~Sonic Rivals FAQ~ By. FadeddreamsXXX ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A. Legal Notice B. Contact Me C. Version History D. Introduction E. Characters/Stories F. Gameplay F2. Stage Basics F3. Power-ups F4. Specials G. Stages/Walkthrough G2. Racing Tips G3. Forest Falls G4. Colosseum Highway G5. Sky Park (Act 2 coming soon) H. Bosses H2. Egg Turtle H3. Egg Falcon H4. Egg Lynx H5. Egg Kong H6. Egg Destroyer I. Unlockables I2. Costumes I3. Skins I4. Metal Sonic I5. Cups J. Card Collection K. FAQs L. Credits ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A. Legal Notice ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ All information in this FAQ is copyrighted to FadeddreamsXXX, the exact date being 2/11/2007, This FAQ may only be posted on GameFAQs. If you would like to host this FAQ in any other site, contact me by e-mail at FadedFAQs5@Yahoo.com. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ B. Contact Me ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you see any errors in this FAQs or just want to talk to me about it, contact me at my FAQ e-mail at FadedFAQs5@Yahoo.com. Now, here are the things you should not e-mail me for: - Asking questions that do not concern this FAQ. Leave this for the boards please, I will not reply to your e-mail. - Flaming me. The minute you flame me or call me a troll, I will mark you down as spam and not reply. - Making e-mails in the 1337 language or the lol crap. Please do some reading people, it's good for you. - Use of inappropriate titles like "F**k you, Faded! lol", but having a proper e-mail topic. I will ignore these. - Request for credits after I have already submitted the FAQ. I will only give credit to you if you mark down any errors or help me out some more. See how I, Fadeddreams can be pretty strict. ;) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C. Version History ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 1.0: - Started FAQ. - 85% complete FAQ. - Incomplete Walkthrough. 1.5: - Fixed some errors. - Added: Colosseum Act 2 and Sky Park Act 1 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D. Introduction ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This is a general FAQ for the game "Sonic Rivals" for the PSP. It should cover pretty much everything there is to the game. If you have any questions or info you want to share, please contact me at the e-mail shown above. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ E. Characters/Stories ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Story Overview: A mysterious island called "Onyx Island" has appeared in the south seas as if out of nowhere. When Sonic and Tails arrives on the island, they meet with Eggman who seems to have turned Amy into a card using some sort of camera! Eggman immediatly turns Tails into a card as well. Soon Knuckles appears in the scene looking for his Master Emerald, which has also been turned into a card by Eggman! Eggman then flees and its up to Sonic and Knuckles to retrieve these cards, but at the same time compete on who gets them first! At the same time, Shadow appears on this island; who has somehow been called upon by Eggman. Here he meets up with the doctor and notices as a mysterious white hedgehog seems to be "attacking" him. As Shadow draws the Silver back, the doctor gets away. It is up to Shadow to get down to the bottom of things and Silver's duty to find a certain someone he is looking for. 1. Sonic: Sonic is the fastest thing alive. After discovering that Eggman has turned Amy and Tails into cards, he sets out to save them and defeat Eggman once again. 2. Knuckles: Knuckles is a powerful red Echidna who has lived his whole life in Angel Island, guarding the Master Emerald. The Master Emerald seems to have disappeared right in front of Knuckles' eyes however; Eggman seems to know something about the Master Emerald. Knuckles now sets out to retrieve the Master Emerald and defeat Eggman before Sonic does. 3. Shadow: Shadow is the Ultimate Lifeform created by Gerald Robotnik. Shadow was summoned by Eggman asking for his aid. After discovering something strange going on thanks to Rouge, he sets out to get to the bottom of things. 4. Silver: The mysterious hedgehog with telekinetic powers from the future has traveled to the present in search of a certain someone, who has traveled back in time with a device he shouldn't have and shouldn't exist in the present. 5. Metal Sonic: Sonic's robotic copy strikes back! Metal Sonic was last seen in Sonic Heroes as "Neo Metal Sonic", in which he was defeated by Sonic and friends. He has now returned to race the Sonic Rivals. Can Sonic and co. defeat him again? 6. Eggman: The brilliant scientist is once again up to his schemes; he seems to have gotten ahold of a special camera that turns people into cards. Can Sonic stop him before it's too late? 7. Amy: Sonic's "girlfriend" who he always tries to avoid. Amy has been turned into a card by Eggman and it's up to Sonic to save her. 8. Tails: Sonic's long time friend and genius mechanic has been turned into a card by Eggman, it is Sonic's job to rescue both Tails and Amy! 9. Rouge: Rouge is a treasure hunter (or thief) and a goverment agent. After discovering Eggman's true identity in the game, her life gets on the line and it is Shadow's job to save her. 10. ???: Is Eggman the real villain behind everything or is somebody actually stealing his identity? It's up to you to find out! