1. Before the arrival of Sonic, Sega's unofficial mascot was was a big-eared dude named Alex Kidd.
His games appeared mostly in the Sega Master Drive. When executives at Sega made the decision to compete head-to-head with Nintendo's Mario, Alex was demoted as mascot and replaced with Sonic.
2. Sega held an internal competition to see who could design the next superstar that would lead the charge in the video-game war against Nintendo.
These were some of the failed designs.
3. Naoto Oshima won the competition by designing this legendary character.
4. At one point, Sonic's infamous arch-nemesis Dr. Robotinik was considered for the lead of this new Sega franchise.
5. Inspired by Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse, Sonic's original name was "Mr. Needlemouse."
6. Sonic's iconic red-and-white footwear was inspired by both Santa Claus' color scheme and Michael Jackson's boots in Bad.
Look at the belt buckles on the shoes.
7. His sassy attitude is inspired by Bill Clinton's "get it done" personality.
8. Sega of America believed that Sonic the Hedgehog would fail because Americans "had never even heard" of a hedgehog.
9. In the early stages of development for the first game, Sonic had a love interest named Madonna.
10. Sonic's first appearance was on the promotional material for the Sega-sponsored 1990 musical tour of DREAMS COME TRUE.
11. Sonic the Hedgehog was released in the U.S. before Japan.
12. As of 2011, Michael Sroka holds the Guinness World Record for Highest Score on Sonic the Hedgehog clocking in at 404,980 points.
13. Michael Jackson composed some of the music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
14. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic and Knuckles were originally one game.
15. Sonic's biggest weakness, the inability to swim, was based on a mistake.
According to Yuji Naka, one of the creators of Sonic, "[I] assumed that hedgehogs can't swim, so that's why [I] made it that Sonic can't swim... Apparently hedgehogs can swim, but they can't climb out of water."
16. Jaleel White, aka "Steve Urkel," was the original voice of Sonic in the 1993 animated series The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.
17. There is a creepy message from the devil hidden inside Sonic CD.
18. Speaking of Sonic CD, if you leave him idling for 3 minutes, he'll commit suicide.
19. Sonic can realistically run at the speed of sound (768 mph).
20. Sonic has an INSANE appetite.
21. Sonic was the first video-game character to float at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Although many feel the franchise has dropped considerably in quality...
There is still hope for the blue hedgehog.
Sonic Boom is expected to launch this year on Nintendo's Wii U and 3DS, along with an all-new CG animated TV series and toy line.
