List of Sonic the Hedgehog Video Game References

The following list documents all *Sonic the Hedgehog* video game series references found within the Sonic the Hedgehog Cinematic Universe, as well as references and trivia from related media.

## Characters

### Introduced in *Sonic the Hedgehog*

* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Echidna Tribe
	+ Pachacamac
* Doctor Eggman
* Miles "Tails" Prower

### Introduced in *Sonic the Hedgehog 2*

* Knuckles the Echidna
* Shadow the Hedgehog

## Creatures

* Hedgehogs
* Foxes
* Echidnas

## Locations

* The design of Sonic's Island is based on *Green Hill Zone* from *Sonic the Hedgehog*.
* Later sections of *Sonic the Hedgehog* take place in San Francisco, the location that *City Escape* was based on in *Sonic Adventure 2*.
* Mushroom Planet, the location of Ivo Robotnik in the *Sonic the Hedgehog* pre-credit scene, is based on *Mushroom Hill Zone*, the first zone in *Sonic and Knuckles*, and the seventh zone in *Sonic 3 & Knuckles*.

## Items

### General Items

* Rings
* Master Emerald
	+ Chaos Emeralds
* Chili dogs

### Character's Equipment

* Giant Eggman Robot
* Miles Electric

## Vehicles

* Egg-Pod
* Egg-Mobile
* *Tornado*

## Music

* The theme of Green Hill Zone, a recurring location in the series, can be heard several times throughout *Sonic the Hedgehog*.
* *Sonic the Hedgehog'*s opening theme is "Friends" by Hyper Potions, which was originally composed for *Sonic Mania*.
* Emerald Hill Zone was orchestrally rethemed in the reveal trailer for *Sonic the Hedgehog 2*. It was also used in the first official trailer for aforementioned film.

## General

### *Sonic the Hedgehog*

* In the now-deleted first trailer for *Sonic the Hedgehog*, a header reads "EVERY HERO... HAS A GENESIS", a reference to the Sega Genesis.
* The rings on the Paramount Pictures logo at the beginning of *Sonic the Hedgehog*, as well as the sound effect used when Sonic loses his rings, are directly lifted from the series.
* During Sonic's life on his island, he is seen rolling through an area identical in layout to Green Hill Zone Act 2 from *Sonic Generations*.
* During Sonic's opening monologue in *Sonic the Hedgehog*, he compares Longclaw to Obi-Wan Kenobi, a character from *Star Wars*.
* The function of rings as portals is a common element within the main series, although they typically warp to other dimensions, rather than other areas of the same universe.
* Crazy Carl at one point holds a picture of Sanic, a fan-made meme of the Sonic the Hedgehog character.
* Ivo Robotnik refers to his robots as "Badniks" at many points, which is the same name they are given in the main series.
* While leaving the *Piston Pit*, Sonic uses his render pose from *Sonic Lost World* to vault into a car.
* During a car chase scene, Sonic performs a drop dash, a maneuver first seen in *Sonic Mania*.
* Sonic says "guess I had a bonus life" following a near-death explosion, a reference to extra lives in Sonic games.
* Sonic performs "The Floss" at several points, a dance popularized by *Fortnite*.
* At one point, Sonic performs his idle animation from *Sonic the Hedgehog 3*.
* During a chase scene, Sonic uses his render pose from *Super Smash Bros. Ultimate* to dodge a laser. Later in the same scene, he performs a slide maneuver, which is common within the series.
* As Sonic flees from Doctor Eggman, a street sign has the name "Mega Drive", referencing the Sega Mega Drive, the console's name outside of North America, where it is called the Sega Genesis.
* Sonic's race car bed introduced in this film is a prominent object in the Archie Comics *Sonic the Hedgehog* series.