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ F. Gameplay ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sonic Rivals is a racing game that plays similarly to the multiplayer modes in the old Sonic games for the Sega Genesis. There are however many differences in the overall gameplay mechanics; Sonic Rivals includes a variety of power-ups, includes the ability to jostle, etc. This game also mixes elements from the 3D Sonic games and the 2D side-scrollers, so it plays like a regular side-scrolling Sonic game, but only in 3D. Controls: ANALOG STICK or D-pad/Arrows = Move (X) BUTTON = Jump (O) BUTTON = Attack (TRIANGLE) BUTTON = Activates Power-Ups if you have any (X) + (X) = Homing attack DOWN + (X) = Spin Dash ------------------- F2. Stage Basics ------------------- Here I will explain what to get fond of in the stages: 1.Rings - Everybody who has played Sonic should know what these are; they are your health! You need these to sustain attacks from rivals, stage traps, or any badniks around. If you get hit without any rings you will actually get respawned in a previous area unlike other Sonic games, but there is a delay in this respawning which your rival can use to pass you. Rings also provide a score bonus for your overall rank after you have beaten a stage. Your Ring Count can be seen on the top left corner of the screen during a stage, you lose 10 rings at a time when you get hit. 2. Ranks - These first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2, but were rather altered in Sonic Rush. The Ranks range from a C-Rank (lowest) to an S-Rank (highest) depending on how good you do in a stage. Ranks are determined by the number of jostles performed, the number of Power-ups used, your ring count, the number of boosts performed, and the time it took you to finish the stage. While you do not get anything for getting all S-Ranks, it still provides self-satisfaction. ;D 3. Time - On the top of the screen during a stage you can see your current race time. 4. Distance Meter - On the bottom of the screen during a stage you can see a meter depicting how far away you are from the rival and the overall finish line. 5. Rival Arrow - This arrow will appear to show you where (and what direction) your rival is located if he is off-screen. 6. Position - On the bottom right corner of the screen you can see your position (1st or 2nd place) in the race. 7. Boosts - Boosts are basically any object in the stage that makes an X or O icon appear (meaning you have to press one of the two buttons). A boost everybody might automatically recognize are those log-like objects that might stop you on your tracks when you first start playing. When you press O on a boost, you will perform a speed boost, which basically gives you a horizontal boost (sometimes dashing over the rival); these are helpful for time challenges. Pressing X on a boost will perform an Air Boost, which gives you a vertical boost and allows you to reach higher areas in the stages (which normally consist of power-ups). Also note that the number of boosts used adds to your final score/rank at the end of the stage. 8. Jostle - A jostle is the term used in this game for attacking your rival using either the O button or a homing attack on them. ------------------- F3. Power-ups ------------------- In this game, there are a variety of Power-ups that you can use to keep your rival away or stun him. Each Power-Up has a defense (if you're in front) and offense (If your rival is in front) attack. The # of Power-ups used also add to your score at the end of a stage. To activate a power-up, you must find one in a stage first (they appear in orb-like objects that randomize in power-ups). Look at the bottom left corner of the screen to see what power-up you have. To use the power-up, press triangle. /////////////////////////////// 1. Fire ============================= Offensive (Rolling Fireball) ============================= - A fireball rolls in front of you and into your rival if he is in front, thus burning him and stunning him for a short while. If the fireball collides with anything that isn't your rival (badnik, wall, etc.), it will cancel out. ============================= Defensive (Fire Shield) ============================= - A fire shield is formed around you; protecting you and your rings from any damage. If your rival jostles you while this shield is up, they will get hurt instead; this will not add to your overall Power-Up score though. /////////////////////////////// /////////////////////////////// 2. Ice ============================= Offensive (Snow Blast) ============================= - Similar to the Rolling Fireball, it throws a snowy blast in front of you and homes into your rival if he is near. If it hits, then it will freeze the rival for a while. If it collides into anything, the attack will cancel out. ============================= Defensive (Ice Cube) ============================= - It sets an Ice Cube trap behind you and remains in that area. If the rival collides into the Ice Cube, he will freeze for a while. /////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////// 3. Mine ================================ Offensive (Floating Homing Mine) ================================ - It slowly homes onto the rival regardless of his position (unless the mine hits something). If it hits, it will slow his movements for a while. ================================ Defensive (Stationary Mine) ================================ - It sets a mine trap behind you and remains in that area. If the rival collides into it, his movements will be slowed down for a while. //////////////////////////////// /////////////////////////////// 4. Illusion ============================== Offensive (Confusion) ============================== - If you are playing multiplayer mode, this will blur the rival's screen regardless of where he is, making it confusing to move around. In the normal modes, it will simply mess with the CPU's AI. >_> ============================== Defensive (Confusion trap) ============================== - It sets an illusion trap which does basically the same thing as the offensive attack, only it's a trap and not automatic. ///////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////// 5. Wind =============================== Offensive (Shoot Tornado) =============================== - It shoots a tornado in front of you that homes toward the rival. If it hits the rival,it will make him fly up and the tornado will trap him in the air for a while. It will cancel out if it