10 Secret Origins Behind Iconic Video Game Features
1. The Design For Sonic’s Shoes Was Inspired By The Cover Of Michael Jackson’s Bad
Inspiration for a game’s design comes from anywhere, even from places seemingly unrelated with the game in question or just video games in general. Case in point: Sonic’s shoes.
The inspiration for the design of Sonic’s shoes came to creator Naoto Oshima from a pop music’s album. He came across the cover of Michael Jackson’s Bad and thought the red-coloured word “Bad” looked great contrasted to the white background.
He said in an interview, “Well, he's blue because that's Sega's more-or-less official company colour. His shoes were inspired by the cover to Michael Jackson's Bad, which contrasted heavily between white and red -- that Santa Claus-type colour. I also thought that red went well for a character who can run really fast, when his legs are spinning.”