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As many a Sonic the Hedgehog fan will remind you, this year represents the 35th anniversary of The Blue Blur and his video game, animated, and cinematic escapades. That's over three whole decades of ring-grabbin', loop-de-loopin', emerald-siezin', run-too-fast-into-a-pit-of-spikes-why-was-it-designed-this-way? action.
As part of the year's festivities, Sega has released a new animated short celebrating Sonic, along with his friends, enemies, and frenemies, that have kept the fans enraptured through the good times and the bad. Titled Memories and Beyond, the short sees our spiky friend, his pal Tails, the besotted Amy Rose, and a selection of other superstars face off against their eternal, never-say-die nemesis, Dr. Robotnik.
This is not even close to the first time Sonic and friends left the video game world for a spot of animated action. The classic Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog show from 1993 - the height of Sonicmania - was a little cursed in both style and narrative, but gave birth to a variety of fun memes and in-jokes that are quoted in the Sonic community to this day. That's no gooooood.
This series was followed by several other animated endeavours, including Sonic the Hedgehog (also known as "Sonic SatAM"), the anime-like Sonic X, the comically badass Sonic Underground, and the CG-animated series Sonic Boom and Sonic Prime. Just recently, Netflix announced a new Sonic the Hedgehog series is in production at the streaming giant's studios, though details are still thin on the ground.
Happy anniversary, Sonic. I legit cannot believe you've made it this far, given your discography, but when I see how much joy you and your pals bring to generations of video game fans, I'm glad you did. Kudos.