HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAILS!

Tails is celebrating his 20th anniversary!

Yasushi Yamaguchi, originally the main artist and zone designer for Sega's Sonic Team, designed Tails for an internal competition for a sidekick to the speedy hedgehog. The character was meant to hold a "deep admiration for Sonic." His entry won, but Sonic Team decided to change his character's name from "Miles" to "Tails". Yamaguchi ended up with a compromise, using "Miles" in as the character's real first name; "Tails" would be his nickname, giving the character the full name of Miles "Tails" Prower. The name "Miles Prower" is a pun on the phrase "miles per hour". The character debuted as Sonic's tag-along partner in the franchise's second game, and has remained an important player since. However the character's uniqueness was not established until Sonic the Hedgehog 3 when players were given the power to control his flying. (Wikipedia)
Unfortunately, Tails was redesigned (along with all of the other Sonic characters) by Yuji Uekawa for Sonic Adventure (Dreamcast)...
Tails was first seen in Sonic 2 (1992) for the Sega Master System. He was first made playable in the Genesis version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, playing the part of Sonic's sidekick. He was a playable character from the second controller and could be chosen as player one for the main game. (Wikipedia). The Sega Mega Drive/Genesis release in Europe and North America came on November 24, 1992, a Tuesday, and the release day was promoted as "Sonic 2esday". (Wikipedia)