Sonic the Hedgehog made his Mega Drive debut 26 years ago today.
On June 23rd 1991, Sega's answer to Super Mario arrived on North American store shelves, with the Japanese and European releases following in July. With its incredible visuals and astonishing speed, the game was hailed as an instant classic, and went on to establish a franchise which continues to this very day.
Sonic is no longer Mario's deadly commercial rival, however; since Sega exited the hardware arena, the two mascots have shared screen time with one another in Sega's range of Olympic Games titles, and Sonic is part of the Smash Bros. roster. His next outings are Sonic Mania and Sonic Forces, both of which are Switch-bound.
Which Sonic title is your favourite? And are you old enough to recall when he took his first bow on Sega's 16-bit console? Let us know with a comment.
Comments 47
N64 is 21 today (in japan).
26 ? He should stop thinking about all that "gotta go fast".
He's not 19 anymore.
Time to settle down.
Sonic 1 is in my opinion the best Sonic game ever made. The only thing that could be better in that game is a game save feature that let you play again all the levels you've already completed like in many other platformers since Super Mario World.
I really love Sonic 1 and I have some personal reasons to feel attached to Sonic too since I played his games a lot during a particular period of my life. I hope Sonic Mania will be even better than Sonic 1, I need a new favourite Sonic game after 26 years!!! But Sonic 1 will always be a great game
Sonic & Knuckles with Sonic 3 Plugged in was the best, the way that it merged the two storylines together was brilliant. With the Ultra Chaos Emeralds, pure class.
My hopes are very high for Sonic Mania, hope it doesn't let me down.
Happy birthday, Sonic! Thanks for convincing me to get a Sega Genesis!
...And no thanks to distracting me from the SNES for so long. Ah well, I won't hold it against you!
@LuckyLand For me, it's between Sonic 1 and 2. I never really liked 3 that much, and I guess that kind of tarred my opinion of S&K. Sonic 1 just feels so fresh and exciting, and Sonic 2 - while not massively different - refined the concept. I liked Sonic Adventure but it was too rough around the edges, and Sonic 2's constantly skipping between characters just annoyed me.
You should rename this site to Soniclife for today only, since most of the staff are sonic fans.
26 years of running fast and jumping, that's almost as bad as fifa.
Sonic 1 was the best. Music was great too
And yet, we're still waiting on his 25th Anniversary games xD
@LuckyLand hmmm I dunno, personally I think Sonic 2 is the superior game with much improved level design over Sonic 1, as well as 'trimming the fat' by getting rid of the third act.
@LuckyLand Agreed about the lack of level select feature! But.. /oh wait! There is at least a level select cheat at those classic Sonic games (no saving progress on 1 and 2 indeed) and Sonic CD has a time attack for all stages.
Happy b-day blue blur! o///
Still my standart on action platforming, something that Sega was a master at designing in the past!
Personal favorite: Sonic CD!
My heart could not resist the lush production values plus the classic Sonic gameplay! So much colors, so much stages, so much musics (japanese OST is still on my Spotify playlist) and some animations that made a 90's child still marvel at and still speedy, exhilarating!!!!
May Sonic Mania quench our thirst! o////
PS: although I must admit all the bosses on CD are pretty lame, the lamest of Sonic history, indeed)
@Damo It's a toss up between Sonic 1 and 2 for me too.The first time I laid eyes on Sonic 1 on my mates Japanese Megadrive was my first genuine and still the biggest 'wow' moment in gaming.I'll never forget that.Sonic 2 was something special though.I was fully on the hype train like never before for that one and had the cash saved up for it well before release.I even managed to get my mum on board for that one by letting me take the day off school with an "upset tummy".I was down at Dixons 9 sharp,40 quid in my pocket and got to play loads of the game before any of my mates. Fortunately the game lived up to the hype and then some.As for Sonic 3 I wasn't a fan either and never actually played S&K at the time.I did play S&K 2 years ago though and was actually surprised by how good it is and how well it's held up.Massive levels that are fun to explore,quality platforming with some really intense sections,awesome graphics and cracking tunes.If you've never played it since back in the day,it's well worth a revisit.
Good going getting to 26 years my favourite sonic game is sonic unleashed. Due to the daytime stages and world that you explore plus the great soundtrack ( not including werehog battle theme ) plus I can't wait for mania and forces
@OorWullie You know what put me off Sonic 3? The revised Sonic sprite. It looks terrible compared to the one in 1 and 2. I know that sounds silly, but for me the "look" of Sonic was such a key thing.
I love Sonic 1 & 3 the most. Colours is great, too! I enjoyed having all the characters together for Heroes, but the gameplay was a bit guff.
@Damo Yep,I didn't like it either and I know exactly what you mean about the "look".Plus I wasn't a fan of that grainy look later Sega games had.That grainy look seemed to arrive around the same time as the redesigned cover sleeves if I remember correctly.
@Damo Oh come on! That sprite was a richer blue for our Blue Blur, and had a grin permanently etched on his face.
I'm the opposite of you, I was exposed to all three (& Knuckles) at about the game time, and I liked the Sonic 3 Sprite more because of the extra detail.
Sonic CD was the best ever. Sonic 2 was also great. Never cared much about the others after CD. Sonic 1 was good but 2 had improvments over it. Then came Sonic CD (on the Mega-CD and it had everything I wanted in a Sonic game).
Happy birthday Blue Blur.
@Knuckles
I dunno, I massively prefer the first two. All down to personal taste, I guess?
