Sonic the Hedgehog platforming of the main levels. The 16-bit "Sonic the Hedgehog " consisted of a giant rotating maze, which many considered a major technical achievement. The most common special stages, however, were segments with the character running through a long tunnel to collect certain items. 3D "collect item" levels, as in "Sonic 3" and "Sonic & Knuckles", used the same perspective but had Sonic collecting all the blue-colored orbs on the surface of a giant sphere. Finally, "Sonic Advance 2" employed a 3D ring-collecting stage, and "Sonic Chaos" ("Sonic and Tails" in Japan) used a variety of gimmicks for its levels.
Sonic the Hedgehog Since Emeralds of the 8-bit version of "Sonic the Hedgehog" were hidden in the main stages, the game's spring-filled Special Stages were merely used as a means of adding variety, increasing score and earning continues. Similarly, "Sonic 3 & Knuckles", in addition to the main Special Stages, featured entirely optional bonus stages, one of which combined the rotating maze of "Sonic the Hedgehog" with the pinball gambling of "Sonic the Hedgehog 2". "Sonic Heroes" contained an alternate Special Stage for a chance of earning additional lives. A super transformation is a state certain characters go into that gives them incredible