Sega Wants Sonic To "Surpass Mario"

Sonicwas always intended to beMario’srival, the Pepsi to his Coca-Cola. Yet, despite being famously fast, the Blue Blur never caught up to the Italian plumber, forever remaining in his now-literally-Elephant-sized shadow. That doesn’t mean Sega has given up on its aspirations, though.

However, unlike Pepsi and Coca-Cola, Sonic is not better than Mario.

“Simply put, I want to surpass Mario,” Sega executive Osamu Ohasi said in an internal interview (translated byNoisyPixeland reported byEurogamer). “Sonic was originally developed to compete with Mario, and we have yet to achieve that. Because we respect Mario, my goal is to catch up to and surpass him.”

That age-old rivalry was put back into motion only last month whenSonic Superstars, the newest 2D platformer in the series, launched only three days beforeSuper Mario Bros. Wonder, also the newest 2D platformer in the series. As you probably guessed (sorry, Sonic fans), Wonder garnered far better scores than Superstars. It gota 92 on Metacritic, whilethe Blue Blur got a halfway-decent 73. Even WarioWare: Move It! got a higher score with 75. Maybe that’s a more realistic competitor, eh Sonic?

Sonic has faired better in the movies than Mario, at least. Its first two films earned a 63 and 69 percent aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes respectively, beating The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s 59 percent, but both were outgrossed by Mario, which had the biggest opening weekend for a video game movie of all time while making a total of over $1 billion. This is why you need Shadow with a handgun - he makes everything better.

But it’s not just Sonic that Sega is hinging its bets on. It’s also digging into its extensive library of games to try and find another IP capable of reaching the same heights as our favourite hedgehog.

The second business department is in charge of the Sonic series. In addition to Sonic, the division is trying to create a “second Sonic” by rebooting other popular IPs from Sega’s past.

I can see it now, Mobo Bonanza, an icon rivaling that of Nintendo’s most beloved mascots. His Lego Minifigure-like stature becoming an instantly recognisable silhouette, kids across the globe wearing his rectangle sunglasses, getting ready to fight clowns or whatever the hell he did. Okay, maybe not Bonanza.

How about Ulala from Space Channel 5? A no-nonsense intergalactic reporter. Probably not. Eh, just throw Majima into a movie and let him go wild. I’m sure he and Kiryu can take on Mario. Just drag the poor sod to a rooftop and it’s game over.