1994. Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka said the game was considered for inclusion in the 2005 rarities compilation Sonic Gems Collection for the GameCube and PlayStation 2, but was excluded due to difficulties with emulating the trackball controls on a gamepad. In 2011, Sega's brand manager Ken Balough said there is not much demand for a rerelease; he believes this is because it was not released outside Japan. In 2020, Sega's Yosuke Okunari mentioned the possibility of SegaSonic The Hedgehog being ported if games in the Sega Ages line were successful. Reception and legacy Game Machine listed SegaSonic the Hedgehog in November 1993 as being the sixth most popular table arcade unit in Japan at the time. Electronic Gaming Monthly gave SegaSonic the Hedgehog a perfect score of 10 out of 10. The magazine stated that the game "shatters your perception of what a good game should be", reserving high praise for its graphics and music, and the variety of levels. It also praised the "hilarious" character animations and cinematics, and encouraged readers to play the game. Computer and Video Games offered similar acclaim and praised the game's attention to detail, "highly recommend[ing]" it. The French magazine Mega Force compared the isometric graphics to Sega's Zaxxon (1982) and SNK's Viewpoint (1992). Gamest enjoyed the game but wrote that its trackball controls will hurt the player's palm. In the midst of a review for Sonic Gems Collection in 2005, GameSpy expressed disappointment that SegaSonic the Hedgehog was not one of the games in the compilation, voicing hope it would someday be rereleased. In 2014, GamesRadar+ called the game's graphics impressive for 1993, but that its lack of a rerelease was "no great loss". John Szczepaniak offered a negative stance in 2018, due to what he called bland level design and imprecise controls that had "an irritating fuzziness". He compared turning characters with the trackball to feeling intoxicated, and claimed to have watched several individuals try to play but give up. Hardcore Gaming 101 Kurt Kalata similarly criticized the controls and high difficulty level, but nonetheless praised its break-neck pace and level design, which he wrote were aspects the Genesis Sonic games could not achieve. He ultimately summarized the game as "a fun experiment". Mighty appeared as a playable character in the 32X game Knuckles' Chaotix (1995). For many years, Ray did not appear in another game, but he and Mighty were featured