Yuji Naka (left), Naoto Ohshima (middle), and Hirokazu Yasuhara (right) are widely regarded as the three key men to the development of Sonic the Hedgehog, respectively serving as the game's lead programmer, character designer, and lead designer.[1]
The original Sonic the Hedgehog was developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega in mid-1991. Production began in April 1990, after Sega requested a new mascot to compete with Nintendo's Mario and replace their previous mascot, Alex Kidd, who had been deemed unsatisfactory. The game was commissioned to showcase the technological capabilities of the Mega Drive (known as the Sega Genesis in North America) prior to the international release of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES).
The game was developed by seven people, with the most notable being Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara. Naka wanted a fast-paced video game that would allow players to speedrun early levels in repeat playthroughs, yet have a simple control scheme. After hundreds of submissions for a protagonist, the team settled on a hedgehog character by Ohshima that would become Sonic the Hedgehog. The choice of a hedgehog stemmed from the belief that his spines would complement his rolling-based attacks in gameplay. The character was designed to appeal to Americans, the game's target audience, and his personality was modeled around the cultural and political landscape of the United States. The game's aesthetics were influenced by the CGI technology of the 1980s, using the Mega Drive's 16-bit graphics to create pseudo-3D background objects, while the soundtrack was made by Masato Nakamura, from the J-pop band Dreams Come True.
Sonic originally was part of a rock band and had a human girlfriend named Madonna, but these ideas were scrapped by Sega of America to "soften" his image. After this overhaul, Sonic the Hedgehog's narrative incorporated environmental themes: Sonic represents nature and his adversary, Doctor Eggman ("Dr. Robotnik" in the Western release), embodies industry, with his robots serving as the game's enemies. The game saw various changes during development: Sonic's speed was adjusted after playtesters suffered from motion sickness, and the first stage, Green Hill Zone, was redone from scratch multiple times to ensure a good first impression among players.
A technical demo of the game was first showcased at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1990, but it failed to attract interest and Sega kept the project a secret. The game was later revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 1991, and was regarded as the most impressive title during the event. Released in the UK and US in June 1991, and internationally the next month, Sonic the Hedgehog received critical acclaim and worldwide recognition, allowing Sega to directly compete with Nintendo. This triggered the "console wars" which would define the video game industry of the 1990s. The game also spawned a long-running franchise and has been re-released several times.
Background[]
During the late 1980s, Sega experienced modest success with the Mega Drive ports of its games for arcade systems, but sought a stronger foothold against its main competitor, Nintendo.[2] Sega had previously used Alex Kidd as their own flagship mascot during the Master System era, but failed to achieve widespread success.[3] In 1988, Sega of Japan started an in-house competition to find a character that could compete against Nintendo's Mario; Sega president Hayao Nakayama in particular wanted a character as iconic as Mickey Mouse.[2][4] Over the next few years, Sega programmers and designers would work on a new mascot.[5] Eventually, in 1990, Sega ordered its AM8 development studio (later Sonic Team) to develop a game starring this mascot.[3][6]
Conception[]
Early ideas[]
Drafts of a game called "Twin Stars" that would evolve into Sonic the Hedgehog, by Naoto Ohshima.[7]
Over 200 character designs were submitted to Sega of Japan, including a wolf, a bulldog, a robot, and a warrior character, although almost all were discarded.[1] Designer Naoto Ohshima, who had previously worked on the Phantasy Star series, conceived at the time a game called "Twin Stars" set in a dream world starring two brothers fighting against a villain known as "Thirteen", but the concept was soon discarded.[7] Ohshima later pitched several characters, which included a dog, a mustachioed man in pajamas (later used as the basis for Doctor Eggman's design), and a blue cartoon rabbit.[1]
This rabbit character, made by Naoto Ohshima, was initially the game's protagonist.
