This game featured the first appearance of Ray the Flying Squirrel, who will not make any subsequent appearances until "Sonic Mania Plus" (2018). Because this game was his only appearance until "Sonic Mania Plus" (2018) and nothing was revealed about him, nothing was known of him other than his name and appearance, and he had since acquired a cult following simply because of the mystery and enormous lack of information associated with him.
The game was adapted in 1999 for the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series published by Archie Comics. The adaptation appeared as the back-up story in Knuckles the Echidna #26-28.
This game features the first appearance of Mighty the Armadillo, who would later have one of the starring roles in Chaotix (1995).