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 in comparison to other Sonic media. The "Sonic the Hedgehog" franchise was awarded seven records by Guinness World Records in "Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008". The records include "Best Selling Game on Sega Systems", "Longest Running Comic Based on a Video Game" and "Best Selling Retro Game Compilation" (for "Sonic Mega Collection"). In the "Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2010", the "Sonic the Hedgehog" series was listed number 15 out of the top 50 video game franchises. In September 1996, "Next Generation" ranked the Genesis installments of the series (but not the Game Gear or Sega CD entries that