Relive 15 years of Sonic in 5 minutes

by Joystiq Staff { Jul 25th 2006 at 9:35PM }

There's a video up on YouTube showcasing the past 15 years of what can only be described as purely awesome Sonic-ness. This fast-paced video tribute takes you back through time to relive all the memories we have of that lovable blue-haired chap.

Our favorite moment: The totally kick ass early-90s cheese pop of Sonic CD. "You can fly! You can reach the other side!"

Our not-so-favorite moment: Anything that has to do with Knuckles. Sorry buddy, we just don't trust ya and that smarmy look.

Either way, very well done video and makes for a nice bit of nostalgia.

Tags: Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog, SonicTheHedgehog

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Sonic @ Jul 25th 2006 9:43PM

Yeah Sonic rulez!

Much better than Mario.

antec @ Jul 25th 2006 9:56PM

Sucks, no love for Sonic R. or Sonic Spinball!

copa @ Jul 25th 2006 9:56PM

I love the unfortunately named 'Sonic 3D Blast'!

Ooh, it's ISOMETRIC! :)

karmaghost @ Jul 25th 2006 9:58PM

Really, the first 2 or 3 Sonics were the only ones that were any good.

MK @ Jul 25th 2006 9:59PM

How the hell did Shadow's game sneak onto The History of Sonic the Hedgehog?

John @ Jul 25th 2006 10:00PM

Sonic 2 was one of the first videogames I had ever played. It was released a year after I was born.

mike s @ Jul 25th 2006 10:17PM

Sonic was soo good. I hate how sonic games are now. Bring back the retro 2D levels!

And sonic 3 brings back the good memories of my early childhood.

Covarr @ Jul 25th 2006 10:31PM

I don't get it. They include what is almost a straight-up port (Sonic Adventure 2), yet they fail to include original games such as Sonic Advance and Tails' Sky Patrol?

Joel @ Jul 25th 2006 10:45PM

That was awesome! I've never understood why Sonic Adventure had so much bad hype. I loved it, and the theme song is so awesome!

Cody @ Jul 25th 2006 10:49PM

So, there's no love for Sonic Spinball, no love for the Sonic Advance series, and they show a port of sonic adventure 2? That's kinda lame.

LongshotX @ Jul 25th 2006 10:57PM

There were way more Sonics than that. They forgot Sonic R, Sonic the Fighters, Chaotix, Sonic Advance(s), Sonic Spinball, and Sonic on Game Gear. And Sonic Extreme which never made it to the Sega Saturn (one of the reasons it failed here in the States). I was about four or five (born in 86') when I first played Sonic the Hedgehog. Before that I was a big time Mario fan. After I played the first level of Green Hill Zone I said forget Mario. The sense of speed and the sheer delight of plowing through the levels and also using platforming skills was awesome. The Special Stages were a real treat for those eager and patient enough to master them. Sonic 2, one of my favorites of all time, completely obliterated Sonic 1 in every way. When I found out Sonic had another form Super Sonic my jaw instantly dropped. Who can forget when Sonic did that little screaming thing and his spikes and soon his whole body was golden yellow. They he was so fast and so strong he literally destroyed everything just by touching it. Mario seemed dull compared to this. Sonic 3 just added more fuel to the fire. Bigger Levels, Multiple paths, the addition of Tails as a playable character, bigger and better graphics. What else could you want? Sonic and Knuckles, the direct sequel to Sonic 3 went a step further making the game very challenging and boy getting those Emeralds was hard. Sonic Rush and the First Sonic Adventure are the most recent Sonic's to recapture the feeling of the first four. Shadow the Hedgehog is garbage. Sorry, it's just incredibly stupid.

Soothsayer @ Jul 25th 2006 11:17PM

"Sonic 2 was one of the first videogames I had ever played. It was released a year after I was born."

A word of caution, John: it's not usually wise on internet forums to admit you're fifteen years old.

Fandel @ Jul 25th 2006 11:21PM

Well, since we're on the subject of Sonic. Here are some video's of the long lost Sonic Xtreme for the Sega Saturn. A few months ago, a prototype of the game was sold, and the people who bought the game put up some videos.

Crystal Frost

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzvS_beXtXk

Red Sands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZb7LE6G5Gg

omgwut @ Jul 25th 2006 11:35PM

Man, I love it when they take the time to produce animated segments just for games. I always thought the Sonic CD intro was pretty killer. :)

therpham @ Jul 25th 2006 11:38PM

I've loved Sonic the Hedgehog since I was a little kid. I would do whatever it took to get a chance to play Sonic before I had my own Sega Genesis, and then when I got one I played Sonic 3 & Knuckles until my eyes were about to fall out of my head. I bought a Dreamcast on launch day to play Sonic Adventure, a game which I still love. I bought Sonic Adventure 2 on the day it came out (even though it wasn't nearly a good as the first) and unfortunately it was all downhill from there. The Sonic Advance games are pretty good, though. Sonic Rush leaves a bit of a sour taste in my mouth - something just doesn't feel right about it. It has the gameplay mechanics right but the level design isn't my taste or something.

Anyway, I guess when it comes down to it, no matter how many times he disappoints me, I love Sonic!

the_game_master @ Jul 25th 2006 11:38PM

Oddly enough I just saw that video on Gamespot this past weekend and quite frankly I could have done a better job of showcasing a look back at the past 15 year of the Sonic series than what those morons did.

