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Random facts about Sonic the Hedgehog. Why? Because.
Note: These are all written from memory, taken from various other sites. Nothing is copy-pasted here - everything is typed manually.
Yuji Naka, creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, said that Sonic's speed-driven gameplay was based on him trying to clear the first stage of Super Mario Bros. as fast as possible, since you always had to play through the level regardless of whether you used Warp Zones or not. He said "I always tried to get through the level as fast as I could, and that inspired the initial concept of Sonic the Hedgehog."
The first design for the main character of the games was a chubby, egg-shaped man known as Dr. Eggman, named after the line "I am the Eggman" from the Beatles song "I Am the Walrus". Eggman's design was later reworked to look more villain-like and he was rewritten as the antagonist. It's also said that Eggman's design was based on former President Theodore Roosevelt, and looking at the glasses, mustache and mouth, it's easy to see why. Interestingly, though, according to an unused audio file for Omochao in Sonic Adventure 2, Eggman's mustache is fake... (This is debatable, as the audio file only says "the Doctor", and some fans think Omochao is actually referring to the Chao Doctor).
Sonic's red and white shoes were inspired by Michael Jackson's boots and the colour scheme of Santa Claus. His personality was inspired by former President Bill Clinton.
Initially, there were plans for Sonic to have a human girlfriend named Madonna. She was a blonde woman in a clingy red dress and would have chased Sonic, similar to how Amy Rose does now. The idea was vetoed by a female member of Sega of America, who thought the concept of a human love interest was "too Japanese".
Sonic went through several design changes before the blue hedgehog we all know and love was settled on today. An armadillo, a fox, a dog, and a rabbit with prehensile ears were all considered. The armadillo later became Mighty the Armadillo, and the fox was redesigned and became Miles "Tails" Prower. The rabbit was given a complete design overhaul and turned into another SEGA character, Ristar.
Before the game was released, Sonic's design was nicknamed "Mr Needlemouse", a literal translation of the Japanese word for hedgehog, "harinezumi". He also had fangs in his initial design and his spikes were a bit more "wild" looking.
Due to what was presumably an error, Amy Rose was referred to as Princess Sally in the American manual for Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
The Sonic the Hedgehog OVA (released as Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie outside of Japan) was created before the character of Knuckles had appeared in any games, which meant the writers of the movie had to make stuff up to fill in the gaps of what they didn't know. In the movie, Knuckles was somehow able to actually fly (as opposed to just gliding in the games) and was referred to as a mole rather than an echidna. He also wore a hat and was said to be a treasure hunter. The hat would later be seen in the games, being worn by a character called Fang the Sniper (Nack the Weasel in America) in the game Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble on the Game Gear, who also called himself a treasure hunter.
In Sonic the Hedgehog CD, entering down, down, down, left, right, left on the title screen will bring up a Sound Test menu. Using various combinations of sounds, it's possible to make the following pictures pop up:
- A picture of Tails saying "See you next game", sitting next to a car (both advertising Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic Drift)
- A rather bizarre tribute to Batman, with Sonic drawn in a Batman-esque style
- A picture of Sonic with big grey anime eyes and Japanese text saying "You are cool"
- A DJ scene with Sonic, Metal Sonic and Robotnik, with text saying "The fastest DJ MC Sonic" and "Can I kick it?" This was actually a fanart piece that was submitted for a contest - the artist's signature is visible in the bottom corner of the picture
- A picture full of disturbing-looking Sonics, with Japanese text that reads "Fun is infinite with Sega Enterprises. - Majin" "Majin" can be interpreted as "demon" or "devil", but it is also the nickname of a member of SEGA staff who worked on Sonic CD and other games. This picture also showed up in attempts to play early pirated copies of the game, suggesting it was initially an anti-piracy warning.
Sonic's first appearance was actually in a SEGA game called Rad Mobile, which released in arcades in 1993, a few months before Sonic the Hedgehog was released. In this racing game, a Sonic head air-freshener was available as a decoration for the player's car.
In the game Jet Set Radio, one of the characters has an oddly-shaped skull around his neck. SEGA employees have said that it's the skull of another famous SEGA character. The skull is blue and has spines at the back of it, suggesting that it's actually the skull of Sonic the Hedgehog.
In the level "White Jungle" in Sonic Adventure 2, Omochao can be found sitting next to the Goal Ring. Picking him up and jumping through the Goal Ring while holding him will make him comment "This weather reminds me of San Francisco". There is heavy rain throughout the whole level. This was an in-joke by SEGA of America employees, as San Francisco is where SEGA of America headquarters is located. Strangely enough, Omochao says the same thing in Japanese if you have the voices set to Japanese, including the mention of San Francisco.
