Who is Sonic the Hedgehog?

Many internet game enthusiasts seeking entertainment in the form of free flash games to play online find themselves stumbling across a speedy blue blur character who fills their screen with hours of fun. His name is Sonic the hedgehog, he appears as the main character in a video game series developed by SEGA in 1991. His launch was part of a strategy by SEGA corp. to challenge Nintendo’s Mario, and since them, has become the second best known video game character with over 50 million copies sold worldwide.

Sonic games where developed by artist Naoto Ōshima, programmer Hirokazu Yasuhara, and Yuji Naka. The games are mostly known for Sonic’s capability to run faster than the speed of sound, his way of curling up into a fur ball, which accelerates the pace of the game by allowing him to run faster and chase enemies. Following the popularity of Sonic the hedgehog, new characters have been created to join the adventure like Knuckles the Echidna, a red, teenage, anthropomorphic echidna, with red dreadlocks. His name derives from the pointy bones on the top of each hand called “knuckles”, hence, Sonic likes to refer to him as "knucklehead." His task since birth has been to guard the Master Emerald, which is located on Angel Island. There is also Miles “Tails” Prower, Sonic’s best bud, known mostly by his nickname “Tails”. He is a male, young fox who has the ability to use his tail to propel himself into the air for limited amounts of time. Other characters have been created like “Amy Rose Hedgehog” and “Cream the Rabbit”, producing an entire cast in the Sonic the hedgehog game saga, providing even more fun for those who wish to follow the turn of events.

Sonic the hedgehog games are mainly available in video game cartridges for popular game consoles, in the form of spin-off comics, cartoons, and books. He was redesigned in 1998, with the release of Sonic Adventure, with longer legs and a less spherical body. SEGA was inclined to “soften” the characters appearance from the original 1991 design, with more subtle adjustments to follow.

Sonic is now available on the Wii, and has proved to be one of the most requested and most popular game for this type of console. The fact that Sonic is available in a number of other game consoles just goes to show how popular the character is. In recent years, the Sonic character has also migrated to the internet. Showing up in free flash game websites, where visitors can enjoy playing sonic games on a flash platform. Fan sites like blublurzone.com offer sonic the hedgehog games, drawing pages, character info, history, and sonic scene creators for those creative minds who wish to design their own games. Among the sonic games available in the internet, Sonic Smash Brothers, and Ultimate Flash Sonic seem to be the most popular.

In a time where entertainment for the young seems to be decreasing with the rise in violence and nudity being blended into the games in numerous different ways, a blue hedgehog could be a great alternative for responsible parents, worried about what their child is watching in the internet.