20 years of Sonic The Hedgehog

  

It's hard to imagine, but the spiky-headed, speedy-footed, gaming-superstar hedgehog has reached the ripe old age of 20.

Well, OK, it's his 20th anniversary, Sonic remains, miraculously, 15-years-old.

It's hard to envisage, but it's already been two decades since Sonic emerged on the SEGA Mega Drive.

Since then, he has appeared in more than 65 self-titled video games, as well as success in other areas including comics, toys and even his own television series.

Having already sold 70 million games worldwide, Sonic would be forgiven for putting his feet up and relaxing - but two more of his titles will drop this year.

Here are 20 things you never knew about Sonic, until now:

1. Sonic was launched as a rival to Mario, Nintendo's flagship equivalent, in 1991, but has sold less than half as much as his rival. (The Mario series has 200million sales)

2. That rivalry aside, the two have now come together in various titles.

3. "Project Needlemouse" was the name given to the Sonic project

4. Initially, Sonic's design included fangs - but he soon lost that 'bite'.

5. An estimated 60 million people have played at least one Sonic game.

6. Sonic runs faster than the speed of light and is officially the fastest videogame character of all time. (Guinness Book of Records)

7. Sonic was voted number one video gaming icon of all time.

8. Sonic's shoes were inspired by a combination of Santa Claus and the colour red for speed and fire.

9. Sonic originally had a girlfriend called Madonna and was in a rock band.

10. Sonic's first ever appearance was a humble one - as a toy hanging from the rear-view mirror in the little-known arcade racing game Rad Mobile.

11. Sonic has starred in his own line of comics and in four animated TV series

12. Sega sponsored the Williams Grand Prix team and the team's lead driver, Alain Prost during the 1993 Formula One championship.

13. Sonic was the first video game character to have a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

14. Sonic has made cameos in various games including, The Simpsons Game, The Incredible Hulk, Tom and Jerry: The Movie and he also featured in the Simpsons show.

15. Various songs have been produced for the franchise, some even made release.

16. Dr Eggman has an IQ of 300.

17. Sonic the Hedgehog's personality is a juxtaposition of kindness and ferocity, as on one hand he does all in his power to snuff out evil, but he also can't look away when somebody else is in trouble.

18. Sonic hates boredom and being tied down, so much of his time is spent running towards the next danger or adventure.

19. Sonic's favorite food is chili dogs.

20. Sonic cannot swim.