Sonic the Hedgehog (series)

Sonic the Hedgehog

Genre(s) Platform
Primary developer(s) Sega, Sonic Team
Primary publisher(s) Sega
Creator(s) Naoto Ōshima, Yuji Naka, Hirokazu Yasuhara
Website http://www.sega.com/sonic/

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ Sonikku za Hejjihoggu?) is a franchise of video games released by Sega starring and named after its mascot character, Sonic the Hedgehog. The series began in 1991 with the release of Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, in addition to an 8-bit version of the game for the Master System and Game Gear formats. Sonic was responsible for turning Sega into a leading video game company during the 16-bit era, and his first game soon replaced Altered Beast as the default pack-in game for the Mega Drive/Genesis in North America and Europe.[1] As of 2008, the franchise has sold more than 50 million copies.[2]

The Sega division responsible for the first game in the series was called Sonic Team, and the group has since developed many titles in the franchise. Prominent members of its initial staff included programmer Yuji Naka, designer Naoto Ohshima and game planner Hirokazu Yasuhara. Other developers of Sonic games have included American Sega Technical Institute, Japanese Dimps, Canadian BioWare, and British Traveller's Tales.

Contents

Video games

Further information: List of games featuring Sonic the Hedgehog

Nearly all games in the series[3] feature a teenage hedgehog named "Sonic the Hedgehog" as the central player character and protagonist. The games feature Sonic's attempts to save his planet from various threats, primarily the evil genius Dr. "Eggman" Robotnik. The main antagonist throughout the series, Robotnik's aim is to rule the Earth and establish the Eggman Empire;[4] to achieve this, he usually attempts to eliminate Sonic and acquire the powerful Chaos Emeralds. Many English-language Sonic products give Sonic's home as a fictional planet called Mobius, although this is believed to stem from a mistranslated interview with Yuji Naka mentioning the use of Möbius strips in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.[5]

8-bit installments

Sonic the Hedgehog's first outing was on the Genesis but games were made also to work on the Sega Master System. These games were released at around the same times of their Genesis counter parts. These games were also ported onto the Sega Game Gear. Several of the titles were released after the Sega Master System's demise and can only be found on the Sega Game Gear.

16-bit installments

The original five main Sonic games for the Mega Drive/Genesis, released between 1991 and 1994, were:

These two dimensional Sonic titles are platform games viewed from a side-on perspective. Their controls are fairly basic and do not deviate much from the genre standard; the selling point of the series is the high-speed gameplay. The series' game engines allow characters to run up walls and ceilings, and roller coaster-like loops and corkscrews are common, as are giant pinball machines with flippers and bumpers which knock Sonic around like a ball. The games also feature numerous sections involving more precise jumping to traverse platforms and avoid hazards. [6]

32-bit installments

The following games were released during the 32-bit era:

The Sega Technical Institute tried to develop a Sonic game for the Saturn called Sonic X-treme. This game was intended to compete with Nintendo's Super Mario 64 and Sony's Crash Bandicoot. However, due to time constraints and issues between STI and the Japanese division of Sega and Sonic Team, the project was canceled in the last months of 1996.

Sega Saturn and Windows PC conversions followed to cover the hole of the cancellation of Sonic X-treme. They had enhanced graphics and a different sound track, composed by Richard Jacques. Sonic 3D was developed by Traveller's Tales, although Sonic Team worked on the Special Stages in the Saturn/PC version.

Sixth generation

The following games were released in the Sixth generation:

Seventh generation

The following games were released in the Seventh generation:

Common features

Rings

Rings are a recurring item in the Sonic series.

One distinctive and recurring feature of Sonic games are the collectible golden Rings spread throughout the levels. This gameplay device allows players possessing at least one ring to survive upon sustaining damage from an enemy or hazardous object. Instead of dying, the player's rings are scattered; in most Sonic games, a hit will cause the player to lose all of his rings, although in certain situations and in certain games, a hit only costs a set number of rings rather than the entire collection.

Some causes of death cannot be prevented by holding a ring, including being crushed, falling into a bottomless pit, drowning and running out of time.