Ultimately, the rabbit received the most support out of all the proposals. Ohshima approached programmer Yuji Naka, known for his work on Phantasy Star II and the Mega Drive port of Ghosts 'n Ghouls, to assist in development. Naka wanted a fast-paced game that would allow skilled players to speedrun through early levels in repeat playthroughs, as games at the time had no save file system, requiring players to replay early levels constantly.[1][8] Naka explains that the reason he wanted a fast game was that he had wanted to work on the movement of Ghouls 'n Ghosts but found it slow.[9]
The two men pitched their ideas to Sega board members, bringing marketing materials such as a plush toy based on the rabbit character.[8] Naka also demonstrated a game prototype featuring a fast-moving character rolling like a ball through a long tube, utilizing a dot matrix that allowed the character sprites to follow curved trajectories.[10] The pitch was well received, and Sega assigned Hirokazu Yasuhara, who would become the game's lead designer, to supervise the project.[8] Yasuhara originally intended to work on the game for three months due to the delay of his planned move to the US by the outbreak of the Gulf War, but became involved in development for nearly a year.[10]
The team quickly encountered problems in development: the rabbit would pick up enemies with his ears, then aim and throw them. This was found too complex for the Mega Drive's hardware, and the developers felt it clashed with the desired speed-centric gameplay and required a more elaborate control scheme than desired. As a result, the rabbit character was discarded.[11][8]
Creation of Sonic[]
Sketches of "Mr. Hedgehog", the character that evolved into Sonic, by Naoto Ohshima.
The team conceptualized a rolling attack and researched animals that could plausibly roll. This led them to shortlist an armadillo and a hedgehog; the latter was ultimately chosen for its spiky look, which the team felt was more stylish and better suited for attack.[11][8] Around the same time, Ohshima took a trip to New York City and conducted an informal survey in Central Park, where he showed people sketches of various character designs, including a hedgehog, a dog, and a character who would later evolve into Eggman. The hedgehog design proved the most popular, reinforcing the team's choice.[12]
Ohshima revisited a doodle he had made earlier of a hedgehog character named "Mr. Hedgehog",[note 1][13] which became the basis for the game's protagonist. Late into a night of brainstorming, the team settled on the name "Sonic the Hedgehog," from "supersonic," the speed above the speed of sound, and took the name Sonic Team.[11][14] They aimed for Sonic to be an easily recognizable mascot for Sega, with his interconnected eyes in particular being designed to be distinct.[12] The design drew inspiration from American cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Felix the Cat, but was kept simple enough for children to draw.[15][6][16] Sonic's fur is blue because the color symbolizes peace, coolness, and Earth,[14] but the specific shade of blue was changed from teal to dark blue late in development for more contrast against backgrounds and to align with Sega's corporate logo.[17][18] His shoes were inspired by Santa Claus and the cover of Michael Jackson's album Bad,[14][19] and early designs incorporated fangs and a spiked collar as well.[20]
Lineart of Sonic in various poses and expressions, by Naoto Ohshima.
