The Evolution Of Sonic The Hedgehog

As hedgehogs go, you don’t really get more famous than Sonic the Hedgehog. For over 30 years, the turbo-speed hedgehog has been Sega’s mascot, starring in games, TV shows, movies and spawning an exciting collection of toys for children to bring him into the real world. Explore all our fun Sonic toys featuring the whole gang, from Amy and Tails to characters from the brand new movie, Sonic The Hedgehog 3!

Sonic was created to be the flagship character of the Sega franchise, competing with Mario for the adoration of legion of fans for whom consoles had become the ultimate Christmas list must-have. When the Master System console was first released in the UK in 1987, it was many gaming fans first introduction to the spin-dashing hero – who remembers trying to beat the Green Hill Zone in less than 30 seconds?

The Origin Of Sonic The Hedgehog

Every good lead character needs a back story, and Sonic is no different. Legend has it that a WWII pilot with spiky hair earned the name ‘Hedgehog’ during his career – he was tipped to be the first pilot to break the sound barrier.  When he retired, his author wife created a series of stories inspired by her sonic-speed husband and Sonic was born. You’ll often spot reference to his back story in Sonic games, including the original logos and game starting screens.

Designing Sonic The Hedgehog

Sonic was brought to life by Japanese designer Naoto Ohshima, who wanted to create a loveable character that could become the star of Sega games. His remit was to create a character that transcended race and gender, would appeal to all ages and would be easy for children to draw themselves. He went through a number of designs before settling on Sonic. Possibilities for his form included an armadillo, a porcupine, a dog and even Dr Robotnik – that’s right, the enduringly evil character in the Sonic franchise was very nearly the main hero!

Oshima asked members of the public to help him choose the final design and the blue hedgehog was the overwhelming favourite. Since then, he’s gone to have hundreds of adventures, been redesigned, redrawn and many characters have been added to the sonic universe but he’s kept his roots as the fastest, spikiest hero that the world of gaming ever saw!

Sonic First Game Appearances

Sonics first cameo in a game came in 1990 in a arcade game called Rad Mobile. He was featured as a rear-view mirror ornament before he starred in his own gaming franchise beginning the same year. Released for the Master System 8-bit console and the 16-bit Megadrive/Genesis console, the original sonic Sonic The Hedgehog game was a fast-paced platform game with Sonic spinning and dashing through levels such as Green Hill Zone, Chemical Zone, Casino, Metropolis, Labyrinth, Marble and so many more.

As consoles developed, so did the Sonic franchise. The first friend to join the gang was Miles “Tails” Prower, a young fox with two tails that gave him the ability to fly. In a completely original move, early Sonic games allowed players to work as a cooperative, with one person controlling sonic and the other heling him out with lifts over chasms and killing the multitude of enemies they came across – later on, these features would become more refined, adding more friends. Knuckles the Echidna joined the gang in 1994 in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and Amy joining the gang in 1998 in Sonic Adventure.

Together, the gang would go on to star in over 140 games across different genres, consoles and franchises. There have been three movies and several different TV series,  but the premise usually stays the same, beat Dr Robotnik, save the woodland creatures and save the world!

The Sonic Movies

Sonic first starred in his own movie in 2020, joining forces with the town sheriff to beat the evil Robotnik in his latest polt. Starring Jim Carrey as Dr. Robotnik (or Eggman) the film introduced a new generation of gamer’s to the Sonic universe, In the next movie, Sonic The Hedgehog 2, Sonic and Tails race to find the Master Emerald before Robotnik and his sidekick Knuckles do.

We can’t wait to watch the brand new Sonic film, starring Carrey again as Robotnik, released in cinemas on 26^th December 2024.  We know that the gang are reunited to fight a brand new adversary – Shadow The Hedgehog (the popular anti-hero character known from his introduction in Sonic Adventure 2 on Dreamcast, so well-received that he got his own spin-off game!) Given the same powers as Sonic, Shadow took a darker path in life, and it’s going to take the joint efforts of the whole gang as well as a unlikely ally to protect the world and all the creatures in it!

Bring Sonic The Hedgehog 3 to life with our range of exciting Sonic toys, from action figures to play sets that help you act out our favourite scenes from the movies, we’ve got everything a Sonic The Hedgehog fan could possibly want!

Stay speedy, Sonic fans!