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SegaSonic the Hedgehog (セガソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ SegaSonikku za Hejjihoggu?), also known as SegaSonic Arcade,[3] is an arcade game from the Sonic the Hedgehog series, developed by Sega AM3. It was officially released in Japan in June 1993 by Sega. Versions of the arcade game appeared in limited quantities in western countries, such as London's Sega World and Galloping Ghost Arcade in Chicago.[4]

The music for arcade game was composed by Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Keitaro Hanada and Naoki Tokiwa. The game was Sonic the Hedgehog's first major arcade outing, and featured Sega's mascot alongside two new characters: Ray the Flying Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo.

Plot[]

Spoiler warning: Plot, ending details or any kind of information follow.

Sonic, Ray, and Mighty have been kidnapped by the evil Dr. Eggman, who uses his large tank vehicle to do so. He takes them to Eggman Island, an island littered with traps and hazards that can be activated with the push of a button.

Sonic, Ray, and Mighty team up to escape the island, as the trio must survive the various hazards of the island and reach Eggman's Tower. As they arrive at the control room, Eggman presses a button that triggers a self-destruct sequence that will destroy the entire island. The trio manage to flee the island before the explosion. The evil doctor also escapes, but suddenly falls into the sea due to his Egg Mobile running out of fuel.

Gameplay[]

Volcano Vault

Sonic, Mighty and Ray in Volcanic Vault.

SegaSonic the Hedgehog is an isometric platforming game with three characters who share identical controls and abilities. The characters are controlled with one action button which lets the player perform a spin jump, and a trackball which is used to move the characters around. Each trackball and corresponding action button are color-coded, meaning the blue ones are for Sonic, red ones are for Mighty, and yellow ones are for Ray.

The premise of the game is to reach the end of an isometric course without dying. This objective is similar to other video games in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Yet, it is also different in the sense that instead of a typical platforming game, the game is centered entirely around running as fast as possible on a linear course from a never-ending barrage of threats, including giant boulders, lava flows, rogue gears, falling stalactites, and other traps. When the player is hit by a dangerous obstacle or hazard, they lose health from the Health Gauge, which can be refilled by collecting Rings that are found around the arena. Once the Heath Gauge has been fully depleted, the player dies. Upon completing each level, the game tallies up how many Rings were grabbed. Extra points are also received if over half of the level's Rings were found.

The game only has a few enemies and one boss that appears midway through the game. At the end of the final level, the player is given twenty seconds to escape from the self-destructing tower. If they make it out of the tower successfully, the player(s) can watch the ending credits. Failing to do so will result in a Game Over, and they will not be allowed to use a Continue, as the game states "You failed" with Dr. Eggman laughing offscreen. Additionally, new players can no longer join the game once Eggman has been reached.

Controls[]

Button formation Movement
Segasonic Sonic life Sonic Segasonic Mighty life Mighty Segasonic Ray life Ray
Trackball Move
Button Spin Jump

Objects[]

Items[]

Gimmicks and obstacles[]

Characters[]

Playable characters[]

Non-playable characters[]

Enemies[]

Stages[]

Segasonic 10

Mighty in Desert Dodge, the third stage of the game.

The game contains seven stages located on Eggman Island. Between stages, brief cutscenes show Eggman panicking and plotting the player's demise as he tracks the progress of his enemies.

  1. Volcanic Vault
  2. Icy Isle
  3. Desert Dodge
  4. Trap Tower
  5. Landslide Limbo
  6. Wild Water Way
  7. Eggman's Tower

Cast[]

Much like Waku Waku Sonic Patrol Car and SegaSonic Popcorn Shop, SegaSonic the Hedgehog features Japanese voice acting, as well as on-screen dialog.

Role Voice actor
Sonic the Hedgehog Takeshi Kusao
Mighty the Armadillo Yūsuke Numata
Ray the Flying Squirrel Hinako Yoshino
Dr. Eggman Masaharu Satō

Staff[]

Reception[]

 Reception
Review scores
Publication Score
Electronic Gaming Monthly 10/10[5]

SegaSonic the Hedgehog received positive reception. Electonic Gaming Monthly gave the game a perfect score of 10 out of 10.[5] The magazine stated that the game "shatters your perception of what a good game should be", reserving high praise for its graphics and music, and the variety of levels. It also praised the "hilarious" character animations and cinematics, and encouraged readers to play the game. Computer and Video Games offered similar praise and praised the game's attention to detail, "highly recommending" it.[6] The French magazine Mega Force compared the game's isometric graphics to Sega's Zaxxon and SNK's Viewpoint.