Sonic's personality was defined around three core pillars which aligned with Sega's image at the time: "cool", "challenger", and a backstory.[12] Since the game was chiefly targeting American audiences,[19] the character was built to resonate with them, under the belief that success in the US would also attract Japanese consumers.[9] He was made impulsive, which Ohshima saw as representative of Americans,[14] and influenced by then-governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton's "get-it-done" attitude.[19][21][22] To further sell the character's concept to Sega, a backstory was conceived by Ohshima and fleshed out by Yasuhara. The backstory drew inspiration from Disney, Hanna-Barbera and Sanrio characters, as well as World War II-era aviation imagery, which Ohshima was interested in at the time. It featured a jet pilot nicknamed "Hedgehog" due to his spiked hair, who had Sonic's likeness emblazoned on his flight jacket and plane as nose art. According to this story, Sonic the Hedgehog was set in a children's story written by the pilot's wife.[12]
Conflicts with Sega of America[]
Ohshima initially gave Sonic a human girlfriend named Madonna to combat the idea that the character was too childish.[14] Madonna, inspired by the American singer,[1] would have served as a damsel-in-distress who Sonic would need to rescue in the game. The developers also intended to feature a rock band in the game's Sound Test menu with animations of Sonic breakdancing.[23] As the team began work on the in-game engine, Sega of America was sent sketches of Sonic in early 1990. The concepts were very poorly received by the staff: they expressed concern about American audiences potentially being unfamiliar with hedgehogs, saw the band as unnecessary, and found Madonna too suggestive. They ultimately labeled Sonic as "unsalvageable" and proposed a complete redesign, even suggesting to "educate" Sega of Japan on character design through the work of filmmaker Will Vinton, the creator of the California Raisins.[24][17][20]
Tom Kalinske became the president of Sega of America in 1990. He, alongside the company's product manager Madeline Schroeder and director of marketing Al Nilsen, began work on overhauling Sonic and his world to maintain a simpler character identity, starting by removing elements like Madonna, the band, and Sonic's fangs and collar.[6][20] Borrowing inspiration from brands such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, they developed a backstory for the character in a document known as the "Sonic Bible". In this revised story, Sonic was raised in Nebraska, trained hard to achieve his speed, and befriended a scientist who went evil after a laboratory accident.[20]
This version of Sonic received negative reactions from the Japanese.[1] Sonic Team resisted the changes, believing they should be the ones in charge of every aspect of the character, but Sega of America insisted that they were more suitable for the game's original task of appealing to Americans. Schroeder was sent to Japan to discuss the changes with Sonic Team, which settled on the compromise that Sega's Japanese and American divisions would each use their version of Sonic.[20] Nevertheless, the rock band concept and Madonna were still scrapped by the Japanese team, with Madonna in particular found too similar to Mario's Princess Peach.[9] The band, meanwhile, was discarded due to a lack of time, and the freed up memory was used to add the "Sega!" chant taken from Master System commercials.[25][23] Naka later said that he thought that the changes made by Sega of America facilitated Sonic's success.[1] Among the rock band members was a crocodile, later repurposed for Knuckles' Chaotix as Vector the Crocodile.[23]
This sketch by Naoto Ohshima of a mustachioed man in pajamas later inspired the design of Doctor Eggman.
After this overhaul, Yasuhara incorpoated environmental themes into Sonic the Hedgehog's narrative,[26] drawing inspiration from the 1990s youth culture.[12] The antagonist, Doctor Eggman, evolved from the aforementioned mustachioed man in pajamas concept. Finding appeal in the design, the team repurposed this character as the villain to symbolize technology, contrasting with Sonic's embodiment of nature.[27][28] Ohshima also claims that Eggman was inspired by Humpty Dumpty.[29] However, in the West, the character was named "Dr. Ivo Robotnik" due to miscommunications between Sega's American and Japanese divisions; the name was coined by Dean Sitton, who at the time was a Sega of America game counselor and designer.[30]
Game design[]
Sonic the Hedgehog was developed by a team of seven: two programmers, two sound engineers, and three designers, although it began with just Naka and Ohshima. People came onto the team as content for the game increased.[9][14][8] The game was designed to fully exploit and demonstrate the Mega Drive's capabilities; as a result, it underwent extensive testing and redesign.[6] For six months, Naka, Ohshima, and Yasuhara worked 19 hours a day on the game.[10] The development process relied on sketches rather than game design documents; discarded ideas were crossed out.[12] The Chaos Emeralds were implemented to access the game's good ending, increasing replay value.[1] Additionally, the team frequented the Famitsu magazine, which provided them with previews of SNES games to avoid repeating their mistakes.[1]
In designing the gameplay, Naka was inspired by Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto, and admired the simplicity of his mechanics in complex environments. He decided that Sonic would only be controlled with a directional pad for movement and a button for jumping. Naka also wanted the game to be more action-focused than the Mario series.[6] Yasuhara drew inspiration from pinball games, introducing staples of Sonic the Hedgehog like loop-de-loops and bumpers.[1] The Ring mechanic was created as a result of playtesters going at max speed from the very beginning, leaving them exposed to obstacles; two weeks prior to Sonic's release, Naka made it so that Sonic would be protected from hazards with even one Ring in his possession.[31]
