5. Sonic the Hedgehog (1991, Genesis)

1991’s Sonic the Hedgehog on the Sega Genesis is the OG, the big daddy, the classic, the Cadillac of ‘90s video game mascots. Through his debut on the Genesis, Sonic became his own celestial body around which gamers have orbited the last—as of this year—30 years. If I wipe away a bit of my teary-eyed nostalgia, I can see that of the original Sonic games, the first is the least remarkable. It’s still great, but it is the weakest of the original four games on the Genesis. It wasn’t too difficult (except for maybe figuring out the endless water slide puzzle in Labyrinth Zone Act 3). If players did want an extra challenge, they could always seek out the Chaos Emeralds to get the “good” ending. My memories of the special zones consisted of my cousin and I worming haphazardly through the mazes before hitting one of the premature exits—Chaos Emerald undiscovered. Fun fact, there are only six Chaos Emeralds in Sonic 1, and the seventh would get added with Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Which begs the question of what that seventh Emerald was doing throughout the first Sonic, and who had it? (My money’s on Knuckles.)