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SegaSonic the Hedgehog
Developer(s)Sega AM3
Publisher(s)Sega
Director(s)Tomosuke Tsuda
Composer(s)Hiroshi Kawaguchi
Keitaro Hanada
Naoki Tokiwa
SeriesSonic the Hedgehog
Platform(s)Arcade
Release
Genre(s)Platform, action
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemSega System 32

SegaSonic the Hedgehog[a] is an isometric platform game developed and published by Sega. An arcade game in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, it follows Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel, who must escape an island after they are kidnapped by series antagonist Doctor Eggman. Players use a trackball to move the characters and escape the island as quickly as possible while dodging obstacles and collecting rings. The game was developed by Sega's arcade division, Sega AM3; it was designed to recapture the spirit of the Sega Genesis Sonic games and was inspired by the 1984 game Marble Madness.

The game was released in Japanese arcades in October 1993. It has never been rereleased; plans to port the game to Sega's 32X platform never materialized, and the game was cut from Sonic compilation release Sonic Gems Collection (2005) due to problems with replicating the game's trackball control system on a standard controller. At the time of release, SegaSonic the Hedgehog received highly positive reviews from Electronic Gaming Monthly and Computer and Video Games for its graphics and gameplay. Journalists writing in retrospect have been more divided. The game marked the debuts of Sonic characters Mighty and Ray; both have reappeared sparingly in the franchise.

Gameplay

(From left to right) Sonic, Mighty, and Ray skate across an ice-themed level

SegaSonic the Hedgehog is a platformer action game that has been likened in gameplay to Marble Madness (1984).[2] Players control three characters: Sonic the Hedgehog, Mighty the Armadillo, and Ray the Flying Squirrel, who can be controlled by a single player or simultaneously with two others.[3] The story follows the three characters after series antagonist Doctor Eggman traps them on his island. They team up to escape, and must dodge various hazards and dangers to reach Eggman in his base, the Eggman Tower.[3][4]

The game takes place over several levels, which must be completed in the fastest time possible. Players use a trackball to control a characters' speed and direction from an isometric perspective, and a button to make a character jump into a Spin Attack.[5] Each character has a health bar, which is depleted when the player falls into traps; players lose a life if the bar empties. Health can be recovered by collecting rings that are littered around the course or hidden inside obstacles or enemies. Players receive bonus rings for use in later levels they collect over a certain percentage of rings within a level.[2][3] Upon reaching Eggman at the end of the game, he pushes a button that causes the island to self-destruct. The three heroes manage to escape unharmed, while Eggman is left stranded at sea.[4][6]

Development and release

Development of SegaSonic the Hedgehog began after Sega expressed a desire to create an arcade game that recaptured the spirit of the Sega Genesis games.[7] The game is one of four arcade games in the Sonic the Hedgehog series to feature the SegaSonic name.[b] It was developed by Sega AM3, an internal Sega division that created games for arcade cabinets,[9] with assistance from Sonic Team. The game was directed by Tomosuke Tsuda; designed by Manabu Kusunoki, Kiyoshi Miyagi, Masahiro Hoshino, and Satoshi Yamagata; and programmed by Hideshi Kawatake, Takashi Hasegawa, and Tetsuya Kawauchi. Hiroshi Kawaguchi, Keitaro Hanada, and Naoki Tokiwa composed the soundtrack.[6]

According to Kusunoki, the idea for trackball controls was conceived after an unspecified member of the development team—who was a fan of Marble Madness—suggested that it would work well with Sonic's style of gameplay.[10] The game uses a Sega System 32 motherboard, which enables the multiplayer option, and a unique graphics system.[3][11] It also features two new characters, Ray the Flying Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo.[3] Both were designed by Kusunoki, who chose their species since he thought they would control similarly to how Sonic did and that they, like hedgehogs, were obscure.[10] Mighty was also based on an early prototype of Sonic.[12] The game also features voice acting, with Takeshi Kusao, Hinako Kanamaru, Yusuke Numata, and Masaharu Satō voicing Sonic, Ray, Mighty, and Eggman, respectively.[4][6]

The game's title in development was simply Sonic the Hedgehog, but was changed to SegaSonic because Sega lost the trademark to the Sonic name during production. Kusunoki could not recall why it was disputed, but according to video game journalist John Szczepaniak, Sega of America failed to turn in its paperwork for the trademark on July 13, 1993.[10] SegaSonic the Hedgehog was featured at the Summer International Consumer Electronics Show 1993 and the Amusement Machine Show 1993.[2][11] It was released in Japanese arcades in October that year.[1] A port for the 32X was planned but canceled.[13][14] According to series co-creator Yuji Naka, it was also considered for inclusion in the 2005 rarities compilation Sonic Gems Collection for the GameCube and PlayStation 2, but was excluded due to difficulties with emulating the trackball controls on a standard controller.[5]

Reception and legacy

Electronic Gaming Monthly gave SegaSonic the Hedgehog a perfect score of 10 out of 10. 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.[2] Computer and Video Games offered similar praise and praised the game's attention to detail, "highly recommending" it.[11] The French magazine Mega Force compared the game's isometric graphics to Sega's Zaxxon (1982) and SNK's Viewpoint (1992).[15]

