Sonic the Hedgehog

Sega video game series and associated media franchise
(Redirected from Sonic the Hedgehog (series))

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese platform video game series and media franchise created by Sega and featuring their mascot, Sonic. It is a series of fast platform games. Sonic is the main character. He is a bright blue hedgehog with supersonic speed. Usually, Sonic must stop the villain, Doctor Eggman's, plans for taking over the world. Sonic is often helped by his friends like Tails, Amy Rose, and Knuckles.

Sonic the Hedgehog
GenresPlatform
Developers
PublishersSega
Creators
Artists
Platforms
First releaseSonic the Hedgehog
June 23, 1991
Latest releaseSonic Superstars
October 17, 2023
Spin-offsSonic Boom
2005 event

The first Sonic the Hedgehog game was released in 1991. It was created by Sega's Sonic Team division after Sega wanted a new mascot character. This was because they wanted to replace Alex Kidd, and they wanted to compete with Nintendo's mascot, Mario. Its success made many sequels, and it helped Sega become one of the biggest video game companies during the 16-bit era of the early 1990s. The first major 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure, was released in 1998 for the Dreamcast.

The series made over $5 billion by 2014.[1] As of 2018, the series has sold 800 million copies. This includes free-to-play mobile game downloads.[2]

Reception and legacy

change
Aggregate review scores
As of 2017.
Game Metacritic
Sonic the Hedgehog (X360) 77[3]
(GBA) 33[4]
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (X360) 82[5]
(iOS) 60[6]
Sonic CD (iOS) 93[7]
(X360) 82[8]
(PS3) 80[9]
Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Sonic & Knuckles (X360) 69[10]
Sonic 3D Blast
Sonic Adventure (GC) 57[11]
(PS3) 50[12]
(X360) 48[13]
Sonic Adventure 2 (DC) 89[14]
(GC) 73[15]
(PS3) 65[16]
(X360) 60[17]
Sonic Advance (GBA) 87[18]
Sonic Advance 2 (GBA) 83[19]
Sonic Heroes (Xbox) 73[20]
(GC) 72[21]
(PS2) 64[22]
(PC) 66[23]
Sonic Advance 3 (GBA) 79[24]
Sonic Rush (NDS) 82[25]
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (X360) 46[26]
(PS3) 43[27]
Sonic Rush Adventure (NDS) 78[28]
Sonic Unleashed (PS2) 66[29]
(Wii) 66[30]
(X360) 60[31]
(PS3) 54[32]
Sonic 4: Episode 1 (Wii) 81[33]
(PS3) 74[34]
(X360) 72[35]
(iOS) 70[36]
Sonic Colors (NDS) 79[37]
(Wii) 78[38]
Sonic Generations (X360) 77[39]
(PC) 77[40]
(PS3) 76[41]
(3DS) 66[42]
Sonic 4: Episode 2 (iOS) 66[43]
(PS3) 63[44]
(X360) 61[45]
(PC) 54[46]
Sonic Lost World (Wii U) 63[47]
(3DS) 59[48]
Sonic Mania (PS4) 86[49]
(NS) 86[50]
(PC) 84[51]
(XONE) 83[52]
Sonic Forces (XONE) 62/100[53]
(PC) 58/100[54]
(PS4) 58/100[55]
(NS) 57/100[56]
Year Game Platform(s) Sales
1991 Sonic the Hedgehog Mega Drive / Genesis 15 million[57]
1992 Sonic the Hedgehog 2 6 million[58][59]
1993 Sonic Spinball and Sonic the Hedgehog CD 1 million in US[60]
1994 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles 4 million[61]
(Sonic 3: 1.02 million in US[62]
Sonic & Knuckles: 1.24 million in US)[62]
1995 Knuckles' Chaotix Sega 32X
1998 Sonic Adventure Dreamcast 2.5 million[63]
2001 Sonic Adventure 2 / Battle GameCube 1.7322 million[n 1]
Sonic Advance Game Boy Advance 1.515 million[n 2]
2003 Sonic Mega Collection GameCube 1.453 million[n 3]
Sonic Heroes PlayStation 2/Xbox/GameCube 3.41 million[67][68][69]
Sonic Mega Collection Plus PlayStation 2/Xbox 2.19 million[70][71]
2005 Shadow the Hedgehog PlayStation 2/GameCube/Xbox 2.06 million[69][72]
2006 Sonic the Hedgehog Mobile 8 million in US & EU[73]
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 870,000[74]
2008 Sonic Unleashed PlayStation 2, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 2.45 million[75]
2010 Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows 1.07 million[76]
Sonic Colors Wii, Nintendo DS 2.18 million[77][78]
2011 Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing iOS 16.7 million[79]
Sonic Generations PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS 1.85 million[80]
2012 Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Nintendo 3DS 1.36 million[81]
Sonic Jump iOS 8.8 million[79]
2013 Sonic Lost World Wii U, Nintendo 3DS 710,000[82]
2014 Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Shattered Crystal 620,000[83]
2016 Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice Nintendo 3DS
2018 Sonic Mania Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows 1 million[79]
2022 Sonic Frontiers Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S
Mario & Sonic series 22.78 million[n 4]
2007 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Wii, Nintendo DS 11.31 million[89][90]
2009 Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 6.53 million[76][91]
2011 Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games Wii, Nintendo 3DS 3.28 million[79]
2013 Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games Wii U 65,377 in Japan[n 4]
2016 Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Nintendo 3DS, Wii U 430,033 in Japan[n 4]
Series total 123.32 million[n 5]

References

change
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  1. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle: 1.44 million in US,[62] 192,186 in Japan,[64] 100,000 in UK[65]
  2. Sonic Advance: 1.21 million in US,[62] 204,542 in Japan,[64] 100,000 in UK[65]
  3. Sonic Mega Collection: 1.38 million in US,[62] 72,967 in Japan[66]
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Mario & Sonic series:
  5. The Sonic franchise (including Mario & Sonic) had sold over 89 million units by March 2011.[84] In addition, Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games sold 3.28 million copies and Sonic Generations sold 1.85 million units as of March 2012, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed sold 1.36 million units as of March 2013, Sonic Lost World sold 710,000 units as of March 2014, and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric & Shattered Crystal sold 620,000 units as of March 2015.[92][93][94][95] The iOS games Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (released June 23, 2011) and Sonic Jump (2012) sold over 16.7 million and 8.8 million paid downloads, respectively, as of 2013.[96] Sonic Mania (2017) sold over 1 million units as of March 2018.[97]