Sonic the Hedgehog has been a popular title for decades. This speedy blue hedgehog is so popular in fact, that he appears in several other video game franchises. While some of these games are fellow SEGA titles, many are not. Impressively, Sonic manages to make his way into Playstation and Nintendo titles as well. He also appears in many popular television shows, comics, and movies.
Sonic's cameos have been showing up since the early 1990s, making it difficult to recall every single instance. This list of 10 Sonic cameos may help to toggle your memory!
10 NBA 2K
Basketball and Sonic don't seem like a likely pair, so this cameo is a little off the wall. However, there may be a plethora of gamers who enjoy a little b-ball after dashing through rings. If the latter is true, those gamers may remember the time that Dreamcast featured a Sonic Easter egg in NBA 2K.
Published by SEGA Sports, this game allows players to use a Sonic logo for their team and features the blue blur's photo on the ball court. This less-than-subtle cameo is one of Sonic's earliest game-hops.
9 Yoshi's Woolly World
The wonderful world of Amiibos allows Yoshi fans to give their favorite Nintendo dinosaur an interesting makeover. Well, the knitted version of him, at least. In 2015, Nintendo represented Sonic in Yoshi's Woolly World by featuring a sonic-themed Yoshi. How adorable! Does this Sonic-Yoshi also come with super-speed?
While the Yoshi doesn't necessarily transform into Sonic himself, it is color-coded to match our fun blue hero. This "Sonic the Hedgehog Yoshi" even comes with Sonic's signature running shoes. This feature is only accessible by using the Sonic Amiibo.
8 Spyro: Year of the Dragon
While Spyro, Playstation's purple mascot, may live in an entirely different realm than Sonic, that doesn't mean they haven't crossed paths. In Spyro: Year of the Dragon, Moneybags, an unethical bear, in all of his awfulness refers to a "blue hedgehog" when you decline one of his greedy offers.
He says, quote, "You shouldn't anger a magician, Spyro. I just might decide to turn you into a blue hedgehog or something." This threat may not be the worst option. With Sonic's powers, Spyro could zoom right on by Moneybags and his capitalistic scams.
7 The Simpsons Game
Leave it to The Simpsons to include a cameo appearance or two. In this platforming video game, Sonic appears as a former celebrity. He makes comments about how things used to be, basically insinuating that he's no longer a popular character.
If only the developers knew that Sonic would have his own movie in 2020, staying relevant over a decade later, maybe they would have given the franchise a little more credit. It doesn't look like Sonic is going away any time soon. Ah well, not every Simpsons' prediction can come true.
6 WaveRunner
Sonic appears in many retro arcade games, and WaveRunner is no exception. WaveRunner is a jet skiing arcade game that allows players to race each other on jet skis.
Sonic's face appears as a neon green hedgehog on the back of the jet skier's shirt. This symbol appears below the words "SONIC" written in bright yellow, just like the real-life logo is typically written. Jet skis run pretty fast. One could even say that these water cycles go at a supersonic speed. SEGA was pretty clever to use this the little cameo to promote their speedy blue mascot.
5 Mario Kart 8
Similar to the Yoshi's Woolley World cameo, Mario Kart 8 features a Sonic-themed costume for Mii characters, but only via his Amiibo. While this isn't the exact same as getting to play as Sonic himself, it's a cool easter egg for fans of both Mario and Sonic.
While it's certainly not as cool as when Mario Kart 8 featured Link as a racer, or when Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled had an entire Spyro-themed tournament, it's still certainly worth mentioning. That being said, there's always hope for potential Sonic installation in Mario Kart 9.
4 Gran Turismo 6
Gran Turismo is a well-known racing franchise. Just like most other racing platforms, this game includes billboards with advertisements. In Gran Turismo 6, the two Modern Fuji tracks include billboards that have none other than a Sonic the Hedgehog logo on them.
This isn't incredibly obvious. In fact, it's rather discrete. Billboards are usually large and rectangular, but in this case, the Sonic logo appears as a thin banner across the top of the track. It can be seen on the far left of the banner.
3 The Incredible Hulk
Yes, that is correct. Sonic makes an appearance in the 2008 game adaption of Marvel's The Incredible Hulk. Just like the Gran Turismo 6 cameo, Sonic shows up on billboards throughout the game.
In this case, rather than seeing a logo, players actually see Sonic posing using multiple different poses. It's almost as if he's a casual fashion model for the newest running-shoe brand. Sonic the athletic superstar? Now that's just sounding a little too much like his Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games persona. Maybe this was a sneak peek into the future.
2 SEGA Bass Fishing
One of the most unique and interesting cameos on this list lies within SEGA Bass Fishing. It may seem more likely that Sonic would appear as a playable character. One might even get wild and think that this game includes a type of Sonic-themed fish.
Nope, guess again! Even weirder, Sonic appears as an unlockable fishing lure. Yep, that's correct. Fish that find blue hedgehogs appetizing? No thanks. There must be some really scary bass out there in SEGA's world of anglers.
1 Goat Simulator
Yet another vague-but-obvious reference to Sonic, "The Blue Streak" is a character in the Goat Simulator game. This strange addition is a goat that turns blue and charges quickly, acting like a goofy looking quadruped version of Sonic himself. Bear in mind that this isn't exactly the most logical game out there.
While there's no proof that the developers are alluding to Sonic, it's no coincidence. This lovely goat is either Sonic from another life, or it's just a really big fan of caffeine and the color blue.