User blog comment:Bullet Francisco/Hardest Sonic Game of All Time?/@comment-Bunnyboo50-20110301034749/@comment-Genesjs-20110301035327

That could be one difficulty especially if you're new to the gameplay, but what I do to solve the problem is that I keep just one ring at a time while fighting a boss, and if I lose that ring I either go to the nearest ring or get the ring I lost back. If I lose the ring for good, then I can go get another, and when I'm about to beat the boss I'll try to see if I can gather all the rings I can find before finishing the boss off.

I think the hardest thing about Sonic games is when you end up having to look for small items in large places, such as when you're Knuckles in Casinopolis. Took me a little while to find all those Master Emerald shards, but then again it was my first time playing that level :P