From all the ones I've played, I liked Blue Sphere the most. Those stages were addicting.

My favourite special stage was the one from Sonic 3 & Knuckles where you have to travel upwards by spinning on those giant shiny balls without getting caught by that laser beam thingy or whatever it was. That was triiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiippy.

I enjoyed Blue Spheres the most. It was challenging, but definitely rewarded pattern recognition. S2's halfpipe felt too disorderly for me to be able to do on my own. However, I do like the premise of the halfpipe, finding it most successfully implemented in the Saturn version of Flicky Island.

I liked Get Blue Spheres as well. It was always the most challenging for me and still is to this day whenever I play it. I never really got all the emeralds in Sonic 2, though the half-pipe is definitely easier a lone character instead of Tails getting smacked by bombs (which often leads to the controller/keyboard in the television screen/monitor).

Sonic Rush's half-pipe was alright, but, like all the special stages in newer 2D Sonic games, the difficulty for me seems to spike around the fifth chaos emerald or so.

I could get the emeralds even with tails clinging behind and getting smacked by bombs, I just pretty much memorized the layouts so I knew when they were coming and all. o.o

The trick (when you didn't have a handy friend around to keep Tails out of the way) was to jump ever so slightly earlier than you would have done with Sonic alone. That way, Tails has time to follow you. Of course, mis-time it and Sonic would land on the mines... It was that last level that was a real pain - you couldn't let Tails hit one mine, or you'd lose.

Ah, those were the days, when my housemates would get woken up by my screeches of anguish as I dropped Sonic into a spike pit...

DW

Man, it surely would be awesome to gather a time machine and to go back into the past and relive those old memories of nostalgia, eh?

If time machines were invented, I probably would have gone back to 2001 and told myself not to touch my sister's tiny SEGA Genesis and her Sonic 2 cartridge.

I want a time machine so I can live forever in the 90s.

I would be happy with a UMPC capable of emulating all 4th, 5th, and 6th Generation game consoles with a few hundred gigabytes of internal storage(or a few SDXC slots).

To answer the original question, I prefer Blue Sphere, but mainly for the insane number of stages available in the full version.

I also liked the rotating maze stages from Sonic 1, though there only being six stages, it gets old pretty quick. Makes me wish someone would make a rom hack with a few hundred stages for that. I know savestate hacks exist for custom mazes, but an entire game based on the concept sounds like a good idea for something in the 'simple but addictive' category.

I actually really loved Sonic Chaos and Triple Trouble's Special Stages.

Sonic Chaos especially, I think the final Chaos Emerald that you snatch before the one Robotnik relinquishes to you upon defeat has the most evilly difficult special stage ever conceived.

EDIT: For those who've never had the pleasure of it, two words: PIPE MAZE.

I like the Sonic X-Treme (Nights Version) special stage. It is alot like Sonic 2, it has halfpipes, mines, and rings, and you need to get at least 95 before the end.

Blue sphere. The hours wasted on that bad boy. The migraines...

Special mention for the Knuckles Chaotix Hex Pipe though. Underrated.

Sonic 1's Spinning Maze for the win.

I loved the scenery. Each one was completely different, it truly seemed like those giant rings were transporting you to another world. And at the time, seeing the old Genny (w/ SegaCD in tow) do Mode 7 like it was no one's business was breathtaking. The gameplay weren't too bad, either. Collision detection seemed kind of off for the UFOs, but it only took a few tries to get the hang of it and then it was all gravy.

Special mention for the Knuckles Chaotix Hex Pipe though. Underrated.

Quote for truth. Those stages were incredible. The bonus stages weren't bad either; Sonic Unleashed's freefall sections are reminiscent of them.

For me, Sonic Rush wins, hands down. Has the best elements of Sonic 2's half-pipe stage, but faster, prettier and better to control.

As a general Top-5, my list goes:

1) Sonic Rush
2) Sonic 3 & Knuckles (Blue Sphere)
3) Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island (Saturn Version)
4) Sonic 2
5) Knuckles' Chaotix

As side topic, as well as our favourite Special Stages, what is everyone's most HATED Special Stage? Hmm?
For me its Sonic Advance 2's mess of a stage. Nigh-impossible to access let alone play.

Additional, over than the Special Stages, my most favourite EVAH way to aquire the Chaos Emeralds can be found in Sonic Pocket Adventure. While there are only 6 Special Stages available (one per zone), there are 7 Chaos Emeralds to get. So how do you get the final one? BASH IT OUT OF EGGMAN'S HANDS AND GRAB FOR YOURSELF, BOI!! Genius! So simple, yet so brilliant.