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) Keiko Utoku providing the voice. Sonic's first true voice actor was Takeshi Kusao for the arcade game "SegaSonic the Hedgehog", with Junichi Kanemaru continually voicing the role beginning with the release of Sonic Adventure. In "Sonic Unleashed", Sonic was voiced by Tomokazu Seki while in Werehog form. In English, Sonic was cast to Jason Griffith starting from "Sonic X". Griffith was later replaced by Roger Craig Smith, starting with "Sonic Free Riders" and "Sonic Colors" in November 2010. Actor Ben Schwartz will voice the character in the Paramount Pictures feature film, which is set for release on November 15, 2019.