The sprites were drawn using a clay figure of Sonic as a foundation.[8] Ohshima, inexperienced in animation, watched anime shows for inspiration while making character animations, citing Lupin the Third as his biggest influence.[12]
Naka's relationship with Sega was tenuous, and he received little credit for his work. Naka left Sega of Japan shortly after Sonic the Hedgehog's release, although he joined Sega of America afterwards. Before leaving, however, he defied Sega's prohibition of developer credits by displaying a few names in black text on a black background, identifiable only by looking at the code.[15]
Programming[]
The programmers encountered several technical difficulties during development, like poor frame rates, jerky animations, and screen flicker. After a few weeks, Naka rewrote the algorithm for side-scrolling movements to prioritize Sonic's speed over other aspects. These adjustments allowed the game's animation to retain its fluidity despite its fast-paced nature.[1][8] At first, Sonic was given the maximum feasable running speed,[9] but it was reduced after playtesters reported having motion sickness from playing the game.[8][1]
Naka also stated that the team was trying to create smooth maps, and that implementing looping structures proved difficult because Sonic would break through them instead of running around them. The backgrounds were also a challenge, as the game's speed created the impression of going backwards, akin to the wagon-wheel effect.[9] To enhance the feeling of speed, Naka made the backgrounds' move delay slighly as Sonic runs.[8]
Late into development, Naka attempted to feature a multiplayer mode and experimented with split-screen gameplay, but the idea was discarded as it was beyond his programming knowledge at the time.[9] The concept was later realized in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
Artistic direction[]
The Mega Drive's processor allowed for more vibrant and complex environments that would have been impossible on 8-bit hardware. To showcase the console's capabilities, the team settled on a cartoonish yet futuristic design inspired by the 3D computer graphics of the era. Background objects were designed to create the illusion of 3D polygons, supported by techniques such as fake shadows. The team, inspired by pop artist Eizin Suzuki,[6] employed bright colors with high contrasts for the backgrounds. The game's aesthetics were inspired by the US West Coast,[9] with Green Hill Zone in particular combining elements of the landscape of California as well and Yasuhara's childhood memories of the Japanese countryside.[6][26] Its checkered ground was inspired by 3D image rendering from computers, an idea Naka obtained from Sega developer Yu Suzuki, who had used this technique with Space Harrier.[1]
Stages[]
In Sonic the Hedgehog, level maps were assembled by combining 64 unique parts.[12] To achieve worldwide popularity, the team needed to cater to the preferences of various gaming demographics. This proved more challenging than expected, as most levels underwent multiple iterations before the final product was completed, with Green Hill Zone taking nearly eight months to design.[1]
Screenshot of the secret Level Select screen in the official release of Sonic the Hedgehog. The Zones here are ordered as they were early in development.
Though the roster of stages—called "Zones" in-game—had been established early on, they underwent several changes as development progressed. Noticeably, Spring Yard Zone and Scrap Brain Zone were initially known as "Sparkling Zone" and "Clock Work Zone"[note 2] respectively. Most noticeably, Labyrinth Zone, the game's fourth stage, was initially the second, until the developers agreed it would be too difficult for the early game.[32]
Soundtrack[]
Masato Nakamura composed the soundtrack of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Initially, then-Sega director Fujio Minegishi suggested asking composer Yazo Kayama, a personal friend of his, to compose Sonic the Hedgehog's music. However, Sonic Team found his musical style unsuitable for the project.[33] They then contacted Masato Nakamura, bassist and songwriter of the band Dreams Come True, to make the soundtrack. Nakamura was initially surprised, but was inspired by the developers' desire to outdo Mario.[34] While working on the music, Nakamura was given screenshots and descriptions of the game's stages to help him visualize the game's atmosphere.[34] He approached the project as if he were scoring a film, drawing inspiration from the soundtracks of late 1980s films like Top Gun, Flashdance, and Dirty Dancing.[35] The first track he made was that of Green Hill Zone, followed by the title theme.[35]
| Comparison of Masato Nakamura's original composition for the Green Hill Zone track (top) and the in-game rearrangement (bottom). |
Nakamura, inexperienced in music in computers, described the most challenging aspect as adapting to the limitations of the Mega Drive's sound capabilities, which allowed for only four sounds to be played simultaneously.[1][34] He composed the game's music concurrently with the band's album Million Kisses. The compositions were made on an Atari computer,[34] taking into account the number of audio channels available, before sending them to Sega, where members of the company's sound team, Hiroshi Kubota and Yukifumi Makino, would digitize the soundtrack for the Mega Drive hardware using an Atari ST and the program Notator.[36][37] Makino did the final tweaking of the tracks with Nakamura, and would contribute by making the game's iconic jingles, like the one when an extra life is obtained and the drowning countdown.[37] Nakamura's original recordings were featured in Sonic the Hedgehog 1&2 Soundtrack, released in 2011 in Japan.
