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commonly referred to as ''Sonic '06'', is a 2006
platform game A platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...
developed by
Sonic Team , doing business as , is a Japanese video game developer owned by Sega. Sonic Team is best known for its ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and games such as '' Nights into Dreams'' and '' Phantasy Star Online''. The initial team, formed in 1990, c ...
and published by
Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...
. Intended as a soft
reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...
to the ''
Sonic Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in, fast-food restaurant chain * Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities * Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...
'' franchise for seventh-generation video game consoles, players control
Sonic Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in, fast-food restaurant chain * Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities * Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...
,
Shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...
, and the new character
Silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
, alongside several supporting characters, across three intertwining storylines as they individually piece together the mystery behind an ancient evil pursued by
Doctor Eggman Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Naoto Ohshima. He is the main antagonist of Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. Eggman is a mad scientist who seeks to steal the mystical Cha ...
in the city Soleanna. Each of the three main playable characters has his own campaign and abilities, and must complete levels, explore hub worlds and fight bosses to advance the story. In
multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
modes, players can work cooperatively to collect
Chaos Emeralds is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a m ...
or race to the end of a level. The development began in early 2005, led by ''Sonic'' co-creator
Yuji Naka , credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game designer and programmer. He is the co-creator of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and was the president of Sonic Team at Sega until his departure in 2006. Naka joined Sega in 1984 and w ...
. Sonic Team sought to create an appealing game in the vein of
superhero film Superhero film/movie is a film genre categorized by the presence of superhero characters, individuals with extraordinary abilities who are dedicated to fighting crime, saving the world, or helping the innocent. It is sometimes considered a sub ...
s such as ''
Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...
'' (2005), hoping it would advance the series with a realistic tone and multiple gameplay styles. While it received praise from video game journalists during pre-release showings, problems developed after Naka resigned to form his own company, Prope, and the team split to work on the
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
game ''
Sonic and the Secret Rings is a 2007 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Wii. A spin-off of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, it is the first title in the franchise for the system, and follows Sonic the Hedgehog's quest to stop an evil ...
'' (2007). Sonic Team rushed the later stages of development, cutting numerous features and scrapping plans for
ports Ports collections (or ports trees, or just ports) are the sets of makefiles and Patch (Unix), patches provided by the BSD-based operating systems, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD, as a simple method of installing software or creating binary packages. T ...
to the Wii and
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
. Sega insisted on shipping ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' in time for the 2006
holiday shopping season A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are ofte ...
and released it unfinished to coincide with the franchise's 15th anniversary. It was released for the
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
in November 2006 and
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...
that December. The game received strongly negative reviews, receiving criticism for its excessive loading times, camera system, story,
voice acting Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-sc ...
, glitches, and controls. It is widely considered the worst mainline ''Sonic'' game and severely damaged the franchise's reputation. In 2010, Sega delisted ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' from retailers, following its decision to remove all ''Sonic'' games with below-average
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
scores to increase the value of the franchise.


