Sonic the Hedgehog (1991 video game)

Sonic the Hedgehog is a 1991 platform video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis, in which the player guides a blue hedgehog capable of extremely high speed through a series of side scrolling levels, collecting rings for protection and racing to stop the scientist Dr. Robotnik from seizing the six Chaos Emeralds. Designed around fast, momentum based movement and simple one button jumping and attacking controls, the game was created in large part to give Sega a fast, attitude driven mascot character to compete directly with Nintendo's Mario. Bundled with Sega Genesis consoles from late 1991, it sold more than fifteen million copies and briefly broke Nintendo's hold on the North American console market, a shift widely credited with intensifying the console war between the two companies through the rest of the decade.