Promotional campaign and release []
Images of Sonic the Hedgehog showcased at the Tokyo Toy Show. On the left is a screenshot showing Sonic and Madonna,[38] who was included to attract attention,[39] while on the right is a screenshot of the game's technical demo that shows an early version of Green Hill Zone.
Sonic the Hedgehog's first public appearance was at the Tokyo Toy Show in June 1990.[11] The game was still in its infancy, with only two months of development by then and no environmental themes present. A technical demo featured a very early version of Green Hill Zone that most notably had a scrapped welcome sign. The enemies were instead fantasy monsters, and Dr. Eggman was in a bee costume.[39] The demo was limited to having Sonic run through a simple, undulated course but was notable for its seven-layer scrolling, intended to showcase the Mega Drive's capabilities.[40][11] Due to a lack of resources, Ohshima handmade display materials for the show.[11] Despite its technical features, the demo failed to gain widespread attention from the press.[39] Naka wanted to include the ROM in 2002's Sonic Mega Collection, but was unable to find it.[40]
This poster was plastered on Dreams Come True's tour truck in November 1990, marking one of Sonic's earliest public appearances.[11][34]
No new details about the game were revealed at the request of Sega of America, who wanted the game to be their trump card during the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) of 1991. In October 1990, a magazine for the Sega Player's Enjoy Club (SPEC) contained an announcement that "Project Sonic" was scheduled for release in spring 1991. The next issue of the magazine provided the release dates of Dreams Come True's November 1990 tour, followed by a mock interview of Sonic where he described himself as an adventurer from Christmas Island who spent his free time playing in a rock band.[39] The tour was meant to promote the band's newest album, Wonder 3. Becoming one of the event's sponsors, Sega provided Dreams Come True with a truck for the concert equipment that had a poster of Sonic drawn by Ohshima[11] on the side.[34] Pamphlets promoting the game were also handed during the concert.[11]
Sonic the Hedgehog was then presented at the 43rd International Consumers Electronic Show (CES), in Las Vegas, in January 1991. The game received very positive reactions, overshadowing Nintendo's reveal of Super Mario World at the same time and winning the CES award for innovation.[39] Magazines regarded Sonic as one of the greatest games ever, although Nintendo's initial reaction was one of indifference.[41]
As was common at the time, Sonic's marketing was handled by different teams across different regions. The game's Japanese packaging was designed by illustrator Akira Watanabe. He stated that his goal was to make the characters "colorful," employing clear lines and gradation.[42] According to Watanabe, the developers commissioned a package design "similar to pop art... without being particular to conventional packages."[42] The North American box artwork was drawn by the American Greg Wray, also an artist for The Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros.[43] The Sonic in this artwork sported flat, mohawk-like quills, which became the most common way to depict the character in the West until the late 1990s.
