Though this created a hurdle for the team, Christian Senn, co-lead designer on Sonic X-treme, saw far more problems with development than Naka's objection to them using his engine. Here's how Sonic took a wrong turn and how Sega hopes to get its Blue Blur back on course. It's impossible to pinpoint one fall guy or a circumstance that stood apart as a cataclysmic event for the franchise it was instead a confluence of events that led to Sonic's departure from the video game elite. Over the course of the discussions, several factors and potential tripping points arose. We spoke with several prominent people from Sonic's past to determine exactly what happened. Inconsistent quality and brand mismanagement have caused Sonic to go from a video game character that was as recognizable (if not more) as Mario to a character that is known more for his appearances in other media. Since the blue hedgehog's initial release 25 years ago, Sega's mascot has fallen from grace. It really got us noticed and helped us to go and build a strong base as Super NES was coming out." It was the first product that became a 'must-have' product and the product that drove Genesis hardware sales. "Sonic really helped demonstrate what the power of 16-bit was versus an 8-bit system," Nilsen says. The popularity of the Sonic the Hedgehog brand aided Sega in rising up to face Nintendo. At one point, Sonic was on a trajectory to be more recognizable than Mickey Mouse, according to former director of marketing at Sega Al Nilsen, who cites the mascot's Q-Rating at its peak. Sonic was so popular that Sega's mascot – not Mario – became the first video game character to receive a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Sonic quickly rose to threaten Nintendo's mustachioed plumber as the face of the video game industry. That all changed when Sonic the Hedgehog launched on the Sega Genesis. With the flourishing NES dominating the console market, it seemed as though no legitimate challenger could emerge to take on Nintendo's juggernaut. In the late 1980s, Mario ruled the platforming genre.
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