Chowweekly @ Jul 26th 2006 12:01AM

sorry the_game_master, but I think they get bonus points for actually doing something while you get none for sitting around and doing nothing.

Amos @ Jul 26th 2006 12:23AM

They forgot some darn good Sonic. Two words - Game Gear. Also, how the fuck do you not like Knuckles? Man, he was always my favorite when a wee little tyke...a-holes.

John H. @ Jul 26th 2006 12:24AM

The Japanese music for SonicCD was a lot better, despite some very odd lyrics. Imagine energetic black guys singing lines like "EXCALIBAR! It's not that far!" and "Leather and lace! Running in place!" And that doesn't even touch the title lyric, the infamous "Toot Toot Sonic Warrior."

But if your can stifle the laughter, the music itself is quite awesome.

Markster @ Jul 26th 2006 12:54AM

I'm inclined to agree with the_game_master.

The only thing even remotely "very well done" in this video is the mere compilation of source material. And then again, many commenters have already pointed out that it misses many games. Why have 'Sonic Riders', but not have 'Sonic R'? 'Sonic Rush' but no Game Gear / GBA love?

And frankly, the editing is terrible. In the modern age of Adobe Premiere, you should never have a scene cut that interrupts the music mid-beat.

GSI @ Jul 26th 2006 1:10AM

No love for Sonic R? That's a bad thing?

That game was _FUGLY_!!!

As for Sonic in general...I was never much of a fan. Why? All you did was run really fast, miss most of the level b/c you were going so fast and maybe collect some rings. Hence why it hasn't had the staying power as it's Mario counterpart.

Silent Xenocide @ Jul 26th 2006 1:52AM

It says Sonic 3D Blast is for the Saturn. But I remember when I was a kid playing it on my Genesis...

GSI @ Jul 26th 2006 1:56AM

It was on both platforms:

(Saturn) http://cheats.ign.com/objects/000/000573.html

...and...

(Genesis) http://cheats.ign.com/objects/000/000592.html

LongshotX @ Jul 26th 2006 2:05AM

Thanks for the Sonic Extreme Link Fandel. I see why they scrapped the game. In no way does it capture the true essence of Sonic. It's like a puzzle game. And there is no way Sonic can be that slow. Where are the enemies? I would like to play it though. Does anyone know if it's on the any of the Torrent Networks?

Ubersnuber @ Jul 26th 2006 4:33AM

GSI:

Actually, sonic was as popular as mario was.
But the sonic team produced too many games..(allso, the 3d age gave sonic some beating)

Anyways, do u guys remember how difficult the master system games were compared to the genesis/mega drive?
I merely managed to complete sonic on the 8-bit system :O

Lightguy @ Jul 26th 2006 5:06AM

I love the fact that each video shows the most important thing to each Sonic game; speed. The games may vary wildly in quality, but you can honestly say they've never slowed down.

Ben Roe @ Jul 26th 2006 5:19AM

26 - you must never have played Sonic Adventure 2. A few excellent, fast Sonic levels mixed in with endless, slow "find the hidden gems" Knuckles levels.

Sam @ Jul 26th 2006 5:54AM

Notice how in the 'credits' (were they list all the games), they have the new Sonic the Hedghog for PS3/XB360/PC, but they don't include Sonic Wildfire for the Wii. Odd.

shaoron @ Jul 26th 2006 7:48AM

only played a few Sonic games.. had a hard time since it was too fast for me.. :p

BTW... he/they never bothered showing the GBA sonic games? wierd...

Joney Jims @ Jul 26th 2006 9:33AM

What about Sonic N for the N-Gage?

MetaHuman @ Jul 26th 2006 10:50AM

A lot of that footage was in Sonic Mega Collection. Anyways, Sonic's come a long way, had trouble with 3D games (though I attribute it to all the meaningless tagalong characters :P), hopefully that will change someday. In the meantime, Sonic's doing as he always has, competing for your 2D-platforming dollars with Sonic Rush on DS against Mario's new platformer. Those two will never get along, but at least the competition is spirited. :P

Now here's my favorite video of Mario throughout the ages in commercials. It may have been on Joystiq before, I don't know. I think it's cool though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkreaWxL224&search=go%20mario%20go

32_Footsteps @ Jul 26th 2006 12:29PM

"Sonic 2 was one of the first videogames I had ever played. It was released a year after I was born."

"A word of caution, John: it's not usually wise on internet forums to admit you're fifteen years old."

I don't care if he's two years old - he's being polite and not obnoxious. Given that I've seen legal adults acting like complete jerks online, let John admit his age. In fact, I'll trumpet it - I hope seeing a 15-year old act like a reasonable human being might prompt some of the 20-somethings to do the same.

Marshall @ Jul 26th 2006 1:11PM

Also i think i might know why they didnt include all the gamess they forgot bcuzz i think i remember some sonjic games not being published by the original makers so then didnt putthe games into the video..... or they justdidnnt have the games ( :

jin @ Jul 26th 2006 1:16PM

^^^ word.
Also, smarmy or not, Knuckles was a goddamn badass... way more than that Shadow guy (Shadow reminded me of goth kids in high school.) Plus Knuckles had dreads, raising his overall hipness quotient, and he taught young children the world over the word "echidna."