Fans are celebrating Sonic the Hedgehog‘s birthday just as the blue blur has a new game hitting the market. Not only that, but the chili-dog-loving video game mascot is also celebrating milestones and looking forward to more to come later this year.
The account for the Sonic the Hedgehog movie franchise was quick to give their birthday wishes, while also walking on eggshells about just how old the mammal truly is.
While the character, portrayed by Ben Schwartz in the Sonic the Hedgehog film and its sequel, is presented as somewhat of a child or teenager in the movies, the truth of the matter is the character is actually 31 years old to the day. That is because the original Sonic the Hedgehog video game was released on the Sega Genesis console on June 23, 1991, according to the Sega Wiki.
An even older video game mascot, Pac-Man, gave his warm birthday wishes to Sonic.
“From the corridors of the maze to the loops of Stardust Speedway, it’s always fun to dash with the fastest guy around! A massive HAPPY BIRTHDAY wish to my good buddy @sonic_hedgehog!”
Not only is it Sonic the Hedgehog’s birthday Thursday, but it also marks the re-release of his first four mainline games Sonic Origins, which is now available on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S/One, and PC. The game collection includes Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog CD, and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 film director Jeff Fowler and stars Schwartz and Lee Majdoub were each celebrating the movie’s milestone of reaching more than $400 million at the global box office, as We Got This Covered previously reported. That’s quite the birthday present indeed.
The Sega Shop Europe Twitter account also shared a fairly groovy retro-style piece of artwork of Sonic, too.
Another fan’s epic piece of artwork united the blue blur’s many iterations of the years, from the games to the comics to the TV shows. Anyone down for some Sonic the Hedgehog multiversal shenanigans?
A Sonic fan account unsurprisingly celebrated the main character in the franchise on his birthday, too.
Even Sonic’s nemesis, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, got some love. After all, it’s his birthday, too.
The whole crew was present to celebrate Sonic’s birthday in another piece of fan art.
“I love this blue hedgehog so much. 😭” was one fan’s emotional proclamation.
Another fan showed off an impressive Sonic stuffed animal and figurine collection.
There’s plenty more in store for Sonic the Hedgehog in the near future, including an animated Netflix series, Sonic Prime, releasing soon. A genre-redefining adventure game, Sonic Frontiers, is also slated for release Holiday 2022 and is being touted by Sega as bringing the 3D games to the next generation with brand new gameplay and level designs. A Knuckles spinoff TV series, based on the Sonic the Hedgehog film franchise and starring Idris Elba, is also in the works at Paramount Plus.
Happy birthday, Sonic!