Later that very day, Sonic awakens from his afternoon nap and slips on his red sneakers as usual. Only something doesn't feel quite right: the shoes are abnormally heavy. So heavy, in fact, that Sonic quickly discovers he cannot run or jump. Struggle as he might, Sonic is unable to remove the freaky footwear, but upon closer examination notices Eggman's insignia on the bottom. Cursing his carelessness, Sonic's attention is drawn to the booming laughter of Dr. Eggman, who proudly explains that his new Speed Down Boots can only be removed with Chaos Emerald power, the same power that created them. And the Emeralds are all hidden away in Eggman's new stronghold, the great labyrinth, an obstacle course Sonic cannot possibly hope to navigate without his trademark speed. South Island suddenly echoes with the sound of large machines: construction has already begun on Eggmanland, the bad Doc's new base of operations.

   Now our hedgehog hero finds himself in a difficult situation. Tails had departed on his own solo journey some days prior, so there are no sidekicks around to save the day. Running and jumping are impossible... but not rolling! Equipped with nothing but his trademark spin, Sonic enters Eggman's great labyrinth to take back the Chaos Emeralds and his namesake speed.

   The goal is to locate the 3 Keys hidden on each board then reach the exit within the time limit. Sonic's movement can be controlled with the D-pad, but his basic walk is more like a trudge - a hopeless tactic against the oppressive countdown. The only way to get Sonic around fast enough to stand a chance against the clock is to slingshot him from A to B with the Rolling Attack (the Spin Dash, basically, though it isn't referred to as such). Press and hold button 1 or 2 to have Sonic rev up, and alter his trajectory with the D-pad. Arrows just overhead denote the speed of the dash: more notches mean more speed. When the power gauge is at the desired level, release button 1/2 to have Sonic dash off with a high speed Rolling Attack. Press button 1 or 2 while rolling to have Sonic screech to a halt and revert to his more maneuverable standing posture.

   Barring Scroll Zones (see below), there are no Rings and no power bars: if Sonic takes damage by walking into an enemy or spike trap, 10 seconds are shaved off the timer. If the timer hits 0, Sonic loses a life and restarts the stage. Precious seconds can be added to the clock by busting enemies and collecting Keys: each bopped baddie adds 5 seconds to the countdown while pilfering a Key tacks on a comforting 30.

   Items on each board are pretty sparse, mainly consisting of bumpers, flippers, and other pinbally doodads. Power-up items appear as randomly shifting clusters of triangles: once the formation you're after appears, grab it quickly before it morphs into something else.

	Key (キー) -- There are 3 of these in each stage. Nab the whole set to open the exit gate. 30 seconds are added to the timer with each Key acquired. Upon taking damage, all collected Keys scatter in the immediate vicinity: grab them back quickly or they'll warp to their original resting spot in the stage, forcing you to backtrack to retrieve them. (Note that retrieving a lost Key does not add time to the countdown.)
	Ring (リング) -- These only appear in the Scroll Zones and bonus stage. Collect 100 for a 1up. Rings also protect against boss damage.
	Question (クエスチョン) -- Destroys all on-screen enemies (they very quickly respawn)
	1up -- Sonic gets an extra life. This formation appears less frequently than the others.
	Twinkle (トゥインクル) -- Temporary invincibility
	Speed Boots (スピードブーツ) -- Temporary speed increase
	Magic Clock (マジッククロック) -- 30 seconds are added to the timer

   Enemies can be destroyed with the customary Rolling Attack for a 5 second bonus on the countdown. Occasionally, a bot can be found carrying a Key on its noggin: destroy the baddie to get the booty.