Gameplay

''Sonic the Hedgehog'' is a 3D platformer with
action-adventure An action-adventure game is a video game genre, video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Definition An action adventure game can be defined as a game with a mix of elements f ...
and
role-playing Role-playing or roleplaying is the changing of one's behaviour to assume a role, either unconsciously to fill a social role, or consciously to act out an adopted role. While the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' offers a definition of role-playing ...
elements. Like ''
Sonic Adventure is a 1998 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. It was the first main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game to feature 3D gameplay. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Pr ...
'' (1998), the player navigates open-ended hub worlds where they can converse with townspeople and perform missions to advance the story. The main gameplay takes place in linear levels that become accessible as the game progresses. The main playable characters are three
hedgehog A hedgehog is a spiny mammal of the subfamily Erinaceinae, in the eulipotyphlan family Erinaceidae. There are 17 species of hedgehog in five genera found throughout parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and in New Zealand by introduction. The ...
s:
Sonic Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in, fast-food restaurant chain * Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities * Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...
,
Shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...
, and
Silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...
, who feature in separate campaigns. A bonus campaign, which involves all three hedgehogs and concludes the storyline, is unlocked upon completing the first three. Sonic's gameplay focuses on the speed-based platforming seen in previous ''
Sonic Sonic or Sonics may refer to: Companies *Sonic Drive-In, an American drive-in, fast-food restaurant chain * Sonic (ISP), an Internet provider CLEC, serving more than 100 California communities * Sonic Foundry, a computer software company whic ...
'' games, with some sections having him run at full speed while dodging obstacles or riding a
snowboard Snowboards are boards where the user places both feet, usually secured, to the same board. The board itself is wider than most skis, with the ability to glide on snow."snowboarding." Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. 17 Mar ...
. Another character, Princess Elise, must be escorted in some stages, and she can use a special barrier to guard Sonic. Shadow's sections are similarly speedy, albeit more combat-oriented, with some segments having him ride vehicles. In contrast, Silver's levels are slower and revolve around his use of
telekinesis Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...
to defeat enemies and solve puzzles. In certain areas, control is switched to one of several friend characters, with their own abilities. Only the first page of the review is archived. Although each character traverses the same levels, their unique abilities allow the player to access different areas in each stage and prevent them from accessing certain items. Scattered through each level are golden rings, which serve as a form of
health Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
. The rings can protect a character from a single hit by an enemy or obstacle, at which point they will be scattered and blink before disappearing. The game begins with Sonic, Shadow, and Silver each assigned a limited number of
lives Lives may refer to: * The plural form of a ''life'' * Lives, Iran, a village in Khuzestan Province, Iran * The number of lives in a video game * ''Parallel Lives'', aka ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', a series of biographies of famous m ...
. These lives are successively lost whenever, with no rings in their possession, the characters are hit by an enemy or obstacle or encounter other fatal hazards. The game ends when the player exhausts the characters' lives. Scattered around certain areas in levels and hub worlds are Silver Medals, silver coins which players get to collect throughout the adventure. Every few levels, players will encounter a
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...
stage; to proceed, they must defeat the boss by depleting its health meter. Upon completion of a level or mission, players are given a grade depending on their performance, with an "S" rank being the best and a "D" rank being the worst. Players are given money for completing missions; more money is given to higher ranks. This money can be used to buy upgrades for the main player character. Certain upgrades are required to complete the game. The game also features two
multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
modes: "Tag", a cooperative mode where two players must clear levels together and gain
Chaos Emerald is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a ma ...
s, and "Battle", a
player versus player Player versus player (PvP) is a type of multiplayer interactive conflict within a game between human players. This is often compared to player versus environment (PvE), in which the game itself controls its players' opponents and is usually of ...
mode where two players race against each other.


Plot

Doctor Eggman Doctor Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Naoto Ohshima. He is the main antagonist of Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. Eggman is a mad scientist who seeks to steal the mystical Cha ...
kidnaps Princess Elise of Soleanna in the hopes of harnessing the Flames of Disaster, a destructive power sealed inside her. Aided by his friends Tails and Knuckles, Sonic works to rescue Elise from Eggman. Meanwhile, Shadow, his fellow agent Rouge, and Eggman accidentally release an evil creature, Mephiles. The creature transports the agent duo to a
post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are genres of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronom ...
future ravaged by a demonic monster, Iblis. When Mephiles meets survivors Silver and Blaze, he fools them into thinking Sonic is the cause of the destruction, and sends them to the present to kill him. Throughout the story, Sonic and friends travel between the past, present, and future in their efforts to stop Mephiles and Iblis and protect Elise from Doctor Eggman. Though at first Silver stalks Sonic and impedes his attempts to save Elise, Shadow reveals to him that Sonic is not the cause of his world's suffering, but rather Mephiles, who is trying to change the past for his own evil purposes. They travel ten years in the past and learn that Mephiles seeks to bond with Iblis, who was sealed within Elise as a child, as they are the two halves of Soleanna's omnipotent god, Solaris. Mephiles eventually succeeds after killing Sonic to make Elise cry over his death, releasing her seal on Iblis and merging with him with the use of Chaos Emeralds to become Solaris, who then attempts to consume time itself. The heroes and Elise respectively collect and use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to revive Sonic, and he, Shadow, and Silver transform into their super forms to defeat Solaris. Sonic and Elise are brought to the past and extinguish Solaris' flame, removing the god from existence and preventing the events from ever occurring. Despite this, Sonic and Elise show faint signs of recalling their encounter afterwards.


