Sega’s CEO Wants to Surpass Mario

Sonic was designed from the start to be Mario’s rival. The Blue Blur was renowned for its speed, but it was never able to overtake the Italian plumber, who cast an ever-larger shadow over him. But that doesn’t imply Sega has abandoned its dreams.

Sega CEO Osamu Ohasi said, “Simply put, we want to surpass Mario,” in an internal interview (translated by NoisyPixel and reported by Eurogamer). Sonic was designed to take on Mario, but we haven’t surpassed him yet. We hold Mario in high regard, therefore I’m pushing myself to catch up and beat his performance.

Despite being bitter rivals in the ’90s, Sega and Nintendo’s respective franchises have since diverged substantially in sales and critical reaction due to mistakes in Sega’s Sonic series and Nintendo’s continuous success in the Mario series, respectively.

“I want Sonic to be played by people all over the world, including Japan, just like Mario,” Ohahsi said. I hope the film is even more popular than Mario. I would like Universal Studios Japan to establish a Sonic Area as well. That’s our goal for people who adore Sonic.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, released earlier this year, broke $1.3 billion at the box office, making it the most financially successful video game adaptation of all time. The worldwide box office for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 was $405 million. The Mario franchise is the most successful in the history of video games, with over 832 million units sold as of last count.

This is all we have for now, rest assured we will make sure to keep you updated in case any new information is available.