ANIME CHARACTER ( SONIC THE HEDGEHOG)

                (SONIC THE HEDGEHOG)

                   SONIC THE HEDGEHOG IS A JAPANISE VIDEO GAME SERIES AND MEDIA FRANCHISE CREATED AND OWNED BY SEGA. THE FRANCHISE FOLLOWES SONIC, AN ANTHROPOMORPHIC BLUE HEDGEHOG WHO BETTLES THE EVIL DOCTOR EGGMAN, A MAD SCIENTIST. PLATFORMS MOSTALY DEVLOPED BY SONIC TEAM; OTHER GAMES, DEVLOPED BY VARIOUS STUDIOS, INCLUDE SPIN-OFFS IN THE RACING,FIGHTING,PARTY AND SPORTES GENRES. THE FRANCHISE ALSO INCORPORATES PRINTED MEDIA, ANIMATION, A 2020 FEATURE FILM,AND MERCHANDISE.

         THE FIRST SONIC GAME, RELEASED IN 1991 FOR THE SEGA GENESIS, WAS DEVLOPED AFTER SEGA REQUESTED MASCOT CHARACTER TO COMPLETE WITH NINTENDO'S MASCOT MARIO. ITS SUCCESS HELPED SEGA ONE OF THE LEADING VIDEO GAME COMPANIES DURING THE 6-BIT ERA OF EARLY 1990S. SEGA TECNICAL INSTITUTE DEVLOPED THE NEXT THREE SONIC GAMES IN ADDITION TO SONIC SPINBALL (1993). AFTER A HIATUS DURING THE UNSUCCESSFULL SATURN ERA THE FIRST MAJOR 3D SONIC GAME, SONIC ADVENTURE, WAS RELEASED IN 1998 FOR THE DREAM CAST. SEGA EXITED THE CONSOLE MARKET AND SHIFTED TO THIRD PARTY DEVLOPMENT IN 2001, COU=NTINUING THE SERIES ON NINTENDO,XBOX,AND PLAYSTATION SYSTEMS.

                       WHILE SONIC GAME OFTEN UNIQUE GAME MECHANICS AND STORIES, THEY FEATURE RECCURING ELEMENTS SUCH AS THE RING-BASED HEALTH SYSTEM,LOCATIONS, AND SPEEDY GAMEPLAY. GAMES TYPICALLY FEATURE SONIC SETTING OUT TO STOP EGGMAN'S SCHEMES FOR WORLD DOMINATION, AND THE PLYERS NAVIGATES LEVELS THAT INCLUDESPRINGS,SLOPES, BOTTOMLESS PITTS, AND A VERTICAL LOOPS. WHILE SONIC AND EGGMAN WERE THE ONLY CHARACTERS INTRODUSED IN THE FIRST GAME, THE SERIES WOULD GO ON TO HAVE A LARGE CAST OF CHARACTERS;SOME,SUCH AS MILES ''TAILS'' PROWER,KNUCKLES THE ECHIDINA, AND SHADOW THE HEADGEHOG, HAVE STARRED IN SPIN-OFFS. THE FRANCHISE HAS ALSO BEEN REPRESENTED IN CROSSOVERS SUCH AS SEGA ALL-STARS ANDNINTENDO'S SUPER SMASH BROS. SERIES.

         SONIC THE HEADGEHOG IS SEGA'S FLAGSHIP FRANCHISE AND ONE OF THE BESTSELINGS VIDEO GAMES FRANCHISE, GROSSING OVER $5 BILLION BY 2014 AND SELING 140 MILLION BY 2016. SERIES SALES AND FREE-TO-PLAY MOBILE GAME DOWNLOADES TOTALED 920 MILLION BY 2019. THE GENESIS SONIC GAMES HAS BEEN DESCRIBED AS REPRENTIVE OF THE CULTURE OF THE 1990S AND LISTED AMONG THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME. ALTHOUGH LATER GAMES HAVE BEEN CRITICIZED FOR A PERCEIVED DECLINE IN QUALITY COMPARED TO EARLIER INSTALLMENTS, SONIC IS FREQUENTLY REFERENCED IN POPUAR CULTURE. THE FRANCHISE IS ALSO KNOWN FOR ITS PASSIONATE FANDOM THAT PRODUCES VARIOUS UNOFFICIAL MEDIA.