I'd thought it was obvious all along, but - oh - the arguments I've had!

[flyboy_fox]

YES.

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In an interview with ThisIsMyJoystick.com, Yuji Naka has revealed that the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise was created with environmental themes based around the impact mankind is having on the world, but says he couldn’t speak about it back in 1991 because it was a touchy subject at the time. Naka instead decided to showcase his views in Sonic the Hedgehog’s video game world, with the villainous and polluting Dr.Robotnik/Dr.Eggman being the main representation of the concept.

“Dr Robotnik is a slightly radical representation of all humanity and the impact humanity is having on nature. In 1991, it was a very sensitive subject to talk about the environment and while I had my viewpoint, I did not speak of it. With Sonic, I was given an opportunity to express my views in a different way and did so, showing Robotnik using pollution and creating machinery which desecrates the environment and it is down to Sonic to change his ways.”
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It may seem like the most obvious in the world thing to many people, but I have been arguing this point forever. I have had countless arguments with people who can't stand the idea that the Sonic games were an environmental statement and that the theme was humans vs nature. Some people have gotten really rather upset with me for insisting that this was the original theme. I've been called a hippie, amongst other ruder terms, and scolded for trying to bring 'green politics' into a video game. I was accused of being 'brainwashed' by SatAM and trying to apply that show's much more 'obvious' message to the games.

But this WAS exactly what the early Sonic games were (and still are!) to me. A message, a warning, a statement.

Yeah, I kinda was a 90's hippie. Some of my favourite shows and books were the ones with the cheesiest themes. I adored Colin Dann's The Animals Of Farthing Wood for example, for the very same reason.

A lot of people got angry with me a few years ago on SSMB in a topic where I was trying to say that this was the overriding theme of the Sonic games. People didn't like that I was saying that the game had a stance against humans' effect on the world in general rather than just the actions of one man (Robotnik). They didn't believe me that Robotnik was meant to represent humanity as a whole.

Well, now Naka has stated it openly and I feel vindicated.

It may seem unimportant, petty even. But to me it's amazing to have him say outright what I've been arguing for years about the underlying theme of the first Sonic the Hedgehog games.