“Besides Nintendo, there really aren’t that many character-type games in Japan,” says Sega’s Shun Nakamura. Sonic is one of the remaining few Japanese characters that isn’t from Nintendo.

Moto Bug is the first enemy you ever encounter in Sonic. Is the series’ Goomba, in other words, and there’s one in Sonic Mania named after a member of the Sonic hacking community who died a few years back.

Maybe you forgot that Atlus, the creators of Persona, are now owned by Sega, the makers of Sonic. Well, the internet got a terrible reminder of this fact yesterday, and it’s hilarious.

Today on Highlight Reel we have existentially depressing Sonic clips, gun tricks, Battlegrounds depression, and much more!

Sonic Mania is a celebration, a digitized block party of blistering speeds and bright worlds. Sega’s decision to hand their famous mascot over to fan creators and artists has paid massive dividends, creating a game that is not just a welcome return to form but a raucous, delightful experience.

The PC version of Sonic Mania has been pushed back from August 15 to August 29. Announced during a live stream this morning, the PC version apparently requires further optimization. Steam preorder customers will get a copy of the original Sonic the Hedgehog as compensation.

What better way to get fans ready for some newfangled old-school 2D Sonic the Hedgehog action than some newfangled old-school 2D animation?

If you love the tiny critter-raising side game that’s been showing up in Sonic the Hedgehog games on and off since Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast, you’re in for a treat. Sonic fan game maker Nefault1st just released Chao Resort Island, and it’s all about raising and racing those adorable little scamps.

Did you hear? Sonic the Hedgehog got picked up by comic book publisher IDW. That means it’s only a matter of time until the furry blue runner’s first really weird crossover.

Ahead of Splatoon 2's release this week, Nintendo hosted a Splatfest event this weekend where players competed on either Team Ice Cream or Team Cake to decide which was best and collect in-game rewards. Team Ice Cream finished with more points, but the real winner was this rad sonic meme.

Just in time to kick off Sonic the Hedgehog’s 26th year, the folks at Overclocked Remix release Speeding Towards Adventure, a free 23-track album celebrating a quarter of a century that went by in a blue blur.

Sonic Forces is more than just a Deviant original character creation kit, it is also a genuine Sonic game with loops and platforms. I played three stages from the game and found it fun and fast but also a bit clumsy.

Between a catalog of killer games on the Genesis and the Archie Comic series, Sonic the Hedgehog was a fixture of my childhood. At the height of Sonic mania, there was a handful of cartoon shows. My favorite was based on the comics and is now affectionately called Sonic SatAM. But is it as good as I remember?

It is important, in 2017, to stay skeptical of any and all Sonic the Hedgehog video games. But Sonic Forces, which will be out later this year, looks promising for people who miss old-school speeding from the coolest hot-dog-devouring hedgehog on the planet.

Sonic the Hedgehog made his debut in Lego Dimensions last week with a level pack that sends Sega’s hero through several generations in a quest to find the Chaos Emeralds. We played through a bunch of it on Facebook yesterday. Want to see?

Sonic Utopia is a fan-made game being made by a small team who want to“expand on Sonic gameplay in an intuitive way in 3D”, while at the same time “capture the best of Sonic’s style and tie it together in a cohesive experience”.

Sonic is supposed to be fast. In fact, as an otherwise nebulous, frequently-rebooted character, that’s really all that can be said about... unless you grew up in Europe, where that was never the case to begin with.

In our latest Photoshop contest I asked for images of Sonic and Mario characters at the real Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Our contestants either ignored that request completely, or went way dark. This was not entirely unexpected.