10 Times Sonic Infiltrated Other Games
advertisement
VOICE OVER: Ty Richardson
WRITTEN BY: Ty Richardson
Sonic is a gaming icon who has made his fair share of cameos in other games. For this list, we're looking at instances where our speedy hedgehog has blasted his way into a vast selection of games from SEGA's other franchises and the company's business partners. Our list includes "NiGHTS Into Dreams" (1996), "Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg" (2003), the "Monster Hunter" series (2004-), "Minecraft" (2011), and more!
Script written by Ty Richardson
Sonic is a gaming icon who has made his fair share of cameos in other games. For this list, we're looking at instances where our speedy hedgehog has blasted his way into a vast selection of games from SEGA’s other franchises and the company’s business partners. Our list includes "NiGHTS Into Dreams" (1996), "Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg" (2003), the "Monster Hunter" series (2004-), "Minecraft" (2011), and more! Have you spotted the Blue Blur in these games? Let us know in the comments below!
Before “Brawl”, “Smash Bros.” was Nintendo’s flagship fighter that celebrated its own IP. While SEGA had begun putting some of their games onto consoles like the GameCube and Wii, it was still absurd to think about Sonic and Mario being in the same game let alone fighting to see who would come out on top. So, imagine the shock and awe on everyone’s faces when Sonic was announced as the second guest fighter to be featured in “Brawl”. Sonic making a featured appearance in a Nintendo game!? It broke everyone. Now, Sonic is kind of an expectation, having appeared in “Smash 4” and “Ultimate”. For younger players, Sonic is old hat, and his inclusion is normal. For us older folks, it still shocks us today.
Have you ever played “Billy Hatcher”? If not, you should. It’s a fun 3D platformer where you explore different worlds and use eggs to solve puzzles or defeat enemies. Upon hatching certain eggs, you can earn new items, hats, and animals to help you defeat the various baddies in each area. Of the seventy-two eggs to find and collect, eight of them house SEGA characters to aid Billy in his quest, and four of them hold Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and a Chao. To see these characters for yourself, you’ll need to collect a certain number of coins before hatching them. Good luck finding them all!
Back when “LittleBigPlanet” was, well, BIG, it seemed like almost everyone was giving Sackboy and friends a ton of new costume pieces. So, it wasn’t all that surprising to see Sonic and company make their way into the Sony platformer franchise. Releasing in 2010, players could now dress up Sackboy with costume parts based on Sonic himself, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman, and the Blue Blur in his Werehog form from 2008’s “Sonic Unleashed”. For a few bucks, it wasn’t too bad of a costume kit, but it would have been nice to see more “Sonic” stuff added in later down the road.
The “Monster Hunter” series has shown plenty of love for various Capcom properties, particularly “Mega Man” and “Street Fighter”. Shockingly enough, our speedy rodent was given the Hunter’s fist bump a couple of times. In “Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate”, an update added in a new outfit for Palico companions to dress up as Sonic himself. “Monster Hunter Rise”, on the other hand, Capcom threw in some more goodies. In addition to the Sonic suit for Palicos, Canynes were given an outfit inspired by Sonic’s buddy, Tails, and players could don their own Sonic-inspired outfit. Hunting monsters has never looked so cool!
Welcome to “Two Point Hospital”, the one hospital you can trust in setting you up with the most reliable doctors, treating and curing you of any and all illnesses, and hiring more mascots than we know what to do with. But just in case you needed a taste of coolness in your clinic, well, there’s a way to bring some more edge to medicine. For Sonic’s thirtieth birthday, “Two Point Hospital” gifted all players a hearty set of Sonic-themed items, including a selection of costumes for staff to dress as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, or Amy. Uh oh! Looks like you’re sick, and the only cure is to go way past cool! Now, shove this chili dog down your pie hole or your condition will worsen!
Much like “LittleBigPlanet”, it seems like everyone is getting a skin and mash-up world in “Minecraft”. Mario, Master Chief, even a selection of Disney franchises! So, it seemed like Sonic wasn’t in a rush to force his way into “Minecraft”. And yet, the wait was so worth it! Once again, Sonic’s thirtieth birthday was a blowout as “Minecraft” released a DLC pack containing loads of Sonic-themed skins in addition to a massive rendition of Green Hill Zone! And we gotta say the models look really solid considering how “Minecraft’s” blocky aesthetic contrasts to the smoothness of Sonic’s normal appearance.