	Peppepe (ペッペペ) -- Toy ducks that roll along the ground and cough up sticky white puddles. Step in a puddle and Sonic becomes momentarily immobilized.
	Toriri (トリリ) -- Bird bots that jet mindlessly across the board. ("Tori" is Japanese for bird.)
	Flowawa (フラワワ) -- Immobile flower bots that spout damage-inflicting spores in all directions.
	Puyoyo (プヨヨ) -- Blobby jellyfish that squirm along the ground in erratic patterns.
	Ototo (オトト) -- Shark bots that jet mindlessly across the board. They only appear while you're in cannons: if you smack into one after firing, it'll cut short your flight.
	Kabutoto (カブトト) -- Horseshoe crab bots that stand around stupidly. There's actually only 1 in the whole game - he can be found guarding a Key in Zone 2-1. ("Kabutogani" is Japanese for horseshoe crab.)
	Yadokaka (ヤドカカ) -- Big-eyed hermit crab bots that crawl slowly along the ground, stopping at regular intervals to duck into their protective shells. Venture a spin when they're shelled up and Sonic will bounce right off. ("Yadokari" is Japanese for hermit crab.)
	Takoko (タココ) -- Immobile octopus bots that fire sparks in all directions. The sparks inflict damage, but direct contact with the bot is harmless. Occasionally they poop oil slicks that send Sonic out of control. ("Tako" is Japanese for octopus.)
	Kibaba (キババ) -- Immobile fanged bots that pop in and out of the ground, firing missiles in all directions. ("Kiba" is Japanese for fang.)
	Mukaka (ムカカ) -- These bots come in sets of 3 and bound around the board at high speed. Each segment must be destroyed separately.
	Aroro (アロロ) -- Stubby bots that stand on platforms out of Sonic's reach and fire arrows.
	Nyororo (ニョロロ) -- Snake bots that slither slowly along the ground, but strike with the quickness as soon as Sonic crosses their path. ("Nyoro-nyoro" is Japanese for slither.)
	Peroro (ペロロ) -- Tiny bots that roll slowly along the ground, pausing occasionally to unfurl their ample tongues. ("Pero-pero" is Japanese for lick.)
	Robototo (ロボトト) -- Bipedal robots that lumber speedily (but stupidly) along the ground.
	Gaikoko (ガイココ) -- Ghostly skull bots that appear out of thin air and hover slowly along, spouting flame puffs from their jaws. They're invulnerable. ("Gaikotsu" is Japanese for skeleton.)
	Kapupu (カププ) -- Giant fish bots that leap from castle streams in stage 4 and attempt to dine on meager hedgehogs.
	Dragogo (ドラゴゴ) -- Immobile dragon bots consisting only of neck and head that pop out of the ground. They spit balls of fire and are invulnerable.

   Eggman's great labyrinth consists of 4 Zones each divided into 4 rounds. The 4th round of each Zone is a so-called Scroll Zone (スクロールゾーン), in which Sonic plummets at dangerous speeds down a long, narrow slide. Maneuver Sonic into 100 Rings on his descent to score a 1up. Smack into an obstacle (such as a glass window or puffy cloud) to slow down, but avoid spikes which rob Sonic of all collected Rings. At the end of each rolling course, Sonic faces the area boss. In the boss round, there is no timer: Sonic uses Rings collected in the Scroll Zone for their customary purpose, but note that once damage has been sustained, lost Rings cannot be retrieved. At the end of each round, Sonic's score is tallied with bonus points awarded for seconds left on the clock (your speed is calculated in kilometers per hour). At the end of the game (either through completion or Game Over), your completion time and score is added up with a star rating from 1-5. The star rating is just to abase you, but the best time and score are recorded for all to see.

Labyrinth of the Sky -- Conveyor belts alter Sonic's direction while reflective squares on the grid push him away. Watch for rolling boulders. The timer in each of the 3 stages starts at 60 seconds. Mecha Gorilla (メカゴリラ) -- The gorilla begins his assault by firing off a series of tiny robo apes. Dodge the onslaught and the main monkey appears in the middle of the arena. His arms blast off and begin probing the board, leaving the husk defenseless. Defeated in 8 hits.

Labyrinth of the Sea -- Slip into cannons and press button 1 or 2 to blast away when the arrow is pointing in the direction you'd like to travel. Don't wander around in lava too long, because the timer ticks away at double speed. The bonus door is hidden in Zone 2-3. The timer in each of the 3 stages starts at 1'15". Kani Pearl (カニパール) -- The battle begins with a series of tiny crabs scuttering along the ground. Dodge the assault and the oyster crab appears. The crab crawls sideways along a narrow three-pronged platform: as it approaches each branch, it randomly opens its shell to fire a pearl bullet. The moment it opens up to fire is the only chance to attack. Defeated in 5 hits. ("Kani" is Japanese for crab.)

