Blue, spiky and in a hurry since 1991. Let's see if your memory keeps up with the hedgehog.
10 questions on Sonic, his friends, Dr. Eggman and more than thirty years of games, cartoons and films.
Pick your level
The normal quiz sticks to what anyone who has played a Sonic game, or watched the films, will know: the rings, the emeralds, the friends and the egg-shaped villain.
Hard mode goes back to the Genesis years and the studio behind them: who made what, the zones of the early games, the console wars and the projects Sega never released.
Sonic the Hedgehog launched in 1991 on the Sega Genesis, known as the Mega Drive outside North America. Sega wanted a mascot that felt faster and cooler than Mario, and its ads made the rivalry explicit.
Since then Sonic has jumped to 3D on the Dreamcast, turned up on Nintendo and Sony consoles, starred in several cartoons and, from 2020, in a series of live-action films.
All ten easy level questions, with the answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Blue
Blue, the same shade as Sega's logo. He turns gold as Super Sonic.
Correct answer: Rings
Gold rings. A hundred of them earns an extra life in the classic games.
Correct answer: An echidna
An echidna, a spiny mammal from Australia and New Guinea. Rouge is the bat.
Correct answer: Building robots
Building robots, often powered by trapped animals, which Sonic sets free.
Correct answer: Sega
Sega, through its Sonic Team studio.
Correct answer: The seven Chaos Emeralds
The seven Chaos Emeralds. A mushroom would make him Super Mario instead.
Correct answer: Fox
A fox with two tails, which he spins to fly.
Correct answer: Swim
Swim. He sinks like a stone, which makes the water levels so tense.
Correct answer: Curls into a ball and spins
He curls into a spinning ball, so his spines do the damage.
Correct answer: Jim Carrey
Jim Carrey. Jack Black plays Bowser in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Want to warm up before playing or double-check something? Open any question to reveal the correct answer and a short explanation.
Correct answer: Chili dogs
Chili dogs, a running gag of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog and the Saturday morning series. The games later picked up the joke.
Correct answer: "Gotta go fast"
"Gotta go fast", from the English opening of the Sonic X anime. "Way past cool" belongs to the 1993 cartoons.
Correct answer: Ben Schwartz
Ben Schwartz, since the 2020 film. Roger Craig Smith has voiced Sonic in the games since 2010, and Jaleel White did the 1990s cartoons.
Correct answer: Idris Elba
Idris Elba. Keanu Reeves joined as Shadow in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in 2024.
Correct answer: Red and white
Red with a white strap. Designer Naoto Ohshima said they mixed the boots on Michael Jackson's Bad album cover with Santa Claus's colours.
Correct answer: A countdown starts and he drowns
A countdown appears, with music that still haunts players, and Sonic drowns unless he finds an air bubble.
Correct answer: Amy Rose
Amy Rose, who debuted in Sonic CD in 1993 and later picked up her famous Piko Piko Hammer.
Correct answer: Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, in 2007, built around the Beijing 2008 Games. Sonic joined Smash Bros. a few months later.
Correct answer: Sonic Mania
Sonic Mania, led by Christian Whitehead, a developer who started out in the fan community.
Correct answer: Robotnik
Robotnik, the name Western players knew until Sonic Adventure (1999 in the West). Eggman is the nickname Japan had used all along.
Stuck on one, or just curious how nasty it gets? Every hard mode question is here with its answer and the reasoning behind it.
Correct answer: Yuji Naka
Yuji Naka, with Naoto Ohshima on character design and Hirokazu Yasuhara on level design.
Correct answer: "Genesis does what Nintendon't"
"Genesis does what Nintendon't". "Play it loud" and "Now you're playing with power" were Nintendo's own slogans.
Correct answer: Lock-on technology to plug in other cartridges
Lock-on technology. Plugging Sonic 3 on top gave the full Sonic 3 & Knuckles; plugging Sonic 2 let you play it as Knuckles.
Correct answer: Chemical Plant Zone
Chemical Plant Zone, where the pink Mega Mack rises in act 2. Its music is one of the most remixed in the series.
Correct answer: The Death Egg
The Death Egg, which crash-lands on Angel Island, where Sonic 3 begins. The ARK and Eclipse Cannon belong to Sonic Adventure 2.
Correct answer: His frog, Froggy
His frog, Froggy, who has swallowed a Chaos Emerald and Chaos's tail. Big's fishing stages are still debated by fans.
Correct answer: Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
Sonic the Hedgehog, released in 2006 for the series' 15th anniversary and now remembered as one of its weakest entries.
Correct answer: Sonic Frontiers
Sonic Frontiers, in 2022. Its open zones broke with the series' linear levels.
Correct answer: Shadow
Shadow, created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, Eggman's grandfather. Silver and Mephiles arrived in the 2006 game, Infinite in Sonic Forces.
Correct answer: Dreamcast
The Dreamcast, in 1998 in Japan and 1999 in the West. The Saturn's 3D platformer, Sonic X-treme, was cancelled; Sonic R, a racing game, came out instead.