Description

Sonic the Hedgehog (Japanese:ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグHepburn: Sonikku za Hejjihoggu?) is a video gamefranchise createdand produced by Sega. The franchise centers on aseries ofspeed-based platform games. The protagonist of the seriesis ananthropomorphic blue hedgehog named Sonic, whose peaceful lifeisoften interrupted by the series' main antagonist, DoctorEggman.Typically, Sonic—usually along with some of his friends,such asTails, Amy, and Knuckles—must stop Eggman and foil any plansofworld domination. The first game in the series, released in1991,was conceived by Sega's Sonic Team division after Segarequested amascot character. The title was a success, it spawnedmany sequels,and it transformed Sega into a leading video gamecompany duringthe 16-bit era in the early to mid-1990s.

While the first games in the series were side-scrollingplatformgames, later games expanded the series into various othergenre andsub-series. By 2016, the series had sold over 80 millionphysicalcopies of games, and over 350 million units when combiningpackagedgame software with mobile phone downloads. Outside of videogames,the franchise has also been spun out into other media,includingcartoons, anime, and a long-running comic book series,recognizedas the longest running based on a video game by GuinnessWorldRecords.