Games of the 8-, 16- & 32-bit era
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Sonic the Hedgehog

TitleSonic the Hedgehog
First release1991
DeveloperSonic Team
PublisherSega
PlatformsArcade, Dreamcast, Mega Drive / Genesis, PC (Windows), Sega Saturn
Genreplatformer
Also known asソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ · Sonikku za Hejjihoggu
Players1 player
Co-opNo
ESRB ratingE Everyone
Releases
Arcade: 1991-06-01
Mega Drive / Genesis: 1991-06-11 (NTSC-U), 1991-06-21 (PAL), 1991-06-22 (NTSC), 1991-07-26 (NTSC-J)
Wikidata IDQ37123

Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the games adapted for release in arcades using both Mega-Tech and Mega Play technology. The Mega Play version has a large number of differences from the Mega Drive game. First of all the second revision is used so the Scrolling clouds in Green Hill Zone are present. However, cheat codes cannot be used. 1-ups have no effect and continues are increased by inserting quarters. There are also only four Zones: Green Hill Zone, Spring Yard Zone, Star Light Zone, and Scrap Brain Zone (which is missing its final act). Special Stages are also missing and jumping into the Giant Rings only cause you to disappear. The credit roll is not used. You can also enter your initials on the High Score screen if you get a game over, either by running out of lives or finishing the game. There is also a strictly enforced time limit unique to each level. If the level isn't completed by that time you will die and the timer will be reset.

Description: TheGamesDB (community-contributed, no licence stated; internal use only) Facts from Wikidata (CC0), gaps filled from TheGamesDB and Arcade Database (ADB). Only retro platforms tracked by this site are listed; the year is the earliest release date recorded on Wikidata.
Sources
Wikidata (Q37123) · last updated 2026-09-27 · CC0
TheGamesDB (33733) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only
TheGamesDB (114,5544,65208,99155,99703,129892) · last updated 2026-07-18 · no licence stated · internal use only
Arcade Database (ADB) (mp_sonic) · last updated 2026-10-03 · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · internal use only
Arcade Database ADB
MAME romsetmp_sonic
Title at ADBSonic The Hedgehog (Mega Play)
ManufacturerSega
Year1993
GenrePlatform / Run, Jump & Scrolling
Players2
MAME driver statusIMPERFECT
Sonic the Hedgehog – Flyer
Flyer
Sonic the Hedgehog – Marquee
Marquee
Sonic the Hedgehog – Cabinet
Cabinet
Sonic the Hedgehog – Title
Title
Sonic the Hedgehog – In-game
In-game
Artwork: ADB (Arcade Database); artwork © original manufacturer (Sega); snaps by ProgettoSnaps via ADB. Non-free, internal use only (hotlinked, not downloaded).
Scraping using Arcade Database by motoschifo · CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 · romset via Wikidata P2451 (wikidata-qid) · fetched 2026-10-03 17:41 UTC · no fields filled (other sources take precedence)
Image credits
Box art, Screenshots, Logos, Artwork (7): Source: TheGamesDB (user-uploaded) · © Sega · internal use only. TheGamesDB page
Box art (1): Source: TheGamesDB (user-uploaded, NTSC-U release) · © Sega · internal use only. TheGamesDB page
Sprites (2): fan rips from sprite sites, credited per sheet (ripper, site, rights) in Sprites below; internal use only.
Logo: Sega / Sonic Team, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (“Sonic the Hedgehog 1991 logo.webp”)
Sprites
Mega Drive / Genesis version · 2 sheets · Sonic the Hedgehog on The Spriters Resource ↗ (66 sheets on the site; 2 stored here)
Sonic the Hedgehog sprite sheet (Mega Drive / Genesis)
Sonic the Hedgehog
Characters Mega Drive / Genesis · 690×1558
Rip by Triangly
#21628 · fetched 2026-09-29 17:08 UTC
Badniks sprite sheet (Mega Drive / Genesis)
Badniks
Enemies Mega Drive / Genesis · 1430×1087
Rip by Techokami
#8868 · fetched 2026-09-29 17:08 UTC
Sprite sheets are fan rips of copyrighted game graphics (© Sega), credited to the ripper and linked to their page on the source site; internal use only. “Rip by” is the uploader credit shown on the site. Click a sheet to view it at full size (pixel-exact zoom). More: The Spriters Resource ↗ /
Videos
Mega Drive Longplay [016] Sonic the Hedgehog
World-of-Longplays · Mega Drive / Genesis version · longplay · 48:37auto-matched
Watch on YouTube ↗ · auto:channel-harvest, checked 2026-10-25 18:41 UTC
Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
NintendoComplete · Mega Drive / Genesis version · longplay · 55:15auto-matched
Watch on YouTube ↗ · auto:channel-harvest, checked 2026-10-25 18:41 UTC
"Auto-matched" videos were found automatically (title + platform match via the YouTube Data API) and may occasionally be wrong. Videos are hosted by YouTube (embedded via youtube-nocookie.com; nothing loads from YouTube until you press play) and belong to their channels.
More from Sonic Team
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