As the Sonic the Hedgehog series of platform games has grown in popularity, its publisher Sega has expanded the franchise into multiple different genres.
Sonic the Hedgehog is one of the bestselling video game franchises ever,[1] selling over 80 million units for the combined series as of 2011.
Minigames are accessed from an isometric hub world and more non-educational games can be unlocked after a certain number of educational ones are beaten.
[8] The game takes the form of a picture book and changes the set of tasks the player must accomplish when a page is turned.
Aimed at children ages four to seven, Gameworld stars Sonic, Tails, and Amy and features 13 minigames that are designed to teach the player problem solving.
[15] The gameplay has been likened to Doom (1993),[16] but the primary difference is that players must solve spelling, math, and reading questions in several difficulty levels based on age group.
[15] Sonic X is based on the anime series of the same name and was released by LeapFrog Enterprises for the Leapster handheld game console.
It stars Sonic and Chris Thorndyke, a character created for the anime series, who must save Tails, Amy, and Knuckles from Doctor Eggman.
[13] According to the programmer who worked on Sonic's Edusoft, the game was tested at a primary school in Didsbury, Manchester and was well received.
[6] Reviewing Sonic's Schoolhouse, Hardcore Gaming 101 was strongly negative, calling it "a bare-bones edutainment title" that "offer[s] neither education or entertainment of any sort.
"[15] They criticized its voice acting, visuals, lack of difficulty and educational value, and poor use of the Sonic license, deeming it a "rather cynical attempt from Sega to tie it in with their mascot" and urging readers to instead play the Leapster games.