In line with many platform games, collecting 100 rings will usually reward Sonic (or any other playable character) with an extra life. Certain titles in the series often reward the collection of 50 rings, in conjunction with the Chaos Emeralds; to access the Special Stages in which the Chaos Emeralds may be obtained, or to utilize a character's super transformation.

In most 3D games, rings retained by the end of a level are useable as currency in order to buy things such as Chao food or Special abilities. In some games, such as SegaSonic the Hedgehog and the Werehog segments of Sonic Unleashed, rings can also be used to restore health.

Chaos Emeralds

The Chaos Emeralds as they appeared in Sonic R—yellow, purple, red, grey, blue, orange and green

The Chaos Emeralds (カオス エメラルド Kaosu Emerarudo?) are seven emeralds, (six in the original, eight in Sonic The Fighters) with mystical powers, and a recurring feature of Sonic games. Multiple sets of emeralds have appeared in several settings like South Island, West Side Island and Angel Island. They are the basis of most of the games' plots, and the player is frequently required to collect them all in order to fully defeat Doctor Robotnik and achieve the games' "good endings", super forms, or both. The method used to acquire the Emeralds and the result in collecting them differs between titles in the series. Most early games require the player to find the emeralds in Special Stages. In some games, such as Sonic R and the 8-bit versions of Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the emeralds can be found in hidden locations within the main levels. In most later games, the Chaos Emeralds are found by the characters throughout the games' story modes, (often through a cut-scene) and do not need to be "found" by the player. The Chaos Emeralds have gone through various redesigns as the series evolved. As of present they are no longer known as the octagonal shape that they were before, and have acquired a more traditional shape of a gem, specifically, brilliant-cut.

The Master Emerald

The Master Emerald (マスター エメラルド Masutā Emerarudo?) resides in a shrine on Angel Island and is currently guarded by Knuckles the Echidna. It is used to keep Angel Island afloat in the sky. In Sonic and Knuckles, it was stolen by Dr. Robotnik to power up a weapon/ship of his called the Death Egg. In Sonic Adventure, the Master Emerald is shattered, and Knuckles must collect the shards as part of his individual story. The Emerald also has the power to fully control everything that the Chaos Emeralds do, including the ability to negate the energy of the Chaos Emeralds, as seen in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, or empower them, as seen in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles. The Master Emerald can also be used to power mechanical devices, and has been coveted by Dr. Robotnik since his discovery of it. During Knuckles' final boss fight in Sonic & Knuckles, Metal Sonic uses the Master Emerald to power up into a Super form.

Special Stages

Usually, a Chaos Emerald may be earned in a Special Stage or Special Zone. Special Stages usually take place in surreal environments and feature alternate gameplay mechanics to the standard platforming of the main levels: the 16-bit Sonic the Hedgehog consisted of a giant rotating maze, which many considered a major technical achievement;[8] The most common special stage is an "in your face" segment with the hedgehog (Or another character) running through a long tunnel, with a variant of this used for Knuckles Chaotix, Sonic Advance, and Sonic Advance 3; 3D "collect items" levels, as in Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, which used the same perspective but had Sonic collecting all the blue-colored orbs on the surface of a giant sphere, and a different version, the 3D ring-collecting Special Stage, used in Sonic Advance 2. Sonic Chaos (Sonic and Tails in Japan) utilized a variety of gimmicks for its levels.

As the Emeralds of the 8-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog were hidden in the main stages, the game's spring-filled Special Stages were merely used as a means of adding variety, and for a player to increase their score. Similarly, Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, in addition to their main Special Stages, featured entirely optional bonus stages, one of which combined the rotating maze of the 16-bit Sonic the Hedgehog with the pinball gambling of Sonic the Hedgehog 2; Sonic Heroes had an alternate Special Stage for a chance of earning lots of 1-ups.

Just as the design of the Special Stages has changed, so has the means of accessing them. While some games require the player to collect a certain amount of rings, others merely require the player to touch special object throughout the levels.