This Sonic cameo is going to require a bit more than just collecting stuff and buying DLCs. To see this for yourself, you’ll need a copy of “NiGHTS into Dreams” on a working SEGA Saturn console. Simply uncover all of the Sonic tiles in the matchmaking game after each of the Christmas levels, and you’ll unlock a mode called “Sonic the Hedgehog into Dreams…” It isn’t something you’ll spend hours upon hours playing, but it's neat to see Sonic showing up in a lesser-known SEGA gem. At least there’s no annoying Alarm Egg to worry about here.
Look, we are well aware of what occurred during “Online 2’s” collaboration event back in September 2021. (Seriously, no one should be forking over a hundred bucks for simple cosmetics!) However, we don’t want to ignore some of the cooler stuff included in “Online 2” and “Blue Burst” because some of it was pretty sweet! As we mentioned earlier, “Online 2” hosted a massive celebration of the Blue Blur and offered up handfuls of rewards and items for players to unlock or purchase such as a Photon Glide of Tails’s propeller tails. For “Blue Burst”, players could join Sonic in a side mission. Not for any particular reason other than it was cool to have in the game. (Hey, we’ll take what we can get!)
It’s so nice to see “Super Monkey Ball” back in full swing, and it even went through the trouble of inviting Sonic fans in for the banana-fueled fun! Prior to launch, it was announced that Sonic would be an unlockable character in the HD remaster for “Banana Blitz”, being available after beating the eighth world in the campaign. He would return in “Banana Mania” as an unlockable character yet again, but with a softer condition - save up five thousand points to buy him from the shop! And if you’re wanting a break from the cerulean speedster, you can also unlock Tails.
“Lego Dimensions” was one of those games that basically shouldn’t exist, what with all of the many different IPs featured across the game. While most of the game was filled with a ton of Warner Brothers properties like “Batman” and “Lord of the Rings”, it also showed some love for video games like classic Midway games and “Portal”. Just in time for his twenty-fifth birthday, Sonic sped his way into “Lego Dimensions” coming with his car from the “Sega All-Stars” racing series and the Tornado. Of course, a brand new level was added to the game as well, and it was a level that would make any Sonic fan gush! With references to classic, obscure, and low points across the franchise’s history, this was an add-on that was too good to pass up!
Sonic is a gaming icon who has made his fair share of cameos in other games. For this list, we're looking at instances where our speedy hedgehog has blasted his way into a vast selection of games from SEGA’s other franchises and the company’s business partners. Our list includes "NiGHTS Into Dreams" (1996), "Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg" (2003), the "Monster Hunter" series (2004-), "Minecraft" (2011), and more! Have you spotted the Blue Blur in these games? Let us know in the comments below!
“Super Smash Bros. Brawl” (2008)
Before “Brawl”, “Smash Bros.” was Nintendo’s flagship fighter that celebrated its own IP. While SEGA had begun putting some of their games onto consoles like the GameCube and Wii, it was still absurd to think about Sonic and Mario being in the same game let alone fighting to see who would come out on top. So, imagine the shock and awe on everyone’s faces when Sonic was announced as the second guest fighter to be featured in “Brawl”. Sonic making a featured appearance in a Nintendo game!? It broke everyone. Now, Sonic is kind of an expectation, having appeared in “Smash 4” and “Ultimate”. For younger players, Sonic is old hat, and his inclusion is normal. For us older folks, it still shocks us today.
“Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg” (2003)
Have you ever played “Billy Hatcher”? If not, you should. It’s a fun 3D platformer where you explore different worlds and use eggs to solve puzzles or defeat enemies. Upon hatching certain eggs, you can earn new items, hats, and animals to help you defeat the various baddies in each area. Of the seventy-two eggs to find and collect, eight of them house SEGA characters to aid Billy in his quest, and four of them hold Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and a Chao. To see these characters for yourself, you’ll need to collect a certain number of coins before hatching them. Good luck finding them all!
“LittleBigPlanet” series (2007-14)
Back when “LittleBigPlanet” was, well, BIG, it seemed like almost everyone was giving Sackboy and friends a ton of new costume pieces. So, it wasn’t all that surprising to see Sonic and company make their way into the Sony platformer franchise. Releasing in 2010, players could now dress up Sackboy with costume parts based on Sonic himself, Tails, Knuckles, Eggman, and the Blue Blur in his Werehog form from 2008’s “Sonic Unleashed”. For a few bucks, it wasn’t too bad of a costume kit, but it would have been nice to see more “Sonic” stuff added in later down the road.
