The SEGA Sonic the Hedgehog games have enjoyed a truly astounding rise in popularity since the release of the first game in 1991. In less than 20 years, Sonic Games have become a part of basic popular culture and a corner-stone for all fans of gaming in general. The great success of the game is mostly attributed to its frequent updates, spin-offs and regular new game releases.



The astounding quantity of releases of the official Sonic Games show a litany of creativity, ingenuity and a never-say-die attitude on the part of the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, better known as "Team "Sonic".

Sonic the Hedgehog made his first appearance in 1991 in "Sonic 1" A follow-up was released the very next year in the form of "Sonic 2" which featured fox character "Miles "Tails" Prower". Two releases in 1994 included Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and "Sonic & Knuckles" in short order. By this time, Sonics' girlfriend, Amy Rose and long-time companion Metal Sonic had been well entrenched into the Sonic Games mythology. The developers seemed to take a break at this point although Sonic did make appearances in cross-platform games in the background throughout from 1993 to 2007? The next official Sonic Games release was "Sonic Adventure" in 1998/1999.

This is still counted as one of the highest selling video games in history and is merited as still generating revenue a decade later. What made this particular game such a watershed in the franchise was the introduction of a new nemesis, namely "Chaos" who, under the control of the now well known "Dr Eggman" presented a new challenge for the little hero. "Sonic Adventure 2", released in 2001 was even more over the top and just about managed to please the insatiable requirements of the teaming fan base. In the second adventure, Sonic is on the run from military forces as he has been inaccurately mistaken for a criminal. Very shortly after this release, constant demand saw the showcasing of "Sonic and the Black Night" after the much acclaimed "Sonic and the Secret Rings". This presented a few spoilers for a story book by the same name which proved a very lucrative spin-off. "Sonic Unleashed", a 2008 release saw Sonic Games take a new move in the ever-increasing world of this busy little hedgehog. In this version of the game, Sonic acquires the ability to turn into a "werehog". In exchange for his speed, he receives additional powers that he did not previously possess.

Along with the official game releases, there have been countless cameos and spin-offs. These have included comics, story books and television series. With the ability for fans to create their own flash versions of Sonic Games, it becomes impossible to catalogue the tremendous quantity of gaming pleasure that the character has made available. In addition, the clean, non-violent nature of the games MO has drawn universal appeal from Sonics' largest group of fans, children. In a world where complicated strategy gaming has become a massive industry, parents are at odds to provide decent gaming entertainment for their kids. The requirements of simple, goal driven games will never die down, as the ongoing success of Sonic Games has proven.