It's official: Sonic the Hedgehog is coming to Lego, in the Lego Ideas Sonic Mania Green Hill Zone set, which will go into production later this year.

It's not just Mario who can now command official Lego status - there are 16 sets already confirmed - in the classic video game character wars. (Well, ok, Sonic did appear in 2016 as a Lego Dimensions release, but we think this forthcoming set looks altogether more special).

The forthcoming Sonic set has a deeper history than most. It was a design by Viv Grannell as part of Lego Ideas - you can see the original, which garnered heaps of support on the official site - and, thanks to updates in development and a partnership between Lego and Sega, will now become a reality. That's the whole idea behind Lego Ideas: making creators' ideas a reality.

Sonic Lego photo 2
Lego / Sega

Sonic is having something of a resurgence in the second decade of this millenium - with the Sonic the Hedgehog movie topping our best (and worst) video game movie adaptations of all time for the super 2020 flick - just in time for the blue erinaceidae's 30th birthday (which is in June 2021).

As for this Lego creation, which is inspired by 2017 platformer Sonic Mania - but we can see a lot of the original game, after all that's where Green Hill Zone first appeared - we're particularly fond of the one-up TV and other details such as the blue birds and gold rings. Nice job, Viv.

There's no word on pricing just yet, as the product is only in the development stage, but it will be available worldwide once it's all done and dusted.