What is Sonic the Hedgehog's identity to you?

[Polkadi~☆]

SEGA and Sonic Team have their own vision of the identity of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. But it's one that most of us have come to disagree with. We all have our own vision of Sonic, and some are wildly different from what SEGA and Sonic Team sees.

 

The identity of Sonic, to me, is high-speed platforming action. And with it, Sonic is a wise-cracking, impatient and quick-thinking hedgehog with the power of super speed, rolling into a spiky ball to defeat his foes. He fights against the evil robot army led by Dr Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik, who creates all kinds of schemes to let him take over the world. Whether it's by roboticizing cute critters to make a robot army, or making a large space station that does... Something.

A fast running, jumping and spinning hedgehog stopping an evil scientist, it's as simple as it gets. Eggman attempts to take over the world with a robot army, and Sonic fights against this with his friends. And Sonic runs and jumps, using the world around him to go as fast as possible.

[Indigo Rush]

Sonic the video game is an action platformer with a unique and, at the time, revolutionary blend of momentum-heavy movement, dynamic inertia, rolling physics, and pinball mechanics where the character flings around the level off slopes and bounces on enemies at high speeds while collecting magical jewlery. This gameplay style creates an environment where the player can feel safe moving ahead with minimal lethal risks. Levels have branching paths to make for several ways to experience the game, as well as occasional alternate characters with slightly different mechanics that change the experience of gameplay progression. The game goes from good to great after repeat playthroughs and enhanced skill. Low skill floor, high skill ceiling, a slight emphasis on scores, a higher emphasis on time and speedrunning.

Sonic the character is a blue, rolly polly hedgehog in red sneakers who can run and roll at really, really absurdly fast speeds. He's got an irreverent and impatient attitude, but a kind heart that gives him a sense of obligation to vigilante justice. Loves nature just as much as he loves the city, as long as he can run and jump around both. Doesn't like being couped up, doesn't like swimming, and doesn't like being tied to any responsibilities. Cute, corny, cool. Has that 90s radical cheese to his personality, but will turn off the jokes when things get serious. Will gladly turn into a sentient sawblade and tear through solid metal when his friends are in danger. Likes long runs on the beach, single but not looking for a serious relationship. Eats chili dogs because why not.

[ThePrinceOfSaiyans]

The ideal approach to me would be to get rid of the voice acting, return to the wacky nonsense worlds that present expansive environments that are both fun to explore and run through, and consistent gameplay that lets you take advantage of the environments. If there has to be voice acting, minimize it and rely on body language. 

[Diogenes]

Sonic is (or rather, should be) about the joy of movement.

To an extent that's the underlying heart of a lot of platformers and many other games, but Sonic expresses it in unique ways, most notably in its intuitive (though not necessarily realistic) physics and a rejection of a strict floor/wall/ceiling trichotomy. The physics allow for more naturalistic movement with a sense of weight and inertia, with smooth, rollercoaster-like acceleration rather than instant or minimal acceleration, while also being simplified enough for a player to reliably exploit. And wall/ceiling running radically redefines the playable space, allowing for a more complete use of all available dimensions and continual recontextualization of the level design. The focus on speed also helps give the player a goal beyond completion; better understanding and execution of movement allows for increasing and maintaining speed, which is inherently exciting. Good Sonic gameplay is about learning to move quickly and fluidly through complex environments.

Naturally similar ideas extend into Sonic the character. In the literal sense Sonic is a thrillseeker, with his own extreme take on parkour and routine diversions into other extreme sports like snowboarding, skating, hang gliding, and skydiving. And it's easy to draw parallels between Sonic's love of freedom of movement to his love of freedom in a more general sense; he moves through life as he moves through space, freely and unrestrained.

And the world of Sonic is designed to serve these ideas of joyful free movement. Much like the physics, there's a certain base level of realism, but exaggerated, made fantastic, and (often literally) twisted out of shape. It's a world of curves, loops, spirals, and other implausible geometry, complex but patterned, surreal but structured. Geometric designs and repeating patterns work as aesthetic complements to the physical construction, and combined with bright, saturated colors help enhance the sense of fantasy and (more often than not) inviting nature of the world.

[molul]

I can't speak for the identity, but for me, Sonic was an outstanding game character because of its first games design, aesthetics and graphics. The momentum physics were pure joy, graphics were outstanding pixel art, and music was beautiful and catchy.

Modern Sonic, on the other hand:

-Mostly feels like a racing game where you can sometimes press a button to avoid obstacles so you think you're actually doing something.

-Talks...

-Has average pop-metal music with vocals.

Graphics are still awesome. I don't really dislike Modern Sonic design, although I prefer the classic one. Maybe the right thing would be to make a new Sonic design as a perfect mix of classic and modern, and stick to it forever. Modern things are more likely to get outdated after some time, while classic things are timeless. Look at Mickey Mouse, Mario, etc.

[BonkersTheAutomaton]

Very interesting topic indeed.

Honestly, in my own opinion I always Identified with him as a witty character with a huge likable charm.  He is cocky and has an attitude that gives him a "don't mess with me" vibe but he isn't so cocky that it comes off as this whole "I'm better than you, and I know it sort of thing".  He's cocky where he knows he is, he knows he's the fastest thing alive and he proves it time and time again.  So basically, I always saw him as a guy who practices what he preaches.  And I feel his games need to show that as well.  Ideal Sonic game is a tough one for me as I grew up in the Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox Original era which many to be considered as the dark age so to speak.  As a result I have no nostalgia for the retro 2D games which is why I find it hard to be super excited to Sonic Mania.  I don't know what I want out of this franchise besides good games and other forms of media.

But that's just me.

[Meta77]

Well from the ova. Old manga. Games he's a action guy. I love the talking lol. Adventure one while it did not age well was amazing. Basically I like his 06 theme song voices his personality

[MetalSkulkBane]

So far everyone seems to be on the same page. Well, I'll be the guy to ruin it.

I grew up with Adventure 1 and Sonic X. For me, Sonic is not a character or games. "My" Sonic is the world. All those places,  stories, but most importantly characters. Characters with unique characters, with cool designs, personalities, powers, backstories. The comical one, the serious one.

My Sonic is a mysterious ball that showed you the past. My Sonic is running inside a tornado. My Sonic is Emerl getting raised by all Sonic's friends, with all the wacky fun they had together, only to die from Sonic's hand.

My Sonic is hard to describe and easy to corrupt.

(...basically I Archie Sonic comic with more creative freedom and at least one more spin-off, preferably Shadow)

[SBR2]

I personally feel the modern games are fine the way they are. I think Forces looks like a ton of fun and I'll defend Pontac and Graff to my dying day.

[Chris Knopps]

It's hard to answer this until SEGA/Sonic Team decide on a specific identity and stick to it.

Until then I'll say he's a rainbow.

[NintendoSoul]

Sonic is about precision platforming, mostly of the momentum variety. If you're able to navigate the level design with enough skill, you're rewarded with higher and higher speeds. No matter the era, every Sonic game has followed this principle in their game design to some extent. Not every game does it well enough to have good gameplay, but there is always a skill level you could only achieve by understanding the levels and adapting your technique to them.