Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media property from Japan.¹⁾

Sega created and owns it.²⁾

Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog, confronts the nefarious Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist, in the franchise.³⁾

Sonic the Hedgehog games are generally platformers created by Sonic Team. Other studio-created games include spin-offs in the racing, combat, party, and sports genres.⁴⁾

Print media, cartoons, feature films, and merchandising are also part of the series.⁵⁾

Sega created the first Sonic game for the Sega Genesis in 1991 to compete with Nintendo's mascot Mario.⁶⁾

Its popularity aided Sega's rise to prominence throughout the fourth generation of video game systems in the early 1990s.⁷⁾

Sega Technical Institute created the following three Sonic games, as well as the spin-off Sonic Spinball (1993).⁸⁾

Sonic Adventure, the first major 3D Sonic game, was published in 1998 for the Dreamcast after a gap during the failed Saturn period.⁹⁾

In 2001, Sega departed the console market and turned to third-party production, with the series continuing on Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation consoles.¹⁰⁾

While Sonic games frequently include distinct game mechanics and narrative, repeating features like as the ring-based health system, level settings, and fast-paced action are present.¹¹⁾

Sonic usually sets out to foil Eggman's plans for world dominance in the games.¹²⁾

Levels contain springs, slopes, bottomless pits, and vertical loops that the player must cross.¹³⁾

Later games included a vast cast of characters, including Miles “Tails” Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, and Shadow the Hedgehog, who have appeared in spin-offs.¹⁴⁾