GAME BASICS
Sonic the hedgehog is a platforming game where you can build lots of speed by running and spinning. There are different routes you can pick to reach the goal of the level, with checkpoints, time limit, powerups and rings you can pick up that gives you advantages like invulnerability, lives and continues.
There are 6 zones in total, each divided in 3 acts, and 1 final zone at the end of the game. You will fight robotnik as a boss at the end of act 3 in every zone, and you will encounter him for the last time at the final zone.
There are checkpoints throughout the acts. To get the checkpoint you have to find a lamp post and cross it. The lamp post will become red.
There is a time limit of 10 minutes. When you cross a checkpoint, your current time will be saved so if you die, you
will respawn at the last checkpoint and the timer will reset to the time you had when you crossed the checkpoint. If you crossed the checkpoint within a few seconds before timing out and you time out, the timer will reset to 0 so you don’t softlock.
Sonic can interact with the enviroment through the stages, there are walls that you can break, secret paths, switches, platforms that can be activated, platforms that will fall, appearing platforms, rotating platforms, and other platforms that you can interact with.
There are enemies all over the stages. Most of them can be killed by bouncing on them while you are a ball. All enemies take 1 hit. Some others you can’t land on, but you can roll past them instead. Enemies respawn if you go far enough from them.
There is a boss at the end of
every act 3. Bosses take 8 hits and you can bounce on it only 3 times in a row, because every time you bounce, sonic's sprite moves down a little bit so after 3 hits you are under the boss’s hitbox so you clip down and might take a hit. I recommend to bounce two times to prevent being hit.
There are multiple ways to die. The main one is If you have 0 rings and you get hit by an enemy or a dangerous obstacle like spikes or else, after the invulnerability stops.
The insta deaths that don't depend on rings are landing on spikes twice, getting crushed by platforms, falling out of the screen, drowning or running out of time.
You can look up or down if you press up or down button. This is very useful to see enemies or platforms above you, or if there's no screen under you. Not so many people seem to know about this feature.
There are two endings in this game. To get the good ending you must collect 6 chaos emeralds hidden in bonus levels. A big ring will appear after crossing the goal with at least 50 rings in every act 1 and 2. You jump inside it to enter the bonus level.
The bonus level is a rotating maze with different obstacles and a chaos emerald protected behind prisms in the middle of the level. You must break these prisms standing on them, while controlling sonic as a ball, using the scenario, gravity and obstacles to your advantage. Once you pick the emerald, you will exit the level.
TIPS!: Pressing any direction while standing on a wall makes sonic spin faster. The next time you press jump you will get propulsed very fast and far, so the best way to control sonic through the bonus level is to jump and press directions after jumping.
There are only 1 chaos emerald per bonus level, and 6 chaos emeralds in total. You have 12 attempts to pick all of them. If you fail and exit the labyrinth without the emerald, the next time you enter the bonus level will be the next emerald you are missing. These are the obstacles you encounter through the bonus levels:
You can get 1UPs and a continue in the bonus level. You can get as many 1UPS as the rings allows, but you can only get 1 continue per bonus level.
There are arrows made out of rings that will lead you to the emerald. The chaos emerald is hidden behind prisms. The ammount of prisms increase each bonus level, so it's a good way to tell the levels appart.
If you stand on them, they will change color and eventually break. This is the breaking color order:
MOMENTUM
Sonic can run and spin. Your speed is very limited when you run, but when you spin you can reach faster speeds (it still has a limit, but much higher). You spin if you press down after building some speed.
You build speed on slopes and falls, or from bouncing on a spring. Pressing any direction slows you down, and switching platforms makes sonic get out of the spin, so the best way to spin is pressing only down and holding the button.
You can build speed faster if you jump and run afterwards. If there’s little space, jump first to the opposite side you want to run, turn around and jump again to reach max running speed.