Hmm, considering the occasion and the fact that it's on discount, I'll guess I'll finally buy Sonic The Hedgehog 2.
You guys are all know that the best sonic game is without a doubt Freedom Planet.
@OorWullie You and me both! I hated the grainy visuals, Jurassic Park was the first to really use them (if memory serves) and it looked terrible.
As a Master System kid I've got to throw some love for the MS games. Sonic 1 and 2 were completely different games to the Mega Drive versions, and were both really good games.
Sonic Chaos was excellent as well, possibly my favourite MS Sonic.
Over on MD the original Sonic the Hedgehog is the best. Hands down.
I was a NES/SNES kid so my experiences with Sonic were limited to my cousin's Mega Drive.
Looking back I have trouble choosing a favourite though I do hold Sonic 2 and even a few levels of Sonic Adventure 2 (just a few) in high regard.
Have been meaning to give Sonic CD on the PS3 a chance but I could really do with a Saturn USB pad.
Hope Sonic Mania is up to scratch.
@liljmoore LOL someone beat me to it!
I thought the first game was ok but 2 and 3 + Knuckles are my favourite. For speed and soundtrack.
Sonic 3 and knuckles is easily the best in the series. The level design, music, characters, super emeralds for Hyper Sonic and Knuckles and Super Tails (who was awesome with his army of birds).the replay value was excellent almost on par with Super Mario world.
@LuckyLand Sonic 1 was my favorite as well. It felt a little slower and more methodical to me than the rest for some reason. Sonic CD is a close second for me.
Sonic the Hedgehog 1 has great music, levels, and gameplay. Its what encouraged my older brother to ask for a Genesis model 3 for his birthday, despite us being NES/SNES fanboys. We collected all Sonic's games, but the first will always seem more special to me.
i feel so old I got Sonic on import at time I was living in my first flat
Stil remember the first Sega voice at start
I do remember Sonic and his first bow in 16 bits. I didn't have a Sega Genesis until after getting an SNES (I almost had one beforehand. But my dad couldn't handle spending that much money on a console and returned it before Christmas Day. I only recently found this out). Alot of my friends did. So I did have the chance to experience Sonic before getting a Genesis of my own. When I finally did, Sonic was right there with Mario in terms of platforming gold.
For me, Sonic 2 is the most influential of the games. It wasn't the first, but it introduced a fun way to play cooperatively and it also introduced the Spin Dash, which I go back and play Sonic 1 (a great game) and can't believe they hadn't thought of the mechanism then.
But if I had to choose a Sonic game that I personally felt was where it all came together, the Thriller of Sonic games (an analogy I purposely use if you know the backstory to its music), it has to be Sonic 3+Knuckles. It took everything amazing about the series before and perfected it. The gameplay, the story, the music, level design. Maybe along with Super Mario World, its as close to 2D platforming perfection as it can get (and I don't say that lightly considering we have the DKC games that also come pretty close as well).
I want to also add that I'm not against Sonic going to 3D. The Adventure games were fabulous and proves that with the right amount of care and attention, Sonic can successfully be done in 3D.
@Damo I vaguely remember this being a thing with most Sega games, that the first two looked very similar and the 3rd one had an almost completely different art style? I seem to remember Streets of Rage and Golden Axe being like this too!
My favorite game series! Unleashed is my favorite game of all time, and Sonic Adventure 2 Battle is another favorite of mine. I'm more excited for Sonic Forces than any other game this year, but I'm super excited for Mania, too; both day one for sure!
So Happy Birthday, Sonic!!! Keep on running!
Happy birthday, buddy. Go enjoy yourself a nice chilli dog and a cold one
26 years.......26 years since Sonic was good.....I remember it well....
(I kid, I kid.....
.....
.....only 21 years.... )
January 1991 was his first appearance actually in Rad Mobile
I still love everything about the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Happy Birthday!
Sonic cd hands down then prob sonic 2 I also loved sonic adventure!
Sonic 1 is pure perfection and I'm also fond of Sonic 3 + Knuckles. The one I can't understand the appeal of is Sonic 2. To me it was overhyped and much less enjoyable to play, with a very frustrating Special Stage.
Happy birthday, Sonic. We know Sonic Mania will be good, but here's hoping Sonic Forces is as well...
Happy Up, Down, Left, Right, A + Start Sonic!
I haven't played a Sonic since Sonic Adventure 2, but Sonic Mania might be the first in a long time I'll play again. My favorite is Sonic 3 & Knuckles, particularly due to different shields in the game.
So Sega, how about celebrating it on the Switch with some Sega Forever?
Wow I had no idea that today was his birthday! I was browsing the 3DS E-Shop and noticed that alot of the Sonic games were like 60 percent off and I am guessing this is why. I ended up buying Sonic 1 and 2 for the 3DS so Happy Birthday to Sonic, if the gameplay I have tried of Forces is any indication, between that game and Mania this is going to be a great year for fans of the blue blur.
Sonic CD is definitely my favorite Sonic Game, love everything about it especially the soundtrack(yes both of them), sonic heroes and sonic 2 are fantastic as well!
Sonic 3/Knuckles is my favorite in the series to this day. Happy B Day Sonic. Looking forward to Sonic Mania and I hope Sonic Forces doesn't suck.
Twenty-six?
"Soooonic... when you gonna get maaaarried? When you gonna give me some grandbabies? When you gonna move out of this basement and get a joooob? When you gonna go to cooooolleeege? Soooooonic!"
Happy Birthday has-been! You are a blue blur of a memory.
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