List of levels

Levels, also known as Zones or Stages, in the Sonic the Hedgehog series are where most the games take place in. The goal of most levels is get from the beginning to the end with as little to no lives lost as possible, while jumping on platforms, collecting rings and items, destroying enemies, and sometimes fighting a boss. However, depending on who you're playing as, the levels may have a different goal.

Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)

 * Green Hill Zone - As the first level in the game, Green Hill Zone much more peaceful compared to the other zones in the game. The level contains rolling hills, crumbling cliffs, and waterfalls.
 * Marble Zone - Above ground, grass grows over the ancient marble buildings and there are columns and statues everywhere. Below ground, however, the Marble Zone is full of moving platforms, magma flows, and crushing, spiked weights.
 * Spring Yard Zone - It is an urban level with many springs and bumpers, resembling a pinball machine. There are many secret areas in this zone. Act 2 has two Robotnik signs (goals) and as such, can be ended through two possible routes.
 * Labyrinth Zone - The area is located within the caves of South Island's prominent mountain range. It features many spikes, spears, and water-driven contraptions, although, despite the Doctor's efforts, Sonic's greatest hazard in this zone is not the enemies or the traps, but the water. Sonic is terrible at swimming, and he can only hold his breath for so long. Collecting air bubbles found at certain points underwater resets the counter and prevents Sonic from drowning.
 * Star Light Zone - It is a rather peaceful zone set in an urban environment at night, under the stars, and containing many loops, accompanied by beautiful music. This stage contains many roller coaster-like sections in which Sonic is hurled along paths at great speed.
 * Scrap Brain Zone - A stage that consists of acres of industrial superstructure. The ground is encased in soulless concrete and steel, and also has a thousand automated factories, belching jet-black pollution into the rancid air as robotic horrors crawl across the metal gangways. It is a trap-filled industrial stage containing many dangerous machines such as saws, flame vents, and disappearing and rotating platforms.
 * Final Zone - It is the shortest zone in the game, as it only features the final boss of the game, while having the final fight against Dr. Robotnik inside his private laboratory.

Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit)

 * Green Hill Zone - The zone, again like its Genesis counterpart, is filled with rolling plains of green and jauntily colored flowers. Setting itself apart from its Mega Drive/Genesis counterpart, Act 2 of Green Hill Zone starts with the player falling into a cave complex partly filled with water, that the player must navigate through to complete the Act.
 * Bridge Zone - The zone, as expected, is filled with wooden bridges (some less sturdy than others), as Sonic crosses South Island's massive central river. There are also giant metal scales dotted around the level; presumably these are placed by Eggman as scientific equipment of some sort.
 * Jungle Zone - Jungle Zone is an area of South Island; a huge, thick rainforest, with treacherous waterways, snaking vines, and giant trees. Indeed, Act 2 is a vertical level where Sonic has to climb a massive waterfall, jumping on rocky outcroppings and floating wooden boughs.
 * Labyrinth Zone - This zone is significantly less dangerous than its 16-bit counterpart; the Acts are both smaller, and less hopelessly maze-like.
 * Scrap Brain Zone - A stage that consists of acres of industrial superstructure. The ground is encased in soulless concrete and steel, and also has a thousand automated factories, belching jet-black pollution into the rancid air as robotic horrors crawl across the metal gangways. It is a trap-filled industrial stage containing many dangerous machines such as saws, flame vents, and disappearing and rotating platforms.
 * Sky Base Zone - At the end of the previous level, Robotnik fled to an airship hidden in the smog clouds of Scrap Brain Zone. Sonic, obviously, pursues. Sky Base Act 1 sees the heroic hedgehog navigate his way through the exposed gantries and electric fields of the airship anchorage above Scrap Brain, speeding to catch the fat man's massive escape vessel before it departs. In Act 2, Sonic must brave the fearsome defenses on board the zeppelin itself; cannons, propeller blades, and of course the ever-present threat of falling thousands of feet to hedgehog-y oblivion.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit)