Kalinske wanted reassurance that Sonic would not fail. Sega playtested the game across the United States with Mario fans, showing them Mario and then Sonic; 80 percent preferred Sonic.[44] In the lead-up to Sonic's release, Sega employed an aggressive marketing campaign to counter Nintendo's domain over the video game industry: stands were placed in most major US cities so people could play Sonic, and various commercials were broadcasted to emphasize Sonic's speed and paint Mario in an unfavorable light.[39] The game was released in the United Kingdom and North America in June 1991, and the following month in Japan and the PAL region.[45][46][47] Kalinske, a believer in the razor and blades model, also aimed to package Sonic with the Genesis (the North American name of the Mega Drive), replacing Altered Beast as the bundle game. Sega of Japan directors decried the plan, but Nakayama reluctantly approved it. This tactic enabled Sega of America to sell 15 million Genesis units.[41][39][48][49] Genesis owners who bought their consoles before the switch could also request free copies of Sonic by mail.[39]
Notes[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 "Zone 1: Genesis". The History of Sonic the Hedgehog. Les Editions Pix'n Love. September 6, 2013. pp. 20-33. ISBN 978-1-926778-96-9.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Kennedy, Sam . Sonic Boom. 1Up.com. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved on 24 September 2014.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Thomas, Lucas M. (20 January 2007). Sonic the Hedgehog VC Review. IGN. Retrieved on 23 February 2014.
- ↑ "Sonic: A brief history". MegaTech (No. 26): 24. 20 January 1994. Archived from the original.
- ↑ "Feature: When did you get yours?". Mega (4): 16–20. December 1992. Archived from the original.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 "The Making of Sonic the Hedgehog". Retro Gamer (Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing) (100): 46–49. February 2012. ISSN 1742-3155.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Action game draft. Twitter. @NaotoOhshima (21 January 2023). Retrieved on 21 January 2023. "Naoto Ohshima: I made a draft of the game. An action game about twin brothers who protect the dream world from Nightmare World's boss 'Thirteen'. It evolved into Sonic. 私はゲーム原案書を作った。 ナイトメア世界のボス「サーティーン」から夢の世界を守る双子のアクションゲーム。 ソニックに進化した"
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 "The 'Classic Sonic' Years". Sonic the Hedgehog 25th Anniversary Art Book. Cook & Becker. 26 June 2017. ISBN 9789082457650.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 Yuji Naka (2013). "Interview With Yuji Naka". in Les Editions Pix'n Love]. The History Of Sonic The Hedgehog. UDON Entertainment Corp. pp. 90–95. ISBN 978-1-926778-96-9.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 GI Staff (August 2003). "Sonic's Architect: GI Interviews Hirokazu Yasuhara". Game Informer (124): 114–116.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 11.7 11.8 Maba, Ray (24 June 2016). 『ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ』誕生・ヒット・新生の真実をソニックチームのレジェンドクリエイターが、25周年のいま明かす 秘蔵資料満載の永久保存版！ (Japanese). Famitsu. Retrieved on 27 March 2023.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 Classic Game Postmortem: 'Sonic the Hedgehog'. GDC Vault. Retrieved on 26 October 2024.
- ↑
Yuji Naka / 中 裕司 on Twitter (Japanese). Twitter (January 24, 2021). Archived from the original on January 24, 2021. "悔しいのでもう一度挑戦しましたがもっと判らなかった感じです。「セガの看板キャラクターであるソニック。世に出る前に彼に付けられていた名前を選べ」と言う問題が判りませんでした。作った人なのにね
セガい共通テスト受験終了！" - ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Naoto Ohshima (2013). "Interview With Naoto Ôshima". in Les Editions Pix'n Love]. The History Of Sonic The Hedgehog. UDON Entertainment Corp. pp. 96–101. ISBN 978-1-926778-96-9.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Claiborn, Samuel (June 26, 2014). 21 Crazy Facts About Sonic and the Console War He Started. IGN. Retrieved on February 13, 2014.