Super transformation

Super transformations are a staple for the series where collecting all Chaos Emeralds allows the player to transform his character of choice into a more powerful version of himself. Super transformations made their first appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Since then, Sonic has had the ability to transform into the extremely fast and nearly invincible Super Sonic once all seven Chaos Emeralds are collected. After attaining all Emeralds, Super Sonic can be used in any of the following levels once 50 rings have been collected, although one ring is lost for every second Sonic remains in this form. The exception to this is Sonic Unleashed where collecting rings fills up an Energy bar that reduces when he is hit. In Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, Tails and Knuckles were also shown to have this ability. In addition, in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, Sonic is also able to achieve a Hyper Sonic status after gaining all seven Super Emeralds. Knuckles and Tails can also achieve this. This status, however, seems to have been dropped from all subsequent installments of the series. In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the super transformation is Sonic's Final Smash attack, allowing him to fly around ramming into opponents for a few seconds. It's the first time since Sonic & Knuckles that Sonic has been able to transform at will under the right conditions.

In the Sonic Adventure titles, the Special Stages were omitted entirely and Chaos Emeralds were collected in non-interactive cut scenes as part of the story, with Super Sonic and other super characters only appearing in the final boss fights. Despite several games since returning to the emerald-collecting of the 2D platform titles (including the Advance series, Heroes, and the Rush series), Super Sonic has remained unplayable in the games proper, appearing only at the game's end in an extra unlockable final boss fight. Other playable characters are shown to have super transformations, but as with Sonic, they only appear in final battles. Sonic and the Secret Rings featured the first non-Super Sonic originated super transformation for Sonic, called Darkspine Sonic, which was utilized by combining all the power of the seven secret rings at the beginning of the game. Darkspine Sonic is a monstrous transformation, significantly increasing Sonic's physical attributes, especially his spiky hair and the spines on his back. The title Sonic Unleashed uses a weaker corrupted version of the super-transformation referred to as the Werehog transformation. Story wise, the Chaos Emeralds had been drained and attempting to activate their power causes Sonic to transform into this werewolf-like form at night, which allows the game to alternate between a 2D/3D mix fast paced game, and a smash & grab adventure style of gameplay.

In the UK comic Sonic The Comic, Super Sonic is seen as evil and is activated in extreme stress or exposure to chaos energy.

In Sonic X, Sonic acquired a Dark Form, which would then allow him to transform into Dark Super Sonic. He mainly gains an increase in strength and agility.

The current list of super transformation capable characters throughout the series include Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow, Blaze and Silver.

The transformation is remarkably similar to the Super Saiyan transformation from Akira Toriyama's manga Dragonball Z.

Item boxes

Known also as Monitors in the early games, these are containers that hold power-ups and appear frequently throughout the stages. An icon on each box indicates what it contains, and the player releases the item by destroying the box. In the early games, item boxes resembled television sets and could only be destroyed with an attack; in later titles they became transparent, capsule-like objects easily destroyed with one touch. The most common items in boxes include rings, a barrier (or shield), invincibility, high speed (or power sneakers) and 1-ups.

Ring boxes give the player the number of rings shown on the box. They come in 5, 10, 15, 20 and randomly-determined amounts between 1 and 40 Ring varieties. In games before Sonic Adventure, these boxes are "Super Ring"s and always give 10 Rings.

The barrier is a spherical energy shield which surrounds and protects the player's character from one attack; when hit, the barrier is lost instead of rings or a life. In Sonic 3 and later games, additional barriers were introduced which give the player special abilities for as long as the shield is active. These include the ability to magnetically attract rings (Sonic 3 onwards), breathe underwater (Sonic 3 only, although the bubble bounce was reintroduced with out the shield for the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog), resist fire (Sonic 3 only), and even damage nearby enemies (Shadow the Hedgehog).

Invincibility temporarily covers the player character in small flashing stars (the star effect was dropped in later games) that protect against damage done by enemies and obstacles, and lets the player destroy enemies by touching them. The Ring count will not decrease for as long as the music plays. In some games, such as Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, the player will earn twice as many points than normal while invincible. Typically, the game's background music is replaced by a game-specific "invincibility theme" for the duration of the item's effect. In the later games the stars were replaced by a glow surrounding the character.