The way momentum works in this game is that you will get
boosted up in a direction after jumping depending on where you are standing and your speed. First off, we will explain momentum when you have built a lot of speed and then jump:
If you jump while going uphill with a lot of speed, you will get boosted upwards in a diagonal.
f you jump on flat ground you will get boosted up horizontally.
If you jump while going downhill you will get boosted downwards
Sonic always jumps higher on a slope. If you stand still or you haven’t built much speed then you will get pushed outwards depending on where on a slope you are standing.
As you can see you will get pushed away from the slope, making this very difficult to climb up.
It’s very important to understand this concept to make it back up after running down accidentally. Don’t jump on the slope to get back up, instead, use the jump and run mechanic for building up speed in small spaces that we just learned, I will show you how to do it in this case: Stand at the bottom of the slope where it’s flatter, boost a jump to the opposite direction, and jump again to the direction you want to go. That second jump also has to be on the flat side of the slope.
If you jump before a ramp you will boost your speed faster. To keep building up speed you can hold the down button and your speed will increase more and more and more.
There’s a little trick you can perform if you are in the middle of a loop and press jump and down. You will gain max speed immediately, but it’s a little bit tricky to perform.
Landing on enemies or objects while holding jump makes you bounce higher. Falling from a longer distance will make your bounce even higher.
In the chaos emerald levels, if you keep pressing any direction will make sonic start spinning faster and faster. If you press jump afterwards you will jump faster and longer distances.
TIPS
Even if this game is about speed, playing slow is the best way to avoid landing on random enemies. Play safe at the beginning of the level until you see rings.
You can leave some rings behind in case you get hit so you can quickly come back and pick them up if you lost all your rings after getting hit.
Usually the very bottom routes are the hardest. I will show you the easiest routes in this guide in PLAYTHROUGH.
As we learned, jumping and running is the best way to gain speed very fast and get you out of compromised spots.
To get to different platforms, always jump, because even though you can walk towards them most of the time, the walk is slow and slippery so it can
make you fall out of the platform with the momentum. Jumping gives you more control and you will stand in place once you land.
Neutral jumping to get to platforms above you.
Neutral jump to wait and guarantee landing on another platform if you are not so sure about it.
You can respawn or reset platforms if you leave them offscreen and come back.
After bouncing on a spring you won't be in ball form anymore, so you won't kill enemies.
Never get close to a wall after jumping on a spring or you might get hit by enemies at the edge of the platform, since as we said, you won't be in ball form anymore.
Try to pick up the emeralds in the early levels since it’s easier to get to the goal with 50 rings.
The best way to get to the labyrinth is pressing left before the goal to reduce your speed. You have time until the music changes to the beating the stage music so if you ran offscreen, you can still come back to pick it.
To prevent from drowning you can stand in places where there’s bubbles coming out and wait until you hear a chime and a big bubble will appear. Picking up the bubble restores your breath timer, but you won't be in ball form, so if you were jumping and then land on an enemy you will get hit. Always pick up a bubble before you keep going through the stage
You can use the i-frames to make it past enemies or rough parts of the stages.
On green hill zone, there are monitors hidden on palm trees. If the palm trees are behind you that means there’s a monitor there. You can see the tip of the springs if you look closely.
CHEATS
REGIONAL DIFFERENCES
JP and US version runs at 60fps. However, the EU version runs at 50fps, which makes the game slower. Another way to tell the versions apart is that in the JP/US version, the clouds are moving in stage 1.
There is a bug in all versions where if you touch a spike after losing your rings, you will die immediately, ignoring the i-frames.
There is score in certain parts close to the goal. To get it you have to jump on the spot where they are hidden. I show the spots in MAPS.
If you play the JAPANESE VERSION in a JAPANESE CONSOLE, you will get a 1UP if you score 50.000 points after crossing the goal. Score is useless in the rest of the versions. If you are interested in knowing how the score system works, you can check it out Score system
STAGE SELECT
There is a stage select included in the game as a cheat. You can select any stage, including acts and chaos emerald stages. There are two codes. You have to introduce one of them on the title screen depending on the region
Introduce one, and if it doesn't work, introduce the other one. You will hear a chime before pressing A+START if it worked.
