Sonic the Hedgehog (video game)

This article is about the 16-bit 1991 game. For the 8-bit game, see Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit). For the 2006 game, see Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 video game).

Sonic the Hedgehog
Developer(s)	Sonic Team
Publisher(s)	Sega
Director(s)	Yuji Naka
Producer(s)	Shinobu Toyoda
Designer(s)	Hirokazu Yasuhara
Programmer(s)	Yuji Naka
Artist(s)	Naoto Ohshima Jina Ishiwatari Rieko Kodama
Composer(s)	Masato Nakamura
Series	Sonic the Hedgehog
Platform(s)	Sega Genesis Game Boy Advance Microsoft Windows Nintendo 3DS iOS Android Amazon Fire TV Apple TV Nintendo Switch
Release	June 23, 1991 Sega Genesis NA: June 23, 1991 PAL: July 24, 1991 JP: July 26, 1991 Game Boy Advance NA: November 14, 2006 Microsoft Windows WW: October 26, 2010 Nintendo 3DS JP: May 15, 2013 WW: December 5, 2013 iOS EU: May 15, 2013 NA: May 16, 2013 Android WW: May 16, 2013 Nintendo Switch WW: September 20, 2018
Genre(s)	Platform
Mode(s)	Single-player

Sonic the Hedgehog (also called Sonic 1) is a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis in 1991. It's the first video game of the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It has many sequels and spin-offs. In the same year, Ancient developed the 8-bit version of the game for the Master System and Game Gear.

Plot

In order to steal six Chaos Emeralds, Dr. Robotnik traps animals from South Island into robots. The player controls Sonic, whose goal is to free the animals and retrieve the emeralds. If the player collects them all, the game will have a good ending. If the player does not succeed, the bad ending will show Robotnik keeping the emeralds for himself.

Gameplay

Every level is split into "zones", with three "acts" per zone.

Being a 2D platformer, the player uses the game controller to move Sonic from the left side of an act to the right side. This game's main gimmick is Sonic's speed; the longer the player makes him run, the faster Sonic will go. Pressing the down button, or tilting the joystick downwards if using certain controllers, while running makes Sonic roll. When Sonic rolls, he curls up into a ball (a common trait of hedgehogs) and can destroy enemies called "Badniks", robots built by Dr. Robotnik that are in every zone. Sonic can also curl into a ball by jumping.

The game includes realistic momentum physics; Sonic will go slow when walking up a slope but can go up it quickly if he builds up enough speed, and goes faster when running down a slope.

Rings can be found in levels. When collected, Sonic will not die when getting hit but will instead have all collected rings spill out. Every 100 rings collected gives an extra life. Getting hit without any rings will make him die (lose a life). Losing all lives will result in a game over.

The first two acts of every zone end with a sign which spins and ends the level when Sonic touches it. If the player has at least 50 rings, a big ring that Sonic can enter will appear above the sign. It takes Sonic to a special stage, in which the player must jump through a spinning maze and reach the middle to earn one of six Chaos Emeralds. The third act of every zone ends with a boss battle against Dr. Robotnik in different flying machines designed to kill Sonic. Hitting Robotnik eight times defeats him, allowing Sonic to break open a capsule containing poached animals and run off to the next zone.

Development

In 1989, Sega began development on the Sega Genesis. They needed a video game character to compete with Nintendo's Mario. Sega began a competition for their employees to make a character to rival Mario. Concepts included a man with resemblance to Mario's outfit and Bart Simpson's head, a Japanese ancient warrior, and a jester with a puppet in hand. It came down to 4 concepts by Naoto Ohshima. The man mentioned above, a man in pyjamas with a large mustache and resemblance to Theodore Roosevelt, a hedgehog with arms and legs and conjoined eyes, and a grey rabbit that could grab with his ears. It obviously boiled down to the hedgehog becoming Sonic, and the mustached-man becoming Dr. Ivo Robotnik.

There were more scrapped ideas including a human female love interest for the hedgehog, and Sonic fighting living monster alien creatures instead of the robots we are used to. These concepts were scrapped to strangely avoid resemblance to Super Mario Bros. (1985).

At Tokyo Toy Show 1990, a prototype for Sonic the Hedgehog was shown. Only magazine photos exist to prove that it's real, since the actual prototype was lost.