I’m sure you’re all already aware of this, but today marks a very special occasion for us here at SEGA: Sonic the Hedgehog – the world’s fastest spinning hero – is celebrating 20 unstoppable years.
Back in 1991 you would have probably been sat there in your stone-washed jeans and LA Gear trainers listening to the Jazzy Jeff/Fresh Prince classic ‘Summertime’ (if you were cool enough that is), wondering if life could have gotten any better. Little did you know that you were about to meet a true gaming icon, and hero for a generation, in the shape of a blue hedgehog; a certain Sonic the Hedgehog.
From the day Sonic the Hedgehog was released on the SEGA Mega Drive back in June 1991, Sonic has celebrated some major milestones. Defined by his startling super-fast speed, in the twenty years since Sonic first graced our consoles, Sonic has starred in more than 65 games and notched up over 70 million sales worldwide – becoming a global phenomenon in the process. That’s quite some achievement and one that the team here at SEGA are all extremely proud of.
To help celebrate this momentous occasion we have released a celebratory Sonic 20th Anniversary Bundle on PlayStation Store. This bundle collects the original Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic 2, Sonic Adventure (and the DX Upgrade pack), Sonic 4: Episode 1 and a beautiful dynamic theme taken from the world of Sonic 4. This bundle will only be available for 20 days and represents a 50% saving against buying all these titles individually. Pricing for this time-limited bundle is £13.99/€17.99/AU$27.95 and, like Sonic, you’ve got to be quick to take advantage of this offer.
That’s not the only thing we have available to celebrate though – from today we have the Sonic Generations demo available for download, and as this blog post is sponsored by the number twenty, you can probably guess how long this demo will be available for. Once we hit July 12th this demo will no longer be available, so to experience the next step in Sonic’s evolution visit PlayStation Store to download and experience the 2D mode of Green Hill Zone today.
We have also created three free static themes to celebrate Sonic’s 20th Anniversary and these should be available for you to download next week; there’s nothing like eeking out the moment out for as long as possible, is there?
To end, I thought I’d leave you on a slightly educational note, and help fill in some of the gaps in your ‘history of gaming’ knowledge. Did you know the origins of our blue friend? He was actually born from a contest to create a new SEGA mascot and Sonic’s first humble appearance was as a toy hanging from the rear-view mirror in the little-known arcade racing game Rad Mobile. It’s been a meteoric rise to global superstardom since though!
So, here’s to twenty years of our blue friend, and here’s to another twenty more.
Over at eu.playstation.com we’ve asked a group of game developers and industry figures to share their first memories of Sonic; join in and let us know in the comments where you first saw him flash before your eyes.
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70 CommentsAdd Yours
1
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:32 pm by obiadekanobi1980
happy 20th…. year of constantly re releasing the same game over and over and over and…. you get the picture cant wait for the new 1 as at least itll be a NEW game bad as ninty with that fat annoying plumber and his green wearing boyfriend…….
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:22 am by Mike Kebby
Okay, that’s a happy start
2
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:33 pm by scottad
Happy birthday sonic
3
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:42 pm by X201
Mike, Your blog post doesn’t work
I’ve tried pressing Up, Down, Left, Right, holding A and pressing START but nothing happens
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:23 am by Mike Kebby
Haha, nice one X201, you made me chuckle there
4
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:43 pm by Catkiller1
Long time no see Mike!
Hope you’re enjoying your career with SEGA.
Any chance you could ask the team to consider releasing Sonic 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic Spinball, Sonic CD, & possibly Sonic Adventure 2?? The first 3 for free to Plus Members??
Any news on a release date for Sonic Episode 2?
Kind Regards
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:23 am by Mike Kebby
I couldn’t possibly speculate on anything, but thanks for the niceties!
5
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:43 pm by Skookie30
HAPPY BIRTHDAY “Blue Blur” Sonic
@Mike you have missed a great opportunity here on 20th anniversary instead of more recycle games you could give us sonic 10th anniversary sonic adventure-2 DX
dont tell me it will be 20 years to get sonic adventure-2 dx you not working with SCEE now let them be slow releasing content.
lastly where is comix zone and golden axe comming has that been canned.
ps please a rpg with trophies shining in the darkness, shining force 1/2 & landstalker.
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:24 am by Mike Kebby
Comix Zone and Golden Axe are still coming, they are the last two games we’re releasing as part of the Plus promotion (and also released via the store too).