High speed boxes give the player character enhanced speed for a limited time. In the earlier games, the background music increases in tempo for the duration of the power up, while in later games a jingle plays during the speed-up.

1-up boxes display the face of the player's character and give the player one extra life. This lets the player restart the level either at the starting point, or, if one has been passed, by the last checkpoint in the event the player loses on a stage. Multiple lives can be collected, generally up to 99.

A specific type of item box is only available through Debug mode in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, which displayed a flashing "S" of the playing character's color palette. Upon opening this item box, the character would instantly gain fifty rings and would transform directly to Hyper form in the case of Sonic and Knuckles, and Super form for Tails.

Giant Rings

Giant Rings were featured in a few Sonic games, mainly from the 16-bit era. They served as a portal to enter a Special Stage, where the player could collect one of the Chaos Emeralds or, in certain circumstances, Super Emeralds. In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, if all Emeralds have already been found, touching them rewards the player with fifty rings. In most games since Sonic Adventure 2, these giant rings have been renamed Goal Rings and taken the place of the old signposts as the end level marker, which ends the level upon touching it.

Checkpoints

Checkpoints, originally called Lamp Posts and Star Posts, are items placed throughout the stages in Sonic games. If the player runs through one, their game is "saved", and if the player loses a life on the same stage, they will start over at the last checkpoint passed, although one life is lost & any rings or items collected up to that point (except for important items such as the Chaos Emeralds) are lost. Checkpoints also serve other uses in various games, such as entering Special Stages in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic 3, and leveling up in Sonic Heroes. In the 3D games before Sonic Heroes, and a few after, when holding a certain amount of rings, the player can gain power-ups usually found in item boxes from passing through checkpoints. One of these can be used as an in-stage weapon if hit in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Goals

Levels in most 2D Sonic games are referred to as "Zones", each of which is split into one or more sections referred to as "Acts". The far end of each Act is marked by a sign post showing the face of Dr. Eggman, and passing this causes it to spin round and display a different image, usually the face of the player's chosen character. Upon defeating the boss at the end of each Zone, the player is presented with a large capsule containing small animals imprisoned by Eggman; hitting a button on the cage will free the animals and clear that Zone.

This basic concept of two types of goals is present in most 2D Sonic games; however, in the 8-bit versions, the spinning sign shows a question mark, and when flipped it will may show different pictures meaning bonuses for the player. In Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, the panel would come down after a mini-boss fight, and players could attack it in the air for extra points. On some occassions when it hit the ground, it would bounce up leaving an item monitor behind.

Sonic Adventure continued the trend of having a cage filled with animals as the ultimate goal in each level, although more recent Sonic games from Sonic Adventure 2 have a goal ring at the end of each act, which ends the stage when touched and gives the player a rank based on their time and score (the exception to this is Sonic Rush Adventure, which uses a treasure chest at the end of each standard level).

In Sonic Advance 2, a different type of goal was used, in which players would get bonus points depending on how fast they went through the finish and how quickly they could brake to a stop.

Springs

Springs are probably just as recognizable in the Sonic series as rings are. Springs are scattered throughout the many levels in the games, and they will catapult the player at high speeds in a certain direction. They are mostly used to allow the player to proceed but some are used to hinder the player, by either sending them back towards a dangerous area or by creating a loop between two springs. Some are also hidden and are used to access special areas with either a powerup, a cache of powerups, or to access special stages. Springs also serve as Sonic's Up Special (Up + Special Move button) move in Super Smash Bros Brawl.

Animals

Sonic's universe is populated with 'normal', less distinctive animals as well as anthropomorphic ones. These small animals (referred to as "Sonic's friends" in earlier games) are often used by Dr. Eggman as "organic batteries" to power his robot armies. The trapped animal inside can be freed usually by hitting the robot and destroying its metal case. In Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2, the small animals can be given to Chao, altering their appearance and attributes. The small animals were originally the major population of Sonic's world before Sonic Adventure, which introduced human populations and cities.