“Monster Hunter” series (2004-)
The “Monster Hunter” series has shown plenty of love for various Capcom properties, particularly “Mega Man” and “Street Fighter”. Shockingly enough, our speedy rodent was given the Hunter’s fist bump a couple of times. In “Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate”, an update added in a new outfit for Palico companions to dress up as Sonic himself. “Monster Hunter Rise”, on the other hand, Capcom threw in some more goodies. In addition to the Sonic suit for Palicos, Canynes were given an outfit inspired by Sonic’s buddy, Tails, and players could don their own Sonic-inspired outfit. Hunting monsters has never looked so cool!
“Two Point Hospital” (2018)
Welcome to “Two Point Hospital”, the one hospital you can trust in setting you up with the most reliable doctors, treating and curing you of any and all illnesses, and hiring more mascots than we know what to do with. But just in case you needed a taste of coolness in your clinic, well, there’s a way to bring some more edge to medicine. For Sonic’s thirtieth birthday, “Two Point Hospital” gifted all players a hearty set of Sonic-themed items, including a selection of costumes for staff to dress as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, or Amy. Uh oh! Looks like you’re sick, and the only cure is to go way past cool! Now, shove this chili dog down your pie hole or your condition will worsen!
“Minecraft” (2011)
Much like “LittleBigPlanet”, it seems like everyone is getting a skin and mash-up world in “Minecraft”. Mario, Master Chief, even a selection of Disney franchises! So, it seemed like Sonic wasn’t in a rush to force his way into “Minecraft”. And yet, the wait was so worth it! Once again, Sonic’s thirtieth birthday was a blowout as “Minecraft” released a DLC pack containing loads of Sonic-themed skins in addition to a massive rendition of Green Hill Zone! And we gotta say the models look really solid considering how “Minecraft’s” blocky aesthetic contrasts to the smoothness of Sonic’s normal appearance.
“NiGHTS into Dreams” (1996)
This Sonic cameo is going to require a bit more than just collecting stuff and buying DLCs. To see this for yourself, you’ll need a copy of “NiGHTS into Dreams” on a working SEGA Saturn console. Simply uncover all of the Sonic tiles in the matchmaking game after each of the Christmas levels, and you’ll unlock a mode called “Sonic the Hedgehog into Dreams…” It isn’t something you’ll spend hours upon hours playing, but it's neat to see Sonic showing up in a lesser-known SEGA gem. At least there’s no annoying Alarm Egg to worry about here.
“Phantasy Star” series (1987-)
Look, we are well aware of what occurred during “Online 2’s” collaboration event back in September 2021. (Seriously, no one should be forking over a hundred bucks for simple cosmetics!) However, we don’t want to ignore some of the cooler stuff included in “Online 2” and “Blue Burst” because some of it was pretty sweet! As we mentioned earlier, “Online 2” hosted a massive celebration of the Blue Blur and offered up handfuls of rewards and items for players to unlock or purchase such as a Photon Glide of Tails’s propeller tails. For “Blue Burst”, players could join Sonic in a side mission. Not for any particular reason other than it was cool to have in the game. (Hey, we’ll take what we can get!)
“Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz HD” (2019) & “Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania” (2021)
It’s so nice to see “Super Monkey Ball” back in full swing, and it even went through the trouble of inviting Sonic fans in for the banana-fueled fun! Prior to launch, it was announced that Sonic would be an unlockable character in the HD remaster for “Banana Blitz”, being available after beating the eighth world in the campaign. He would return in “Banana Mania” as an unlockable character yet again, but with a softer condition - save up five thousand points to buy him from the shop! And if you’re wanting a break from the cerulean speedster, you can also unlock Tails.
“Lego Dimensions” (2015)
“Lego Dimensions” was one of those games that basically shouldn’t exist, what with all of the many different IPs featured across the game. While most of the game was filled with a ton of Warner Brothers properties like “Batman” and “Lord of the Rings”, it also showed some love for video games like classic Midway games and “Portal”. Just in time for his twenty-fifth birthday, Sonic sped his way into “Lego Dimensions” coming with his car from the “Sega All-Stars” racing series and the Tornado. Of course, a brand new level was added to the game as well, and it was a level that would make any Sonic fan gush! With references to classic, obscure, and low points across the franchise’s history, this was an add-on that was too good to pass up!
