The History of Slot Machines in the Sonic the Hedgehog Franchise
Tuesday, 23rd June 2020, 5:01pm (UTC), 0 Comments


Slot machines have been a part of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise for longer than most fans will realize. Players are typically encouraged to interact with these video slot games to help them unlock additional in-game rewards, or run the risk of losing gold rings. Since their first appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, video slots have becoming a recurring feature, although the slots have been given a revamp in line with the differing themes of each Sonic release.

The first image that slot machines conjure up in the heads of most is the packed casino floors of Las Vegas. According to Vegas Betting, there are 40,000 slots on the Las Vegas Strip. Although the Sonic slot games found in the Sonic franchise don't offer the same mega wins and progressive jackpots that you find in "Sin City", they are certainly a great starting point for those new to the slot concept - and all you're risking is some in-game gold rings too!

From Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to Sonic Forces



The very first appearance of a slot machine in the Sonic franchise was in the second instalment. Within the Casino Night Zone, players could take part in a slot game within the pinball tables of the Zone. The key was to land two jackpot symbols with either a Sonic, Tails or Bar symbol in the remaining reel. This would earn you up to 120 gold rings and a 2x win multiplier. The launch of Sonic & Knuckles also included a slot game within the game's Bonus Stage. The game was in the shape of a + sign, with the reels embedded within it. It was another three-reel slot, with only a single payline to play with and hunt out more jackpot spins and a chance to win up to 120 gold rings. 1998's Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut was designed with a "Casinopolis" feature, which had the slot machines based within it. SEGA opted to try and gamify the slots in this release by fusing slot and pinball gameplay in the 777 Slots Pinball game.

Fast forward to 2011 and the Sonic franchise was still enchanted by slot gaming. In the Sonic Generations game, released on PC as well as games consoles to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise, the slot machine is located within the Casino Night section of the game. In homage to Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the reels were designed to look almost identical, with similar gold detailing around the edges.

A year later, the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed karting release, akin to the world-renowned Super Mario Kart, also nodded to the franchise's history with slots. Video slot terminals were displayed on-screen during the loading of every race. Players with a minimum of five All-Star coins could spin the reels. In the event that all three reels landed a matching symbol, players would be rewarded with a new item to use at the start of the race, or indeed at the beginning of each lap. If the reels didn't match first time, players could spin once more before the race, providing they had enough gold coins in reserve.

The most recent example of slot machine gameplay in the Sonic franchise was found in 2017's Sonic Forces game. The reels are only accessible in the Casino Forest feature. Again, the reels are designed to act as part of the pinball game. Just like in the first appearance of video slots in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, the slot is only activated once the playable character is inserted within the parallel bars on the slot.

Yuji Naka, the former head of Sonic Team and lead programmer of the original Sonic the Hedgehog game, admitted that the nod to Las Vegas and slots was due to the team's own experiences during their trip to America, which they dubbed "Entertainment Research".
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