18 years ago today, on June 23, 1991 Sonic the Hedgehog was born. Sega created the character in hopes of establishing a mascot to rival Nintendo’s Mario and replace Alex Kidd. Sonic has been a symbol of Sega ever since and has truly rivalled Mario in both popularity and sales since the early nineties. Sonic was fast, young, and had attitude, everything that Mario was not. Genesis does what Nintendon’t. Is it not odd not only that he appears on a Nintendo console, but that the two now seem to routinely appear together, competing in Olympic Sport or duelling in Super Smash Brothers? All things change in time I suppose.

The Sonic Series has been a large part of Sega’s success over the years and in the minds of many provided a hallmark in the genre of platforming. The early years of Sonic provided us all with hours of fantastic entertainment. I am sure that no one can forget classics as Sonic 1-3 and Sonic & Knuckles. In the years between then and now there have been some high points; Sonic Adventure and Sonic CD come to mind.

However, in recent years Sonic has struggled to be so well received as he was in the early nineties. Sega has realised that the character sells games and consequently has whored out the franchise, working Sonic Team to the bone. Each subsequent title Sonic Team releases is met with anticipation and dread. Could this new Sonic game be the return of the Sonic we know and love? Sonic Unleashed has shown us that they are capable of fulfilling our hopes, but only dashed these with more monotonous and frustrating gimmicks that have become a staple in the series as of late. Perhaps there is hope for the series yet.

At any rate, it’s Sonic’s 18th. Happy birthday, guy.