6
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:44 pm by scottad
In an odd way I’ve kind of grew up with sonic i’m 24. I first played sonic on the master system and been playing ever since the Mega Drive/Sega Genesis versions of sonic are my favorite. I thought sonic 4 episode 1 was a step in the right direction for the modern sonic.
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:27 am by Mike Kebby
Glad to hear it
I was still working at SCEE when Episode 1 was released and have to admit I was feeling sceptical about it, but I was very pleased with the final result, a definite return to form 
7
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:46 pm by Hamusuta_SWE
Sonic 3 to PSN please? and please skip the episodic sonic 4 and release the full game instead?
8
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:47 pm by Danlisa
Yes!
Happy Birthday you Blue Hog.
Time to revisit my youth.
9
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:48 pm by greyness123
hello mike , any chance you can try get us some sonic avatars maybe ? also what the heck did the sega team do to virtua tennis 4 dude coz its an utter disgrace for online play
10
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:48 pm by Danlisa
Oh and Hai Mike. Welcome back to the blog
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:28 am by Mike Kebby
Thanks, always a pleasure to be back
11
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:51 pm by Silent_Gig
sonic BOOM
12
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:51 pm by xchris2008x
we could do with some Sonic psn avatars Mike!!!
13
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 2:54 pm by enormhi
Hey Mike! Missed you
Happy Birthday Sonic!
14
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:01 pm by Shikome
Its a pity you aren’t offering a special offer on the games seperately, especially given that you gave away two of them with Plus recently.
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:29 am by Mike Kebby
Because we had put them on sale fairly recently we wanted to do something differently to celebrate the big 2-0. This is a time limited bundle too, so once it’s gone, it’s gone!
15
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:05 pm by vonhammer
Couldnt help but laugh a bit at the poster “Still unstoppable after 20 years” It’s just a shame the series he’s been crawling around for the last 10 of those years.Only Rush and possibly the GBA ones hit the right notes.
Also picked up Yakuza 4 on saturday,is it wrong i’ve stopped doing the story (which is awesome) and put 10 hours into mahjong in the last two days
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:29 am by Mike Kebby
The mini games within Yakuza 4 can be just as compelling as the main story
16
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:06 pm by HUYI
you must be joking xchris2008x next week we are going to get some eyepet avatars disguised as sonic! we maybe get some eyepet static themes too, oooh i can’t wait! ¬_¬
17
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:08 pm by Catkiller1
@ Shikome
I agree as I received some free & some discounted, some time ago.
It would be nice to discount the games seperately to accomodate users that already have the free games.
You never know, as the team might rethink it & reduce them all next week!
18
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:10 pm by vonhammer
Also Mike,any chance the next Yakuza will allow online play in things like mahjong,darts,pool. I know the idea behind End of Day’s,but dont know if it’ll have the traditional gameplay.
As with 3 and 4,i’ll go in blind.
19
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:10 pm by beardyweirdy
James i thought you sacked Mike ‘clown’ Kebby for doing awful store updates what the hell is he doing back
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:30 am by Mike Kebby
Thanks – missed you too! (You know I didn’t dictate what content publishers released right)?
20
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:17 pm by almighty-slayer
Happy birthday, Sonic! Many of your recent games were absolutely terrible, but we still love you
21
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:21 pm by Carnivius_Prime
Dear Sonic, you’ve always been an incredibly annoying character in really shallow, tedious games but you’ve somehow lasted 20 years so kudos to you and happy birthday.
22
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:27 pm by rabiuddin
Does that means Free stuffs ?
23
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:27 pm by Kimpeo
Has anyone tried the demo, is it worth downloading?
24
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:28 pm by rabiuddin
Does that mean free stuff?
25
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:35 pm by Labreya
Just finished the demo. You only get one act of 2D Sonic, and the demo expires in 20 days.
Thats whole new levels of stingy right there. Hopefully they bring out another, better demo before the full games release.
26
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:39 pm by Skookie30
I had a go on it it does look good you know what it is, it‘s a sonic the hedgahog-1 remake you play in green hill level & remember that green hill music well it‘s Back.
1 think i‘m not so happy is i didn’t see any small animals when you destroy the robots but that will change as demo not the full game.
the other gripe about it is if you download it quicky before 20 days before it get pulled there is as well a timer in the game 19 day left it says.
so does that mean it will stop played after 20 days
27
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:41 pm by Skookie30
my demo says 19 days on the title screen i bet it‘s mike getting back at me for all the time i give him on the store heads up lol
28
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:52 pm by DARREN200COOK
Sonic, my fav gaming icon. HAPPY BELATED B’DAY!
