The new Sonic movie came out recently, have you been to see it yet?
Sonic is one of the most iconic characters in the video game industry. He was Sega’s response to Mario. Sega’s president, Hayao Nakayama, decided they needed something that was just as iconic. Naoto Ohshima submitted a blue hedgehog in a mascot contest that the company held in an attempt to inspire their big new franchise.
The gameplay on the other hand came from Yuji Naka, who had developed a way for the sprite to move smoothly on a curve. The original game prototype showed a character going through tubes as a ball.
Working together with Mr. Oshima, Yuji Naka finalized the characte’s design. Did you know? According to Mr. Oshima, Sonic’s shoes were inspired by the cover of Micheal Jackson’s 1987 album “Bad”.
Needless to say, Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the best selling video game franchises of all time, selling 89 million by March 2011 and grossing over 5 billion by 2014. The sum of series sales and free-to-play mobile game downloads totaled 920 million in 2019.