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 Adventure
During the early 1990s, Sega was one of the most successful video game companies due to its Genesis console. Sales for the console were driven by the popularity of its flagship franchise of 2D platformers, "Sonic the Hedgehog". During this time, series co-creator Yuji Naka worked with Sega Technical Institute (STI) in the United States to develop "Sonic" games. After the completion of "Sonic & Knuckles" in 1994, Naka moved to work with Sonic Team in Japan. STI began developing "Sonic X-treme" for the Sega Saturn"," which would have been the first "Sonic the Hedgehog" game to feature full 3D gameplay. "X-treme" suffered a series of setbacks and was canceled in 1997. The cancellation is an important factor in the Saturn's commercial failure; without it, the system had no original "Sonic" platformer. Meanwhile, Naka and Sonic Team developed original Saturn games, such as "Nights into Dreams." Due to the series' relative lack of presence on the Saturn, according to "Retro Gamer", "[b]y mid-1997 Sonic had essentially been shuffled into the background... it was astonishing to see that just six years after his debut, Sonic was already retro."