The Evolution of Sonic The Hedgehog Over 25 Years

evolution of sonic the hedgehog

Yep, it’s been 25 years since SEGA introduced Sonic the Hedgehog. The iconic blue blur has become one of the most enduring video games and game mascots of all time. Check out the evolution of the mascot as he evolves from an 8-bit character in 1991 to the three-dimensional computer generated character he is today. 

Evolution of Sonic The Hedgehog

Most playing the newest Sonic-related games and downloading the apps now weren’t even born when Sonic 1 first came out. Below is the evolution of Sonic The Hedgehog: the animated mascot, logos and major game descriptions in chronological order from 1991-2016.

25 years of SEGA Sonic
images for the above composite are screen grabs from this youtube video from SEGA

And being released on September 27th is the latest, Sonic Boom Fire & Ice Nintendo DS, available for pre-order here

If you’re in the San Diego area in July, there’s a Sonic 25th Anniversary Party at the House of Blues during San Diego Comic-Con. You can buy tickets here.

And for fun, this little homage to the original Sonic Adventure 2 commercials, the folks at SEGA got an actual hedgehog in for this video. Then he destroyed everything:

You can commemorate with lots of products other than the actual games.
From slippers to toys, shop for them here

sonic the hedgehog merch

Sonic The Hedgehog

2018 Update:
A new animated poster for the upcoming movie (starring Ben Schwartz as Sonic and Jim Carry as Dr. Robotnik) coming to theaters in November 2019, and Sonic has had quite the makeover. And fans are not very happy.

 

Take a look at the brand new motion poster for #SonicMovie right here!

Posted by IGN on Monday, December 10, 2018

IGN reports “The production team behind the movie opted to go for a more realistic take on Sonic — down to his updated new kicks — than the more cartoony version we’ve seen in the past. The filmmakers consider Ted to be an appropriate analog for the upcoming Sonic movie’s integration of a CG character into a real-world setting.”

The first thing you’ll likely notice about the character is that he has fur — a bit of a no-brainer, considering what he is, but still a markedly different visual depiction of Sonic than what we’re used to. “That was always Stage 1 of adapting it to what the real world is and what a real animal would be like,” executive producer Tim Miller (director of Deadpool) said of giving Sonic fur. “It would be weird and it would feel like he was running around nude if he was some sort of otter-like thing. It was always, for us, fur, and we never considered anything different. It’s part of what integrates him into the real world and makes him a real creature.”

Then there are the shoes. “We looked at every different variation of what shoes he’s worn and we’re trying to pay homage to that and also make it current and present day in what we think a Sonic of today would wear,” producer Neal Moritz (producer of the Fast and the Furious franchise) told IGN.