- ↑ Wawro, Alex (21 March 2018). Sonic the Hedgehog's origin story, according to the devs who made him. Game Developer. Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved on February 22, 2022.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Horowitz, Ken (December 5, 2006). Interview: Mark Cerny. Sega-16. Retrieved on October 12, 2014.
- ↑ Ponce, Tony (February 27, 2013). Review: The History of Sonic The Hedgehog. Destructoid. Retrieved on October 11, 2014.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Sheffield, Brandon (December 4, 2009). Out of the Blue: Naoto Ohshima Speaks. Game Developer. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved on December 13, 2009.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 20.4 Harris, Blake J. (13 May 2014). Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle That Defined a Generation. ISBN 9780062276711.
- ↑ Yahoo Playback . Yahoo Playback #94. Yahoo!. Archived from the original on December 15, 2009. Retrieved on December 13, 2009.
- ↑ Ashcraft, Brian . Sonic's Shoes Inspired by Michael Jackson. Kotaku. Retrieved on December 13, 2009.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Kemps, Heidi (30 September 2005). Sega's Yuji Naka Talks!. GameSpy. Archived from the original on 19 June 2006. Retrieved on 21 October 2024. "Yuji Naka: But the biggest thing I remember we had that we didn't use in Sonic 1 was the break-dancing. We had this idea for the sound test. [...] See, we wanted to have a separate sound-test screen with an animation of Sonic break-dancing while a "Sonic Band" played the game music. We were working on the images, and had enough space left on the cartridge memory for it, but once again time constraints prevented us from putting it in the program."
- ↑ McFerran, Damien (January 26, 2023). PlayStation 5 Lead Architect Mark Cerny Talks Sega, Michael Jackson And Yuji Naka. Time Extension. Retrieved on October 13, 2024. "Mark Cerny: I was told that it [Sonic the Hedgehog] was unsalvageable; that the character design was so bad, there were no comments that they could make that would help turn it into something saleable. What I heard was that they were going to be launching a project to 'educate' Sega of Japan about what good characters looked like. They were either very inspired by – or were going to be bringing in – Will Vinton, who, amongst other things, was famous for creating the California Raisins commercial."
- ↑ "Sonic The Hedgehog". The History of Sonic the Hedgehog. Les Editions Pix'n Love. September 6, 2013. pp. 112-117. ISBN 978-1-926778-96-9.
- ↑ 26.0 26.1 Gilbert, Ben (23 June 2021). Sonic boom: Sega designer tells the origin story of a gaming legend. TechRadar. Retrieved on 22 October 2024.
- ↑ "Sega on the Cutting Edge - Sonic the Hedgehog 2". Sega Visions (Infotainment World) (9): 20–21. September 1992. Archived from the original. "SV: Where did the other characters in the game come from? / Yuji Naka: We wanted one of the characters in the game to be egg-shaped, so we created Robotnik. It was a great character, but since it couldn't be the main character, we made him the bad guy."
- ↑ Interview with Yuji Naka: Creator of Sonic the Hedgehog (English). Sega. Archived from the original on June 5, 1997. "Yuji Naka: Robotnik was created to be the opposite of Sonic, and to be the bad guy. At that time, there was opposition between "developers" and "environmentalists", and Robotnik was created to represent machinery and development. As far as design, Mr. Oshima (the team member in charge of character designs) was trying to create something easy enough so that kids would be able to draw the characters. That's why the rotund character was created."
- ↑ Naoto Ohshima (2014). "Naoto Ohshima Visual Designer". Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Collected Works. Read-Only Memory. pp. 328-329. ISBN 978-0-9575768-1-0.
- ↑ Caoili, Eric (13 April 2009). Sonic The Hedgehog Bible: Never Before Revealed Secret Origins. GameSetWatch. Archived from the original on 3 October 2019. Retrieved on 26 October 2024. ""The bible was developed at SOA in-tune with getting the game from SOJ -- there was little to no exposure to the original Japanese fiction at that time," explains Dean Sitton, formerly a game counselor and designer at Sega of America, and the man responsible for giving Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik his proper name."
