Okay... /hides from Nekofrog
I suppose in theory just about any game can be speed oriented depending on how it's played. Super Mario Brothers, basket ball, and even chess. I'm sure everyone at some point has watched at least one speed run video of some kind?
I find my beloved console hedgehog games to indeed be platformers at their core, but in many cases laid out to be played as speed runs with little effort. If that made sense... I'm making myself sick by eating this stupid gummi sour starburst right now. Can't stop eating them.
EDIT: After looking at that silhouette again, what is resembling a pikachu tail should be Sonic's left hand. Looks like he's doing that finger-waggle thing as in the original game title screen.