Sonic Hedgehog The Movie (1996 OVA) Review

This is a lost gem for retro gaming fans out there. Back in the Early 1990s, Video Game movies were mostly terrible. Movies such as Mario Bros, Mortal Kombat, Double Dragon, and Street Fighter were cheesy at best and many make the all time worst list.
This 1996 Anime OVA based on Sonic The Hedgehog actually nails it (for the time period). Its not perfect, but it hits all the right notes for the hardcore fans of the franchise. This could arguably be the best video game movie of the 1990s (not much competition). For what is essentially a TV special made for home release to promote the franchise, the anime studio went out of their way to capture the essence of the characters (at the time).

The Sonic the Hedgehog (ソニック★ザ★ヘッジホッグ, Sonikku za Hejjihoggu) or Sonic the Hedgehog the Movie, is a 1996 Japanese two-part original video animation (OVA) based on the Sonic the Hedgehog video games by Sega. Produced by Pierrot and directed by Kazutaka Ikegami, the first episode was released in Japan on January 26, 1996, with the second following suit on March 22, 1996.
The series was later licensed and dubbed in English by ADV Films, whom released it as a single direct-to-video film on September 7, 1999, to coincide with the international release of Sonic Adventure. It features Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Dr. Eggman (Dr. Robotnik in the English release), Metal Sonic, and numerous supporting characters created exclusively for the OVA.