On 23rd June 1991, SEGA released Sonic the Hedgehog in Europe and America and changed the world forever. The now-iconic hero captured the imagination of millions around the world, igniting the Nintendo vs. SEGA battle for console supremacy.
Nowadays the two companies are far friendlier of course. In fact, thanks to Wii's Virtual Console service and backwards compatibility with GameCube it has the largest library of Sonic the Hedgehog games of any console ever: including Game Gear unlockables in Sonic Adventure DX and Sonic Gems Collection, more than 40 Sonic games are playable on Wii, from series-starter Sonic the Hedgehog to his most recent and welcome return to form Sonic Colours.
We have plenty of celebratory Sonic content coming up for the rest of the week, so we hope you join with us to pay tribute to one of gaming's greatest icons.
Comments 52
Hooray!
I hope there will be some kind of nice eShop related thing tomorrow for this!
One of my favorite series' ever, and because twas luck that fateful video store visits. Happy b-day Sonic!
Happy birthday, Blue Blur! May Ian Flynn stop ruining your comic book mythos and may Generations be epic on all levels!
Hmmm... what Sonic games to play today...
wow me and sonic are the same age :/
It has been a fun and bumpy 20 years
What is that in Hedgehog years?
Boo-Schmah! Happy Birthday, namesake!
Your too Old..err...Slow!
Amazing! Gonna play me some Sonic the Hedgehog.
give us the god-awful gamegear sega games on eshop tomrorow!!!!
....oh wait. Don't do that.
Happy B-day Sonic. If you could coerce Bioware into refunding my money for that atrocious DS RPG they made with your namesake, I'd be much obliged.
I was actually introduced to Sonic through his cartoons, then I later fell in love with his games on my Sega Genesis.
Happy Birthday Sonic!
Happy birthday sonic! Here's to another 20 years of brilliant 2D games and mediorce 3D games!
First Pacman turns 30, then Mario's 25th, then Zelda's 25th, and now Sonic's 20th...
My how time really does fly...
Don't understand Sonic's appeal at all. Seems really lame to me. I bought the GC's collectio for like $5 and almost haven't touched it. Bought the Wiiware game by mistake, haven't downloaded it yet. Not interested. Meh. How can anyone compare this to Mario.
Happy Birthday Sonic! The Best Videogame Character Ever.
Happy Birthday, Sonic the Hedgehog! Time really flies so fast, doesn't it? The iconic Blue Blur has had many good games and some terrible ones, but nevertheless he's been running fast for 20 years. Here's to another two decades!
Happy 20th Birthday Sonic! Your games just keep getting better and better with age... oh wait. Just kidding, don't ban me James!
How old's knuckles?
Happy Birthday Sonic!
A Little Sonic Spinball for me today.
@GuardianAcorn Knuckles turned 17 earlier this year
Happy Birthday Sonic! I recently bought a 20th anniversary poster of Sonic and ill be hanging it up in front of my bedroom door. Now im gonna play Sonic Gems Collection and the game ill be playing is Sonic CD.
EDIT: According to the Sonic the Hedgehog facebook page. You can download the demo of Sonic Generations off the Playstation Store and Xbox Live. Im downloading it right now and im looking forward to play it.
Happy Birthday, Sonic!!!
Sonic looks so much better in that 91 picture.
Happy Birthday Sonic!!!
"Happy Birthday Sonic"! Can't believe it's 20 years since the blue blur was released upon us. I'll always remember the first time booting up sonic on the Mega Drive and Sonic running across the screen followed by the Sega sign, then pressing start on the title screen and hearing the Green Hill Zone music. Classic!!
Also everyone go onto YouTube and type in "MegaDriver Green Hill Zone", check the guy out playing a metal version of Green Hill Zone and check out that AWESOME guitar! Cant believe he managed to turn a Mega Drive into a actual guitar lol. Pure genius!
Twenty years later, I still have my original cart and a megadrive set up to the tv... All time classic game.
