Sonic Series

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ) is a series of video games about the character with the same name by Sega.

Overview

Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ Sonikku za Hejjihoggu) is a video game series featuring Sonic the Hedgehog, a blue hedgehog. Including outside Japan-only mobile games and download sales, the total number of units sold and downloaded worldwide has reached 800 million as of 2018.

The first game in the series was designed to take advantage of the Mega Drive's (Sega Genesis) high-speed graphics processing capabilities.

However, if the player has even one ring as an item, they are not immediately out of the game even if they hit an enemy or obstacle, and the stress caused by mistakes is reduced by collecting the scattered rings.

The first game was a huge hit, selling more than 15 million copies worldwide due to its sense of speed and game balance. Therefore, there are many games, animations, comics, etc, that have been developed only in foreign media (outside Japan).

The series has become a huge hit in Japan, representing not only the mascot character Sonic but also the company itself, Sega.

The Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice promotional video released in 2016 and the Sonic Forces promotional video in 2017 surpassed 345 million and 350 million units sold in the series, respectively. Furthermore, according to information from Sega Sammy Holdings, the number of units sold, including downloads, has exceeded 800 million as of 2018.

This figure is said to include mobile games not yet distributed in Japan (or discontinued in Japan) such as Sonic Jump, the Sonic Dash series, Sonic Runners Adventure, and the

Sonic at the Olympic Games, but details are unknown.

For reference, the Sonic Dash series had 100 million downloads worldwide by 2015.

Two Control Systems

The Sonic series can be roughly divided into two control systems: Spin Dash Sonic, which has been around since the start and has a strong athletic element, and Boost Sonic, which was introduced in the DS game Sonic Rush, and allows players to activate boosts at will and run as fast as in a racing game.

Since Sonic Unleashed and later, Boost Sonic has been used more often, so people who have recently played Sonic may have a strong impression of this type of Sonic gameplay. However, both are very exhilarating when mastered, so it's encourage you to play both.

Setting

Sonic's setting, with the exception of the numbered series and the Adventure series, which are set in a continuum of settings, basically differs greatly from one game to another, with the exception of the character Sonic and his friends, and Dr. Eggman as an enemy. The personalities of Sonic and his friends also change slightly depending on the work and media, and this tendency is especially strong after Sonic Unleashed.

For example, in the main game series, Sonic and his friends are supposed to live on the same planet as us, but the terrain and scenery in each game tends to be more realistic or fantasy, and the heads and designs of the humans change from game to game (in Sonic '06, realistic humans were depicted, but in Sonic Unleashed, they are stylized like Disney characters).

The official graphic column of Sonic Forces states that Sonic (Modern Sonic) and his friends live on a different Earth from the one humans live on. The world in which the old design Sonic (Classic Sonic) lives is different from the Modern Sonic. So it is possible that this world is not the same as the game world.

In the anime Sonic X, it is explained that the human world of Earth and Sonic's Earth are parallel worlds, and that for some reason Dr. Eggman was transferred from the human world of Earth to Sonic's Earth.

The animated series Sonic Boom, which is a separate brand series, is a parallel work in a different lineage, unconnected to the main series, and is basically devoid of humans other than Dr. Eggman and dominated by a race of animal people, and could be considered a reboot of the early cartoon version.

Furthermore, in the American and British comic book versions, he lives on Planet Mobius, a sister planet of Earth, or on a future Earth several decades in the future (in the North American version of Sonic CD, Little Planet is Planet Mobius), and in the animated Sonic OVA, it is suggested that he lives on Planet Freedom, a floating continent (heavenly land) that wraps above a devastated, far future Earth.

Music

The first and second title in the series are known for having game BGM composed by Masato Nakamura of Dreams Come True, some of which were also used as BGM for Sega's UFO Catcher, so you may have heard them at game centers ("in Japan").

From the Adventure series onward, much of the music was associated with rock, which was rare for game music (at the time), and its unique sound has been acclaimed worldwide as the "Sonic Sound".