 * Under Ground Zone - It is a hot, rocky zone filled with rail carts which Sonic can ride, and magma pits which the rail carts invariably dump you in. Craggy mountains rise in the background, and there are a number of spin-dash-able walls leading to hidden goodies like extra lives.
 * Sky High Zone - As the name suggests, is an exposed and windswept location, always somewhat cloudy and prone to extreme storms very often. An abundance of wayward zephyrs throughout this zone makes hang-gliding extremely dangerous
 * Aqua Lake Zone - The surface areas sport an abundance of operational fountains and water features. While beneath the lake's surface, crumbling ruins provide Sonic with a dangerous obstacle course. Bubbles in Aqua Lake Zone are much larger (and more resilient) than you might be used to, in Mega Drive games. With these bubbles, Sonic can actually jump in and ride all the way up to the surface.
 * Green Hills Zone - This zone, like the original Green Hill, is filled with rolling plains of green and loop-the-loops which Sonic must defy gravity in order to speed around. It also contains a couple of flip-ramps as in the Green Hill Zone of Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit). Pretty much the only difference comes from the trees, which seem more of the deciduous variety than the usual palm. Nevertheless, it seems likely that Green Hills is supposed to be the same place as (or at least a sub-region of) the original Green Hill, as both Zones are sited on South Island, and they are almost identical.
 * Gimmick Mountain Zone - The zone bears hallmarks of Scrap Brain Zone from the 16-bitSonic; traps aplenty, conveyor belts, and those rotating circular disks which Sonic can somehow stick to the underside of. It is, however, clearly carved out of the inside of a mountain, as evidenced by the rocky backgrounds which Dr. Robotnik has grafted his inscrutable technology upon.
 * Scrambled Egg Zone - As with its predecessor, it appears to be part of a hollowed-out mountain which Eggman has sculpted for his own nefarious purposes. Blue rocks and dark, yawning caverns abound, illuminated by the pitiless blinking of Robotnik's linear light arrangements. The zone is riddled with winding transport tubes, many of which dump Sonic unceremoniously into spike pits.
 * Crystal Egg Zone - It can be accessed only if you've successfully collected all the Chaos Emeralds in previous zones. It is perhaps the least aesthetically offensive of all the final bases Eggman's constructed over the years; a zone of glassy, translucent architecture where even the spikes glow in rainbow hues. Rainbow hues of death. Blocks embossed with the Dr. Eggman pugnacious visage frequently conceal hidden walkways.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit)

 * Emerald Hill Zone - The level is a grassy, green zone with plenty of easy obstacles and secret passageways. Idyllic waterfalls cascade amidst the tropical meadows, and the coconut palms of Westside Island rise amidst natural gardens of red and pink flowers. Wooden bridges and ring-filled mobius strips are the only signs of artificial intrusion, aside from Robotnik's retracting spike beds, and Badniks.
 * Chemical Plant Zone - It takes place in an industrial cityscape, filled with toxic gloop, mechanical creatures, and twisting chemical pipes. Suction tubes, miscellaneous terrain features that suck you in and deposit you at the other side of the tunnel, wind across the level. Blocky collections of yellow/purple squares move back and forth periodically.
 * Aquatic Ruin Zone - A crumbling, semi-submerged stonework ruin, the Zone sports a couple of main terrain features that make it unique compared to the others. Water, for one; The movement speed underwater is much slower. The ancient pillars that lie dotted around Aquatic Ruin are riddled with traps. Some will rise up when you approach, and you must jump on them to destroy them.
 * Casino Night Zone - It is, predictably, a sprawling casino set at night. Jaunty electric colors and pinball flippers abound, as well as slot machines where Sonic can rack up hundreds of rings if you're lucky enough to get the right combinations. Bounce-able tiles flash green, yellow, then red as you hit them, enabling Sonic to rack up points. The level also features steely blue elevators, which convey Sonic upwards or downwards depending on the specific lift.
 * Hill Top Zone - This stage features lava pits and underground caverns, which are similar features of the Marble Zone in the preceding game. However, Hill Top features no sturdy ruins of long-gone civilizations; they would have been ground to dust by the frequent earthquakes which ravage the zone and fill the caverns with scorching magma. Outside, pine trees rise over a landscape of blue-tinted rocks, with rickety vine chairlifts connecting one peak to another. See-saws and shuttle loops are scattered throughout the zone
 * Mystic Cave Zone - It features moss-covered rocks and dangling plant tendrils within these dimly-lit subterranean spaces. Impassable walls can be lowered to form convenient bridges if you are sharp-eyed enough to spot the hidden switches within the slimy vines that hang from the ceiling.
 * Oil Ocean Zone - The slimy oil refineries off the coast of Westside Island. The Zone hosts strange green/yellow checkered cannons, which throw Sonic back and forth around the level like crazy. Flame-propelled gas-burn platforms also provide a means by which to gain altitude.
 * Metropolis Zone - Meter-wide screws and bolts tower up into the caves of turquoise steel, mid-air floating conveyor belts and vast mesh-work dynamos thrash out hundreds of revolutions a minute. Along the walls, steam-pipes coil like brassy pythons, and giant cogs slowly grind out immense manufacturing processes above lakes of molten metal.
 * Sky Chase Zone - In this stage, the player that you are controlling (Sonic or Tails) will be standing on top of the wings of the Tornado bi-plane. The other character will be in the cockpit, flying the plane.
 * Wing Fortress Zone - The beige aircraft contains all too many opportunities for Sonic to fall to his death, be it swinging hand-over-hand on the bars right next to the flaming booster engines, or jumping along retractable platforms set in the side of the ship, or being thrown over wide, open spaces by the launcher chairs which lie amidst the steel rigging. Vertical propeller blades are also on hand to chop the player up into pieces when they run into them.
 * Death Egg Zone - After Wing Fortress Zone's destruction, and hitching a ride to space aboard Robotnik's fleeing rocket, Sonic makes his way inside the battle station.

