Sonic the Hedgehog is a 2 episode OVA (original video animation) which was originally pitched as a pilot for an animated Sonic the Hedgehog series. It was published directly to video, not being screened in theatres in either JP or NA. The episodes are titled as "Welcome to Eggmanland" and "Sonic vs Metal Sonic" when released seperately.

Most fondly known as "the Sonic OVA", it was released in North America in 1999, 2 days before to the release of Sonic Adventure and the Dreamcast. The Sonic OVA is known for its music, and the very interesting take on Sonic's world, prior to there being an established "Earth" in Sonic Adventure.

Legacy and References in Other Media

The Sonic OVA was released in Japan for audiences to rent in January 1996. Chaotix on the 32X was the newest mainline Sonic game released at the time, and Sonic Adventure wouldn't be released on Dreamcast until 1998.

As for North America, the Sonic OVA released on September 7, 1999, two days before the release of Sonic Adventure. Although I don't think the two stories interfere with each other too much. Simple things like Tails being an inventor and having some type of workshop in a tropical environment, Sonic's plane the Tornado also makes an appearance in both medias, Knuckles being some kind of treasure hunter, old and abandoned ruined eras, and humans are all things both present in the OVA and Sonic Adventure.

Story elements from the Sonic OVA have been referenced of the years, such as in IDW Sonic's sidestory, Scrapnik Island, where Mecha Sonic has fallen into a hot area and smacks away Sonic's hands similar to Hyper Metal Sonic had done to him in the OVA. Thankfully, Mecha Sonic's fate was different than Hyper Metal's and he was saved by Sonic and his fellow Scrapniks. Another reference from the Sonic OVA is Mecha Knuckles wearing Knuckles' hat from the OVA.

The Land of the Sky

The Land of the Sky is the beginning setting for the Sonic OVA, it is the most populous area of Planet Freedom. It was created by the mountains seperating from the surface of Planet Freedom, which created two seperate areas to the planet, the Land of the Sky, and the Land of Darkness. Those originally living on the surface fled to these rock formations and established a new civilization. The Land of the Sky is anchored by bridge-like glaciers, filled with magma, without these glaciers the roation of the planet would cause the land formations to drift away into space and be destroyed, these glaciers are located at the norther most point of Freedom Planet, in the North Pole.

The various islands of the Land of the Sky are lush with greenery, with some covered in tropical waters. Only one Island is referenced by name within the Sonic OVA, which is South Island. This island has a few locations, such as Green Lake City, Forest Town, and the Presidential House. South Island appears to be the most established island, having many futuristic buildings and inabitants, including the President of the Land of the Sky. It appears that Sonic and Tails reside on a different island than South Island, being an island with no established cities or buildings, aside from Sonic's House.

Another interesting detail within Planet Freedom is that at night time a ringed planet is visible in the sky. No other planets are visible within the sky during the OVA.

Sonic's House

Sonic's House is located on an unnamed island in the Land of the Sky, featuring overgrown flora, trees, and plants shaped like Sonic's head all on a beachside. (There's also a single Crab Meat Badnik residing on the island...) Sonic's House is composed of multiple scrapped vehicles, sattellites, rockets, and other assorted machines. Within the island is an airplane strip and garage that houses the Tornado, Sonic's airplane. The main component in Sonic's House is the wrecked jet airplane, which has a giant workshop that Tails works in, despite the outside looking overgrown the inside is very clean and hi-tech looking, housed with machines to work on computer chips, and welding equipment to do work on the Tornado.

Other interesting details about the island Sonic's House is located on is that the island is shown to be connected to the "mainland" through a small strip of land. The rest of this island was not explored during the OVA, other than the raised rock of the island where Old Man Owl was going to crash.

The Land of Darkness

The Land of Darkness is accessed through a hole within the clouds below the Land of the Sky. Main areas of the Land of Darkness are always showing a grey or dark sky, though there are some areas more high up where you can see a clear blue sky and the sun. There are lots of open, overgrown environments with a few floating mountains/rock formations within the skies as well.

The way to access Robotropolis/Eggmandland from the Land of Darkness is through a Warp Zone. After Sonic and Tails travel through areas littered with spikes, traps, and Badniks, they are met with a warp zone that takes them to an area just outside of Robotropolis. This area resembles an abandoned city with large skyscrapers, covered in overgrown flora and vines, the ground supporting these buildings, and the nearby structures such as bridges, are all horribly damaged, this area is referred to as the Ancient Relics.

The Ancient Relics are slowly sinking over time, the ground no longer able to support the large buildings and structures. Many of these buildings furthest away from Robotropolis are sinking so far into the ground that they're submerged underwater. The only person to reside still within the Land of Darkness is Robotnik/Eggman, while Knuckles happened to be in the area at the time of the OVA, it's not stated as to where he lives.

Robotropolis / Eggmanland

Robotropolis is the main area of the Land of Darkness, where Robotnik resides. Robotropolis reveals itself to Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles once the sun sets, with all the lights within Robotropolis and the surrounding buildings of the ancient relics turning on. Robotropolis is built similar to Sonic's House, being a hodge-podge of various other structures such as buildings, tanks, and metal pipes. The area towards Robotropolis also features large storage tanks, like ones used for oil, and other factory buildings.

Inside Robotropolis the pipes, scaffolding, and other structures like inside any other factory. In the at-most center is the Robot Generator/Egg Generator, a machine that copies Sonic's life data and downloads the data to Hyper Metal Sonic, and completely falls apart into an abyss once Sonic escapes the machine.