Six Days of Sonic: Day 1

To tie into the upcoming release of Sonic Mania this week I've prepared six posts featuring a variety of scans in relation to Sega's speedy mascot. Today is day one and will be a little brief as far as scans go. I'll conclude the coverage on Friday and return to the regular ads post Saturday morning.

Game Informer - Fall 1991 (Premiere Issue)

I'll provide a quick overview today but the magazine scans will do most of the talking for the week. If you were too young to be playing games in the early '90s you might not be able to appreciate just how much of an impact Sonic had on Sega and the video game industry overall. Sega got off to a strong start in the 16-bit era with the Genesis in 1989 and the first Sonic game released at the perfect time in June 1991, providing the console with a big boost just two months before the Super NES launched in North America. Sonic was an instant hit and quickly became the face of Sega. A sequel was immediately in the works and it didn't take long for the character to start showing up everywhere you looked.

In 1992 Sonic got his own comic book from Archie Comics that ran for 290 issues! That's quite a long time for a comic book based on a video game, or any comic book really as so many get rebooted over and over. Just this past month Sega signed a deal with IDW Publishing so there will be another series soon. A comic book wasn't enough for what was everyone's favorite new gaming mascot and in 1993 Sonic got his own cartoon that ran for two seasons. That was followed with another animated show that had 65 episodes, a couple of anime releases, and most recently the Sonic Boom series. Sonic could also be be found in toy aisles, at the supermarket, and plastered on numerous non-gaming advertisements throughout the mid '90s.

Sega debuted its own magazine with the June/July1990 issue of Sega Visions. Here is the magazine's first preview of Sonic the Hedgehog shortly before the game released:

Sega Visions - April/May 1991

For the remainder of the week this is what I have planned but the order might change; it all depends on when I acquire Sonic Mania and how fast I can get a video completed:

• Monday: Sonic the Hedgehog (the first game) magazine scans
• Tuesday: Unboxing of the Sonic Mania: Collector's Edition plus a little gameplay
• Wednesday: Sonic the Hedgehog #1/4 comic book
• Thursday: Sonic the Hedgehog 2 magazine scans (primarily previews)
• Friday: Some of Sonic's non-gaming ads