List of Sonic the Hedgehog video games
"Sonic the Hedgehog" is a video game series. It is published by Sega, with entries developed by Sega, Sonic Team, Dimps, SIMS Co., Ltd., BioWare, and Sumo Digital. The series debuted in 1991 with the video game, "Sonic the Hedgehog", released for the Mega Drive video game console (named Genesis in North America). Most "Sonic the Hedgehog" games have either been platform games or released for Sega video game consoles and handheld game consoles (handhelds) dating from the Genesis to the eighth generation of video game consoles (2012–present). However, some of the original games were ported into versions on third-party home consoles and developed by several companies. As of February 2013, the series has collectively sold over 85 million copies worldwide across both the platform games and spin-offs.
Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit video game)
In 1990, Sega released the Game Gear, an 8-bit handheld game console designed to compete with Nintendo's Game Boy. Around the same time, Sonic Team worked on "Sonic the Hedgehog" for the 16-bit Genesis and Sega wanted to increase consumer awareness of the Game Gear by producing a version of "Sonic" for the system. 22-year old composer Yuzo Koshiro had recently started working with Sega, having been asked to compose the soundtrack for the Genesis version of "The Revenge of Shinobi" (1989). After, he told a section chief he could develop games himself. As a result, a general manager, whom Koshiro met while working on "The Revenge of Shinobi", asked him to start developing a Game Gear version of "Sonic". Koshiro founded Ancient to develop the game because Sega could not make contracts with individuals. His sister Ayano Koshiro served as director and his mother Tomo Koshiro had a "behind the scenes" role, while the first programmer he hired was Shinobu Hayashi. The 8-bit "Sonic" was created specifically for the Game Gear, but Sega also had Ancient develop a version for the Master System, which was selling well and had similar hardware.