There are other codes like debug mode etc. Check them at S1CODES
CHEATING EMERALDS
If you want to cheat and collect all the chaos emeralds, you can access the bonus stages in the stage select.
Pick SPECIAL STAGE on the stage select menu and collect the gem. Once you collect it, do a soft reset. Introduce the stage select code and pic SPECIAL STAGE again. All gems you collect will be saved. Repeat this over and over until you collect all 6 chaos emeralds.
LIVES
You can see your live count at the bottom left corner of the screen. You start with 3 lifes and 0 continues. When your life count is at 1 means you have no lives left. You can get more lifes collecting 100 rings in each stage or in the bonus level. You can get as many 1UPS as the rings per screen allows (both in all stages and labyrinth stages. You can also find monitors all over the stages that contain 1UP.
CONTINUES
The only way to get continues
is collecting 50 rings in the bonus stage. You will hear a chime once you collect 50 rings so you know you have gotten a continue. You can get only one continue per bonus stage.
You can only see your remaining continues each time you game over. You have as many continues as sonic figures shown on the continue screen. If you have 2 sonics on screen, it means you have 3 continues.
GET INFINITE LIVES
There is a way to easily farm lives. In green hill zone - act 3.
Play at the bottom of the map. You will end up under the waterfall. Collect the 1UP. Next, jump on the yellow spring and walk back on the wooden spiky bridge to get to the other 1UP monitor that stands on a loop platform.
To reach the monitor on the loop, run into the red spring, don’t press any buttons and press jump when you reach the yellow flower in the background. Collect these along 100 rings to get 3 lives in total. Then die and repeat the process as many times as you want.
MAPS
LEVELS
There’s an invincibility monitor hidden on that palm tree right after the bridge.
For collecting more rings and get to the next invincibility, drop down at that spot where there's two floor edges that break. You should be able to reach the rings and the invinc. while being invincible still.
Pick the bottom tunnel and once you get inside it, don’t press any direction and hold jump. You will pick most rings and bounce on the enemy.
For more rings, a shield and a 1up, you can make it down if you stand by the flower, walk until you are very close to the spikes and do a short jump, don’t hold the button for long. It’s a bit tight.
To pick up the 1up you need to break the wall. Jump and run to boost your speed quickly. Avoid breaking the shoe monitor since it will make you faster and this section will be harder.
Go all the way to the end until you see the red spring and bounce on it. The 1up is on top of the loop.
There’s an invincibility monitor hidden in that palm tree. Be careful and don’t rush. If you fall
down, even if you can walk on spikes, you can still die by falling out of the screen.
You can get infinite lives in this stage (I marked the route in blue on the map). For more info check LIVES AND CONTINUES on the guide.
Pick up the hidden invincibility at the palm tree. Jump on both yellow springs to get to the top route and grab a shield.
If you want to pick a safer route that still has a 1up and lots of rings, pick the upper path after the checkpoint. There is a hidden monitor with rings right before the next checkpoint.
To pick up the 1up, stand on the 4th platform. It will drop down and you will land in front of the 1UP. You can look down if you hold the down button to check where the other platforms are.
You can also pick that 1up if you bounce on the red spring that's on the right side of the loop and press jump once you cross the yellow flower.
Right before the boss, there is a hidden invincibility on the palm tree that’s right before the bridge. To pick it up, you can run left to the second palm tree and jump once, turn around and jump one time to build lots of speed. Jump again by the 4th palm tree to reach the powerup.
Time to face robotnik for the first time! Robotnik always appears on the right side.
You can do the entire fight with invincibility. Robotnik spawns on the right side so if you stand on the right platform you can hit him 3 times. If you quickly move to the next platform you will be able to jump on him 4 more times. He will be 1 hit left.
If you don’t have the invincibility, you can still hit him 3 times at the beginning. After that, drop down and stand on the bottom right of the screen. You are safe at the corners. Hit him and make sure you don’t fall on the platform so you don't get hit. Repeat this over and over.
