Today Sonic officially turns 30 years old as the original Sonic the Hedgehog for the Genesis released in North America for the first time back on June 23, 1991.

Featuring the iconic Green Hill Zone, Sonic's first outing was an instant smash hit and led to SEGA's early success in the home video game market. The launch of the game and its eventual pack-in promotion helped the Genesis overtake the Super Nintendo in sales by two to one, with SEGA later taking up to 65% of the market share.

This was the birth of a video game icon and the runaway success of Sonic finally gave SEGA the mascot they had been searching for after their previous attempts with Fantasy Zone's 'Opa Opa' and Alex Kidd.

In the 30 years that have passed, Sonic has featured in hundreds of games and collections as well as TV shows, movies, comics and merchandise, and while no new Sonic games are to be released in 2021, with the next mainline title being scheduled for release in 2022, as well as a Sonic Origins collection slated for release the same year; SEGA are instead celebrating today with the Sonic Symphony 30th Anniversary Concert featuring orchestrated renditions of classic Sonic tunes and a host of guest performers including Crush 40 and DJ Tomoya Ohtani. The live event can be watched via the YouTube video embed below.

Event starts at today at
Pacific Time: 12 PM PDT | Central Time: 2 PM CDT | Eastern Time: 3 PM EDT | British Summer Time: 8PM BST | European Time: 9 PM CEST​

What are your favourite memories of Sonic the Hedgehog growing up and what are your favourite games in the franchise? Let us know below! I for one wouldn't be where I am today had the blue blur not left the impact it did on me as I played it almost religiously during my childhood. For me, no other platform games come close to matching the pure charm, style and unrivalled control and platforming perfection that the classic Mega Drive trilogy provide.

Here's to another 30 years of Sonic!

 

[Seliph]

Chose Star Light Zone cuz the music in that area is BUMPIN

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Well, time to pull out my Sega Megadrive... I mean Genesis, like everyone else and play sonic 1.... again.

OR, just pick one of the dozen other ways I can play it, that I'm sure I'm not the only one guilty of owning it for various consoles.

@shaunj66 So, will you be streaming some sonic games for us?

 

[Deleted member 560282]

Happy birthday little weird anthropomorphic hedgehog

 

[x65943]

I was playing the super Nintendo port of the original Sonic just the other day, had no clue the anniversary was coming up!

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

sonic was my introduction to video games so without sonic i wouldnt be here right now(then again would that really be a bad thing)

 

[WardogAce]

i'm loving that sonic is making a comeback!

 

[SG854]

I like the music in starlight

 

[ChiefReginod]

Despite what happened to Sonic in later years, I'll never forget the first time I turned on my brand new Sega Genesis and heard the "SEGA" intro and then the Hill Top Zone theme song. The moment is burned into my memory and Sonic will always have a special place in gaming heart for that.

All these years later, the Sega Genesis is my all-time favorite console. I've had tons of other systems since then, but none made half as strong a first impression as playing Sonic 1 for the first time.

 

[shaunj66]

@shaunj66 So, will you be streaming some sonic games for us?

Birthdays should be days of celebration and joy not woe and personal despair.

 

[Lv44ES_Burner]

Happy birthday to my longest running Sega franchise I hold dearest to my heart. I'm happy that Sonic's had such a storied run, even in the eras I wasn't fond of, and I'm hoping the future looks bright for the Blue Blur going forward.

Now, SEGA... When are ya'll releasing the LEGO Ideas Sonic Mania set that was approved in the January Ideas reviews? I want to see that set done justice!

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

Birthdays should be days of celebration and joy not woe and personal despair.

It's only wow and despair if you play the "Not so good" ones.

 

[BitMasterPlus]

Way past cool for 30 years!

.....Well not really. Been a lot of bumps in the road but you know....

 

[Viri]

Just don't play the Megadrive games on PAL, unless you like to go slow!

 

[shaunj66]

It's only wow and despair if you play the "Not so good" ones.

I meant in regard to my commentary

Just don't play the Megadrive games on PAL, unless you like to go slow!

I actually grew up with the PAL versions and have a lot of nostalgia for the 50hz (slowed down) music but of course the games are best played in 60hz and I have no intention of playing them in 50hz ever again. Fortunately my younger self was ignorant of this and it didn't impede my enjoyment!

 

[Sonic Angel Knight]

 

[shaunj66]

Symphony starts in 6 mins. Who else is watching?

 

[gudenau]

I want a port of SA and SA2:B to the Switch with a shared larger, shared Chao garden with the GBA stuff replaced with a phone app that isn't super micro-transaction laced.

I know this is too much to ask for, but that's what I want.

 

[CeeDee]

I hope they blow our minds by playing IceCap Zone and finally telling us which music they're using for Sonic Origins

 

[Julie_Pilgrim]

I want a port of SA and SA2:B to the Switch with a shared larger, shared Chao garden with the GBA stuff replaced with a phone app that isn't super micro-transaction laced.

I know this is too much to ask for, but that's what I want.

minus the mobile app i want this