Beta/Scrapped Levels

 * Dust Hill Zone - A scrapped desert-esque level.
 * Hidden Palace Zone - A palace, different in appearance from its Sonic 3 & Knuckles counterpart.
 * Wood Zone - A big forest.
 * Death Egg Zone (Full Version) - Death Egg was originally going to be a large zone instead of only a boss fight with Silver Sonic and Eggman.

SegaSonic the Hedgehog

 * Volcanic Vault - The level is set in a volcano. The traps include fireballs, lava, and a colapsing bridge.
 * Icy Isle
 * Desert Dodge - The main danger of this level is four tornadoes that rotate around each other, chasing the player throughout the level. The tornadoes appear from the start of the level, chasing the player down a desert path riddled with cacti, stones, mini-tornadoes, quicksand, and collapsing areas of the sandy path.
 * Trap Tower - At the beginning of the stage, the player is pursued down a long straight path by what appears to be a large metal gear-like cylinder.
 * Landslide Limbo - It is based off of a canyon-type area. Dangers include crumbling ground, boulders, and fireballs. Catapults and specially marked wooden platforms launch the player across gaps.
 * Wild Water Way - At the beginning of the level, the player runs across a wooden bridge. The bridge collapses, dropping the player into the water below, where two deadly fans pursue the player through a watery passage.
 * Eggman's Tower - After reaching Dr. Eggman in the first part of the level, he presses a self-destruct switch that gives you a mere 20 seconds to escape. If you don't, you will lose with no chance of continuing, as the game states "You failed." and Eggman laughs at you.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD

 * Palmtree Panic - It is a tropical region with sharp mountains and scattered waterfalls in the background. Hence the name, palm trees adorn the region, as well as star-shaped plants that seem to litter the tropic coast.
 * Collision Chaos - It is an unusual, possibly psychedelic mechanized forest with a well-established casino. Neon signs line up across the casino. A lake is shown at the very bottom of the zone.
 * Tidal Tempest - It is an underwater region that strongly resembles the Labyrinth Zone. It rests at the base of many volcanoes and rocky structures. Pipes carry water from one area to another, with stone pillars adorning certain parts of the zone. The water elevation is normal in the Present, giving the zone a greenish/clear tint when entered.
 * Quartz Quadrant - Quartz Quadrant is an aqua-colored mine bustling with machinery, and is in the process of extracting crystals on conveyor belts and platforms for an unknown purpose. The outdoor area features a swamp where the quartz are being shipped off to whatever far-off land they are designated to.
 * Wacky Workbench - It is a weapons warehouse located in a canyon that is ruled by electricity. Inside, there are many abstract mechanisms present, such as hovering platforms, grounded police sirens, a checkered floor (which flickers occasionally) that allows Sonic to bounce to higher areas, and atom-like structures that are constantly generating a wire of electric energy. Air vents have the adverse effect of freezing Sonic if he comes into contact with them.
 * Stardust Speedway - It is a highway adorned with musical instruments above an enormous city; like its namesake implies, the city glows with many lights. A statue of Doctor Robotnik can be seen undergoing construction in Zone 2, with girders and incomplete sections.
 * Metallic Madness - Practically everything is metal in this technologically-ruled base owned by Doctor Robotnik with a hue of green. The floor has built-in turbines, so Sonic must watch out for death traps, such as moving buzz-saws, cages with spinning bars, and spinning blades on wheels. There are also springs on moving wheels, which can make it tricky to reach higher places.

Beta/Scrapped Levels

 * R2 - Nothing about it is known.
 * Desert Dazzle - A desert-like level.

