Sonic the Hedgehog once courted controversy with a brief interspecies romance. According to Sega, he isn’t likely to get another chance.
In 2006’s Sonic the Hedgehog, our spiky hero managed to speed his way into an interspecies romance with a human character. While pretty tame to be honest (it was kind of a Sleeping Beauty situation), it inspired all sorts of responses, ranging from outrage to unhealthy fascination.
However, according to a recent interview with senior Sega game designer Takashi Iizuka, Sonic the Hedgehog isn’t likely to get any more interspecies action any time soon. When asked about the incident, Iizuka stated: “I don’t think we’ll be doing that again“.
Video game characters often find themselves in somewhat compromising fanfiction, and it appears Sega isn’t keen on encouraging the creation of any more of this risqué material. Although, the truth is that no matter what they do, it’s unlikely to stop fans from creating the content that they want to see.
The upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog game, Sonic Frontiers, appears to be the most open world entry in the franchise. This could suggest that players will be given more freedom regarding their in game actions and behaviour.
That said, Sonic games aren’t really known for their deep narratives, choices, romance options, or even varied gameplay. Most fans just want the iconic mammal to get back to what he does best: fun, fast and rewarding platforming action.
Sonic the Hedgehog has been seeing a bit of a renaissance outside of video games lately, striking box office gold with his feature length films. So let’s hope he can keep up his momentum without getting too sexy.
Sonic Frontiers doesn’t currently have a release date more specific than 2022. When it does release it will be coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S. Xbox One and PC.
