Sonic the Hedgehog (video game)

1991 video game

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.

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)
Composer(s)Masato Nakamura
SeriesSonic the Hedgehog
Platform(s)
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

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

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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

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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.

References

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