Thread Description: In this series of posts I will be highlighting an older game (64 bit era and before) that is highly revered, and looking at why it sold the way it did. In the original post there will be a couple of polls, one which asks what was the most important factor in determining the games total sales, and a second question asking why it is that game is still remembered and talked about today.  I'm calling these "…of the Day" threads, but even if it is not the same day feel free to continue to comment in the thread. With the thread description out the way here is today's Retro Game Sales Analysis of the Day...

Game of the Day

Thread for 9/20-9/21 article will be posted 9/22.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Description: Sonic the Hedgehog was released for the Sega Genesis system 1991 and went on to sell 4.34 million copies.  Sonic was Sega's response to Mario, and one that was very well received.  The game and mascot gained near instant popularity and was one of the main reasons the Genesis was able to be competitive with the Super Nintendo. So why is it that Sonic the Hedgehod sold so well, and why is it still so fondly remembered by gamers? Vote in the polls, then leave a comment and let us know what you think.

Update: Follow up article posted so polls have been taken down.  Thanks to everyone who participated in this thread!

Previous Retro Sales threads

Final Fantasy VII (9/15)

Super Mario Bros. (9/14)

I'm planning on writing up an article for this thread tomorrow, but to do that, I need a lot more votes, and at least some comments.  Please help 

Well, for the first poll i voted for cultural phenomenom due to how immensly popular he was (and still is for that matter) and what he meant to "Most" Sega fans in general. (Oh, then theres the clothes, toys, cartoons ect ect.)

For the second poll i chose being a high quality game, because despite the fact that Sonics games lately have not been exactly top notch.......... No one can question the quality of Sonic 1,2,3 & Knuckles.

Sonic was part of Sega's effort to make Nintendo systems look like they appeal to a younger audience (see "kiddy", a term still thrown around to this day). He was marketed heavily as the cool guy for older gamers.

So I say good marketing led to Sonic's success.

ph4nt, I think that is a good point, Sonic definitely was given a personality to make him seem like the cool alternative to Mario, which I think was big part in the game's success.

Sonic is an average game at best, but the marketing job done by Sega for the game was incredible. The graphics on the first level are excellent and that definitely helped. Sega really pushed some correct buttons in marketing (look, he goes so fast, wow awesome!) that created the impression among children that this was the "cool" game to have.

I was under the impression that sonic was a 10m + seller. I must have seriously gotten my facts mixed up.

Orca, I was surprised too when I looked up the sales of the game in the database, but then I also found an article published in 2007 where Sega was talking about the sales history of Sonic, and it also confirmed the 4 million number. Sonic 2 did quite a bit better though, with well over 6 million sold.

Outside of Grand Theft Auto, Gran Turismo, and Nintendo games, not much else crosses that mark.

35 10 million sellers.

25 are Nintendo

2 are Blizzard

3 are GTA

3 are Gran Turismo

1 is Halo

1 is Sims.

I thought 4.3 mil was kind of low as well, but you have to remember, the Genesis didn't really take off in sales until after Sonic 1's release.

Sonic came out in August '91, nearly 2 years after the Genesis launched. Sega started packing Sonic in during the '91 holiday season to counter the release of Nintendo's Super Mario World SNES bundle. And by the next holiday season, Sonic 2 hit stores and it was also packed in with the Genesis, and it basically remained that way for at least 2 years if I remember correctly, which is why Sonic 2 was the best selling of all the Sonic games and the best selling Genesis game overall.

If you were to include all the re-releases and SEGA compilations that include Sonic 1, then it would probably have nearly doubled the sales of its original release by now.