Development


Conception

Sonic Team , doing business as , is a Japanese video game developer owned by Sega. Sonic Team is best known for its ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and games such as '' Nights into Dreams'' and '' Phantasy Star Online''. The initial team, formed in 1990, c ...
began planning what would become ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' after finishing the 2003 games ''
Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg also known simply as ''Billy Hatcher'' or ''Giant Egg'', is a platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the GameCube in 2003. A port for Microsoft Windows was released in Europe in 2006 by Mindscape. The game received mixed ...
'' and ''
Sonic Heroes is a 2003 platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega. The player races a team of series characters through levels to amass rings, defeat robots, and collect the seven Chaos Emeralds needed to defeat Doctor Eggman. Wit ...
''. They began outlining a game with a realistic tone and
physics engine A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, typically classical dynamics, including rigid body dynamics (including collision detection), soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics. I ...
; it was initially unrelated to ''Sonic'', but became a ''Sonic'' game after
Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...
asked Sonic Team to start working on one. ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' was conceived for sixth-generation consoles, but Sonic Team realized its release would coincide with the franchise's 15th anniversary and decided to develop it for seventh-generation consoles such as the
PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...
and
Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...
. According to ''Sonic'' co-creator
Yuji Naka , credited in some games as YU2, is a Japanese video game designer and programmer. He is the co-creator of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series and was the president of Sonic Team at Sega until his departure in 2006. Naka joined Sega in 1984 and w ...
, the head of Sonic Team at the time, Sonic Team received specifications for the seventh-generation consoles in late 2004 and began developing
tech demo A technology demonstration (or tech demo), also known as demonstrator model, is a prototype, rough example or otherwise incomplete version of a conceivable product or future system, put together as proof of concept with the primary purpose of sho ...
s when they obtained
software development kit A software development kit (SDK) is a collection of software development tools in one installable package. They facilitate the creation of applications by having a compiler, debugger and sometimes a software framework. They are normally specific t ...
s in early 2005. Naka wanted the first ''Sonic'' game for seventh-generation systems to reach a wide audience. He noted the success of
superhero film Superhero film/movie is a film genre categorized by the presence of superhero characters, individuals with extraordinary abilities who are dedicated to fighting crime, saving the world, or helping the innocent. It is sometimes considered a sub ...
s such as ''
Spider-Man 2 ''Spider-Man 2'' is a 2004 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of Spider-Man. Directed by Sam Raimi and written by Alvin Sargent from a story conceived by Michael Chabon and the writing team of Alfred Gough and Miles ...
'' (2004) and ''
Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...
'' (2005): "When
Marvel Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics ...
or
DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...
turn their characters into films, they are thinking of them as blockbusters, huge hits, and that's what we were trying to emulate." Sonic Team used the same title as the original ''
Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese developers Yuji Naka, Naoto Ohshima, and Hirokazu Yasuhara for Sega. The franchise follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battle ...
'' (1991) to indicate that it would be a major advance from the previous games. Sonic Team saw ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' as a "rebirth" of the franchise, so sources commonly describe it as an attempted
reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...
. Shun Nakamura served as director.


Design

Sonic Team used the Havok physics engine, which they first used for their
PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October, in Europe on 24 Novembe ...
game ''
Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan as , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 volumes by Akita Shoten. Da ...
'' (2004). The character artist Yoshinari Amaike said it allowed Sonic Team to create expansive levels impossible on earlier consoles with detailed objects and varied gameplay. In addition, the engine also enabled Sonic Team to experiment with aspects such as
global illumination Global illumination (GI), or indirect illumination, is a group of algorithms used in 3D computer graphics that are meant to add more realistic lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aest ...
, a night-and-day system, and giving Sonic new abilities like using ropes to leap into the air. Sonic Team chose a more realistic, Japan-inspired setting than those of previous ''Sonic'' games. They redesigned Sonic and Doctor Eggman to better suit this updated environment: Sonic was made taller, with longer quills, and Eggman was made slimmer and given a more realistic appearance. Nakamura and the producer Masahiro Kumono reasoned this was because the characters would be interacting with more humans, and felt this would appeal to older players. At one point, Sonic Team considered giving Sonic realistic fur and rubber textures. While Sonic Team focused significantly on the visuals, they considered their primary challenge creating a game that was as appealing as the original
Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Sys ...
''Sonic'' games. Naka said Sonic Team wanted to retain ''Sonic'' traditional elements while adding new elements to appease both old and new players. They felt ''
Sonic Heroes is a 2003 platform game developed by Sonic Team USA and published by Sega. The player races a team of series characters through levels to amass rings, defeat robots, and collect the seven Chaos Emeralds needed to defeat Doctor Eggman. Wit ...
'' (2003) and ''
Shadow the Hedgehog is a character created by the Japanese game developers Takashi Iizuka (game designer), Takashi Iizuka, Shiro Maekawa, and Kazuyuki Hoshino. He is a major character in Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. An Anthropomorphism, anthropomorph ...
'' (2005) had veered into different directions and wanted to return the series to its speed-based roots in new ways. For example, they wanted to include multiple paths in levels, like the Genesis games had, a goal the realistic environments helped achieve. Sonic Team sought to "aggressively" address problems with the
virtual camera system In 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; m ...
from earlier ''Sonic'' games, about which they had received many complaints. Silver the Hedgehog's gameplay style originated from Sonic Team's desire to take advantage of Havok's capabilities. The first design concept for Silver's character was an orange
mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...
; he attained his final hedgehog look after over 50 design iterations. In designing Shadow's gameplay, the developers abandoned the concept of firearms previously used in ''Shadow the Hedgehog'' (2005) in favor of combat elements to differentiate him from the other characters. Shadow's gameplay was further fleshed out with the addition of vehicles; each vehicle uses its own physical engine. The CGI
cutscene A cutscene or event scene (sometimes in-game cinematic or in-game movie) is a sequence in a video game that is not interactive, interrupting the gameplay. Such scenes are used to show conversations between characters, set the mood, reward the ...
s were produced by
Blur Studio Blur Studio Inc. is an American visual effects and computer animation company which specializes in CGI visual effects, CGI animation, and CGI design. Located in Culver City, California, the studio has produced CGI-animated films, teasers and ad sp ...
. Animation supervisor Leo Santos said Blur faced challenges animating the opening scene due to the placement of Sonic's mouth.


