Achievement: Sonic Inducted Into World Video Game Hall of Fame

[Stritix]

Apologies if this has already been posted. I can't seem to find it anywhere. Sonic the Hedgehog, Grand Theft Auto III, The Legend of Zelda, The Oregon Trail, The Sims, and Space Invaders are the new inductees for the World Video Game Hall of Fame.

Sonic the Hedgehog took the 16-bit gaming era by storm in 1991 with its lightning-fast game play and cool, hip title character, temporarily vaulting Sega ahead of Nintendo in the 1990s console wars.

To develop a rival to Nintendo’s Mario, Sega hosted an in-house design contest that produced a new hedgehog mascot codenamed “Mr. Needlemouse.” Artists colored him cobalt blue and outfitted him in large red shoes that evoked allusions to boots warn by Michael Jackson and Santa Claus. Styled as an underdog with attitude, Sonic appealed to Generation X gamers.

Named for his ability to travel at supersonic speeds, Sonic the Hedgehog blasted through levels faster than many gamers had ever experienced. Artfully placed slopes, springs, and loop-the-loops allowed players to reach their goal without slowing down, and the character died if they took longer than 10 minutes to complete a level.

Gamers loved the spunky blue whirlwind. One parent claimed his son spent entire evenings curled into a ball, attempting to roll himself through the house. Another fan overheard an argument in a comic book store over whether Sonic or The Flash would win a race. In 1993, Sonic became the first video game character depicted as a balloon in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

With more than 15 million copies sold, Sonic the Hedgehog remains the best-selling Sega Genesis game of all time, and the entire Sonic franchise has sold 350 million units across the globe.

This is a pretty huge achievement for the franchise. No doubt this will be a remarkable year for Sonic.

[Rey Skywalker-Ren]

Things like this make me proud to be a Sonic fan.

[Haalyle]

Saw that on Twitter and gave me a good smile this morning.

[RubyEclipse]

A great day for Sonic.

[SonicWind]

I really don't care how far Sonic has fallen-- he was, is, and always will be a video game legend.

Glad to see the franchise is getting the respect it so deserves.

[Speeps]

Awesome! It's about time Sonic got recognised for being good again for once.

[FriendBot]

Even if it is just the first game being on display, it is still really great to see that the game has been placed in a museum. Just goes to show that even if the series has been mismanaged and has a lot of problems, people still have a strong liking for the series so yeah. Really happy to see this.

[Mania Pipe]

Even after the weirdness that's happened throughout this franchise for many years. It's still really great to see Sonic to reach an achievement as big as this. For that, I feel really glad.

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

Congratulations, Sonic! You way past deserve it!

[PaddyFancy]

People will still criticize the bad times Sonic had. It doesn't take away from the good when Sonic was on top. So huzzah for that.

I'm a bigger GTA fan so I'm pleased Grand Theft Auto III is in a museum. It blew my mind more than anything else that's on the list.

[DaddlerTheDalek]

On 5.5.2016 at 0:48 AM, RubyEclipse said:

A great day for Sonic.

Yes it is!

[plusChalk]

Wow, that's awesome. It's about time he gets his. 

[Guest]

Here's the video message Sega made for Sonic being inducted. (If the video doesn't go to the time stamp, it starts at 13:28)