Sonic The Hedgehog Completes 15 Years Of Joining Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of Nintendo’s most beloved franchises. Brawl revolutionized Nintendo’s fan service-laden, crossover fighting series with two significant extensions; third-party characters on the roster.

If you were online at the time Nintendo first unveiled the fighters, Snake at E3 2006 and Sonic in October 2007, you may recall that the two simultaneously smashed the internet. Today marks 15 years of Sonic the Hedgehog‘s debut on Nintendo and looking back at how everyone freaked out brings back a lot of nostalgia.

You may recall the Smash Dojo, which all of us ardent fans who were beyond ourselves with anticipation would frequently check for Brawl teases and reveals. Masahiro Sakurai, the creator of the Smash video game franchise, would introduce new characters at the Smash Dojo on an arbitrary Wednesday afternoon with no fanfare.

Below are the screenshots of Sonic’s introduction to Super Smash Dojo back on October 10, 2007.

Sonic’s 55-second-long trailer was also uploaded following the news.

However, Snake and Sonic deserved their own unique reveals. And on October 10, 2007, the internet reacted enthusiastically when the Brawl team was set to debut Sonic, revealing a trailer during a Nintendo event behind closed doors from which Japanese fans live-broadcast information to forum users.

Even major news organizations like IGN couldn’t help but editorialize their reporting on  Sonic’s debut in a Nintendo game, which marked the first occasion when he could legitimately fight against Mario.

“It’s the announcement we’ve all been waiting for, and now that it’s here we can hardly believe we’re actually seeing it: Sonic has arrived,” states the preface to IGN’s article about Sonic’s debut on Brawl.

It’s actually incredibly lovely to look back on the responses when fans learned about Sonic, a much-desired character. Check out how happy-go-lucky NeoGAF users were after Sonic was disclosed:

Even crazier reactions with overwhelming feelings are below, take a look.

At the same Nintendo event, another announcement was made that was said to have tarnished the announcement of Sonic’s debut: the game would be postponed until January 31, 2008. The popular YTMND joke illustrates how diametrically opposed the two announcements were to one another. 

There have been petitions in the past calling for Sonic to return to Nintendo.

Fans were unsure if he would be returning in the upcoming game in the series for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. He more than deserved to return, and many of his admirers joined in to say as much and showed their support for the world’s fastest hedgehog to appear in the game.

On October 2, 2013, Nintendo announced: Sonic The Hedgehog will be available in all versions of the upcoming Super Smash Bros game for the Wii U and 3DS. It was confirmed that Sonic would appear in the game, along with Windy Hill from Sonic Lost World.

Sonic has since reappeared as a fighter in Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Compared to when he was initially unveiled, not everyone is as enthusiastic about Sonic’s inclusion in Brawl nowadays.

On the game’s tier list, the character had a low position, and he had little to do with the prominent Subspace Emissary campaign. But regardless of how long it lasted, it’s pleasant to reflect on those shining moments of surprise and exhilaration.