Audio

The English cast of the ''
Sonic X is a Japanese anime television series based on Sega's ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' video game series. Produced by TMS Entertainment under partnership with Sega and Sonic Team, and directed by Hajime Kamegaki, ''Sonic X'' initially ran for 52 ep ...
'' anime series reprised their voice roles for ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', and actress
Lacey Chabert Lacey Nicole Chabert ( ; born September 30, 1982) is an American actress. One of her first roles as a child actress was the part of Bianca Montgomery, the daughter of Erica Kane, on ''All My Children'' from 1992 to 1993. She gained further pro ...
supplied the voice of series newcomer and
damsel in distress The damsel in distress is a narrative device in which one or more men must rescue a woman who has been kidnapped or placed in other peril. The "damsel" is often portrayed as beautiful, popular, and of high social status; she is usually depicted ...
Princess Elise. The score was primarily composed by
Tomoya Ohtani is a Japanese composer and bassist. He has been involved with music since high school and produced audio for theater companies before joining the video game company Sega in 1999. He is a composer and sound director of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog ...
along with Hideaki Kobayashi, Mariko Nanba, Taihei Sato, and
Takahito Eguchi is a Japanese composer, orchestrator, and musician. He is best known for collaborating with Noriko Matsueda on '' Final Fantasy X-2'' and with Tomoya Ohtani on several ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games. Eguchi became interested in music when he was ...
. It was the first ''Sonic'' game that Ohtani, who had previously contributed to ''Sonic Heroes'' and ''Shadow the Hedgehog'', worked on as sound director. The main theme, the fantasy-rap song "His World", was performed by
Ali Tabatabaee Ali Tabatabaee (; born February 27, 1973) is an Iranian-American musician who is one of two main vocalists in the rock band Zebrahead. Alongside bandmate Matty Lewis, he performed the titular character's theme song for the 2006 video game ''So ...
and
Matty Lewis Matty is a given name or nickname, frequently of the male given name Matthew. It can also be a surname. People with the given name or nickname Notable people with the given name or nickname include: A–E * Matty Alou (1938–2011), Major League ...
of the band
Zebrahead Zebrahead is an American rock band from La Habra, California, formed in 1996. The group's current line-up comprises rapper Ali Tabatabaee, bassist Ben Osmundson, drummer Ed Udhus, lead guitarist Dan Palmer and lead vocalist and rhythm guita ...
.
Crush 40 Crush 40 is a Japanese-American hard rock band. The group consists of guitarist and composer Jun Senoue and principal vocalist Johnny Gioeli. Crush 40 is best known for producing most soundtracks for the Sonic The Hedgehog series in the 2000s. ...
performed Shadow's theme, "All Hail Shadow", while vocalist Bentley Jones (previously known as Lee Brotherton) sang Silver's theme, "Dreams of an Absolution". R&B artist
Akon Aliaune Damala Bouga Time Puru Nacka Lu Lu Lu Badara Akon Thiam (born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon (), is a Senegalese-United States, American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman, and philanthropist. An influ ...
performed a remix of the
Dreams Come True Dreams Come True or Dream Come True may refer to: Organizations * Dreams Come True (British charity) * Dreams Come True (American non-profit) Film and television * ''Dreams Come True'' (film), a 1936 British musical film * " "Dreams Come True" ...
song "Sweet Sweet Sweet", a song previously used as the ending theme to ''
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is a 1992 platform game developed by Sega Technical Institute (STI) for the Sega Genesis. Players control Sonic as he attempts to stop Doctor Robotnik from stealing the Chaos Emeralds to power his space station, the Death Egg. Like the fir ...
'' (1992).
Donna De Lory Donna De Lory is an American singer, dancer and songwriter. Part of a musical family, De Lory has been performing since a young age. Her voice can be heard on albums by Carly Simon, Ray Parker Jr., Kim Carnes, Santana (band), Santana, Martika, La ...
sang Elise's theme, "My Destiny". Because ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' was the first ''Sonic'' game for seventh-generation consoles, Ohtani "aimed to emphasise that it was an epic next-generation title".
Masato Nakamura is a Japanese musician, bass guitarist, and record producer. He is a member of the J-pop band Dreams Come True, which was formed in 1988 and went on to sell over 50million CDs. He also composed the soundtracks for the video games ''Sonic the ...
, who composed the music for the first two ''Sonic'' games, supervised ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' soundtrack. Two soundtrack albums were released on January 10, 2007, under Sega's
Wave Master is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several multi-million-selling game franchises for arcades and consoles, including ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', '' Angry Birds'', '' Phan ...
label: ''Sonic the Hedgehog Vocal Traxx: Several Wills'' and ''Sonic the Hedgehog Original Soundtrack''. ''Vocal Traxx: Several Wills'' contains seven songs; four are from the game, while the remaining three are remixes, including a version of "His World" performed by Crush 40. ''Original Soundtrack'' includes all 93 tracks featured in ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', spanning three discs.(January 10, 2007) ''Sonic the Hedgehog Original Soundtrack''. Sega.


