The History of Sonic the Hedgehog: Birth of an Icon! Sega 30th Anniversary Retrospective Documentary

How the most famous hedgehog in the world came to be! (Chapter markers and more below...)

Episode Information
GTV 110 "Run Hedgehog Run!" Season 6 Episode 6
Original Airdate: June 18, 2021
Produced January-March, June 1-16, 2021
Recorded at Butsudan Studios and edited on my 15" MacBook Pro with Touch Bar, which was starting to show signs of age, though rock-solid.
Produced with Final Cut Pro and Photoshop, which my job paid for!

0:00 Pre-emption
0:10 GTV ID: The Most Famous Channel in the World!
0:18 Introduction: A Cultural Touchstone of the 1990s
1:37 Act 1: Life Before Sonic
8:02 CM 1: Sonic's Debut! (Japan, 1991) Sonic is Cool! (U.S., 1991)
9:16 Act 2: The Development and Design of Sonic
21:39 CM 2: Sega Sonic (Japan, 1991) More for Less (U.S., 1991)
22:51 Act 3: Sonic is Everywhere!
39:11 CM 3: Humans Against Genesis (U.S., 1991) Super Sonic Offer (Australia, 1991)
40:23 Act 4: The Legacy of Sonic
48:58 CM 4: Sonic +1 Set (Japan, 1992) Sonic is Here (Brazil, 1991) Sonic for Game Gear (U.S., 1991)
51:25 Act 5: Sonic's Easter Eggs and Cameos
1:00:30 CM 5: Tiger Electronics Sonic (U.S., 1991) Sonic on Master System (Brazil, 1991)
1:01:38 Conclusion: Sonic is For Everyone

Other great SEGA videos by GTV!

This video would not be possible without the help of the following:

Other artwork by Liris-san, Ricky Earl, Moku Mikan, Aneevee, Nerkin and Cartoony. Other images come from the 25th Anniversary art book, or game magazines from 1991.
Vintage Clips by: Sving the video game, Steven Hertz, My Vintage Video, 13 NewsNow, Sweetness Gaming, Genkisan and Grooveraider.
Some scans by Chris Covell, the rest by me, including a lot of money spent tracking down all those Famitsu issues!
CMs by RGTV and Ryu Nihon No, both excellent sources
Music by Tee Lopes, Official VGM, and some remixes that I can’t seem to connect to any source, sorry!
Background Animations by: Sanic-maniac
Gameplay by: Mathieu Pronovost, Retrogaming TV, Longplay Universe, Ricky C and of course I played some too.

[GTV-Japan]

Happy birthday Sonic! What was your favorite entry in the series? Please share your favorite Sonic memories below!

[Johnwlol]

My fondest Sonic memory was my mom letting me skip school the day Sonic 3 came out. I remember going to the video store and just seeing this giant wall of Sonic 3 boxes

[Foxxy]

Great documentary. I feel like unless you were there in 1991 it's hard to convey just how perfectly Sonic seemed to be timed to be just the thing everyone was looking for. I'm not even sure what to compare it to.. Wii Bowling maybe? I was an SNES kid but even I knew Sonic was impossible to ignore.

[VierthalerStudios]

I hit one of the worst depressions of my entire life in high school because I was severely bullied for my stuttering. So badly, that I would refuse to talk. I got back into Sonic because of the nostalgia my sophomore year and I used Sonic as a coping mechanism for my depression. Because Sonic made me think of my happy childhood instead of the pain I was dealing with. I downloaded Sonic on my iPod touch at that time and Sonic helped me deal with my depression. I will always appreciate Sonic for that.

[elfiebranford]

This channel has become my latest obsession, and after binging almost all of the previous videos, it feels so good to get a brand new one today~!! ^w^

Also, so hard to believe that it's already been 30 years since the Blue Blur blast processed into our hearts.

[CarletonTorpin]

This is a visual historical reference document.

I love watching it on a big screen in 4K because you always use high-resolution supporting imagery and graphics.

I know these videos require many tens or hundreds of hours of effort, and I absolutely appreciate the work you put in.

[calebland]

It's interesting to look back and see how quickly Sega rose and fell. In only 5 years Sega was already on the decline and got pushed out by the playstation.

Microsoft and Sony which were the "newcomers" have been around many times as long as Sega was a big player, but Sega still has so much nostalgia power.

[buckroger]

A full hour about sonic?! I'm all down for this.

[ModernVintageTV]

They had a big battle in the 90's And now Sega and Nintendo are buddies. Happy 30th Sonic!

[WaifuLife]

30 years of Sonic, god I'm old 😥

[Leoj]

Sonic is my favorite VG character and series. Particularly, the Genesis releases. Thank you, once again, for these excellently put together and informative documentaries.

[RealGaming]

An hour of goodness to help me stop thinking about how freaking hot it is in Sweden today. Thank you!

[Pupppeteer]

"this new game and character had to thread the needle" was that a reference to one of sonics early prototype names lol.

[RabbitEarsCh]

Thank you so much for including the details of the Dreams Come True tour promoting Sonic. I've been curious about that for years and details have been so scant for so long. Thank you for digging deep into old magazines and setting the record straight.
Even after 15 years of me digging deep into all things related to Sonic's development, I still learned quite a bit today thanks to this video. Great work!

[executionerdan]

I played Sonic The Hedgehog all the way through earlier today and now watching this video. ROLL ON the next 30 years for Sonic.

[lhfirex]

It's crazy to think that this series got me into the Genesis. I owe a lot of great gaming memories to this game purely for all the other classics I got introduced to on the Genesis. Wouldn't have happened if I didn't want to get a Genesis to play Sonic!

[lupeayala]

Awesome vid, Thanx! I remember getting a Sega Genesis with Sonic as the pack in for Christmas. It was hidden behind a dresser. It was a great surprise! It reminds me now of how Ralphie found his rifle hidden away in A Christmas Story and how excited he was! Thats the same feeling I had. Still got that same Genesis and Sonic game btw... Great memories!!!👍🍻🍻🍻

[mikaeki]

GTV Japan is easily the most underrated channel in Youtube. So glad to find this channel. Thank you!

[chrissantiago]

I swear I watch stories I already know just to see how this channel covers them. Excellent as always.

[executor]

Seeing a new GTV upload gives me the same feeling as waking up Saturday morning to watch cartoons as a kid! Can't wait!!