bluejay

Oh, so those chimes and flashing Sonics were extra continues? I had no idea. I first thought they were extra lives, and was rather confused when I didn’t end up with any. I shall try to acquire as much of them as possible on my next attempt, thanks for the tip. 

The 1up sound is a loud fanfare, the continue sound is a chime.

I've only gotten as far as the final boss, and then, only once.

You know how the game's physics engine works? If you don't, take a look into it, as the way it works is really cool. Sonic's gameplay, in Sonic 1, 2, CD, 3&K, and Mania, is extremely heavily reliant on the physics engine, which was something perhaps revolutionary at the time in a home console game. Sonic is defined by slopes, and these are the most important parts of the level design, as they are what affect your jump height to a massive degree. With enough speed, which you get from practice, and an upwards slope, you can jump insanely high and far. This is how you master Sonic. Speed is your reward for being good, not something that is or should be given to the player without earning it, and this is why the 2D games have a relatively high skill ceiling for platformers.