Sonic Chaos

 * Turquoise Hill Zone - Very much in the style of Green Hill Zone as a tropical-paradise-themed opening level, Turquoise Hill is filled with grassy plains, palm trees, checkered soil, and loop-the-loops.
 * Gigalopolis Zone - It sees Sonic run through an urban environment at night, under the stars. Some of the level resembles a construction site, with orange, metal frameworks and seemingly incomplete block walls. The background displays various high-rise buildings as well.
 * Sleeping Egg Zone - It is an unusual stage with many breakable blocks, and numerous foreground walls emblazoned with Robotnik's image. It is some sort of high-altitude construction site of Robotnik's; as some of the level appears incomplete, with metal frameworks and half-finished blocky walls.
 * Mecha Green Hill Zone - It is a tropical area, but everything from the ground to the trees is completely mechanized. The ground is stark and metallic, and the skies are sickly, polluted green.
 * Aqua Planet Zone - It Aqua Planet has many underwater sections. The Zone consists of crumbling, half-submerged ruins, from which ruby-tinted offshore oil rigs can be glimpsed in the background. Aqua Planet is a stormy zone too, as the roiling clouds will attest.
 * Electric Egg Zone - Electric Egg is a sprawling techno-fortress, and the Doctor's final base in the game. Automatic laser cannons, bottomless pits, and spikes aplenty await Sonic and Tails as they close in on Dr. Robotnik himself. The zone is crisscrossed by a network of winding vacuum tubes.

Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball

 * Toxic Caves - It is a disgusting, slimy dungeon, filled to the brim (literally) with horrible green ooze which is all kinds o' deadly. Rusted sewer pipes snake through rocks dripping with fluorescent green pollution, and the waters below are patrolled by an immense robotic sea-serpent.
 * Lava Powerhouse - Lava Powerhouse is a geothermal energy plant, fueling the roboticizing factories of the Veg-O-Fortress' higher levels by tapping the magma flowing through the core of Mt. Mobius. Steam-driven pistons and pressure dials abound, in addition to giant bellows crewed by odd blue kangaroo Mobians.
 * The Machine - It is the rumbling, robotic core of the Veg-O-Fortress. Glassy industrial pipes riddle a stage of churning pistons, electrical arc furnaces, and massive electronics systems.
 * Showdown - It takes place both in the sunset scaffolding of the rocket's launch pad, and inside the hovering star-ship itself. At the bottom of the level rests the magma-filled caldera of the mountain.

Sonic 3 Levels

 * Angel Island Zone - A lush, tropical jungle, eventually set on fire by Robotnik's robot's Fire Breath.
 * Hydrocity Zone - A subterranean system of water.
 * Marble Garden Zone - Ancient ruins of marble on a steep hill.
 * Carnival Night Zone - A carnival full of contraptions.
 * IceCap Zone - An icy mountain and cavern.
 * Launch Base Zone - The launch site of the Death Egg.

Sonic & Knuckles Levels

 * Mushroom Hill Zone - A forest hill abundant with giant mushrooms.
 * Flying Battery Zone - Dr. Robotnik's gigantic metal blimp.
 * Sandopolis Zone - A giant desert containing ancient pyramids.
 * Lava Reef Zone - The heart of a great volcano.
 * Hidden Palace Zone - A secret chamber containing the Master Emerald.
 * Sky Sanctuary Zone - A collections of ancient ruins located in the sky above Angel Island.
 * Death Egg Zone - Dr. Robotnik's restored space station, now empowered by the stolen Master Emerald.

Unlockable Levels

 * Doomsday Zone - The final battle in space.

Sonic Drift

 * Green Hill Zone
 * Marble Zone
 * Spring Yard Zone
 * Labyrinth Zone
 * Star Light Zone
 * Scrap Brain Zone

Sonic Triple Trouble

 * Great Turquoise Zone - A tropical paradise filled with grassy plains and palm trees.
 * Sunset Park Zone - A multi-story railway.
 * Meta Junglira Zone - A sprawling, swampy rainforest.
 * Robotnik Winter Zone - A frozen network of caves.
 * Tidal Plant Zone - An underwater power plant.
 * Atomic Destroyer Zone - A maze-like network of vacuum tubes.

Purple GP

 * Emerald Hill Zone 1
 * Hill Top Zone 1
 * Dark Valley 1 - A mountainous roadway.
 * Casino Night Zone 1
 * Desert Road 1 - An arid, sandy track.
 * Iron Ruin 1 - A rusted wasteland.

