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 (character) dramatic series which portrayed Sonic as a member of a band of Freedom Fighters that fight to free their world from the evil dictator, Dr. Robotnik. In 1996, two episodes of an OVA titled "Sonic the Hedgehog" were released in Japan. For the American release, the two episodes combined and released as "Sonic the Hedgehog: The Movie" by ADV Films. A separate third series was released under the title "Sonic Underground" in 1999. It featured the introductions of Sonic's siblings, Sonia the Hedgehog and Manic the Hedgehog, and Sonic's mother, Queen Aleena, who must defeat Robotnik and rule Mobius as