There’s a hidden path to the left that you can reach if you jump on the platform. You will find a 1UP and many rings. Be careful when you go back through the corridor! Don’t get crushed by the platform.
After climbing the green-ish tiles, jump and stand in place on that spot so you don't get
crush and avoid the enemies. Once the path is cleared, move to the other side.
Wait for a good pattern to climb up
If you land on that purple first tile you won’t get hit by the lava as long as you stand there. Climb to the right to get a shield and some rings.
After the lava path, just walk to the end of the platform to avoid mean enemies that come if you jump, and wait there until the platform comes.
Always jump from platform to platform for more control over the character.
There is a secret path at the end of the lava section with a 1UP and rings. Afterwards you will have to get on the platform again and go all the way back for the platform that moves left.
Don't miss the checkpoint on the left side after climbing the green blocks.
You can take two paths at the beginning of the stage. I recommend the first path. You can pick up the ring monitor.
Wait at the edge of the step. After you see a good pattern on the two first flames, just
Walk all the way down when you have a chance with a good pattern.
To break the platform, start walking and then spin at the end. You don’t need much distance.
For more control over the character, jump to the platforms instead of walking. Wait until the second lava geyser to get up.
In this section, there’s a hidden path that leads to a 1UP. You can exit to the right side to skip a lot of the stage, so I recommend it, but you won’t get a checkpoint until before the boss if you go that way. If you want to go for the checkpoint, just exit the room where you entered.
Jump on the platforms when they are as low as possible.
Careful with the enemies that fall from the ceiling. Wait on the sides of the spikes to keep jumping. You can tap left a little bit after the jumps for more control over sonic. Careful with the spikes that are on the right wall at the end.
Wait on the right side to hit him 2 times. Then jump and hit him when he is in the middle of the screen moving towards you and jump to the other platform. Repeat this over and over.
There’s a 1UP on a platform very far up. You can reach it if you roll on the spring and only hold the down button. Once you reach some height, then press left to get on the platform.
After the two enemies that come from the right, there will be one that comes from the left. If you stand on that side of the platform you won’t get hit.
When you see the brown background, spin because there’s an enemy that comes from behind. After killing it, go down the slope slowly.
After the platform switch there will be an enemy so kill it first. Then gain speed faster by boosting a jump right and then left to get on the platform.
If you fail this and the platform goes away, just move away and leave it offscreen and come back.
To pick up a shield, wait at the edge of the platform to jump to
the next one when the spikes balls are in a favorable spot.
After the checkpoint, drop down and you will find a invincibility.
Get on the platform with a neutral jump under it. You should be able to jump carefree on the green platforms to skip the spikes section entirely.
But if you don’t have the invincibility and you get hit by a spike and fall down to the half moon pit, you can always get back up on the platform if you do a neutral jump in the middle of the pit.
Once you bounce on the spring, you will loose spin form, so don't get close to the wall. There are enemies on top of the platform that can hit you.
After the two red crabs, if you fall down to the red springs and where the ring monitor is, you can press that switch. Wait for a few seconds for it to get away and bounce on the yellow spring to get to the goal.
There’s a secret path by that spring. It’s a shortcut that will lead you to a 1UP and a shield.
There’s a couple of walls in the way. Be careful to not get crushed. Jump on the spring to exit the shortcut and you will land on the shield.
for some extra rings, walk and
spin at that point to bounce on the star and go down. Keep pressing down and jump at the end of the slope to get to the rings before the goal.
if you brake on the slope and you are standing, get a bit of speed by running from the edge and boosting a jump. Hold down and press jump when you reach the edge of the platform.
If you ignore the enemies and spin downhill and not press any buttons you will land on the monitor with rings.
To pick up the shield fall down and get stuck on the right side. Once you are bouncing on the right, move to the middle spring and fall down on the other side of the star. To get back, jump on the first spring to the right.
