Sonic the Hedgehog is a platform video game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega for the Sega Genesis console . The game was first released in North America , Europe and Australia in June 1991 , and in Japan the following month . The game features an anthropomorphic hedgehog named Sonic in a quest to defeat Dr. Robotnik , a scientist who has imprisoned animals in robots and stolen the magical Chaos Emeralds . Sonic the Hedgehog 's gameplay involves collecting rings as a form of health and a simple control scheme , with jumping and attacking controlled by a single button .