Regarding
Sonic (the Hedgehog) 
Why he's way past cool
As the theme song says, "Sonic, he can really
move! Sonic, he's got an attitude! ...he's the fastest thing alive".
:D
Why is Sonic way past cool (as if that weren’t
obvious)? He has style, spirit, courage, super speed and one -heck-
of an attitude. The way he kicks ‘bot has to be seen to be believed.
He has lots of cool moves and he knows how to use ‘em. He’s blue;
he’s cute--no wonder Amy Rose has a crush on him! ;)
His wisecracks are funny, too! (Hey, how hard
did -you- laugh the first time you heard him call Robotnik "Ro-butt-nik"??)
In the Beginning...
Okay, this section may be old news to most of
you, but in case there is someone out there who -doesn't- know...
Back in 1991, Sega (SErvice and GAmes) needed
a mascot that could do for them what Mario did for Nintendo--namely provide
their company with a character that everyone would associate with them.
Most of their designers submitted drawing of animals that hop, but Naoto
Oshimo's stylized hedgehog caught the eye of Sega's chairman, Hayao Nakayama.
Since this animal can roll into a ball, Yuji Naka and his computer-designing
team could use an in-house, state-of-the-art program that allowed the game
to scroll way faster than anything that had been seen before. Thus,
a star was born ;)
The Story
This is how it was presented in the instrcution
manual for Sonic the Hedgehog :
"Dr. Ivo Robotnik, the mad scientist, is snatching
innocent animals and turning them into evil robots! Only one tough
dude can put an end to the demented scientist's fiendish scheme.
It's Sonic, the real cool hedgehog with the spiked haircut and power sneakers
that give him super speed."
Of course, much has been added to the storyline
since then via cartoons, comics, and more Sonic games . ;)
How many Fingers...?!?
How many fingers -does- Sonic have? Well,
it depends on where you look. In the SatAM cartoon and on the Sonic
2 box & cartridge art, he has 3 fingers (thumb doesn't count) on
each hand. However, on the Sonic 3 and Sonic 3D-Blast
art, he has 4 fingers. In both the
Archie and Fleetway comics, Sonic has 4 fingers. Therefore, I usually
(but not always) draw him with 4.
Sonic's Speed
So, how come Sonic is way past fast? There
are a couple of theories floating around about this. The instruction
manual for Sonic the Hedgehog makes it sound like it's in the shoes.
I don't think so. If that were the case, anyone who wore his
shoes would have super speed. In the book, Sonic the Hedgehog
(written by Michael Teitelbaum & published by Troll), he got it through
lots of practice. I think it would take a *heck* of a lot
more than just practice to run at least 1000 mph! Where'd I get that
number? From the episode "Sonic Racer". The cheetah-bot
could run 500 mph at half speed. Thus, the bot's top speed would
be 1000 mph. Sonic outran the cheetah-bot. Therefore, Sonic
can run at least 1000 mph. I know there was a rumor that Sonic
"got his speed from falling into a vat of power rings when he was a baby".
I don't buy into that. According to Archie Comics' series, Sonic
was born with it. This seems like the best explanation to me.
This also explains why Sonic & Tails have four
fingers--they're mutants! Oh,
wait a minute; Marvel Comics has already done the 'mutant angle' to explain
exceptional abilities ;p Still, that's -my- favorite explanation.
Why -I- like the Sonic Games Better Than the
Super Mario Games
In a word? GAMEPLAY!! I -love- how
the rings affect it in Sonic. In the Sonic games, if you collect
100 rings you earn an extra life. Sure, collecting 100 stars in the
Mario games does the same thing--but they don't protect you like power
rings can! If you get hit by a Badnik, you lose your rings (or shield,
if you have one) instead of a life. In the Super Mario games, if
you get hit, and you don't have a power-up in effect, you lose a life (*not*
the stars). Of course, there are certain traps in the Sonic games
that can kill a hedgehog (or fox, or echidna) instantly. Completing
the bonus rounds in the Sonic games isn't vital to winning the game, but
it's quite a treat when you collect all the Chaos Emeralds! Sure,
the Super Mario games have bonus rounds, but they aren't nearly as cool
& they don't affect gameplay in the way going Super or Hyper can in
the Sonic games! Oh, and running through a series of loops in the
Sonic games is way cool, too--especially when you can annoy people by doing
it J
Also, the Sonic games have music.
I'm talking about toe-tappin', jammin' tunes, NOT the pathetic "background
noise" (I can't really call it 'music', folks) in the Super Mario games.
The -real- reason I never finished one of those is because the 'dunt, dunt,
dunt, da, dunt, dunt...' garbage annoyed me way too much! Well, that
and the fact I never owned a NES ;)
