Video games trivia | 100 did you know facts about famous series (part 7)

Video games have become a part of pop culture. With many titles gaining worldwide recognition and a rapid fanbase.

So let’s dive into some trivia and facts about famous video game series.

1. Sonic the Hedgehog is a video game series and media franchise
2. It is created and owned by Sega
3. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist
4. The main Sonic the Hedgehog games are platformers mostly developed by Sonic Team
5. Other games, developed by various studios, include spin-offs in the racing, fighting, party and sports genres
6. The franchise also incorporates printed media, animations, a 2020 feature film, and merchandise
7. The first Sonic game, released in 1991 for the Sega Genesis
8. It was developed after Sega requested a mascot character to compete with Nintendo’s mascot Mario
9. Its success helped Sega become one of the leading video game companies during the 16-bit era of the early 1990s
10. Sega Technical Institute developed the next three Sonic games in addition to Sonic Spinball (1993)
11. After a hiatus during the unsuccessful Saturn era, the first major 3D Sonic game, Sonic Adventure, was released in 1998 for the Dreamcast
12. Sega exited the console market and shifted to third-party development in 2001
13. Continuing the series on Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation systems
14. While Sonic games often have unique game mechanics and stories, they feature recurring elements such as the ring-based health system, locations, and speedy gameplay
15. Games typically feature Sonic setting out to stop Eggman’s schemes for world domination, and the player navigates levels that include springs, slopes, bottomless pits, and vertical loops
16. While Sonic and Eggman were the only characters introduced in the first game
17. The series would go on to have a large cast of characters
18. Some, such as Miles “Tails” Prower, Knuckles the Echidna, and Shadow the Hedgehog, have starred in spin-offs
19. The franchise has been represented in crossovers such as Sega All-Stars and Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series
20. The franchise branched out into other media in the early 1990s
21. DIC Entertainment produced three Sonic-based animated series between 1993 and 1999
22. While Studio Pierrot released a two-part original video animation, localized in North America as Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie, in 1996
23. Other Sonic animations include TMS Entertainment’s Sonic X (2003–2006) and Genao Productions’ Sonic Boom (2014–2017)
24. Archie Comics, Fleetway Publications, and IDW Publishing have published Sonic comic books
25. With the Archie series being the longest-running comic based on a video game
26. The 2020 Sonic film, distributed by Paramount Pictures, grossed over $300 million worldwide
27. It is the highest-grossing film based on a video game in US box office history
28. A sequel is set for release in 2022
29. Sonic the Hedgehog is Sega’s flagship franchise and one of the bestselling video game franchises
30. Grossing over $5 billion by 2014
31. Selling 140 million by 201
32. Series sales and free-to-play mobile game downloads totaled 920 million by 2019
33. The Genesis Sonic games have been described as representative of the culture of the 1990s and listed among the greatest of all time
34. Although later games have been criticized for a perceived decline in quality compared to earlier installments
35. Sonic is influential in the video game industry and is frequently referenced in popular culture
36. The franchise is known for its passionate fandom that produces unofficial media, such as fan art and fangames
37. Super Smash Bros. is a series of crossover fighting video games published by Nintendo
38. It primarily features characters from various Nintendo franchises
39. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai
40. He has directed every game in the series
41. The gameplay objective differs from that of traditional fighters in that the aim is to knock opponents off the stage instead of depleting life bars
42. The original Super Smash Bros. was released in 1999 for the Nintendo 64
43. The series achieved even greater success with the release of Super Smash Bros. Melee
44. It was released in 2001 for the GameCube
45. It became the bestselling game on that system
46. A third installment, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, was released in 2008 for the Wii
47. Although HAL Laboratory had been the developer of the first two games, the third game was developed through the collaboration of several companies
48. The fourth installment, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
49. It was released in 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, respectively
50. The 3DS installment was the first for a handheld platform
51. A fifth installment, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, was released in 2018 for the Nintendo Switch
52. The series features many characters from Nintendo’s most popular franchises
53. Including Super Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Star Fox, Kirby, Yoshi, and Pokémon
54. The original Super Smash Bros. had only 12 playable characters
55. The roster count rising for each successive game
56. It later included third-party characters
57. Ultimate containing every character playable in the previous games
58. In Melee and Brawl, some characters are able to transform into different forms that have different styles of play and sets of moves
59. Every game in the series has been well received by critics
60. With much praise given to their multiplayer features, spawning a large competitive community that has been featured in several gaming tournaments
61. Tekken is a Japanese media franchise
62. It is centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games
63. It is developed and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment
64. The franchise also includes film and print adaptations
65. The main games in the series follow the events of the King of Iron Fist Tournament, hosted by the Mishima Zaibatsu
66. Players control a plethora of characters to win the tournament and gain control of the company
67. The conflict between the Mishima family serves as the main focus of the series’ plot
68. While players explore other characters’ motivations in aiming to control the Zaibatsu
69. Gameplay focuses on hand-to-hand combat with an opponent, with the gameplay system including blocks, throws, escapes, and ground fighting
70. The series later introduced combos and special moves, with characters also able to stage break arenas
71. Tekken is noted as being one of the first fighting games at the time to use 3D animation
72. Japanese video game developer Namco began the series in 1994, with the release of the self-titled first entry
73. As of 2017, it has nine additional entries, eight spin-off games
74. It has been adapted into three feature films and other media
75. Tekken 2, as well as the third game Tekken 3, are considered landmark titles
76. They received critical acclaim for their gameplay and more immersive experience
77. Subsequent titles have followed this concept, and received generally positive critical responses
78. The series has been universally acclaimed and commercially successful
79. Having shipped more than 49 million units
80. Making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time
81. It is the third best-selling fighting game franchise in history
82. The main series has been widely credited by critics and video game publications for raising the standards of fighting games, praising it for its gameplay mechanics and replay value
83. Tom Clancy’s is a branding used by video game company Ubisoft for video games
84. Some of which feature the works of American author Tom Clancy
85. While a majority of the games are unrelated to Clancy’s work
86. The various sub-series are unrelated to each other
87. Although most are shooters in modern or near-future military settings
88. Tom Clancy’s The Division is an online-only action role-playing video game
89. It is developed by Massive Entertainment
90. It is published in 2016 by Ubisoft, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
91. It is set in a near future New York City in the aftermath of a viral pandemic
92. The player, a Special Agent of the Strategic Homeland Division, is tasked with helping the group rebuild its operations in Manhattan, investigate the nature of the outbreak, and combat criminal activity in its wake
93. The Division is structured with elements of role-playing games, as well as cooperative and player versus player online multiplayer
94. This game also marks the debut of Massive and Ubisoft’s Snowdrop game engine
95. Reviews for The Division were generally positive, with praise towards the combat, visuals, and soundtrack
96. Itt faced criticism for its lack of content at launch, bullet-sponge enemies, story, and technical bugs
97. The game was a commercial success
98. Ubisoft stated that the game broke the company’s record for highest number of first-day sales
99. Furthermore, one week after the game’s release, Ubisoft stated that The Division was the company’s best-selling game, and the industry’s biggest first-week launch for a new game franchise, which generated an estimated amount of $330 million globally
100. A sequel, Tom Clancy’s The Division 2, was released on March 15, 2019

Video games trivia | 100 did you know facts about famous series (part 8)