In classic fashion, Sonic the Hedgehog sped to the top in a recent study looking at the most searched for classic game characters in the United States, far exceeding those from other franchises like Pokémon and Super Mario Bros.
In GetWindstream's study, researchers looked at the 10 best-selling home game franchises from the 1980s and 1990s and compared that to Google Trends to see which characters receive the most Google searches per state. With nearly twice the states as the runners up, Sonic came in first with a whopping 21 states searching most for the blue hedgehog with a need for speed. Tieing for second place, a mix of characters from the Pokemon and Super Mario Bros. franchises topped the search in 11 states each. You can see the map below.
Sonic's win becomes more impressive when you realize, of the top three, his is the only score based on searches for one character alone. For both the Pokémon and Mario teams, a combination of characters ranked on the list made up each franchise's final score. Both held a number of surprises too. Pokémon, which has a shockingly collectible trading card game to boost its popularity, fan-favorites Pikachu and Mewtwo did not make the top rank in any state. Instead, the Kanto starters Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle took the top spots, with Bulbasaur being the most popular of the three. As for the ever-popular and still-surprising Super Mario Bros., neither of the brothers topped the searches for their franchise; instead, their foe Browser took the top spot with six states, while Mario and Princess Peach both took two states.
The rest of the top searches went to a scattering of classic game characters whose franchises didn't quite nab more than a handful of states. The Final Fantasy protagonist, Cloud Strife, only managed to win Nevada. Street Fighter took four states, with Ken Masters taking Louisiana and his rival, Ryu, taking the trophy in California, Hawaii and New Jersey. The wildly popular Zelda only won two states, split between Zelda in Utah and Link in Alaska. Finally, Pac-Man surprisingly only topped the characters in two states, taking Washington and Virginia.
Some of these results prove ironic, or at least humorous: Squirtle taking the top spot in famously rainy Oregon, or Zelda taking Utah, which is the location of the Spiral Jetty, the inspiration for Zelda: Breath of the Wild's Rist Peninsula. Others might be skewed given current events. Sonic's overwhelming win may be due to the two recent films, with the just-released Sonic the Hedgehog 2 opening to critical acclaim.
For those in need of a bit more Sonic in their lives, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 releases in theaters this Friday.
Source: GetWindstream
