Sonic movie Easter eggs: every cameo and reference to the games

Whether you’ve followed him from, well, his Genesis or have only gotten up to speed on the blue blur’s history more recently, there’s bound to be something for you in our round-up of Sonic movie Easter eggs. The Paramount picture is a love letter to all things Sonic, after all, featuring references to his 16-bit days all the way up to modern viral sensations featuring the iconic mascot.

From callouts to the games, to Sanic memes, and everything in-between, here’s a look at all the cameos, tributes, and references we’ve found in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie.

But warning... spoilers for the Sonic movie follow! Bookmark this page and come back after you've seen Sonic's first big-screen adventure.

A title screen reference

This is something you might have already caught a glimpse of in the trailers. In his man-cave, Sonic whips through a series of activities, including reading some comics, and playing ping-pong. It’s when he starts messing around with nunchucks, however, that an Easter egg for hardcore players pops up. Notice the headband? It’s a recreation of the classic Sonic title screen from the 1991 original.

As a bonus, director Jeff Fowler actually told 12DOVE in a sit-down interview that this is his favourite Easter egg from the movie.

All-Stars Racing

We could be wrong, but we’d like to think Sonic’s race-car bed is a nod to his glory days out on the track. The car model isn’t similar enough to suggest it’s directly tied to SEGA’s All-Stars Racing series, but it seems an odd choice to seemingly pluck that idea out of nowhere, especially knowing how many references to Sonic’s history are scattered throughout.

Echidnas

Knuckles may not make an appearance in the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, but his tribe certainly do. You can see them hunting down Long Claw and Baby Sonic in the flashback sequence early on in the movie.

Flossing

No, this isn’t anything to do with those teeth. Flossing is a dance move which gained worldwide popularity/notoriety thanks to its appearance in Fortnite. Sonic does it, not once, but twice in the movie in celebration, most notably after the highway chase involving Robotnik.

Green Hill Zone

There’s nothing that screams ‘Sonic’ more than Green Hill Zone. The lush scenery, the shimmering vistas, the loop-the-loops. Traditionally the first level in the majority of Sonic games, Green Hill Zone isn’t named outright but is shown to be part of Sonic’s home island where he grew up.

Rings

Rings aren’t intrinsically tied to Sonic’s health as they are in the games – but they can be a life-saver. In the movie, Sonic uses them as portals to jump between worlds. Beyond that, we know little about its mysterious technology.

Robotnik's classic look

Those fretting over Jim Carrey’s slightly more restrained Robotnik look can relax. Robotnik gains some considerable mass and goes full chrome-dome once he reaches the mushroom planet. If you weren’t aware, that’s trademark Robotnik, right down to the bushy, unkempt facial hair. It’s a style he’s kept for nearly 30 years now, the poor soul.

Sanic

Sonic the Hedgehog’s meme game is pure fire. “Sanic” a deliberately terrible design of the spiky speedster that can be traced back to YouTuber 0nyxheart, who made a video featuring the unique interpretation.

Sanic is referenced in the movie via a sketch by the paranoid member of Green Hills who keeps spotting the ‘blue devil’ (i.e. Sonic).

SEGA

SEGA, the creators of the Sonic franchise, obviously have some stake in the movie. But fans will be pleased to hear the legendary "SEGA!" call from its games, as well as an opening title card that includes clips in mosaic form of several classic SEGA properties.

Sonic goes 16-bit

Stick around after the Sonic title card just before the credits and you’ll be treated to a gorgeous recreation of the game’s plot, done in the style of the 16-bit Genesis/Mega Drive games. It may make you pine for the good ol’ days but, most of all, it just makes me want a Sonic Mania sequel.

Sonic's trademark sneakers

Sonic’s red-and-white footwear is as recognisable as his blue fur or lightning-quick spin dash. It stands to reason, then, that they would show up in the movie – but it takes some team before he straps on the sneakers.

He’s given the new shoes after Maddie’s niece notices how wrecked his old pair were. Lucky they both have the same size feet, huh?

Tails

The Sonic movie post-credits scene sees Tails arrive in Green Hills on the lookout for Sonic. No design snafu here, though. He looks like a carbon copy of the model seen in recent titles such as Sonic Forces.