29
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:55 pm by manutreble
happy bday Sonic thx for all th gd times.. any chance of sonic avatars to marked the 20th
30
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 3:59 pm by ShadowDoGGG
More Mario and Sonic collaborations please. I know this is PS blog but I would like something other than them at the Olympics.
31
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 4:23 pm by vherostar
Sorry but if people liked them games they would have bought them already no? Cant see it selling too well even at half price as Sonic has lost his pull nowadays. even Mario did that’s why he now plays tennis and golf.
32
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 4:38 pm by AaronSOLDIER
He pretty much died when Sega did (DreamCast)
33
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 4:49 pm by Omegabug2003
Here’s a little story about my introduction to Sonic.
When I first got my NES back in the mid 80′s I basically became a Nintendo Fan-person, and refused to play anything Sega (let alone Sonic).
Nintendo was it for me – period.
It wasn’t until the Dreamcast came out that I picked up Sonic Adventure and fell in love with it – and Sonic. Since then I’ve dropped the Nintendo ‘tag’ and broadened my horizons.
I’ve just downloaded the Sonic Generations demo and can’t wait to play the full game.
Happy Birthday Sonic
34
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 4:59 pm by leviathan1101
I want to see Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles.
35
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 5:00 pm by ShadowDoGGG
Just played it. There is only the old sonic? Should have shown at least both of them to show how they both differ. Most pointless demo ever
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:32 am by Mike Kebby
The game isn’t out for a while…we can’t let you have it all just yet right?
36
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 5:01 pm by Omegabug2003
@35 Agreed – it was very fast and very short lol
37
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 5:29 pm by JonnyPauz
happy birthday sonic, on a side note sega when will we have comic zone for ps+ users
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:33 am by Mike Kebby
It’s not going to be too much longer, I’ll leave it for James T to confirm dates on the blog though.
38
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 5:30 pm by shaolinsword
Glad to see the demo for Generations is up but more importantly, why don’t I get a Renji avatar?
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:34 am by Mike Kebby
I’m keeping the Renji avatar for myself (I don’t have it on my PSN ID though, as it’s not an official avatar)
39
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 5:31 pm by kingcrowbaruk
Seeing as we already received Sonic 1 and 2 through PS+ for free, the discount doesn’t quite add up to 50%.
Any chance of a separate bundle with just Sonic Adventure, DX and 4?
40
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 5:38 pm by extermin8or_
unstobable (excluding all the more recent awful games
) sonic needs a really good game for once :/ there hasn’t been one in a while… (except the ps store rerelease of of the original
41
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 5:50 pm by vonhammer
“Sonic has lost his pull nowadays.even Mario did that’s why he now plays tennis and golf”
I dont buy that Maro lost it’s pull.I’d argue it’s greater than ever.Just look at NSMB Wii/DS they have a combined sales of just under 50 million
Add in Maro Kart WII/DS and the sales of those four Maro game is just over 95 million units.That’s more than all the 60 Sonic starred in.
And the Maro games have been consistently great.Yes even Maro Golf was amazing,especially the GBC version.
42
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 5:53 pm by Bovrillor
20 years on, still getting owned by Mario. And rightly so.
43
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 6:06 pm by mystic2405
@ Bovrillor
why did you bother coming on a ps blog and why did you bother posting that post
Posted on 24 June, 2011 at 11:35 am by Mike Kebby
Everybody has a right to come and troll I suppose
44
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 6:09 pm by mystic2405
can you please tell us when the 3D demo of this will be up?
45
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 6:25 pm by Smeghead42
You can choose the 3d option from the demo if i’m not mistaken.
What i find weird is why the demo use a earlier build than the E3 one… it’s that or they made changes again… Anyway, happy birthday Sonic!
46
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 6:28 pm by cspr111
I’m 5 months older than Sonic
47
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 6:44 pm by SickMick_UK
it was my birthday yesterday cool that Sonic is in the same month
Mike will there be any Sonic Avatars released on PSN
48
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 6:55 pm by stargateheaven
Hmm.
I wish sega would step their game up with their mascot.
If nintendo can do it with mario, why can’t sega?
bring sonic into 2011 without ruining it.
49
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 7:19 pm by dividsmythe
Happy birthday Sonic always loved you always will.Hopefully different set of trophies with new versions of games.It does look good re-done tho
50
Posted on 23 June, 2011 at 7:47 pm by C_L_O_U_D_M_A_N
GOTTA GO FAST
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