In the midst of a review for Sonic Gems Collection in 2005, Phil Theobald (GameSpy) expressed disappointment that SegaSonic the Hedgehog was not one of the games in the compilation, voicing hope it would someday be rereleased.[16] In 2014, Justin Towell (GamesRadar) called the game's graphics impressive for 1993, but that its lack of a rerelease was "no great loss".[17] John Szczepaniak offered a negative stance in 2018, due to bland level design and imprecise controls that had "an irritating fuzziness". He compared turning characters with the trackball to feeling intoxicated, and claimed to have watched several individuals try to play the title but give up.[10]

Mighty appeared as a playable character in the 32X game Knuckles' Chaotix (1995).[18] For many years, Ray did not appear in another game,[19] but he and Mighty were featured in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series published by Archie Comics. Ray became a member of the Chaotix along with Mighty, who is depicted in the series as his honorary brother.[20] The game is also referenced in the anniversary game Sonic Generations (2011), where a "missing persons" poster of Ray and Mighty appears in City Escape.[21] Mighty and Ray are set to be playable in Sonic Mania Plus (2018), an expanded version of the 2017 game Sonic Mania.[22]

Notes

  1. ^ Japanese: セガソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ, Hepburn: SegaSonikku za Hejjihoggu
  2. ^ The other titles are SegaSonic Popcorn Shop,[8] SegaSonic Cosmo Fighter,[9] and the cancelled SegaSonic Bros.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b "ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホック | セガ・アーケードゲームヒストリー". セガ・アーケードゲームヒストリー (in Japanese). Sega. Archived from the original on February 15, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ a b c d "Sonic the Hedgehog (tentative title)" (PDF). Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 6, no. 8. August 1993. p. 60,62. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e "Sonic The Hedgehog Arcade - Videogame by Sega of Japan". The International Arcade Museum (in English and Japanese). Killer List of Video Games. 1995–2012. Archived from the original on April 27, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2012. The game play is somewhat similar to Marble Madness. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  4. ^ a b c Sega-AM3 (1993). SegaSonic the Hedgehog. Sega.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ a b Kemps, Heidi (September 30, 2005). "GameSpy Xbox: Sega's Yuji Naka Talks! - Page 2". GameSpy. Internet Archive. IGN Entertainment. p. 2. Archived from the original on February 19, 2006. Retrieved May 28, 2012. Yuji Naka: It was done by part of the Sega arcade division at the time. We did think about adding it to Gems Collection, though, but we couldn't implement it in the end because the game used a trackball control scheme that is very, very difficult to replicate with a standard controller.
  6. ^ a b c d Dransfield, Ian. "Has a lost Sonic arcade game been unearthed?". DigitalSpy. Archived from the original on July 6, 2017. Retrieved October 12, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Sega, 1993 and Beyond..." Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 46. May 1993. p. 52. Archived from the original on October 13, 2017. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ Good, Owen. "Emulator brings obscure Sonic popcorn-machine game back to life". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016. Retrieved October 11, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b Parish, Jeremy (June 5, 2014). "Who Makes the Best Sonic the Hedgehog Games?". USgamer. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved July 17, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ a b c d Szczepaniak, John (2018). The Untold History of Japanese Game Developers: Volume 3. S.M.G Szczepaniak. pp. 308–309. ISBN 0992926084.
  11. ^ a b c "Sonic the Coin-Op" (PDF). Computer and Video Games. No. 144. November 1993. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2017. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ Thomas, Lucas. "Sonic the Hedgehog VC Review". IGN. Ziff Davis. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Work in Progress" (PDF). Computer and Video Games. No. 155. October 1994. p. 33. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "Multimedia" (PDF). Mean Machines Sega. No. 24. October 1994. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2017. Retrieved October 10, 2017. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "The Sega Village: Sonic" (PDF). Mega Force (in French). No. 19. p. 29. Retrieved October 13, 2017.
  16. ^ Theobald, Phil (August 15, 2005). "Sonic Gems Collection". GameSpy. IGN. Archived from the original on April 5, 2013. Retrieved February 24, 2018. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  17. ^ Towell, Justin (May 2, 2014). "22 things you didn't know about Sonic the Hedgehog". GamesRadar. Future plc. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  18. ^ "Knuckles' Chaotix". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 69. April 1995. pp. 122–125. Archived from the original on September 12, 2016. {{cite magazine}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "Retro Vault: Double Dragon, SegaSonic the Hedgehog, Legends of Wrestling". Computer and Video Games. Archived from the original on December 11, 2014. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
  20. ^ Ponce, Tony. "Sonic Universe says, 'Make way for the Chaotix, son!'". Destructoid. Enthusiast Gaming. Archived from the original on April 15, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  21. ^ Sonic Team. Sonic Generations. Sega. Level/area: City Escape (Act 1). MISSING since 1993. Ray the Flying Squirrel & Mighty the Armadillo. Have you seen them?
  22. ^ Singletary, Charles (March 16, 2018). "SXSW 2018: Sega Announces Sonic Mania Plus". Shacknews. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
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