Sonic the Hedgehog- Years Back a Hedgehog was born

It was the early 1990’s and two very powerful video game companies were fighting it out in the market. They each had their advantages and disadvantages but soon one of them had a clear lead over the other. The other company did not like this at all.

These two companies were Nintendo and Sega. While Nintendo developed its enormously successful Mario Bros. games, Sega was left behind without much leverage in the market. Their Dreamcast and Genesis consoles did not do all that well in the market and ultimately they had to scrape the game consoles altogether. They might’ve gone out of business had it not been for one single game character that they developed that went one to become a huge hit.

Originally developed for the much-hated Genesis platform, Sonic the Hedgehog was meant to be a competing character that would de-throne Mario. Mario was not to be dethroned but Sonic became wildly popular on his own account. He inspired a cult following amongst gamers.

Sonic the Hedgehog games were refreshingly different from the usual crop of side-scrolling (platformer) games. The games had speed, a very unique game play and some great music. Sonic was too original to be compared with any other game. Thus he simply carved out his own niche in the market.

The first Sonic game has sold millions of copies worldwide and is still selling to this date. It is what started this cult of Sonic the Hedgehog that not has millions of followers worldwide. The subsequent games have followed the same winning formula as the first game and they have been eagerly picked up by avid gamers.

As Sega’s console business was completely given up on, they focused their resources entirely on making games. Perhaps it was a case of too many cooks spoil the broth or may be it was just a serious lack of further innovation but the Sonic games that came out later failed to shine as much as the original game. They simply weren’t good enough. Sonic 3D was very close to tanking completely and the games that came along later were not that critically acclaimed either.

Sega went in to super marketing mode. They franchised out Sonic and soon we had Sonic everything. There was a manga (Japanese Comic), a TV series, loads of merchandise and more. However, the subsequent games still failed to win any lasting love or respect from the gaming community.

But that has not stopped the sales from being quite good. No matter what the hardcore gamers have to say, they will still buy every new Sonic game that comes out. Ever since the consoles were taken over by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo, Sega has not had any choice but to make the games available to these platforms. Perhaps the ultimate sign of changing times is Sonic the Hedgehog appearing on a Nintendo platform but the appeal seems to have remained undiminished for fans who just want to play with their favorite blue hero.