Production problems

As development progressed, Sonic Team faced serious problems. In March 2006, Naka resigned as head of Sonic Team to form his own company, Prope, as he wanted to focus on original properties instead of ''Sonic''. With his departure, "the heart and soul of Sonic" was gone, according to former Sega of America CEO
Tom Kalinske Thomas Kalinske (born July 17, 1944) is an American businessman who has worked for Mattel (1972–1987), Matchbox (1987-1990), Sega of America (1990–1996) and LeapFrog (1997–2006). At Mattel, Kalinske was credited with reviving the Barbie ...
. Further problems developed after Sonic Team received development kits for
Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...
's
Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...
, which was less powerful than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' was originally intended for release on all major seventh-generation consoles as well as
Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...
, but Sega believed
porting In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desig ...
it to the Wii would take too long. Sonic Team designed an original game that would use the
motion detection In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an obser ...
function of the
Wii Remote The Wii Remote, colloquially known as the Wiimote, is the primary game controller for Nintendo's Wii home video game console. An essential capability of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with an ...
, so the team was split in two: Nakamura led one team to finish ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, while the producer Yojiro Ogawa led the other to begin work on ''
Sonic and the Secret Rings is a 2007 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Wii. A spin-off of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, it is the first title in the franchise for the system, and follows Sonic the Hedgehog's quest to stop an evil ...
'' (2007) for the Wii. Pressured by Sega to finish in time for the 2006
holiday shopping season A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are ofte ...
, Sonic Team rushed the final stages of development, ignoring control problems and bug reports from Sega's quality assurance department. They cut several features, including a day-and-night cycle and an
online multiplayer A multiplayer video game is a video game in which more than one person can play in the same game environment at the same time, either locally on the same computing system (couch co-op), on different computing systems via a local area network, or ...
mode. Ogawa said the final period proved to be a large challenge for the team. Not only was the Xbox 360 release imminent, but the PlayStation 3 launch was scheduled not long afterwards. This put tremendous pressure on the team to develop for both systems. The producer Takashi Iizuka said: "We didn't have any time to polish and we were just churning out content as quick as we could." Sonic Team was unable to finish ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' by its deadline, but Sega decided to release the unfinished game anyway to coincide with ''Sonic'' 15th anniversary.


