"Happy Birthday, Sonic the Hedgehog?" (an article from Sonic Retro about the US release date of the original Sonic game)
"Happy Birthday, Sonic the Hedgehog?" (an article from Sonic Retro about the US release date of the original Sonic game)
During the holiday season of 1991, the Sega Genesis was already two years old. Jumpstarting the 16-bit era, its sales still paled in comparison to the Nintendo Entertainment System, and with the Super Nintendo finally coming out in the United States, it might have been a safe bet to think Nintendo w...
The short version: while Sonic 1's official release date was June 23rd, 1991, several Usenet posts around that time make it clear stores in various parts of the US were stocking it up to two weeks beforehand. (There's also some discussion of pre-release coverage of the game, if you're curious.)
It's an interesting look at an era of gaming where synchronized, nationwide release dates in America weren't really a thing. (As the article notes, it took quite a bit of planning to get the sequel out on "Sonic 2-sday" across the country, and even then didn't immediately become the standard.)