- ↑ McWhertor, Michael (April 28, 2022). Ex-Sonic Team lead Yuji Naka apologizes for “unfinished” Balan Wonderworld. Polygon. Retrieved on March 22, 2025. "Citing his work on the original Sonic the Hedgehog, Naka recounted that the game was changed just two weeks before its completion so that if Sonic had even just one ring left, he could continue to fight. Naka said this design choice was the result of improving the game’s design until the very end, and that he wasn’t afforded a similar opportunity as director of Balan Wonderworld."
- ↑ "Marble Zone" (in Japanese). ソニックジャム オフィシャルガイド. SoftBank. 2 October 1997. p. 20. ISBN 978-4797303377. "Yuji Naka: 息継ぎのアイディアは、キャラクターの特徴を考えている時点で、やっぱり何か欠点みたいなものがあった方がいいということになりまして、水の面もあるから、カナヅチにしようと。その後、でも水の面もあるから、どうしよう、やっぱ息継ぎするよね、というような会話からできました。[During production, Labyrinth Zone was initially the second stage. But Labyrinth was even more difficult than this [Marble Zone], and it seemed too tough to present it right away. Additionally, since Sonic was somewhat different from previous action games, we were worried about whether it was okay to keep running at such high speed all the time. So, we included this zone as a way to take a breather.]"
- ↑ Sega Magazine. pp. 11-15. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 7 October 2024.
- ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 Masato Nakamura interview. Sonic Central (2005). Archived from the original on 30 June 2008. Retrieved on 7 October 2024.
- ↑ 35.0 35.1 Sonic the Hedgehog 1&2 Soundtrack booklet. 2012. pp. 8-11.
- ↑ Nakamura, Masato (17 February 2021). "Emerald Hill Zone"! DREAMS COME TRUE. Dreams Come True. Retrieved on 24 May 2021.
- ↑ 37.0 37.1 strafefox (23 September 2022). The Making of Sonic the Hedgehog. YouTube. Retrieved on 20 August 2023.
- ↑ SGGG MANIAX - 幻のソニック. Retrieved on 3 May 2015.
- ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 39.4 39.5 39.6 39.7 "Zone 2: A New Face in the Magazines". The History of Sonic the Hedgehog. Les Editions Pix'n Love. September 6, 2013. pp. 34-41. ISBN 978-1-926778-96-9.
- ↑ 40.0 40.1 Towell, Justin (June 27, 2011). Super-rare 1990 Sonic The Hedgehog prototype is missing. GamesRadar. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved on March 23, 2025.
- ↑ 41.0 41.1 Kent, Steven L. (2001). The Ultimate History of Video Games. ISBN 0-7615-3643-4.
- ↑ 42.0 42.1 Sega Video Game Illustrations. Nippon Shuppan Hanbai (Deutschland) GmbH. 1994. ISBN 3-910052-50-9.
- ↑ Wray, Greg . greg wray. Retrieved on March 22, 2025.
- ↑ Stuart, Keith (2014). "The Blue Blur". in Wall, Darren]. Sega Mega Drive/Genesis Collected Works. Read-Only Memory. pp. 20–24. ISBN 978-0-9575768-1-0.
- ↑ "Penn to Paper". Computer Trade Weekly (343): 17. 1 July 1991. Archived from the original.
- ↑ Leadbetter, Rich; Glancey, Paul (July 1991). "Mega Drive Review: Sonic the Hedgehog". Mean Machines (10): 42–44. ISSN 0960-4952. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.. Retrieved on 9 February 2012.
- ↑ [セガハード大百科] メガドライブ対応ソフトウェア（セガ発売 (Japanese). Sega. Archived from the original on 24 November 2012. Retrieved on 18 December 2015.
- ↑ Lynch, Dennis (29 November 1991). Super NES, Sega Genesis in 16-bit duel. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on 8 September 2021.
- ↑ "Games for Grown-Ups: Speedy sprites". Popular Mechanics (Hearst Magazines) (168): 76. December 1991. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 3 January 2017.