Release

''Sonic the Hedgehog'' was announced in a closed-doors presentation at the
Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual Trade fair, trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, wit ...
(E3) in May 2005. Later that year, at TGS in September, Naka revealed the title and said its release would correspond with the series' 15th anniversary. A demo version was playable at E3 2006. A second demo, featuring a short section of Sonic's gameplay, was released via
Xbox Live The Xbox network, formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the origina ...
in September 2006. Sega released several packages of desktop wallpaper featuring characters from the game, and American publisher
Prima Games Prima Games is a publishing company of video game strategy guides in the United States. Formerly, Prima was an imprint of Dorling Kindersley, a division of Penguin Random House, and produced print strategy guides, featuring in-depth walkthroughs ...
published an official strategy guide, written by Fletcher Black. Sega also made a deal with
Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
to run advertisements in
Windows Live Messenger MSN Messenger (also known colloquially simply as MSN), later rebranded as Windows Live Messenger, was a Cross-platform software, cross-platform instant messaging client, instant-messaging client developed by Microsoft. It connected to the now-di ...
. The Xbox 360 version was released in North America on November 14, 2006, followed by a European release on November 24. Both versions were released in Japan on December 21. The PlayStation 3 version was released in North America on January 30, 2007, and in Europe on March 23 as a
launch title Since the origin of video games in the early 1970s, the video game industry, the players, and surrounding culture have spawned a wide range of technical and slang terms. 0–9 A ...
for the PS3 which was released in Europe and Australia that same day. The game is often referred to by critics and fans with colloquial terms that reference its year of release, such as ''Sonic 2006'' or ''Sonic 06''. In 2007, Sega released several packages of
downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...
that added features to single-player gameplay. These include a more difficult single-player mode and a continuous battle mode with all of the bosses back-to-back. One downloadable addition, "Team Attack Amigo" mode, sends players through a multitude of levels, changing to a different character every two or three levels and culminating in a boss fight. The PlayStation3 version was delayed to allow more time to incorporate the downloadable content, and thus launched alongside it. ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' was digitally rereleased via the
Xbox Live Marketplace Xbox Games Store (formerly Xbox Live Marketplace) was a digital distribution platform previously used by Microsoft's Xbox 360 and formerly by the Xbox One. The service allowed users to download or purchase video games (including both Xbox Live Ar ...
on April 15, 2010. The following October, various ''Sonic'' games with average or below average scores on the
review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, including ''Sonic the Hedgehog'', were delisted from retailers. Sega reasoned this was to avoid confusing customers and increase the value of the brand, following positive prerelease responses to '' Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I'' and ''
Sonic Colors (known as ''Sonic Colours'' in PAL regions) is a 2010 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic's quest to stop his nemesis Doctor Eggman from enslaving an alien race and tak ...
'' (both 2010). ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' was relisted on the Xbox 360 Marketplace in select countries on May 24, 2022.


