Welcome to Neo Green Hill, the introductory zone of Sonic's first foray into the world of Nintendo handhelds. Based off of the first zone of the first game in the series, loop-de-loops and checkered hills are customary here.
Act 1[edit]
You start out on a beach. Head down the bumpy terrain, and jump onto the first level of the wooden deck you come across. An item box containing a Barrier is at the end of it. Jump onto the same level of the next deck for an item box containing rings, then continue into the loops and you'll reach the green hill segment of the zone. You can either follow the route into the loop, or take the spring up over the loop. Watch out for the spikes here; if you aren't playing as Amy, spin dash off of the loop into a Stinger, and end up racing down a hill. Roll up a hill and into a Point Marker. Jump across the gap and take the spring to the upper-left onto a moving platform. Jump onto the platform to the left of it and onto the landing, where you should see a trampoline. Bounce until you reach a higher level.
Grind onto the rail and find the High Speed item box. Race down the hill (beware of the spring which attempts to throw you into a Stinger below) and find the Point Marker by the Barrier. Avoid grinding down the next rail; jump across to the landing ahead instead, where you should see another Stinger and a spring. Use the spring to get to the moving platform and then use the pole to get onto the land containing the Special Spring. Hop on to be launched into your first Special Stage. The object of the game here is to gather enough rings to get through all points of the stage. Maneuver your character (who is now pulling tricks on a snowboard, Sonic 3-style) down the tube, watching for rings scattered around either side of the path. This shouldn't be so challenging, considering it's the first of a set of 7. Meet the objective and you'll find yourself one Chaos Emerald richer.
After completing the Special Stage, you'll end up back at Neo Green Hill. The Special Spring now acts as a common spring. Use it to get through the rest of the stage quickly, passing the signpost to complete the act.
Act 2[edit]
Get past the loop and ride the waterway, then jump across the gap and follow the vertically-moving platforms to higher ground. Hop onto a spring right past some spikes to make it to the first Point Marker of the act. Instead of taking the Dash Panel for a boost, jump up onto the floating platform and on top of the next loop, jumping over the spring here and taking the spring on the next loop. Here you'll find a Barrier coming from Sonic 3 which attracts all nearby rings until you lose it. Take the floating platform up and follow the path set by the Dash Panel, past two Point Markers and onto a bridge, where you'll face the first boss of the game: Eggman's Egg Hammer Tank. He rides around in a buggy while bringing down a giant hammer in an attempt to get rid of our heroes.
This boss fight should be no trouble at all. Make sure you stay close to Eggman so as to stay out of the range of his weapon. Attack him repeatedly until his latest contraption combusts (after approximately eight hits). Now free the animals and move onto the next stage.