Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game I grew up playing on my Sega Mega Drive in the mid ’90s. The video game series was created by Sega in 1991 – they wanted a mascot to compete with Nintendo’s Mario.
Sonic the Hedgehog has an emphasis on speed, not exploration, to complete a zone within the time limit. In the side-scrolling platform game, rings are collected for health, with 100 rings rewarding the player with an extra life.
Players have the opportunity to collect the six Chaos Emeralds when advancing through the zones, all while trying to avoid bottomless pits, spikes, moving walls and platforms, or drowning. Being a hedgehog, Sonic has the ability to roll into a ball, increasing his power for his Super Sonic Spin Attack and Super Sonic Spin Jump.
The ultimate aim of the game is to defeat Dr. Robotnik (renamed Doctor Eggman) who has trapped animals inside of robots – destroying the robots saves and frees the animals.
Close to celebrating its 35th anniversary, Sonic the Hedgehog has cemented its place as one of the greatest video games ever created. Sequels followed in 1992 and 1994, with Sonic & Knuckles released just months after Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
Since 2006, Sonic games have been developed for Windows/PC, and even other Nintendo consoles, the very company Sega were competing against just 15 years prior. Games in the Sonic franchise are now available on just about every platform and console.
Over the years, more characters have been added to the Sonic franchise to either assist or prevent Sonic from achieving the games’ goals. Tails, a two-tailed kitsune (fox), was introduced as Sonic’s sidekick in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Knuckles the echidna first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and was initially an enemy before befriending Sonic and Tails. Sonic CD for Sega CD saw two new additions: Amy Rose, a pink female hedgehog and Sonic’s self-appointed girlfriend, and Metal Sonic, an evil robotic version of Sonic created by Doctor Eggman. There are even more characters than I’ve mentioned here, all of which would make excellent tattoos.
From foes to friends, Mario and Sonic have teamed up for Olympics themed video games, with the news originally thought to be a joke. Since the release of Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (available prior to the 2008 Beijing Olympics) a further five games (both Summer and Winter Olympics) have joined the franchise. The most recent addition is Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 which was still released despite the games themselves being delayed due to the pandemic.
Unlike horror films, tattoo collectors are far more fond of the hero of this video game then they are the villain. Which Sonic character is your favourite?
Of these tattoos, the piece by @keelyglitters is my personal favourite as it focuses on a zone in the game rather than a character – only true fans will know what the piece represents. Research for your own Sonic the Hedgehog tattoo is really just an excuse to spend several hours playing video games or even watching the two movies (soon to be three) but who’s complaining?
I encourage you to act very un-Sonic like when choosing a tattoo artist; take your time in order to avoid any Doctor Eggman quality tattooers. The only one thing we can’t change is the length of the tattooing process – we can only wish that getting tattooed was as fast as Sonic the Hedgehog can travel.
Now, onto the tattoos!
The Tattooed Archivist 