Nifty Characteristics of Sonic Video Games- By: Damian Cross

Description : Sonic the Hedgehog is a series of video games that where created by Sega Corporation. The series stars and is named after one of its mascot characters – Sonic the Hedgehog. The first time the game was ever released was in 1991, when the game was available on the Sega Mega Drive or Genesis. This release was then followed by an addition of the 8 bit version, so that the game could be played on the Master System as well as Game Gear formats. During the 16 bit era, Sonic the Hedgehog was the game that brought Sega into the world as one the leading video game companies. As of present records, the game has sold more than a 50 million copies since the time of conception.

The team responsible for the creation of Sonic games was called the Sonic Team, made up of reputed professionals such as Yuji Naka, a renowned programmer, Naoto Oshima, a renowned designer and Hirokazu Yasuhara, a renowned game planner. There are a few common features in the different versions of Sonic the Hedgehog, exclusive to Sonic games. Some of these common features are as follows:

Rings: There is a collectible range of golden rings that you will find in the different levels. Players with at least one golden ring can sustain injuries inflicted by an enemy or threatening object. The player will not die but lose all his rings and any hits after that will lead Sonic to die unless he collects another golden ring or many rings before the next hit.

Chaos emeralds: There are seven chaos emeralds in most of the versions of Sonic the Hedgehog though some versions offer only six while others offer eight. These provide magical powers such as giving energy to living things, creating nuclear and laser weapons etc.

Master Emerald: This one serves as a plot element that resides in a tomb on Angel Island and guarded by powerful protectors. Defeating the protectors and taking over emerald proves to be very useful for Sonic as he can own mystic powers unknown to him otherwise.

Special Stages: Chaos emeralds are won in special stages, which have surreal backgrounds. The special stages vary with the different versions that Sonic the Hedgehog is available in!

Super Transformation: With the help of this power, the player can assume incredible power and defeat most enemies.

These are only a few of the special features that Sonic games have to offer as part of the playing experience. Many more exists, which you can find while playing on your own. They include item boxes, warp rings, checkpoints, goals, springs, animals and more. When Sonic games first became available, these special features where included in the game along side a very high difficulty level. This has change over the years, since Sega became aware that players where loosing enthusiasm for the game. Today, high levels of difficulty are limited to certain passages, and the character is no longer transported to the start of the game in the event that he gets caught by one of his enemies.

Article Source : http://www.look4articles.com/

Author Resource : Find Sonic the Hedgehog activities, scene creators, hints, and flash Sonic games at http://www.blueblurzone.com