The original seven different animals from Sonic the Hedgehog were characterized in different ways in different markets. In Japan, they were given profiles and names in the game's instruction manual; the Western manuals, conversely, made no mention of them, leaving various SEGA media such as Stay Sonic guidebook and the UK's Sonic the Comic to establish the Western names for these characters. The original seven animals are:

Music

See also: List of Sonic the Hedgehog series vocal songs

Numerous composers have worked on the music of games in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Masato Nakamura of J-pop band Dreams Come True was responsible for the music of the first two 16-bit games. Ys/Streets of Rage composer Yuzo Koshiro composed the tunes for the first 8-bit title, barring what was retained from the 16-bit version.

Sega's in-house music company, Wave Master, did the majority of the music in later titles. One Wave Master employee, Jun Senoue, is part of the band Crush 40, and through his ties to the band they have played the main theme tunes of both of the Sonic Adventure games, Sonic Heroes, Shadow the Hedgehog, and the upcoming Sonic and the Black Knight. Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog also featured other bands, such as Julien-K. For the 2006 Sonic the Hedgehog game, Senoue and Crush 40 performed a remix of "All Hail Shadow" to play as Shadow the Hedgehog's theme for the game.

Richard Jacques, a frequent composer of music for Sega games, contributed to the soundtracks of Sonic R and the Saturn/PC version of Sonic 3D Blast: Flickies' Island. Runblebee has done songs for Sonic games such as Sonic Riders and Sonic and the Secret Rings, and Steve Conte performed the Sonic and the Secret Rings main theme, "Seven Rings In Hand", as well as it's end theme "Worth A Chance". Jaret Reddick of Bowling for Soup has performed the main theme for the upcoming Sonic Unleashed.

Other media

Animations

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (or AoStH for short) is an American animated television series that was first broadcast in September 1993, and ran in cartoon syndication for a number of years afterwards. It follows the escapades of Sonic and Tails as they stop the evil Dr. Ivo Robotnik and his array of vicious robots from taking over the planet Mobius. The plots very loosely followed the storyline of the video games series; at the time the Sonic games were still quite new, and lacking much plot or character development, which was in turn filled in by the show's writers.

The animated television series simply called Sonic the Hedgehog originally aired from September 1993 to June 1995. While Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog is known for its bright colors and whimsical humor, Sonic the Hedgehog featured darker stories which constituted a departure from the tone of the Sonic games of the time. In order to distinguish this cartoon from the character and video games with which it shares a name, fans typically refer to the series as SatAM, because it was a Saturday morning cartoon while Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog aired on weekdays in syndication. At the time this series was made the Sega games had a distinct lack of characters, which allowed the writers to fill in the missing niches with their own creations.

A two-episode OVA series based upon the game Sonic CD and the video game series as a whole, Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie was released in Japan in 1996 and released as an English dub in North America in 1999. Unlike the games, the film takes place on a world named Planet Freedom.

The cartoon Sonic Underground ran for only one season, in 1999; it bears little relation to other entries featuring Sonic (including previous games, comics and animated series), and shares few established characters. Forty episodes were produced and released.[9] Unlike its predecessor, SatAM, the heroes do not remain in a sanctuary-like refuge but instead travel around Mobius to battle Robotnik's forces on a global scale. The Mobian civilization featured in the series includes multiple cities, a poor underclass and an aristocracy for the heroes to interact with. Sonic Underground is the only animated series based on Sonic where Tails has not made an appearance.

The anime Sonic X is the longest-running and most successful animated series based on Sonic to date. Originally a 52 episode series that was inspired by the plots of the Sonic Adventure series, Sonic X has since expanded to 78 episodes with the latest 26 episodes set primarily in outer space. The series borrows more from the games than any other Sonic cartoon before it; with the exception of Blaze the Cat, E-123 Omega, Babylon Rogues, Silver the Hedgehog, and Metal Sonic, every significant and playable video game character has made an appearance in the series. Sonic X is also the only animated series to include Super Sonic.

