Long before Sonic had his own RPG with 2008’s Sonic Chronicles, he was already making cameos in various other titles in the genre. The Blue Blur has been seen in such series as Phantasy Star and Shining Force. You can catch Sonic’s cameo exploits after the jump.
One of Sonic’s earliest RPG references was in Phantasy Star IV. While visiting Saya’s Grammar School, you can find a book titled Run, Hedgehog, Run!
Phantasy Star IV would not be Sonic’s last foray in the franchise. Sonic Team would bring back the Blue Blur in both Phantasy Star Online and Phantasy Star Universe. When visiting the game lobby on June 23, it will be decorated in celebration of Sonic’s birthday. He even makes an appearance to celebrate his birth.
Crusader of the Centy is an action RPG featuring a young boy with the ability to talk to animals. At one point, the main character will speak to noneother than a blue hedgehog lounging on the beach. You can catch the cameo at 18:25-18:31.
Upon waiting three minutes after defeating Shining Force II, the option to continue will appear. This will bring you to a secret final battle with many of the game’s major bosses. When viewing the battle map, you will see that it’s in the shape of Sonic. You can see the zoomed out map at 00:20-00:23.
Popful Mail features an adorable elfish bounty hunter as she ventures to stop an evil wizard. The Sega CD version features an animated opening where the protagonist looks over a bulletin board. Upon closer inspection, you will see Sonic’s image in the top right hand corner of the board. Keep your eyes peeled on the video above from 06:20-06:29.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=314ALWYV35Y
Sonic has several cameos in the self-referential Segagaga. One of the most humorous is Alex Kidd sharing how he was usurped by the diva-like hedgehog, resulting in Kidd becoming a retail clerk. You can catch all of Sonic’s Segagaga cameos in the video above.
Sonic’s cameo retrospective is far from over. He has also been spotted in platformers, horror games, sports games, and even on competitor consoles! Stay tuned for more of Sonic’s cameos.
Stan, awesome work. I never knew about any of these and I’m a pretty big RPG buff. I’ve never played Crusader of Centy before but after going through it to find the Sonic clip it’s definitely piqued my interest. Looks like a active, fun game.
But honestly, this feature is a favorite of mine. It really celebrates and illustrates the great history SEGA has and it’s fun to see all the self-referential winks and nods SEGA does to itself. And all this stuff started well before Sonic’s time too, with games like Alex Kidd: High-Tech World all about a boy wanting to get to the arcade to play OutRun (and before that time you get to play a Fantasy Zone record, take a multiple choice test on Space Harrier and find a wall in the attic that says “SEGA RULES”). Indeed they do, and you do too for doing this. Keep it up!
Thank you, Grolt! I had no idea that Alex Kidd: High Tech World had such an awesome premise. I will have to play it someday.