Reception

''Sonic the Hedgehog'' was well received during prerelease showings. Reception to the prior games ''Sonic Heroes'' and ''Shadow the Hedgehog'' had been mixed; after a number of well-received showings and demos, some felt ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' could be a return to the series' roots. ''
GameSpot ''GameSpot'' is an American video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information on video games. The site was launched on May 1, 1996, created by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady, and Jon Epstein. In addition ...
'' said it "showed a considerable amount of promise" after playing a demo at E3 2006, and ''
GameSpy GameSpy was an American provider of online multiplayer and matchmaking middleware for video games founded in 1999 by Mark Surfas. After the release of a multiplayer server browser for Quake, QSpy, Surfas licensed the software under the GameS ...
'' praised its graphics and environments. ''
GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites ''Total Film'', '' SFX'', '' Edge'' and ''Computer ...
'' said that it had looked "amazing" before its release. ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' received widespread negative reviews. Metacritic classified both versions' reception as "generally unfavorable". Sega reported that the game sold strongly, with 870,000 copies sold in the United States and Europe within 4 months. The Xbox 360 version was branded under the
Platinum Hits Platinum Hits is a branding used by Microsoft for discounted reprints of Xbox video games. The branding is used for reprints of popular, top-selling games for each console in the Xbox family, which are deliberately sold with a lower MSRP than ...
budget line. Critics were divided on the presentation. ''
IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...
'' called its
graphics Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of the data, as in design and manufa ...
and audio "decent" and felt its interface and
menu In a restaurant, the menu is a list of food and beverages offered to the customer. A menu may be à la carte – which presents a list of options from which customers choose, often with prices shown – or table d'hôte, in which case a pre-est ...
system worked well but lacked polish, but ''GameSpot'' said the graphics, while colorful, were bland and only a small improvement over sixth-generation games, a sentiment echoed by ''
1UP.com ''1Up.com'' was an American entertainment website that focused on video games. Launched in 2003, ''1Up.com'' provided its own original features, news stories, game reviews, and video interviews, and also featured comprehensive PC-focused conte ...
''. ''
Game Informer ''Game Informer'' (''GI'' is an American monthly Video game journalism, video game magazine featuring articles, news, strategy, and reviews of video games and video game console, game consoles. It debuted in August 1991, when the video game reta ...
'' and ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 alongside parent company Gamer Network. In 2008, it started in the formerly eponymous trade fair EGX (Eurogamer Expo until 2013) organised by its parent company. Fr ...
'' noted several graphical glitches. ''Eurogamer'' also criticized the decision to continue the ''Sonic Adventure'' style of gameplay, believing that Sonic Team had learned nothing from the criticisms of past games. Reviewers criticized the camera system, loading times, controls, level design and glitches. ''GameSpot'' said the level design was worsened by the frustrating camera system, and ''Game Informer'' criticized the high difficulty, citing the camera as causing most deaths. Some reviewers were unhappy that the majority of the game was not spent playing as Sonic; ''GameSpot'' found playing as Tails boring. ''Eurogamer'' found the supporting cast annoying, and considered the camera system the worst they had ever seen. ''1UP'' felt that despite the control and level design problems, the game still played like a ''Sonic'' game. The plot was criticized as confusing and inappropriately dark. ''GamesRadar'' considered it overwrought and "conceptually challenged", and ''Eurogamer'' found its voice acting painful and its cutscenes cringeworthy. Some reviewers unfavorably compared the story to an
anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...
or ''
Final Fantasy is a Japanese fantasy Anthology series, anthology media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi which is owned, developed, and published by Square Enix (formerly Square (video game company), Square). The franchise centers on a series of fanta ...
''. The romance between Sonic and the human Princess Elise was especially criticized; for ''
GamesTM ''GamesTM'' (styled as ''gamesTM'') was a British multi-format video games magazine. The first issue was released in December 2002 and the magazine was still being published monthly in English and German up until the last edition was published on ...
'', it marked the point "the 'Sonic''series had veered off into absolute nonsense". ''GameSpot'' wrote that ''Sonic'' was "a mess from top to bottom" that "only the most blindly reverent ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' fan could possibly squeeze any enjoyment out of". ''IGN'' said that it had some redeeming qualities, with brief segments of gameplay that demonstrated how a next-generation ''Sonic'' game could work, but found it "rips them away as soon as it shows them" and concluded that the game failed to reinvent the series. ''Eurogamer'' believed the mistakes would have been noticed even if it had been released in 1996. ''Game Informer'' and
Dave Halverson Dave Halverson is an American video game journalist who has been the founder, publisher, and editor-in-chief of ''GameFan'' (where he wrote reviews as E. Storm, Skid and Takahara), ''Gamers' Republic'', ''Play'', and currently the new versions o ...
of '' Play Magazine'' defended the game. ''Game Informer'' described it as ambitious and praised the graphics, story, amount of content and
replay value Replay value (or, colloquially, replayability) is the potential of a video game or other media products for continued play value after its first completion. Factors that can influence perceived replay value include the game's extra characters, se ...
, but believed only ''Sonic'' fans would enjoy it. Halverson initially gave the Xbox360 version 9.5/10, praising each character's controls and abilities and calling it the best 3D ''Sonic'' game yet. In the following issue, Halverson reassessed it as 8.5/10, writing that he had been told that the load times and glitches in his review copy would not be in the final version. In a later review of the PlayStation3 version, Halverson was frustrated that the problems had still not been corrected and that the performance was worse despite the extra development time; Halverson gave this version a 5.5/10. ''
The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' said in 2016 that despite the game's poor quality, the soundtrack has some "genuine rippers".


