Sonic - Super Hedgehog

Sonic - Super Hedgehog

Number of seasons: 1
Number of episodes: 38
Original airdate: 1993-11-14 — 1994-08-28
Original channel(s): RTR
Country of origin: Russia

Sonic - Super Hedgehog (Соник - супер ёжик) was a Russian television show sponsored by Nissho Iwai and Mikrodin and produced by TPO Rost and P. Eurosharm Ltd. which featured popular Sega games for the Sega Mega Drive and Sega Master System. It aired on from November 14, 1993^[1] to August 28, 1994,^[2] on Russian TV station RTR (now known as Russia 1). Unconfirmed rumors says that it was later rebroadcast by Ukrainian channel UT-2.

History

Yevgeny Stychkin with cartoon Sonic

Second host

At the end of episode 24, Yevgeny mentioned Russian championships in Sega games. It is not known what it was but badge with that name exists

Each episode was 15 minutes long (except for 2 special episodes of 30 minutes each). In most of the episodes, three teams with two-person each, take part in the quiz. In the first round, the teams are asked a question. If the answer is correct, the team scores one point. There are 10 seconds to answer. The team that finished third is eliminated from the game and receives a consolation prize. In the second round, the teams play on Sega game consoles. The team that finished second is eliminated from the game. As part of the program, they receive a consolation prize and the winning team receives main prize^[3]. Prizes varied depending on the broadcast period, but most included items such as consoles, posters, T-shirts and watches, all by Sega. In every episode, there are advertisements promoting Sega consoles, with a slogan Volshebnyy mir. The main host was Yevgeny Stychkin, although judging by the clips, some of the episodes had other presenter as well. An unusual feature of the program was a cartoon Sonic who appeared on the screen and accompanied the presenter. His role was limited to gesturing and facial expressions depending on the situation, and sometimes speaking short words.

Former participants said that only Moscow residents were invited to the program. Agents/representatives of the program came to school and after school invited everyone to play on Sega consoles. The best ones were selected to participate in the program or invited as viewers. At the beginning, participants only played on Master System (it was the only available Sega console in Russia at the time) and from Spring 1994 also on Mega Drive (it was released in the country that time).

Most episodes have their own theme and are focused on one game. From the available clips we can find that they played, among others Michael Jackson's Moonwalker (Master System), Golden Axe Warrior (Master System; named by host as Zolotaya Sekira), Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Master System), Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Master System), Cyber Shinobi (Master System), Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (Mega Drive), Rambo III (Mega Drive), Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System), Aladdin (Mega Drive), Streets of Rage (Mega Drive), Castle of Illusion (Master System) Herzog Zwei (Mega Drive), Empire of Steel (Mega Drive), Altered Beast (Master System; named by host as Oboroten), Alien Storm (Master System), Ghostbusters and many more.

At the end of episode 24, it is announced that on May 2, 1994, there will be a special episode of the music program Ne pristavay ko mne on the 4th channel (RTR — Rossiyskiye universitety). From the clips, it can be concluded that several Russian musicians, composers and music group leaders were supposed to play on the Mega Drive.

The show is often compared to another popular gaming program called Dendy Novaya real'nost' sponsored by Steepler, but both series were broadcast in different periods.

List of episodes

Episode	Name	Date	Airtime	Description
1x01	Episode 1	1993-11-14	10:00
1x02	Episode 2	1993-11-21	10:55
1x03	Episode 3	1993-11-28	10:00
1x04	Episode 4	1993-12-05	10:05
1x05	Episode 5	1993-12-12	09:55
1x06	Episode 6	1993-12-19	10:05
1x07	Episode 7	1993-12-26	10:00
1x08	Episode 8	1994-01-02	09:50
1x09	Episode 9	1994-01-09	09:55
1x10	Episode 10	1994-01-16	09:55
1x11	Episode 11	1994-01-23	09:55
1x12	Episode 12	1994-01-30
1x13	Episode 13	1994-02-06	10:00
1x14	Episode 14	1994-02-13	10:00
1x15	Episode 15	1994-02-20	10:00
1x16	Episode 16	1994-02-27	09:55
1x17	Episode 17	1994-03-06	10:00
1x18	Episode 18	1994-03-13	10:00
1x19	Episode 19	1994-03-20	10:00
1x20	Episode 20	1994-03-27	10:00
1x21	Episode 21	1994-04-03	10:00
1x22	Episode 22	1994-04-10	09:00
1x23	Episode 23	1994-04-17	09:00
1x24	Episode 24^[4]	1994-04-24	09:00	Sega Master System presentation (time-1:42) Alex Kidd in Miracle World (Master System) (time-1:56) Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Master System) (time-2:33) Land of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse (Master System) (time-3:30) Sega Mega Drive presentation (time-6:25) Ghostbusters (Mega Drive) (time-6:55) F1 (Mega Drive) (time-7:30) Bonanza Bros (Mega Drive) (time-8:10)
1x25	Episode 25^[5]	1994-05-22	08:55	Aladdin (Mega Drive) Sega World (time-12:07)
1x26	Episode 26	1994-05-29	09:00
1x27	Episode 27	1994-06-05	08:25
1x28	Episode 28	1994-06-12	09:05
1x29	Episode 29	1994-06-19	08:50
1x30	Episode 30	1994-06-26	08:55
1x31	Episode 31	1994-07-03	08:45
1x32	Episode 32	1994-07-10	09:00
1x33	Episode 33	1994-07-24	09:00
1x34	Episode 34	1994-07-31	09:05
1x35	Episode 35	1994-08-07	08:50
1x36	Episode 36	1994-08-14	08:55
1x37	Episode 37	1994-08-21	08:40
1x38	Episode 38	1994-08-28	09:30