To get to the invincibility, you have to bounce on the second spring while pressing jump and be a bit lucky that the platform is at the bottom. You can try this over and over.
Be careful! remember that invincibility doesn’t save you from being crushed.
To get to the upper and easier path, stand on that green platform and you look up. Once the platform reach the top and stops, get on the brown edge and from there jump to the green light platform and up.
To keep going on the top route you have to make this tricky
jump. Jump on the left border of the platform, walk for a few frames until you get to the right edge of the platform and then jump once again.
Get on top of the platform and switch to the next one once the platform touches it. Get to the other side when the platform is moving towards you with a neutral jump and get on top of the next platform. Do the same in the next platform. You will reach the checkpoint at the end of the moving platforms section.
To pick the rings on the other side, hold down and once you are at the top of the slope to the left, jump and you will land on the right side where the rings are.
If you are at the bottom and you want to regain speed, walk towards the slope and then hold down. You will build more and more speed.
There’s a hidden invincibility on the right wall. While having full speed, press jump once you reach the two stars on the left side to get to the hidden path.
To get to a hidden 1UP and shield, fall on the red spring from that side and don’t press any buttons. Tap left if neccesary by the time you are about to land on the platform.
At the end of the corridor, the 1up and the shield are hidden behind that secret path.
drop down from the platform at that spot and you can get invincibility and the checkpoint. You can make it to the boss with invincibility
Robotnik will drop down to your position with a spike and will break the block underneath. The idea is to make him go for the blocks that are at the edges so you still have a lot of platform to stand on. Once he moves down towards you, hit him and go to the opposite side and wait for him, repeating this over and over.
LABYRINTH SKIP: We will spawn a platform that will carry us to another platform and we will skip the entire level. Fall down to the very bottom of the water and you will find a switch.
You don’t need to step on the switch, you have to step on the
floor next to it. A platform will move up. You have to stand on the right corner of the platform to get back up and jump to the upper platform carefully to not get hit by the spikes. That’s the only way to get back up. Once you reach the top of the water, there will be a new platform that will carry you to the shortcut on the other side. If you missed the platform, you can take a death to try the skip again if you want to.But if you failed to get back up and you have to play the entire level, I will show you a few tips:
There will be a lot of platforms that move up when you step on them. Be careful and pay attention to the platforms when you see spikes above you, because if you touch the spikes you will get crushed and die instantly.
I recommend climbing on the right side to the switch. You can use the spring to get a bit higher, and do neutral jumps on the platform until you reach the switch.
Wait on that step until the monster throws all the spikes. Kill it and stand on the platform and once you reach the highest point, Jump to the right in between the heads.
In this long area, there’s a switch hidden behind a monitor that you have to press in order to lift the door to the checkpoint. Jump on the spring to get up there. Press the switch and exit to the right.
Be careful before getting the invincibility. There’s a mean hidden spike.
Leave the enemy offscreen. It will despawn the spikes.
You can do exactly the same and leave the enemy offscreen if you stand on that step to despawn his spikes.
The waterfall is an infinite loop. To get to the entrance you need to find a switch. First off, when you are falling facing left, press only jump right away to get to a shield. To find the switch, get on the waterfall again and press jump right away. Press the switch and jump to the other side to get to the entrance.
LABYRINTH SKIP: There is no more rings if you pick this path, so pick the rings before getting here. If you stand on that platform in the middle of the spikes, the platform will fall and you will get to the shortcut that skips the entire stage. Be careful when dropping so you don’t get hit by the red enemies.
Pick a bubble before leaving because you will enter a tunnel with high speed and you don’t get a bubble until you reach the end. You will automatically grab the pole so you can move where there's no spikes on the wall and let go.
Once you cross the checkpoint, immediately get on the corks because the water will start rising and it doesn’t come back in a while, so you could drown. There are no bubbles until the end of the corridor.
There are no rings to pick up if you die, you will only be able to pick a shield before the fight. You don’t need to attack robotnik this time, you need to just make it to the top of the water. There are no bubbles either so you need to climb to the top as fast as possible.
