9 Famous Video Games That Are Actually Responses To Other Famous Video Games

7. Sonic Was Conceptualised As An Edgier Mario

The early 90s were the silver age of gaming mascots. The success of lovable, easily identifiable heroes like Mario served to sell consoles from the late 80s onwards, becoming synonymous with entire brands rather than a single franchise, and just about every company wanted to create their own flagship character.

Of course, because this is the world of video games, it often didn't mean coming up with something original that could stand on its own, but a symbol which could simultaneously take the spotlight away from another mascot instead.

This is where SEGA comes in, as their push of Sonic the Hedgehog was an attempt to directly challenge Nintendo's dominance, giving players a cooler, "edgier" character to get behind. They'd tried previously, but the closest the publisher had come to beating their rivals was Alex Kidd, and if you're asking yourself "Who?!", then you know just how hard SEGA failed.

The company funnelled so many resources into researching the perfect mascot, painstakingly going back and forth on various human and animal designs, who his villains and sidekicks should be, and the abilities that would allow him to stand out. He even had Michael Jackson's shoes from the Bad video, just to be more "down with the kids".

Of course, this all paid off in the end, and while he might not have dethroned Mario (certainly not when it comes to the quality of games), Sonic became one of the most beloved fictional characters of all time.