Sonic the Hedgehog turns 23!

In 1991, Terminator 2: Judgment Day was the biggest movie of the year, George Bush (the first one) was the president of the United States, Michael Jordan won his first of six NBA championships, and a little blue hedgehog named Sonic was born!

Sonic the Hedgehog hit Genesis home consoles in 1991 with a fast-paced side-scroller that put Sega on the map. In a world dominated by Nintendo and Mario, Sonic brought some much-needed attitude to video games. Months after its release, Sonic the Hedgehog was one of the best-selling video games of all time, and Sonic became an instant icon.

In the years to follow, Sonic would go on to star in over thirty video games, racking up almost 100 million units in sales. He would make the move from Sega Genesis to Sega Dreamcast, and still stars in video games today on platforms like Nintendo 3DS and iPhone.

The good folks at Prima Games have a couple of features that celebrate Sonic the Hedgehog's history, including his best video games, and the best moments from those games.

Happy birthday, Sonic!