I’m kind of surprised at myself for being drawn to this video of a real-life hedgehog lumbering cutely through a little handmade Green Hill Zone. But I guess I like hedgehogs.
I used to really like Sonic, too—he was the perfect avatar for the 16-bit 1990s, full of “attitude” and inherent absurdity, like all the cartoons I wasn’t yet allowed to watch on MTV, or Ecto Cooler. But Sonic fans are incredibly intense. Even though I have been a “controversial video games feminist” for years now, I am not kidding when I say that the most I have ever been assailed for an opinion was when I wrote this Guardian piece on how fragmented and surreal Sonic now felt as a brand, and how unusual its fandom was. Re-reading it now, I can’t imagine what’s so offensive about any of the assertions.
Sonic fans are weird. Still, if I got a pet hedgehog, it might be hard not to name it Sonic (the one shown here belongs to the San Diego Zoo and is apparently called Elvis).