The Game Gear Sonic 1 is also really good (Adventue DX version seemed to have glitches not present in the original), Hopefully will come to 3DS VC in a better emulated version, as my Game Gear screen is pretty bad.
does that make tails about 18
Ok I admit it, I was a Sonic fan before I was a Mario fan. (Master System was my first games console) and he was soooo cool back then, not so much now though. :/
I have high hopes for Generations.
Happy Birthday Sonic, you started turning your life around just in time.
I guess Sonic and Tails are now old enough to get a couple of beers together! Not you Knuckles...you're not old enough yet. LOL!
Happy birthday Sonic! Now I'm going to play the Sonic Generations demo!
YESH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy 20th Sonic. You recent past other than Colors has been, well I'll be honest, painful, but you're looking good in Generations. Keep on rocking.
Happy Birthday Sonic, So I've been playing Sonic games for 20 years. Wow!
happy birthday!
Happy birthday Sonic!
Unless SEGA decides to give the characters an actual non-retconned birthday, Knuckles is perpetually 17, Sonic is perpetually 15/16, and Tails is perpetually 8.
Happy anniversary, Sonic1 I've been a fan since you were born and I was 1.
I may not be a huge Sonic fan, but I wish him a Happy Birthday any way. I liked Rush so I will probably get Generations.
I still want a copy of Gems Collection because I've never played Sonic CD, sadly.
Happy Birthday, Sonic!
There will always be a special place in my heart for the Blue Blur.
Happy birthday to the fastet thing alive! I hope your birthday is way past cool, Sonic! Here's to more years of Blue Blur action!
Happy Birthday Sonic! I guess I'll play some Sonic 2 today, that game holds a special place in my heart.
The only two Sonic games that isn't on Wii are Sonic 2006 and Sonic Generation but that's okay, I don't really want to remember his time in 2006 and hope his Generation version is better.
yeah mario... opps wrong birthday
Wow 20 years. I remember seening Sonic one for the first time at my friends house since he had a Genesis and I didnt. Its amazing how far Sonic has come and who would have thought back in 91 that he would be appearing in games with Mario.
Going to be playing Sonic 2 and Sonic CD today the only way it should be played, on a Sega Genesis/Sega CD.
gratz
hi still is the fastest thing alive!
I actually had to buy the original Sonic the Hedgehog because my Sega Genesis came with Altered Beast. Thanks for making me feel old, Sonic.
Happy Birthday Sonic! I'm celebrating by getting a Chili Dog... or as we say in Michigan, a Coney Dog
(and chili cheese fries )
Oh yeah, I still need to get Sonic Colors...
Happy 20th Sonic! I remember playing your first outings back on the Genesis. Those were some of my first and favorite gaming memories. Then you kind of let yourself go and got by on your name alone, tarnishing your reputation and crushing the hopes and dreams of your fans. But you seem to be on the up swing. Your games are getting better and one day I will try Colors. Enjoy your birthday, Sonic, you blue blur you!
Happy Birthday Sonic!
I enjoy your chili wraps and your large menu of cold drinks, I just wish your waitresses were a little more attractive across the board. o__O
He can almost drink!
@melechofsin 90's NES owners called, they want their opinion back.
You could, you know... actually TRY the games, maybe?
Here you are, complaining about Sonic and calling it lame, yet in the same sentence you say you barely even touched any of the games, going as far as saying you bought one "by mistake" without downloading it (How is that even possible? Did the colourful graphics throw you off and made you mistake it for a Kirby game or something?).
Sure, back in the day Nintendo and Sega owners feuded over Mario vs Sonic a lot. But nowadays, where Sega and Nintendo fans alike have seen each other's favourite series become much more widespread, both Mario and Sonic fanboys usually still agree that the original 16-bit Sonic games are some of the most solid, fun and exciting classic platformers around. Yet here you are, muttering about how "anyone could compare this to Mario".
But you know, you're right there, actually - Sonic doesn't compare to Mario at all, really. The gameplay styles, despite both being platformers, are wildly different.
Back in the day, Sonic and its first game were designed to compete with, not compare to Mario.
And sure, especially in recent years Mario games HAVE had a better track record, but it can't be denied that Sonic certainly had a decent share of quality gaming attached to his name, as well.
If you personally don't like the games, that's fair enough! But at least give something a chance before you start complaining. =P
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