In the early part of 1994 we were blessed with Sonic the Hedgehog 3 on SEGA Genesis, and my life was never the same. That same year we also got some pretty rad Happy Meal toys to go along with the release of the game. At this point I may have been young but I was reading the comics and was so insanely obsessed with Sonic that I thought I could run with my legs in a figure eight like him while running around the playground at school. Yeah.. I was nuts.

So, you can tell that having toys of Sonic absolutely blew my mind right out of the water, even if they weren't the best things in the world. As you can tell from the bags the toys came in above, they were still using the old school designs for the characters, which I'm actually still partial to myself.

As with most Happy Meal toys each of them had their own special "powers" if you will. Sonic of course had a running power where if you had him loaded onto his fire base you pushed a button and he would shoot off of the base.

Of course this makes sense since Sonic's known for running, but Knuckles' toy on the other hand is kind of odd. With Knuckles you push him along and he spins around in his cloud, well Knuckles isn't exactly known for spinning, but I wonder if they weren't trying to reinact his somewhat spinning uppercut. Perhaps the world may never know, but I know that I freaked out over the fact that I could have both a Sonic and a Knuckles toy, as I absolutely adored them both.

I think Tails probably has the most obvious and well executed power, because he's known for flying. What his toy does is you pull the handle that's attached to a string like a ripcord, and he'll fly off his base with his tails spinning.

Then from Tails we go to Dr. Robotnik, who.. again somewhat doesn't make sense. He is a wind up toy that has him sitting in his Egg-O-Matic and he'll roll around the surface. There was also a bead in the front that was suppose to make him not fall off edges, but it never really worked very well.

Now this toy doesn't have as good of a photo because it was one of the most over looked toys in the series, as it was the "Under 3" toy that you had to ask for. It doesn't really do anything since it was basically for kids under the age of 3, but it's a pretty neat yellow ball that apparently is big enough so that you can't eat it, though this one I never had so I'm not for sure just how big it is.

You can still find these guys, minus the ball most of the time, for a decent price online. I know I still have mine in a box with my other Happy Meal gems somewhere, and I'm definitely going to have to try and find them so I can put them on display with some of my newer Sonic toys now that they're put out more frequently.

If you were a childhood fan of Sonic, and like having a little nostalgia in your life I suggest getting your Google on, and start having a look for a set. They're one of the most memorable fast food sets that I ever had so they'll be worth your while.

[Photos via maverick3001's Flickr]