Rivalries are the backbone of many things, including the birth of many aspects of the video game industry. After the near collapse of the industry in 1983, Nintendo brought things back to life through the NES and games headlined by Mario. SEGA eventually emerged and used their mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog, to compete with them, and the first true “console war” was born. Nintendo would eventually win that war by a landslide, and all these years later, SEGA still wants their blue blur to beat the plumber.
Oh, and we’re not just making that up! In an interview on the SEGA website, the company’s executive director Osamu Ohashi had this to say about Sonic the Hedgehog’s future:
“Simply put, I want to surpass Mario. Sonic is a game that was originally developed to compete with Mario, and it still hasn’t achieved that goal. Our goal is to catch up and surpass Mario because we respect Mario. I want people to play it all over the world, including Japan, like Mario, and I want the movie to be a bigger hit than Mario. I would like USJ to create a ‘Sonic Area’ as well. That’s our goal for those of us who love Sonic.”
While it’s nice to have goals, one might wonder if they’re deluding themselves a bit. Yes, Sonic did initially beat Mario in the movie space and the animated space, but Mario easily overtook him with his newest movie that grossed a billion dollars. Plus, the gaming gap between them is vast, especially after the two companies released games within days of one another…and only Super Mario Bros Wonder was labeled a “Game of the Year Contender.” But if they wish to keep pushing this goal? By all means.
