How Much Sonic’s Rings Are Worth In Real Money

Although the Sonic the Hedgehog series is most famous for its high-speed, momentum building gameplay, another unique feature in Sonic games are their gold rings. These rings simultaneously act as a currency and a health system. So, how much are they really worth in terms of real money?

Rings have been a staple feature since the first Sonic game in 1991. They are still easily recognizable to the series, even today. Given this fact, it’s inevitable that some people have attempted to figure out exactly how much rings would be worth in real money. Now, fans possible have an answer thanks to a recent online study.

A recent article by NetCredit breaks down currencies from various games and converts their worth into U.S. dollars. The methodology is simple: a real-world item is identified in the game, and the value of that item is converted from the in-game currency to USD. For example, in Sonic ‘06, a green gem costs 5,000 rings. An emerald of comparable size costs $14,000, which would make one ring worth about $58.50. This places Sonic in fourth place in Net Credit’s list of richest characters, with a net worth of $2,193,845. Although in fourth place, he still trails quite a bit behind Mario, whose net worth is $800 billion.

What Sonic’s Rings Are Really Worth & Why

However, NetCredit doesn’t take into account the fact that rings effectively grant temporary invulnerability to a person. Given the option between buying a Sonic ring or a Mario coin, the ring might be seen as a better investment. Rings don’t bestow an entirely new life upon its bearer, but only one ring at a mere $58.85 is required to render someone impervious to all types of damage, eliminating any need for Mario’s extra lives and power-ups. In this hypothetical situation, it seems likely that people would be content to settle for rings instead of buying an extra life with coins, and the gap in value between the two currencies would narrow in response to natural market forces. 

The methodology used to determine a character’s net worth gets shakier when other games are considered. In Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, the cheapest purchasable human character is Royal Guard, costing 10,000 studs to unlock. Using NetCredit’s logic by tying currency to the value of a human life, that would mean a single Lego stud is worth at least $800. Since up to 4 billion studs can be collected, that would give Lego Star Wars characters a collective net worth of $3.2 trillion.

Of course, NetCredit never intended to seriously guess the wealth of Sonic, or any other video game character. The subject matter itself is meant to be fun and silly and can be a helpful way to teach gamers a thing or two about currency. That, in itself, is a laudable accomplishment. And now Sonicfans know how much gold rings are theoretically worth.

Source: NetCredit

About The Author