Sonic Origins: The Return Of An Icon

By Mike Alexander

Remasters, reboots and requels. You can’t get away from them. Most are not worth your time unless you’re a die-hard but sometimes something comes along that captures the hearts and minds of the masses. And for Studio 35 today, it’s coming in fast. So Join our Story Behind episode as we delve into…….Sonic Origins.

The first Sonic the Hedgehog game was released in 1991. Since then, SEGA’s mascot has been a cultural touchstone and a video game industry icon. The character has enjoyed continued popularity through merchandise, toys, TV shows, and now a live-action film series that stars Jim Carrey as the villainous Dr. Robotnik and Ben Schwartz as the voice of Sonic. In the more than 30 years Sonic has been around, there have also been more than 30 mainline Sonic games that fans have enjoyed to differing degrees, with the 3D titles trending more towards the “not-great” end of the spectrum.

However, while there are a great many games for fans to choose from, Sonic wouldn’t be where he is today without those first few games on the SEGA Genesis. Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic CD, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles set the standard for the series’ early gameplay and what players could expect from Sonic games…