Legacy

''
GameTrailers ''GameTrailers'' (''GT'') was an American video gaming website created by Geoffrey R. Grotz and Brandon Jones in 2002. The website specialized in multimedia content, including trailers and gameplay footage of upcoming and recently released v ...
'' and ''GamesRadar'' considered ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' one of the most disappointing games of 2006. ''GamesTM'' singled out the game when it ranked the ''Sonic'' franchise at the top of their list of "Video Game Franchises That Lost Their Way". ''The A.V. Club'', ''Kotaku'', ''Game Informer'', and ''
USgamer Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British digital media company based in London. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and ot ...
'' called the game the worst in the ''Sonic'' series, and the staff of ''GamesRadar'' named it among the worst video games of all time. The game remains popular for "
Let's Play A Let's Play (LP) is a video (or screenshots accompanied by text) documenting the playthrough of a video game, often including commentary and (in some cases) a camera view of the gamer's face. A Let's Play differs from a video game walkthrough ...
" walkthroughs, with players showing off its glitches. In 2019, a video gained popularity in which a group of voice actors dub over the game's cutscenes in a single take, creating a nonsensical, improvisational storyline about
video game culture Video game culture or gaming culture a worldwide subculture formed by video game enthusiasts. As video games have grown more sophisticated, accessible, and popular over time, they have significantly influenced popular culture, particularly among a ...
. The official ''Sonic''
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account also mocks the game. ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' critical failure had a lasting effect on the franchise. ''Hardcore Gamer'' wrote that following it, "Sonic Team struggled to land on a consistent vision for ''Sonic'', releasing game-after-game with wildly different concepts." In particular, Sonic Team sought to avoid its serious tone, beginning with the next main ''Sonic'' game, ''
Sonic Unleashed is a 2008 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. An installment in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, it follows Sonic as he attempts to restore the world after his nemesis Doctor Eggman shatters it with a powerful las ...
'' (2008). With ''Sonic Colors'', ''The A.V. Club'' wrote that "the series rediscovered its strength for whimsical tales with light tones." ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' introduced Silver the Hedgehog, Princess Elise, Mephiles, and Iblis to the franchise. While most have made few appearances since, Silver would go on to be a fixture of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' supporting cast. He was re-introduced in the main chronology as a playable character in '' Sonic Rivals'' (2006), and would be further playable in '' Sonic Rivals 2'' (2007), '' Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity'' (2008), ''
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games is a 2009 crossover sports video game developed and published by Sega for the Wii and Nintendo DS. Like its predecessor, it was published by Nintendo for Japan and Korea and by Sega elsewhere. Officially licensed by the International Olympic ...
'' (2009) and its follow-ups, and ''
Team Sonic Racing ''Team Sonic Racing'' is a 2019 kart racing game developed by Sumo Digital and published by Sega. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, it was released for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One i ...
'' (2019). He is also a minor character in the
Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...
version of ''
Sonic Colors (known as ''Sonic Colours'' in PAL regions) is a 2010 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It follows Sonic the Hedgehog (character), Sonic's quest to stop his nemesis Doctor Eggman from enslaving an alien race and tak ...
'' (2010), and in ''
Sonic Forces is a 2017 Platformer, platform video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It was produced in commemoration of the 25th anniversary of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' franchise. The plot focuses on Sonic the Hedgehog (character), So ...
'' (2017). He also appeared in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog''
comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
series published by
Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc. (often referred to simply as Archie Comics) is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jug ...
. The main theme of ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' and the theme of Sonic, "His World", was sampled in
Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...
's 2017 song " KMT". To celebrate the ''Sonic'' franchise's 20th anniversary in 2011, Sega released ''
Sonic Generations ''Sonic Generations'' is a 2011 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows, and Nintendo 3DS. Produced in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, the ...
'', which remade aspects of past ''Sonic'' games. The PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Windows versions feature a remake of ''Sonic the Hedgehog''s "Crisis City" level, and every version, including the
Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...
version, includes a reimagined version of the boss battle with Silver. The decision to include ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' stages and bosses in ''Sonic Generations'' was criticized by critics;
James Stephanie Sterling James Stephanie Sterling, also known as Commander Sterling and formerly known as Jim Sterling, is a British freelance video game journalist, critic, pundit, YouTuber, and professional wrestler. Before becoming independent in September 2014, s ...
of ''
Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017 and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. Histor ...
'' referred to the Silver boss fight as the "catch" of the otherwise high-quality game. In 2015, a fan group, Gistix, began developing a
remake A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the same s ...
for Windows using the
Unity Unity is the state of being as one (either literally or figuratively). It may also refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpoo ...
engine. A demo was released in January 2017, and was positively received by journalists. A second demo was released in late 2017, which ''Eurogamer'' called ambitious. A second team of fans, led by ChaosX, began developing a separate PC remake in Unity, '' Sonic P-06'', releasing multiple demos from 2019 onward. The game is referenced by the television series ''Knuckles'', which is set within the continuity of the ''Sonic'' film series. In the fourth episode, " The Flames of Disaster", Knuckles' backstory is depicted in the form of a low-budget
rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...
, in which he fights and defeats a creature resembling the antagonist Iblis. Within the series, the Flames of Disaster is depicted as a power possessed by Knuckles that allows his fists to burst into flames, rather than another name for Iblis as was the case in the game. In the 2024 video game ''
Shadow Generations is a 2024 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. It is the second ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' game to feature Shadow as the protagonist, following ''Shadow the Hedgehog'' (2005). Its story runs parallel to ''Sonic Generations'' ( ...
'', Kingdom Valley, a level from the game, reappears. Mephiles also returns as a boss fought by Shadow, who has no memory of him due to the game's events being erased from the timeline. Mephiles attempts to take advantage of the time rift to restore himself to the timeline, but is defeated by Shadow.


Notes


References


External links

*
''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (2006 game)
on Sonic Retro, for character stats and additional plot details
Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
on
MobyGames MobyGames is a commercial website that catalogs information on video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controlle ...
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