Legacy[]

Mighty later appeared as a playable character in the Sega 32X game Knuckles' Chaotix in 1995. Ray did not appear in any games after his debut for a long while but he and Mighty were featured in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series published by Archie Comics. SegaSonic the Hedgehog is also referenced in the anniversary game Sonic Generations, where a "missing persons" poster of Ray and Mighty appears in City Escape.

In 2018, for the updated version of Sonic Mania, entitled Sonic Mania Plus, Ray and Mighty return as extra playable characters in addition to the original playable characters Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles. This marked Ray's return after almost 25 years, and Mighty's after 23.

Trivia[]

  • The use of the trackball has subsequently led to great difficulty in both official and unofficial emulation efforts. Yuji Naka has stated that the reason it was not included in Sonic Gems Collection was because of this.[7]
  • SegaSonic the Hedgehog was rumoured to receive a Sega 32X release, but this never saw the light of day.[8][9]
  • This game had a limited release in North America and Europe, but it is identical to the Japanese release, with all the text and voice acting in Japanese. However, interestingly enough, in the game's data, there are English texts, suggesting an English localization was meant to happen.
    • Additonally, a full set of unused alternate sprites for Dr. Robotnik are present, being his Sonic the Hedgehog television series' design. The intention of these sprites is unknown save for that they were possibly intended for usage in the aforementioned scrapped English localization of the game.[10]
  • The three playable characters wear almost identical footwear. The only difference is that Mighty and Ray's shoes are a slightly darker shade of red than Sonic's.
  • This game was the first in the series to feature an ice/snow and desert-themed level.
  • Eggman's Tower is the only level within the game that prohibits continues should the player die.
  • Although Eggman is the main villain, this is the first game in which the player does not have a final confrontation with him.
  • With the exception of Eggman's Tower, all the Zone names in this game are alliterations.
  • When asked about where in the timeline SegaSonic the Hedgehog officially took place, Ian Flynn stated that it was currently placed after Sonic R.[11]
    • Similarly, in the 29 August 2022 Bumblekast Q&A, he stated that SegaSonic the Hedgehog takes place after Sonic 3 & Knuckles.[12]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. The official Sega website has stated two different months for the initial release.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Sega Arcade Game History: ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ (Japanese). Sega. Retrieved on 14 March 2022.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 1993年 (Japanese). Sonic Channel. Sega. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved on 14 March 2022.
  3. Flynn, Ian; Sega (8 December 2021). "Sonic Arcade Classics". Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia. Dark Horse Books. p. 18. ISBN 978-1506719276.
  4. Games List. Galloping Ghost Arcade. Retrieved on 1 November 2022.
  5. 5.0 5.1 "Leading Edge: Sonic the Hedgehog". Electonic Gaming Monthly (49): 60, 62. August 1993. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 1 March 2022.
  6. "Sonic the Coin-Op". Computer and Video Games (144): 18. November 1993. Archived from the original on 17 October 2017..
  7. Kemps, Heidi (30 September 2005). Sega's Yuji Naka Talks! - Page 2. GameSpy. Retrieved on 12 August 2016.
  8. "Cover Story: Multimedia". Mean Machines Sega (24): 20. October 1994. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 1 March 2022. "There are even moves afoot to translate the Sonic the Hedgehog coin-op for the 32X"
  9. "Work in Progress: Sonic & Knuckles (bottom of page)". Computer and Video Games (155): 33. October 1994. Archived from the original. Retrieved on 1 March 2022. "Rumour has it that the Sonic arcade game is in the process of being converted to the 32X"
  10. https://twitter.com/sonic_hedgeblog/status/1205591750716411906?lang=ar-x-fm
  11. BumbleKast for July 11th, 2022 - Priority Q&A Podcast with Ian Flynn (50:00). YouTube (11 July 2022). Retrieved on 11 July 2022.
  12. BumbleKast for August 29th 2022 - Q&A Livestream with Ian Flynn (1:32:08). YouTube (29 August 2022). Retrieved on 29 August 2022.
Sonic the Hedgehog spin-off games
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