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 (2006 video game) Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 video game) Development began in 2004, led by "Sonic" co-creator Yuji Naka. Sonic Team sought to create an appealing game in the vein of superhero films like "Batman Begins", hoping it would advance the series with a realistic tone and multiple gameplay styles. Problems developed after Naka resigned to form his own company, Prope. The team split to work on the Wii game "Sonic and the Secret Rings" (2007), resulting in "Sonic the Hedgehog" being rushed for the holiday season. It was released for Xbox 360 in November 2006 and for PlayStation 3 the following month.