5 Sonic the Hedgehog Facts

Since 1991, gamers around the world have come to know Sonic the Hedgehog as being synonymous with Sega, both from their time as a console developer in the past, or a software publisher in today’s landscape. His super speed has been seen not only in dozens of video games over the years, but also in the forms of cartoons, movies, comic books and much more.

Here are some fast facts about Sonic the Hedgehog!

1. 1. Sonic the Hedgehog was almost named Mr. Needlemouse. (source) Sega definitely made the right call by naming their iconic character ‘Sonic the Hedgehog.’ Naoto Ohshima, who was one of the designers for the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, which was released in 1991, has said that Sega considered calling the character ‘Mr. Needlemouse.’ Years later, during its development stage, the code name for Sonic the Hedgehog 4 was actually ‘Project Needlemouse.’

2. 2. Mickey Mouse was one of just a few famous influences for Sonic the Hedgehog. (source) In the creation of the Sonic the Hedgehog character, Sega designer Naoto Ohshima and his team took influence from Mickey Mouse’s body, Felix the Cat’s head and even Michael Jackson’s boots from Bad to bring Sega’s most famous character ever to live.

3. 3. Since 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog has appeared in over 65 video games. (source) Since his debut on the Sega Genesis and Sega Mega Drive in 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog has now been a part of more than 65 different video games to date. Not only has the famous character starred in his own games across different Sega gaming platforms, but can be found today as a playable character in games like the popular Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which was released for the Nintendo Switch in 2018.

4. 4. Sonic the Hedgehog’s middle name is Maurice. (source) There was a Sonic the Hedgehog comic series that ran from 1993 through 2017, and in that series, Sonic’s full name is actually ‘Sonic Maurice the Hedgehog.’ This name, however, never carried over to any of the video games that Sonic appeared in.

5. 5. Sonic the Hedgehog’s first ever video game appearance was as an air freshener. (source) The first game that Sonic the Hedgehog starred in was his own game, appropriately titled ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’, which was released in June of 1991. However, earlier that year, he would first appear as an air freshener that dangled from your cars mirror as you sped through the tracks on ‘Rad Mobile,’ an arcade game that was released in Japan back in October of 1990.

Do you have any more fun facts to share about Sega’s iconic mascot? If you do, let us know about them in the comments section below.

Featured image photo credit: jpellgen, 2016. Originally found on Flickr.com. Image was resized and cropped. Creative Commons 2.0.