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) British publications, including "Sega handbook" "Stay Sonic" (1993), four novels published by Virgin Books (1993–1994) and the comic book "Sonic the Comic" (1993–2001), published by Fleetway Publications/Egmont Publishing, used this premise as their basis. The American comics published by Archie Comics, "Sonic the Hedgehog" (1993–2017), "Sonic X" (2005–2008), and "Sonic Universe" (2009–2017) are based on the settings established by earlier animated TV series, the ABC "SatAM" cartoon, the "Sonic X" anime, and an expansion to the series, respectively. The former series is currently the second longest-running licensed comic series in the history of American comic books, second only to Marvel's