Note: These are all written from memory, taken from various other sites. Nothing is copy-pasted here - everything is typed manually.
Yuji Naka, creator of Sonic the Hedgehog, said that Sonic's speed-driven gameplay was based on him trying to clear the first stage of Super Mario Bros. as fast as possible, since you always had to play through the level regardless of whether you used Warp Zones or not. He said "I always tried to get through the level as fast as I could, and that inspired the initial concept of Sonic the Hedgehog."
The first design for the main character of the games was a chubby, egg-shaped man known as Dr. Eggman, named after the line "I am the Eggman" from the Beatles song "I Am the Walrus". Eggman's design was later reworked to look more villain-like and he was rewritten as the antagonist. It's also said that Eggman's design was based on former President Theodore Roosevelt, and looking at the glasses, mustache and mouth, it's easy to see why. Interestingly, though, according to an unused audio file for Omochao in Sonic Adventure 2, Eggman's mustache is fake... (This is debatable, as the audio file only says "the Doctor", and some fans think Omochao is actually referring to the Chao Doctor).
Sonic's red and white shoes were inspired by Michael Jackson's boots and the colour scheme of Santa Claus. His personality was inspired by former President Bill Clinton.
Initially, there were plans for Sonic to have a human girlfriend named Madonna. She was a blonde woman in a clingy red dress and would have chased Sonic, similar to how Amy Rose does now. The idea was vetoed by a female member of Sega of America, who thought the concept of a human love interest was "too Japanese".
Sonic went through several design changes before the blue hedgehog we all know and love was settled on today. An armadillo, a fox, a dog, and a rabbit with prehensile ears were all considered. The armadillo later became Mighty the Armadillo, and the fox was redesigned and became Miles "Tails" Prower. The rabbit was given a complete design overhaul and turned into another SEGA character, Ristar.
Before the game was released, Sonic's design was nicknamed "Mr Needlemouse", a literal translation of the Japanese word for hedgehog, "harinezumi". He also had fangs in his initial design and his spikes were a bit more "wild" looking.
Due to what was presumably an error, Amy Rose was referred to as Princess Sally in the American manual for Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
The Sonic the Hedgehog OVA (released as Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie outside of Japan) was created before the character of Knuckles had appeared in any games, which meant the writers of the movie had to make stuff up to fill in the gaps of what they didn't know. In the movie, Knuckles was somehow able to actually fly (as opposed to just gliding in the games) and was referred to as a mole rather than an echidna. He also wore a hat and was said to be a treasure hunter. The hat would later be seen in the games, being worn by a character called Fang the Sniper (Nack the Weasel in America) in the game Sonic the Hedgehog: Triple Trouble on the Game Gear, who also called himself a treasure hunter.
In Sonic the Hedgehog CD, entering down, down, down, left, right, left on the title screen will bring up a Sound Test menu. Using various combinations of sounds, it's possible to make the following pictures pop up:
- A picture of Tails saying "See you next game", sitting next to a car (both advertising Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Sonic Drift)
- A rather bizarre tribute to Batman, with Sonic drawn in a Batman-esque style
- A picture of Sonic with big grey anime eyes and Japanese text saying "You are cool"
- A DJ scene with Sonic, Metal Sonic and Robotnik, with text saying "The fastest DJ MC Sonic" and "Can I kick it?" This was actually a fanart piece that was submitted for a contest - the artist's signature is visible in the bottom corner of the picture
- A picture full of disturbing-looking Sonics, with Japanese text that reads "Fun is infinite with Sega Enterprises. - Majin" "Majin" can be interpreted as "demon" or "devil", but it is also the nickname of a member of SEGA staff who worked on Sonic CD and other games. This picture also showed up in attempts to play early pirated copies of the game, suggesting it was initially an anti-piracy warning.
Sonic's first appearance was actually in a SEGA game called Rad Mobile, which released in arcades in 1993, a few months before Sonic the Hedgehog was released. In this racing game, a Sonic head air-freshener was available as a decoration for the player's car.
In the game Jet Set Radio, one of the characters has an oddly-shaped skull around his neck. SEGA employees have said that it's the skull of another famous SEGA character. The skull is blue and has spines at the back of it, suggesting that it's actually the skull of Sonic the Hedgehog.
In the level "White Jungle" in Sonic Adventure 2, Omochao can be found sitting next to the Goal Ring. Picking him up and jumping through the Goal Ring while holding him will make him comment "This weather reminds me of San Francisco". There is heavy rain throughout the whole level. This was an in-joke by SEGA of America employees, as San Francisco is where SEGA of America headquarters is located. Strangely enough, Omochao says the same thing in Japanese if you have the voices set to Japanese, including the mention of San Francisco.
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