Labyrinth of the Factory -- Glowing floors slow Sonic almost to a halt - he can actually walk faster than he can roll on such surfaces. Stand on star platforms for a ride, but dismount quickly upon landing or they're liable to disappear from right under your feet. Stand on flashing squares to warp to other portions of the stage. Time limits are as follows: Zone 3-1 = 1'30"; Zone 3-2 = 2'00"; Zone 3-3 = 1'30". Needle Man (ニードルマン) -- As usual, a flurry of miniature Needle Men fly through the arena before the boss himself appears. This robot lumbers around with a large spiked shield protecting its front side. As it trudges around, spikes from the shield fire off one-by-one. Needless to say, damage can't be inflicted from the front, so you need to maneuver Sonic around back where the Needle Man is defenseless. Defeated in 10 hits.

Labyrinth of the Castle -- Watch for pounding guillotines and falling stalactites from above, and keep an eye open for will-o'-the-wisps and crawling flame caterpillars that roam aimlessly around the floor. Conveyor belts flow and cascade like waterfalls. The only way to navigate the stage is to traverse a series of labyrinthine doorways that warp to different parts of the board. Time limits are as follows: Zone 4-1 = 1'30"; Zone 4-2 = 2'30"; Zone 4-3 = 3'00". Smiley Bomb (スマイリー・ボム) -- Dodge the shower of tiny Eggman bombs that rain down from above and the Smiley Bomb appears. The Smiley hovers around overhead and attacks by flying over Sonic's position and dropping a bomb. Immediately following the explosive poop, the Smiley lowers down to attack head-on at the point of impact: this is the only opportunity to attack. After 10 hits, the bottom half of the bomb disappears leaving only the creepy grinning head floating around in the air. The head attacks in the same general pattern, except rather than dropping a bomb, it vomits up a laser blast that splits into two smaller charges upon hitting the ground. 10 more hits (total of 20) to pop the Smiley Bomb.

   Sonic is awarded a Chaos Emerald after defeating each boss, and Eggman drops the fifth while escaping after the final battle. That still leaves one Emerald unaccounted for: clear the game without it and you'll get the bad ending along with a cryptic hint as to where the missing gem may be found. In Zone 2-3 on the lower right edge of the board you may notice a closed door marked "BONUS". To get inside, hop into the cannon found on the lower left hand corner of the stage: while in the cannon, press and hold right on the D-pad along with buttons 1 and 2 simultaneously. Continue holding until the cannon fires and Sonic gets dropped onto a secret platform with the switch for the bonus door.

   The bonus stage is a wide open board with plenty of bumpers and a dozen Rings. The goal is to bounce around and grab as much loot as you can within the scant 30 second time limit. Each Ring on the board is worth a full 25: grab 4 to earn a 1up. When your time is up (or if you fall over the edge), you're ejected back into Zone 2-3. Note that while you never actually see the last Chaos Emerald, it's automatically added to your stock regardless of how many Rings you managed to nab in the bonus stage. Clear the game with all 6 Emeralds to view the good ending and receive the level select code.

   From the options menu, players may choose the number of lives Sonic begins the game with: 3 is default, but the number can be set to anything between 1 and 10. The control setup can be toggled between straight (Sonic controls normally) or slant (the cardinal directions on the D-pad act as diagonals, facilitating somewhat smoother movement if you can adjust to it). Also in the menu is the Time Attack, a race against the clock through a variation of Zone 1-2. The best time and score are recorded, and along with the standard star rating you're also given a 5-digit password. The password has no use in the context of the game, but was actually for entry into a contest held by Sega of Japan between November 17 and December 31, 1995. The contest was only open to Japanese players with some miscellaneous Sonic swag given away as prizes to the top 100 contestants.