the Genesis, Sonic the Hedgehog has been ported for a wide range of home and handheld consoles and personal computers through compilations.

    Amy Rose becoming a playable character in an upgraded version of Origins.[69]

    Downloadable releases

    Sonic the Hedgehog has been available for all three major

    Windows via Steam.[75][76] The game was ported to Android and released in December 2012.[77][78] Additionally, it is an unlockable reward in the console versions of Sonic Generations.[79] The 2013 remaster was made available on the Sega Forever service on iOS and Android in June 2017.[80] A port for Nintendo Switch was released on September 20, 2018[81] as part of the Sega Ages line of rereleases.[82] It adds features including the ability to use moves from Sonic 2 and Sonic Mania, a challenge mode, a time attack for the first stage, and features from the 3DS rereleases of the game and its sequel.[83]

    Canceled versions

    U.S. Gold acquired the rights to make a version of Sonic the Hedgehog for the Amiga, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC and Atari ST personal computers, but these went unreleased.[84] Several screenshots exist, some of which resemble the 8-bit version.[85] An enhanced port for the Sega CD was also planned, but was canceled in favor of Sonic CD.[86]

    Reception

    Sales

    Sonic the Hedgehog was a commercial success. It became America's best-selling video game for several months in 1991, outselling Super Mario.

    Blockbuster Video's highest-renting game of the year.[104] In the United Kingdom, it was the top-selling Mega Drive game for two months following its release.[105][106]

    Sonic the Hedgehog was the best-selling home

    blockbuster movie at the time.[116]

    The original version bundled with the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive hardware had sold over 15 million copies, as of February 2009[update].

    Android downloads were sold between 2013 and 2016,[121]
    bringing total sales to approximately 24 million copies sold worldwide across all platforms.

    Contemporary reviews

    Sonic the Hedgehog was praised by critics, with scores above 90% from most

    Mega Drive is capable of "beautiful things" in the technical department.[93]

    Reviewers praised the colorful, detailed graphics. Rand called its color scheme "lively, but never garish", praising the interaction of color with detail in the sprites, backgrounds, and animations and describing its graphics as the best available for the Mega Drive.[5] Reviewer Boogie Man of GamePro called the intricate backgrounds "eye-popping" and "gorgeous",[92] which was echoed by Mean Machines.[41] The Lessers (Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk) of Dragon claimed the graphics made Sonic a possible contender for the best game of 1991[90] and GameZone called the animation "some of the smoothest and fastest ... ever seen".[123] Julian Boardman of Raze praised the "colourful and highly detailed" backdrops and "fabulous" sprites.[97] The music and sound effects were also well received; Dragon called them "great",[90] and GameZone "amazing".[123] Rand praised the "catchy" soundtrack, calling some of the sound effects "absolutely brilliant".[5] Although Mean Machines called the songs "vaguely appealing", the sound effects were better appreciated.[41] However, Boardman of Raze considered the music "a little boring".[97]

    Critics cited the fast gameplay, unprecedented in platformers.

    level design (especially the hidden rooms),[41][90][91][97] Paul found losing all of one's rings frustrating.[41]

    Bob Strauss of Entertainment Weekly gave the game an A+ and wrote that it was a very fast game, yet never felt chaotic or impossible,[98] and they later named it the best game available in 1991.[124]

    Awards

    At the 1991 Golden Joystick Awards, Sonic the Hedgehog won Overall Game of the Year.[101] In the 1991 Electronic Gaming Monthly awards, Sonic the Hedgehog won Game of the Year.[100] At the European Computer Trade Show (ECTS) awards, it won the awards for Best Video Game and Going Live Viewers Award.[102] In 1992, Mega ranked Sonic as their third-favorite Genesis game.[125] In 1995, Flux rated the game fourth in its "Top 100 Video Games."[126] In 1996, GamesMaster ranked the game 78th on their "Top 100 Games of All Time."[127] In 2016, The Strong National Museum of Play inducted Sonic the Hedgehog to its World Video Game Hall of Fame.[128]

    Retrospective reviews

    Retrospective reception has been positive, with an 86% rating at the review aggregator GameRankings based on nine reviews published online in the 2000s.[129] Sonic the Hedgehog has maintained its popularity, and has since been considered one of the greatest video games of all time.

    Frank Provo of GameSpot described the game as "one of the best platformers of all time", finding that despite technical issues in the Game Boy Advance port "after all these years, the underlying graphics, audio, and gameplay still hold up".[55] Lucas M. Thomas of IGN agreed that it stood the test of time.[136] Writing in The Guardian, Keith Stuart observed that Sonic the Hedgehog's emphasis on speed and pinball mechanics dramatically departs from generally accepted precepts of game design, requiring that players "learn through repetition rather than observation" as "the levels aren't designed to be seen or even understood in one playthrough." However, Stuart concluded that "sometimes in Sonic, when you get better, or through sheer luck, things take off, every jump is right, every loop-the-loop is perfect, and you're in the flow, sailing above the game's strange structure ... Sonic is incorrect game design and yet ... it's a masterpiece."[139]

    Legacy

    Further information: Sonic the Hedgehog

    Primarily because of its Genesis bundling, Sonic the Hedgehog was a factor in popularising the console in North America, thus solidifying it as a competitor to Nintendo and their

    16-bit consoles.[117] Although Nintendo eventually overtook Sega, it was the first time since December 1985 that Nintendo did not lead the console market.[140]

    Sonic the Hedgehog inspired similar platformers starring animal mascots, including

    James Pond 3,[142] Earthworm Jim,[143] Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel,[144] and Radical Rex.[145] "Animal with attitude" games carried over to the next generation of consoles, with the developers of Crash Bandicoot and Gex citing Sonic as a major inspiration.[146][147][148]

    Sonic's success led to an extensive

    sports games,[153] and also expanded into anime,[154] manga,[155] cartoons[154] comic books,[156] novels,[157] and toys.[158] Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time,[159] with over 140 million copies sold or downloaded worldwide across consoles, PC's, mobile phones and tablets by May 2014.[160] The game's first level, Green Hill Zone, has been featured in later games such as Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Generations,[161] Sonic Mania,[162] Sonic Forces, and the Super Smash Bros. series.[163]

    The game inspired a number of unofficial variants, including

    ROM hack which implements Sonic's redesign from the Sonic Boom animated series.[166]

    Notes

    1. ^ a b 2013 remastered release
    2. ^ Original release
    3. ^ Japanese: ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Hepburn: Sonikku za Hejjihoggu
    4. ^ Known as Dr. Eggman in the Japanese version
    5. ^ According to Yuji Naka, Sonic Team was an unofficial name for the studio within Sega that was used during the development of the game; it became their official title when Nights into Dreams was released in 1996.[21]

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    External links
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