The following article sheds a bit of light onto the business side of the Sonic brand. It doesn't discuss any game content, it purely points out the progression of Sonic and the challenges SEGA have faced in regards to rivals consoles and of course, you cant forget, the awful Dreamcast!
In the year 1991, Sonic the Hedgehog began his run as a cultural icon of the Videogame industry. His first appearance was in a self-named videogame "Sonic the Hedgehog" for the Sega Genesis (or Mega Drive as it is also known as) during the 4th generation of videogame consoles. Nonetheless, Sonic was reverted back to the Sega Master System on occassion (the older, 3rd generation 8-bit console) for sales.
Sonic's main goal was to build Sega a reputable rival to Nintedo's Mario, and get a series of videogames to directly compete in the ever-growing platform industry. Still, Sonic and his friends have branched out into multiple genres, such as Role Playing, Action, and Adventure under the anthropomorphic hedgehog's well known name.
As the first game became both a critical and commercial success, Sonic the Hedgehog 2, was released both on the Genesis and Master System like its predecessor. Both the 8-bit and 16-bit versions were well celebrated, prompting a Sonic the Hedgehog 3, which (saddening to many 3rd generation lovers) dropped the Master System version. This game also introduced Knuckles, a new rival for Sonic who would eventually co-star in the next sequel. The fourth installment, which is a direct sequel to the 3rd "Sonic game", is Sonic and Knuckles, which follows either title character in a Sonic-esque adventure against Robotnik.
Super Mario 64, leading the 3D platform market-share of the Videogame Industry during the upcoming 32-Bit Era (or 5th generation) and Sony's new Crash Bandicoot required direct competition in the form of Sonic X-treme. Unfortunately, time constraints and corporate issues within Sega lead to the project's cancellation in 1996. To fill the gap, Sega released a good amount of revised Sonic works to retain disappointed fans.
Sony's Playstation was on the rise, Nintendo was following in hot trail, and Microsoft was entering the market. So what does Sega do? Release a brand new, state of the art, ahead of its time console in the form of the Dreamcast! The Dreamcast opened to commercial success within North America, with a wide variety of 3rd party games and in home Sonic titles, but shriveled in fear as the new Playstation 2 hit the knockout blow to Sega's momentum.
Since then, Sega has focused on creating Sonic games and other titles from a strictly-software perspective. It has done deals with Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft's consoles, which has lead the Sonic series, and Sega, to recent prosperity.
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