Sonic Team
The initial team formed in 1990 and was composed of developers from Sega's Consumer Development division, including programmer Yuji Naka, artist Naoto Ohshima, and level designer Hirokazu Yasuhara. The team took the name Sonic Team in 1991 with the release of "Sonic the Hedgehog" for the Sega Genesis. The game was a major success that contributed to millions of Genesis sales. The next "Sonic" games were developed by Naka and Yasuhara in America at Sega Technical Institute, while Ohshima worked on "Sonic CD" in Japan. Naka returned to Japan in late 1994 to become the head of CS3, later renamed R&D #8. During this time, the division took on the Sonic Team brand but developed games that do not feature Sonic, such as "Nights into Dreams" (1996) and "Burning Rangers" (1998).
Sonic Mania
In addition to the standard release, a Sega Genesis-themed collector's edition was also released, containing a 12-inch (30 cm) Sonic statue atop a model Genesis, a game cartridge cast with a golden ring, and a metallic collector's card with a download code for the game. To promote the collector's edition, Sega released a retro-styled infomercial featuring former series art director Kazuyuki Hoshino and social media manager Aaron Webber, based on an American television commercial for "Sonic 2". The music label Data Discs published a vinyl LP featuring the game's original music in late 2017. An expanded soundtrack was released on digital music distribution platforms on January 17, 2018.