A quiet, peaceful region set just off the coast of the island. The bright blue sea glitters in the distance as it reflects the clouds above it, and as you progress, another small island becomes visible on the horizon. Green, rolling hills are next to the sea and a large field adorned with rows of yellow flowers can be found in front.

The surfaces are mostly grass (a series of thin vertical strips of dark and light green), and like Green Hill Zone, all the ground below it is orange, but with more complex patterns this time around. It's made up of a number of 3D blocks arranged tightly together, most of which are plain orange, but some sport the classic orange and brown checkered pattern, such as the long narrow pieces on the edges, though much smaller this time. There are also internal tunnels, featuring a darker checkered pattern on the background wall, with glowing circles scattered across it too. Purple and red flowers, small transparent hedges and thin palmtrees with coconuts aplenty decorate the hilly paths, and there are loads of long waterfalls of varying sizes and features, plus wooden rope-bridges to cross them. A rather charming place.

Emerald Hill's top priority is simplicity, with a very straightforward, almost exclusively rightward based structure amid the open layout, which encourages a nice, flowing and speedy, albeit brief playing experience. The paths are noticeably hilly and quite uneven, and they're full of slopes, more leading downwards to the right than the left, in order to churn more speed out of you, and there are sudden upward curves to take you up to a higher plain when hit with speed. More often than not, there are two main routes running at any one point in either act, the top one allowing you to drop down to the lower at a number of points. The upper road follows across long stretches of chunky platforms, some floating freely in the air, while others are connected to the bottom via tall ground reaching up from behind the lower route, ala Green Hill. There are also additional, smaller floating platforms above and around this route, containing extra rings or the occasional hidden checkpoint. You'll also find a number of loop-de-loops, sometimes two in succession, going down a steep slope and for a new 'twist', find thin twirling orange and brown checkered pathways on the higher route, which connect two opposite ledges. They require speed to make it through them, or you'll fall through to the area below.

The lower route, amongst the tall ground and wide waterfalls from above, tends to be a bit flatter, but also holds some narrow, enclosed caves, containing numerous spike traps. Thinner waterfalls commonly flow down into these caves from above, where there are narrow chunks of ground between them at the top. If you slip through the waterfalls, you'll fall down into the caves. Also be on the lookout for many hidden passageways cut into the walls throughout the zone. You can't always see their entrances, but they do have little windows along them, and to get inside, you usually have to jump in from the nearby paths, rather than using the spring that's often in front of the wall. There are two small death drops in Act 2, where small waterfalls will drop you rather suddenly to your doom, but they're quite well hidden and you're unlikely to even come across them at all in regular play, let alone fall into them. In general, this is probably the quickest, simplest level of any primary or secondary Sonic game, and is just designed to get you used to the system. There's very little to worry about for even the least skilled of players here.

There are basic, medium sized moving platforms in the air, sliding from left to right or up and down, while others can fall when you land on them. Springs can be found in horizontal, vertical and now diagonal positions. Use them to speed along the ground, get up to a higher ledge or just plain hurtle through the air, respectively. In the low caves, you'll find vertical red springs hidden under the ground in the bottom corner before a high wall, sending you straight up there as soon as you touch that part of the floor. Static spikes can be found hanging from the ceiling in the internal cave passages, plus regular ones on the floor, out in the open. On the floor of those caves, watch out for smaller sets of spikes slotting in and out aswell, proving to be one of the bigger nuisances in this easy-peasy level. Essentially, you'll find only the most basic of traps and features here.