Comics

Further information: List of Sonic the Hedgehog printed media

The Sonic the Hedgehog manga series, published in Shogakukan's Shogaku Yonensei (literally "fourth-year student") was written by Kenji Terada and it was illustrated by Sango Norimoto. The manga, which started in 1992, was about a hedgehog boy named Nicky who can turn into Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic fights Eggman, with Tails tagging along to help him.

Sonic the Comic, was a UK children's comic published by Fleetway Editions between 1993 and 2002. Labelled "The UK's official Sega comic", Sonic the Comic was one of few pieces of Sonic fiction to faithfully replicate the world of the 16-bit era video games: elements and terms from the games such as zones, rings, item boxes and star posts were incorporated into the comic. The publication's own identity and ongoing storyline and setting were established with a story in which Sonic, Tails and their friends were sent forward in time six months. During their absence, Doctor Robotnik conquered the entire planet Mobius, and Sonic's group were forced underground, operating as "freedom fighters" attempting to bring down Robotnik's rule of the planet. Due to an aggressive series of budget cuts on the part of Fleetway, the series went into full reprint by issue 184; the final story ended with a number of loose ends left untied.

Sonic the Hedgehog is an ongoing series of American comic books published by Archie Comics. All of Archie's Sonic-related series, miniseries and specials take place in the same fictional universe. This universe features a mixture of characters, settings and situations from the video games, the SatAM cartoon, the various other incarnations of Sonic, and many elements unique to the comic universe.

Sonic X is the title of an ongoing comic book series also published by Archie Comics that exists to supplement the stories from the animated series of the same name. It began in September 2005 and was originally meant to be a four-part series; due to the positive reaction to the series' announcement, it was extended to ongoing status before the first issue premiered. The comic is unique in that it is not directly based on the games; the comic is based on the television show and takes place in its expanded fictional universe. The comic borrows elements from the series first two seasons of the show and characters from the Sonic Adventure storyline.

Awards

The Sonic the Hedgehog was awarded seven records by Guinness World Records in Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. The records include "Best Selling Game on Sega Systems", "Longest Running Comic Based on a Video Game" and "Best Selling Retro Game Compilation" for Sonic Mega Collection.

References

In addition to information taken from the Sonic the Hedgehog games themselves, the instruction booklets of the US and Japanese versions of the games were also used as references for this article.

  1. ↑ Kennedy, Sam. "The Essential 50: Sonic the Hedgehog". 1up.com. Retrieved on 2006-06-03.
  2. ↑ http://www.sonicscene.net/media/scans/magazine/sonicunleashed/play11.jpg
  3. ↑ Note that Sonic is not the central character in certain games, such as Shadow the Hedgehog, Knuckles Chaotix, Tails Adventures and Tails' Skypatrol, where Shadow the Hedgehog, the Chaotix and Miles "Tails" Prower were the central characters, respectively.
  4. ↑ Although the manifestation of Dr. Eggman's goal to conquer to world was left unnamed in pre-32-bit games, Sonic Adventure and games since then have heavily developed this aspect.
  5. ↑ [1] Retrieved 2008-07-02
  6. ↑ The VC Advantage: Sonic and the Secret - Nintendo Wii Fanboy
  7. ↑ [2] Sonic Spinball
  8. ↑ Yuji Naka: "...the Mega Drive allowed this stunning demonstration of rotation during the bonus stages. This was said to be impossible on the hardware at the time." "The making of... Sonic The Hedgehog". Edge (101): pp. 121. September 2001. 
  9. ↑ "List of 1993 animated works". Hong Ying Animation. Retrieved on 2006-02-23.

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Sonic the Hedgehog series
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Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) · Sonic the Hedgehog 2 · Sonic CD · Sonic the Hedgehog 3 · Sonic & Knuckles · Sonic Adventure · Sonic Adventure 2 · Sonic Heroes · Shadow the Hedgehog · Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) · Sonic Unleashed
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