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The 35th anniversary of the [[Sonic the Hedgehog series|Sonic the Hedgehog series]], also known as Forever Fast, is a year-long celebration held throughout 2026 to commemorate 35 years since the release of the original [[Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)|Sonic the Hedgehog]] in 1991. The campaign spans the wider franchise, with anniversary activities encompassing video games, comics, animation and other media, music, merchandise, concerts, exhibitions, collaborations, promotional events and community-focused activities.

Early indications of the anniversary appeared in March 2025, when marketing material for the Sonic the Hedgehog 35th Anniversary 2026 Wall Calendar with 4 Bonus Notecards surfaced ahead of its planned August 2025 release.[cite_web title="Amazon.com: Sonic the Hedgehog 35th Anniversary 2026 Wall Calendar with 4 Bonus Notecards: 9781419784392: Sega: Books" url="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1419784390?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_ZD8EGT82N3AGPQNPMMER&~~amp;~~ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_ZD8EGT82N3AGPQNPMMER&~~amp;~~social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_ZD8EGT82N3AGPQNPMMER&~~amp;~~bestFormat=true" work="Amazon" access-date="9 June 2025"]

Early indications of the anniversary appeared in March 2025, when marketing material for the Sonic the Hedgehog 35th Anniversary 2026 Wall Calendar with 4 Bonus Notecards surfaced ahead of its planned August 2025 release.[cite_web title="Amazon.com: Sonic the Hedgehog 35th Anniversary 2026 Wall Calendar with 4 Bonus Notecards: 9781419784392: Sega: Books" url="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1419784390?ref=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_ZD8EGT82N3AGPQNPMMER&ref_=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_ZD8EGT82N3AGPQNPMMER&social_share=cm_sw_r_ffobk_cp_ud_dp_ZD8EGT82N3AGPQNPMMER&bestFormat=true" work="Amazon" access-date="9 June 2025"]

[[Sega|SEGA]] formally began the anniversary campaign on 15 January 2026, launching a dedicated anniversary website and releasing a commemorative trailer looking back across the history of the series.[cite_web title="Sonic 35th Anniversary" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJJZ6Cq9tqg" work="YouTube" author="Sonic the Hedgehog" date="15 January 2026"] The celebrations were planned to continue throughout the year, with initiatives focused on bringing fans together through new and existing games, digital projects, community gatherings, retail and brand partnerships, limited-edition products, exhibitions, live performances and other anniversary experiences.

[[Takashi Iizuka]] described the anniversary's various projects as sharing a common theme of allowing people to have fun together and experience games with their friends. By August 2026, Iizuka stated that further surprises for the 35th anniversary were still to come, while additional games, collaborations, merchandise and events continued to be announced as the campaign progressed through the latter half of the year.

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Celebration content</h2>

<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Sonic games</h3>

<li>[yadawiki link="Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds"]

<li>A series of downloadable and free collaboration packs were released or announced during the anniversary period, including:

<li>NiGHTS into Dreams Pack</li>

<li>Super Monkey Ball Pack</li>

<li> Tangle &~~amp;~~ Whisper Pack</li>

<li> Tangle & Whisper Pack</li>

<li> Angry Birds Pack</li>

<li> Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Pack</li>

<li> Avatar Legends Pack</li>

<li> Godzilla Pack</li>

<li> Evangelion Pack</li>

<li> Classic Sonic Pack</li>

<li> Crazy Taxi Pack</li>

<li> Samba de Amigo Pack</li>

<li> SEGA Rhythm Games Pack</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li> Exclusive decals were distributed in celebration of the anniversary.</li>

<li> The Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds World Championship 2026 was organized as part of the anniversary celebrations. Online qualifiers were held through the game's Legends Competition, with the top 24 registered racers advancing to the World Championship Finals in New York City on October 9, 2026. The finals were incorporated into the Club Chaos anniversary event in Brooklyn.</li>

<li> A 1st Anniversary Event was planned for the game's own first anniversary.</li>

<li> A second Hatsune Miku Festival was also held as part of the game's continuing post-launch content.</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Sonic Blitz"]</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Sonic Chaos"] and [yadawiki link="Sonic Drift"] were included as playable games in Yakuza Kiwami 3 and Dark Ties, with multiplayer support added to both titles for their appearance in the game.</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Arcade1Up"] produced a Sonic the Hedgehog home arcade machine for the anniversary, containing ''[yadawiki link="Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)" show="Sonic the Hedgehog"]'', ''[yadawiki link="Sonic the Hedgehog 2"]'', ''[yadawiki link="Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine"]'' and ''[yadawiki link="Sonic 3D Blast"]''.</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Sonic Speed Simulator"]

<li> Classic Super Sonic Event</li>

<li>Burning Blaze Event</li>

<li> Pixel World Event</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Sonic Dash"]

<li> Sonic's 35th Anniversary &~~amp;~~ McLaren Racing: Miami Event</li>

<li> Sonic's 35th Anniversary & McLaren Racing: Miami Event</li>

<li> Ice Cream Event</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Sonic Forces: Speed Battle"]

<li> Idol Sonic was introduced on June 18, 2026 as part of the anniversary celebrations. The music-themed character uses the abilities Final Chorus, Amp It Up and Light Show.</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Sonic Rumble Party"]