Don’t hit robotnik or you will drop down and lose more time. Start climbing and make it past
the first flame right away and wait for the second one.
Wait until all the spikes are inside the platform to jump to the next one. The water probably will rise at that point. You can walk between platforms.
Wait until it shoots the flame in that spot to keep climbing. You can walk between platforms. BE CAREFUL! There is a head hidden on the right side where the algaes are.
To get the 1up you have to leave the platform offscreen. Come back up with boosting a jump right and next to the left.
Hold down and don’t press any other buttons to make it up on that platform. Do the same once you bounce on the red spring. If you didn’t make it up to the last platform with the fan, walk from that spot.
You need to hit the platform from below to make it go down. Climb and jump on the spring. You have to press right by the time you bounce to get up on that platform.
If you fail and you can’t come back, leave the stairs platform offscreen and come back to make it spawn
Hold down when you go downhill. Once you get propulsed up, hold right until the end and you will make it.
Hold down and no other button to make it up the platform with the spring. Then bounce on the spring and hold down again to get to the goal.
Only run in this segment because we want to drop down by the breaking platform.
Spin and once you see all the rings and the yellow spring, get to that middle path.
Spin once again and at the end of the segment when you get propulsed, you have to press right and land on one of the platforms that fall. If you fail
this you will have to take the bottom path.
Get on the gray platform with the ball. The way it works is that the ball will always fall on the opposite side of where it was. Every time you bounce you will reach higher.
Jump on the spring and get up in the platforms that move up and run to the goal.
Run down until you are in the vertical slope and then hold down to spin fast. Once you get propulsed, land on the right gray platform. Jump to the second platform to pick up an invincibility.
You can see the platform below if you duck on the left edge. Land on it, and if you didn’t gain enough height, move to the other side and wait for the ball to land. Move to the other side again over and over so the ball keeps pushing you more and more until you get to the platform.
Just hold down until you get to the red spring. Then bounce on it and keep holding down. Eventually you will land on a platform that moves up.
Run a little bit but not too much, enough to make it up on the platform, because there is a spike that can hit you on that spot. Pick the shield and run under the spike when the spike is on the left side.
Once you reach the grey platform with the spike, jump on it. Move to the other side, and you will get boosted up. Fall on the same place and once you land on the platform, move to the other side. Then you will have speed enough to get to the upper platform.
If you can’t reach the platform, boost a jump to the left and keep walking right to make it up.
If you are on a platform, robotnik won’t drop the ball. You can both attack with the ball he drops or with your body.
Right when the fight starts, stand on the left side and wait where the second background lamp is. Once robotnik drops the ball, jump in place and you will land a hit.
Wait until the middle mine explodes and jump to the middle platform and stay there.
Then wait in the middle platform until robotnik reaches the left side and stops moving. At that
time you have to jump left to land another hit. Repeat it.
Press the switch once so the platform rotates clockwise. Exit to the right and keep running.
If you stand on the left side you won’t get crushed.
If you are not sure, you can do neutral jumps to keep in place until the platform respawns.
Once you get to the tunnel, press down to spin and don’t press anything else. You will make it until the end of the tunnel.
Wait until the flame stops and do a jump to the middle of the platform after the platform starts rotating and jump again to the next platform. Wait there and do the same thing.
If you fall down and land on the platform you can neutral jump to make you some time before getting on the next row of platforms if you are not sure. Then once you cross and land on the grey platform jump on it to be fast enough because that platform start breaking and falls down before you can reach the other side by running.
Climb up slowly to not get stuck on a door, and be careful with the pigs bombs.
In order to get the 1UP you have to come from below.
Don’t stand on the platform, jump from the left of the fire once the fire is gone. The way the wheel works is that if you press down on it, you get attached to the wheel. The more you rotate on it, the faster your jump will be. Press jump after rotating a couple of times, when you are on the top of it. Then press the switch from the very top to spawn a platform.
