pinball, but played by using Sonic as a ball...
This game has a unique prespective in which you play the game like a pinball machine. Sonic is your ball, and using the pinball hitters ( I don't know what they are called) you knock Sonic around the various levels to complete certain objectives. Just like a regular game of pinball though, if Sonic falls inbetween the pinball hitters, you lose a life, and just like any game when you lose all your lives, its game over.
Each level is far larger than any pinball machine out there, but with bigger levels comes a bigger challenge of getting Sonic where you need him to go...since you only have little control of him, you just kinda have to try and time your hits and hope you can get him to go where you want him to go...which gets very annoying after playing for a while.
Not a great game, but not the worst, it is worth a playthrough if you are into the oldschool stuff, and if you like Sonic