### *Sonic the Hedgehog 2*

* On a rock which is part of his Rube Goldberg mushroom-based mechanism, the Eggman Empire logo is drawn.
* Sonic the Hedgehog witnessing a police chase and leaping off the building afterwards is similar to Sonic's opening in *Sonic Adventure*.
* At the beginning of the film where Dr. Robotnik is seen playing chess, he rolls the letter R in his line ''sharpened against the only competitor savvy enough to bring it'' is likely a nod to his Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series counterpart notable for rolling the R's in his lines. and later when he says ''lets renovate this dump!'' in the scene where he reunites with Agent Stone.
* When left alone in the Wachowski Residence, Sonic messes around driving a skateboard, which alludes to the skateboard of the same colors that Sonic rides in *Sonic Adventure*'s artwork.
	+ The design of the skateboard is similar to the snowboard used in *Sonic Generations*.
* Tails wears a backpack similar to the one Tails wore in the *Sonic the Hedgehog* television series episode, "Drood Henge".
* When Sonic tells Ozzie to not watch *Snow Dogs* again, as it is "the worst", he sings it like Ben Schwartz's character Jean-Ralphio Saperstein did in *Parks and Recreation*, where he said "she's the worst" to describe his sister.
	+ In the *OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes* special "Let's Meet Sonic", Sonic also sings "he's the worst" to describe Doctor Eggman.
* When Knuckles bursts through a truck, the truck belongs to a company named "Splash Hills", a reference to Splash Hill Zone.
* Stone identifies Knuckles as a "space porcupine". Knuckles was also called a porcupine in the *Sonic Adventure* song "Unknown from M.E.".
* When a dance battle ensues in a Siberian restaurant, Sonic performs the famous pose on the cover of *Sonic Adventure*.
* According to Tyson Hesse, the tiles seen in the Siberian temple are meant to be Babylonian, a specific species from the video game series.
* During Knuckles' flashback sequence showing his tripe, deep in the backround one can briefly see a temple what appears to be the Shrine of Knuckles' race from Sonic Adventure.
* Sonic demolishes a Flying Egg to create a snowboard, somewhat similar to how Sonic teared the wing off a Sigma-Alpha 2 helicopter in *Sonic Adventure 2*.
* Sonic snowboarding off a steep snowy mountain is a reference to many IceCap Zone levels that incorporate this feature, originally spawning from *Sonic the Hedgehog 3*.
* Tom Wachowski's ringtone is the classic Green Hill Zone theme.
* One of G.U.N.'s helicopters has "SA-2" written on it. This is in reference to the abbreviation of *Sonic Adventure 2* (G.U.N.'s debut game), as well as the group Sigma-Alpha 2, who were the ones who captured Sonic and took him in their helicopter.
* Like in the original film, Sonic says "Gotta go fast" when preparing to run.
* Ivo Robotnik wanting to electrocute Knuckles in attempt of betrayal references the events of *Sonic & Knuckles*.
* Knuckles rapidly punching a dodging Sonic is in similar fashion to *Sonic X* episode "Cracking Knuckles".
* Trying to save Knuckles from drowning, Sonic sucks up an air bubble beforehand, as frequently done in video games when you'd run out of breath.
	+ During that scene, the soundtrack "You Don't Have to Be Alone Anymore" plays, where a rendition of the classic drowning theme is played.
* When Stone scrolls through different outfits Ivo Robotnik might wear, he comes across the design for 'Classic Robotnik', as used in the classic era, first used in *Sonic the Hedgehog*.
* The instruction manual that Stone reads for the Giant Eggman Robot is designed after the English manual for the *Sonic the Hedgehog 2* video game.
* The Giant Eggman Robot's 'Stache Smasher attack is a possible reference to the *'Stache Smash* video game Eggman made in the *Sonic Boom* episode "Eggman: The Video Game Part 1".
* Sonic jokingly asks if he is going to build a robot wife and house for his Giant Eggman Robot. But Ivo Robotnik has created robot wives twice in *Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog* ("Sonic the Matchmaker" and "Sonic is Running").
* Sonic returning a missile back to the Giant Eggman Robot by riding on it may reference the OVA *Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie*, where Sonic similarly redirects a missile towards Metal Robotnik.
* Knuckles throwing Sonic in his ball form at a Badnik may be a reference to 'Fire Dunk', a move from *Sonic Heroes*. He performs a move similar to the 'Screwdriver' move from 2006's *Sonic the Hedgehog*.
* Super Sonic catching the Giant Eggman Robot's fist with one hand is a possible reference to Super Sonic catching the E-99 Eggsterminator's fist with one hand in the *Sonic X* episode, "Countdown to Chaos".
* As Super Sonic simply tips over the Giant Eggman Robot in order to make it plummet, he may do it the same way Sonic did in a 2006 *Sonic the Hedgehog* cutscene to an Egg Gunner.
* Knuckles also uses his fist to launch the ball in *Sonic X* episode "Unfair Ball".
	+ The title "Unfair Ball" may be referenced as Tails called what Knuckles did unfair.
* When an agent reports an issue to Sam Walters, she mentions that the Guardian Units of Nations found a 50-year-old file having coordinates to Project Shadow's facility. In the video game series, Project Shadow was also conducted over 50 years ago before the events of *Sonic Adventure 2*.