Jump on the middle of the platform once you can. Take it slow through the corridor to not bump on the spring or get hit by the electricity above.
Drop down by walking slowly towards the rotating wheel.
You could leave the monitor untouched in case you get hit and you need rings. Get to the right and get on the platform. You will find a shield at the top.
Jump on the rotating platform and press down and nothing else. Rotate very fast. Then wait for the spikes to move to the left and then press jump when you reach the upper side of the rotating platform. You will land on a shield. Then drop down and make a jump to keep going.
Use jumps to control sonic a little bit better and stop the conveyor belt momentum.
Make a jump to gain more speed faster a little bit before the press is down and there is no flames. Run across. If you bonk on the ceiling you won’t make it. Then spin so you make it past the electricity.
To pick up the 1UP you have to drop down from the 3rd platform to land on top of the monitor. Then you can climb up to the right side.
You can tap the opposite direction to stand in place and be able to cross. Be careful at the end, there’s a saw that comes after you!
You can skip the entire section taking a shortcut in this stage. Press the switch and run to outrun the platform and you can reach a secret path before the platform closes it. If you didn’t run fast enough and the platforms blocks the path, you can take a death to try again. You definitely want to pick this shortcut.
There is no checkpoint if you pick the shortcut, so if after getting the shortcut you fall down some platforms and get out of the intended path, you can take a death again to start from the very beginning.
Make a big jump because there are enemies there and they can make you fall down to the normal route and you will have to take a death to come back.
You don’t have rings on the final battle. To damage robotnik, you have to hit the piston that he is inside.
That spot where I marked with a yellow arrow is a safe spot. Robotnit will never be able to crush you if you stand there. I recommend playing the fight around where sonic is standing.
Move away when you see the pistons falling. If you are not sure, just go back to the safe spot and play slow. There is always a bigger gap somewhere between the electricity balls (it’s always random, it’s not a pattern). If you stand between the biggest gap you will never get hit. If it’s a smaller gap, you can still make it in between with a neutral jump.
SPECIAL STAGES (CHAOS EMERALDS)
Do nothing! You will get to the prisms. Once you break the wall make a jump to pick it.
Don’t press anything again! After bouncing on the star and landing on the candy (and a rotation to the left) jump to the other candy to make it to the left side and do nothing again. When you see the prisms, you can play around the R.
Don’t press any buttons and once you fall on the prisms press left so you rotate and open the first prisms. You want to make a hole and stand on the hole as much as you can and jump to keep breaking the path. Once you start falling from gravity away from the prisms, don’t press any buttons again and when you land on the wall make a jump and try to stand on the left side. You will fall on the prisms again and you will pick the emerald.
Hold left right from the start, you will automatically get pushed down. Once you land on the UP, make a jump to press the R. Then let sonic slide onto the next left R and hold left. You want to avoid pressing any R from now on, so tap left sometimes and keep pressing left until you land on the prisms. Keep holding left so you break a few, and once gravity kicks you out, land on the middle 3 candy blocks and just stand there, don’t press any buttons. You will fall on the prisms. Once you fall on them, keep holding left and you will get the emerald.
You want to avoid pressing the first rotation, you can make a few jumps. Then don’t press anything and you will end up pressing an R and landing on the candy blocks. Once sonic starts falling from gravity, tap right for just a moment (this will avoid the bumper and the rotation) Then don’t press anything and you will land on the prisms. Once you are there, try to get in between the prisms and the bounce.
Avoid pressing the rotation and make it to the left side. Keep pressing left and you will be able to sit on the candy blocks. As soon as you have a chance, jump and stand on the prisms pressing directions until you break them all.
BASIC GENERAL TIPS!
Sonic spins faster if you press any direction, so you will get pushed much faster and if you jump, you will reach more far. It's better to press directions after jumping instead of pressing directions while standing still and then jumping.
In most of the special levels, the best you can do is absolutely nothing. If you make mistakes and press a wrong rotation, try to inmediately jump again to it and rotate the other way quickly to regain control of the maze.