<li> The Sonic 35th Anniversary Event ran from June 10 through July 8, 2026. Its Event Pass included birthday-themed rewards such as the Birthday Balloons effect, a 35th Anniversary icon and stickers, while its Premium Pass offered Classic Sonic and a Lock-On Cartridge Buddy. King Sonic, King Shadow and Birthday Eggman were also made available through the Red Star Ring Shop during the event.</li>

<li> A Sonic Symphony Commemorative Event later added Symphony outfits for Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles, special missions and a Conductor Chao Buddy, alongside the return of NiGHTS and Reala content.</li>

<li> A Sticks the Badger Tournament was also held during the anniversary period.</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li>Phantasy Star Online 2 New Genesis hosted Sonic Super Festa 2026, beginning June 17. The collaboration included anniversary quests, login bonuses, Sonic decorations and statues in Central City, and themed Scratch Ticket content.</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="SONIC PICO PARK"] was announced as a new cooperative action puzzle game developed by TECOPARK with Sonic Team collaboration and published by PICO PARK Inc. The game supports two to eight players and incorporates Sonic mechanics such as Spin Dashes, Rings, loops, springs and speed-focused movement. It was identified as part of the 35th anniversary period, and was later confirmed to support online and cross-platform multiplayer.</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Sonic X Shadow Generations"] was added to the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium catalogs during the anniversary period, becoming available in the United States, United Kingdom and Japan on June 10, 2026, followed by other regions on June 16.</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Jersey Jack Pinball"] produced an officially licensed Sonic the Hedgehog Pinball machine in Collector's Edition, Special Edition and Arcade Edition configurations. Starting at US$9,999, the machine includes seven Zones, boss battles, Chaos Emeralds, music from the series and more than 5,000 voice callouts.</li>

<li>Asphalt Legends brought back its Sonic collaboration for the anniversary, returning vehicle decals based on Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Doctor Eggman, Shadow and Chao while introducing a new Amy Rose decal.</li>

<li>The [yadawiki link="Epic Games X Sonic the Hedgehog"] collaboration continued with Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 4: Override. An accompanying collaboration comic revealed Sonic, Shadow and Knuckles entering the Fortnite setting and opposing Doctor Eggman and Geno.</li>

<li>The Sonic the Hedgehog 35th Anniversary Sale was held on Steam through June 25, offering discounts ranging from 50% to 90% across a selection of Sonic titles.</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Sonic Frontiers" show="Sonic Frontiers - Definitive Edition"]

<li> Following Sonic Frontiers reaching five million copies sold worldwide, Sonic's SOAP Shoes from ''[yadawiki link="Sonic Adventure 2"]'' were made available free to all ''Sonic Frontiers'' players.</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li>[yadawiki link="Sonic Forces: Rival Rush"] was announced during the anniversary period.</li>

<li>A new motion-controlled version of [yadawiki link="Sonic Forces"] was announced for Nex Playground. Designed around the system's active-play motion controls, the project was introduced during Sonic's 35th Anniversary Birthday Livestream and was planned for release through Play Pass later in 2026.</li>

<li>The Sonic the Hedgehog 35th Anniversary Project introduced a series of physical game collections and legacy cartridge releases:

<li> Sonic Classic Collection, a physical Nintendo Switch compilation containing ''[yadawiki link="Sonic Origins"]'', ''[yadawiki link="Sonic Mania"]'' and ''[yadawiki link="Sonic Superstars"]'', was scheduled for October 2026.</li>

<li> ''Sonic Modern Collection'', also for Nintendo Switch, contains ''[yadawiki link="Sonic Frontiers"]'', ''[yadawiki link="Sonic Colors: Ultimate"]'' and ''[yadawiki link="Sonic Forces"]''.</li>

<li> Both collections were priced at US$49.99 and include reversible 35th Anniversary coversheets and anniversary logo patches.</li>

<li> iam8bit's Sonic the Hedgehog 1 &~~amp;~~ 2 (35th Anniversary) - Legacy Cartridge Collection introduced newly manufactured, playable [yadawiki link="Sega Mega Drive"] cartridges of [yadawiki link="Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)" show="Sonic the Hedgehog"] and [yadawiki link="Sonic the Hedgehog 2"], sold separately. Shipping was divided into three waves, beginning in Q3 2026, followed by Q4 2026 and Q1 2027.</li>

<li> iam8bit's Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2 (35th Anniversary) - Legacy Cartridge Collection introduced newly manufactured, playable [yadawiki link="Sega Mega Drive"] cartridges of [yadawiki link="Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)" show="Sonic the Hedgehog"] and [yadawiki link="Sonic the Hedgehog 2"], sold separately. Shipping was divided into three waves, beginning in Q3 2026, followed by Q4 2026 and Q1 2027.</li>

</ul>

</li>

<li>The PlayStation Store received a dedicated Sonic the Hedgehog 35th Anniversary section highlighting games associated with the celebration.</li>

<li>On July 17, INFOLENS GEEK SHOP released an officially licensed miniature arcade game player containing [yadawiki link="Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)" show="Sonic the Hedgehog"], [yadawiki link="Sonic the Hedgehog 2"], [yadawiki link="Sonic Spinball"] and [yadawiki link="Sonic 3D Blast"].</li>

</ul>

<h2 class="wp-block-heading">References</h2>

[reflist]