White GP

 * Desert Road 2
 * Rainy Savanna - A monsoon veldt.
 * Ice Cap
 * Hill Top Zone 2
 * Mystic Cave Zone - A cavernous racecourse.
 * Emerald Hill Zone 2

Blue GP

 * Dark Valley 2
 * Quake Cave - An underground tunnel.
 * Balloon Panic - A tropical beach.
 * Emerald Ocean - The tropical shallows.
 * Milky Way - An astral racetrack.
 * Death Egg - The space station exterior.

Knuckles Chaotix

 * Isolated Island - A small, secluded island.
 * World Entrance - The hub world.
 * Botanic Base - A giant greenhouse abundant with plant life.
 * Speed Slider - A high speed casino-like attraction.
 * Amazing Arena - A musical arena filled with speakers and projectors.
 * Techno Tower - A huge, futuristic tower.
 * Marina Madness - A series of ships floating in the sky.

Tails' Skypatrol

 * RailCanyon Area - A rocky, stout pine forest.
 * RuinWood Area - A dingy cave system in a giant forest.
 * MetalIsland Area - A whirring course of aeronautics equipment.
 * DarkCastle Area - Witchcart's creepy fortress.

Tails Adventure

 * Poloy's Forest
 * Volcanic Tunnel
 * Polly Mountain 1
 * Lake Rocky
 * Cavern Island
 * Green Island
 * Lake Crystal
 * Polly Mountain 2
 * Caron Forest
 * Coco Island

Sonic Labyrinth

 * Labyrinth of the Sky
 * Labyrinth of the Sea
 * Labyrinth of the Factory
 * Labyrinth of the Castle

Sonic the Fighters

 * South Island
 * Flying Carpet
 * Aurora Icefield
 * Canyon Cruise
 * Mushroom Hill
 * Casino Night
 * Dynamite Plant
 * Giant Wing
 * Death Egg's Eye
 * Death Egg's Hangar

Sonic 3D Blast

 * Green Grove Zone
 * Rusty Ruin Zone
 * Spring Stadium Zone
 * Diamond Dust Zone
 * Volcano Valley Zone
 * Gene Gadget Zone
 * Panic Puppet Zone
 * Final Fight

Sonic's/Metal Sonic's Levels

 * Emerald Coast - A beach in Station Square. Has two segments.
 * Windy Valley - A valley in the Mystic Ruins. Has three segments.
 * Casinopolis - A casino in Station Square. Has two segments.
 * Ice Cap - A cave in the Mystic Ruins. Has three segments.
 * Twinkle Park - An amusement park in Station Square. Has two segments.
 * Speed Highway - A busy highway in Station Square. Has two segments.
 * Red Mountain - A volcano in Mystic Ruins. Has two segments.
 * Sky Deck - A deck on the Egg Carrier. Has one segment.
 * Lost World - An ancient ruin in the Mystic Ruins. Has two segments.
 * Final Egg - A base in the Egg Carrier. Has two segments.

Tails' Levels

 * Windy Valley - A valley in the Mystic Ruins. In this level, you must race Sonic.
 * Casinopolis - A casino in Station Square. In this level, you must race Sonic.
 * Ice Cap - A cave in the Mystic Ruins. In this level, you must race Sonic.
 * Sky Deck - A deck on the Egg Carrier. In this level, you must race Sonic.
 * Speed Highway - A busy highway in Station Square. In this level, you must race Dr. Eggman.

Knuckles' Levels

 * Speed Highway - A busy highway in Station Square.
 * Casinopolis - A casino in Station Square.
 * Red Mountain - A volcano in the Mystic Ruins.
 * Lost World - An ancient ruin in the Mystic Ruins.
 * Sky Deck - A deck on the Egg Carrier.

Amy's Levels

 * Twinkle Park - An amusement park in Station Square. Has two segments.
 * Hot Shelter - A shelter in the Egg Carrier. Has one segment.
 * Final Egg - A base in the Egg Carrier. Has two segments.

Big's Levels

 * Twinkle Park - An amusement park in Station Square.
 * Ice Cap - A cave in the Mystic Ruins.
 * Emerald Coast - A beach in Station Square.
 * Hot Shelter - A shelter in the Egg Carrier.

E-102 Gamma's Levels

 * Final Egg - A base in the Egg Carrier.
 * Emerald Coast - A beach in Station Square.
 * Windy Valley - A valley in the Mystic Ruins.
 * Red Mountain - A volcano in the Mystic Ruins.
 * Hot Shelter - A shelter in the Egg Carrier.