Opinions on the special stages were divided. Gibson described the visuals of these stages as "dreadfully blocky", and David Craddock of IGN felt that the inclusion of Tails in the stages was "detrimental at best, since he's always colliding with bombs, thus causing the player to lose valuable rings." However, those who spoke positively of the special stages approved of the visual effects. "GamePro" elaborated, "Theoretically, the Genesis isn't capable of scaling, but "Sonic"'s Bonus Rounds are gonna make you wonder!"