collides into anything. =============================== Defensive (Drop Tornado) =============================== - It drops a tornado behind you. If the rival runs into it, he will be sent to the air and trapped in a tornado for a while. //////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////// 6. Lightning (My favorite) =============================== Offensive (Lightning strike) =============================== - It will auto-hit the enemy as long as the Rival Arrow is located on your screen (thus meaning that the rival is close) and paralyze him for a while. =============================== Defensive (Decoy Zapper Rings) =============================== - It will drop several electric rings behind you as you run. If the rival hits one, he will be paralyzed for a while. What's fun about this attack is that it can hit more than once (up to three times) if you drop them in the right area. //////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////// 7. Ring Magnet ================================ Off. and Def. (Ring Magnet) ================================ - It will basically attract any rings around toward you. I suppose it helps out in some ring challenges. //////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////// 8. Star =============================== Off. and Def. (Special) =============================== - This power-up activates the character's special move. Special moves DO NOT add up to your power-up score at the end though. //////////////////////////////// ---------------------- F4. Specials ---------------------- Specials in this game are signature moves that each character has. Specials come in the form of Star-looking power-ups. These power-ups do not add to your final score like other power-ups though. When activated, they do different attacks depending on what character you are playing as. 1. Sonic Boom: This is Sonic's special. He basically draws wind around him and accelerates at super sonic speed; hurting anything in his path (including rivals) as he runs. This special is awesome when you have mastered it because with this you can win any hard mode time challenge. ;D 2. Hammer Punch: This is Knuckles' special. He basically does a super punch that hits the rival WHEREVER he is and stuns him for a while. It's a great power-up for beginners. 3. Chaos Control: Yes, you guessed it, this is Shadow's special. He basically uses Chaos Control to slow down the rival's movements (like the mine power-ups) WHEREVER he is. 4. Psychic Control: This is Silver's special (and the most annoying one when used against you). This special ****s up your controls randomly for a while; so left might become right, right might become up, etc. When used against the CPU, it just messes up their AI. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ G. Stages/Walkthrough ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ *Note - I have divided up the bosses and stages into two seperate sections. For boss strategies, go to part G. *Note #2 - I will not be going over any Story Mode, just the Stages. If you wanna learn about the Story, read my Game Script. *Note #3 - I have made a seperate Challenge Mode Tip section to help you out with the Challenge Mode for the stages. Otherwise, this walkthrough does not have strategy for every stage's Challenge Mode since they are all pretty similar to beat. *Note #4 - My walkthrough only gets you familiar with the stages, keeping the rival behind is your job. Remember to always use power-ups against the Rival to buy you some time. *Note #5 - The stages in this game offer a variety of paths. I will only mention a few in my walkthrough, but you can honestly choose whatever path you feel like. The main point of this is just beating your rival, so you shouldn't need to follow my walkthrough step by step (just use it to get an idea of sorts). ---------------- G2. Racing Tips ---------------- 1. Always start each stage using a Spin Dash at the Starting Line. Your Rival might use one too, so make sure your Spin Dash has more power by rapidly pressing X while holding down. 2. If your rival is right behind you, keep on using the homing attack forward to get a small boost and avoid him. By doing this, all of your Rival's jostles will miss. Otherwise, your rival WILL jostle you and get ahead of you. 3. Spin dashes are also useful to use after you have been hit with a power-up (namely, the ice one). Right after the power-up loses effect, use your spin dash to dash forward. Only use this strategy if the path you are in is linear; wouldn't want to fall in a pit or hit a boost log now, would you? ;D 4. Always note that the Spin dash gives you a boost for a LITTLE while, then it makes you very slow unless you hit a spring, accelerator, etc. When you start moving slowly, use the homing attack forward to get a little boost and start racing normally. 5. Always Jostle the enemy when he is right ahead of you (duh). Homing attacks are more effective than pressing the O button, so take that into account. 6. Always make sure where your rival is via Rival Arrow and Distance Meter if he is off-screen. This helps you know what your power-up is gonna take the form of, Defensive or Offensive. It also helps you know what is the perfect spot to place or throw the power-up. Wouldn't want to waste power-ups now. 7. The Homing Attack is essential in this game. Whenever you are in a linear path that simply requires you to hold right, keep on using homing attacks forward to go faster (weird, but it works). 8. If your Rival blocks your path while you are going up a slope or about to go around a loop, do not jostle him using the Homing Attack! Use the O button. ----------------- G3. Forest Falls ----------------- Stage Overview: Ah yes, the first stage and it looks very similar to the infamous Green Hill Zone (only in 3D and with extra designs). In this stage, you can practice the game's basics because the stage has a variety of power-ups scattered around and is pretty linear itself. ======= Act 1 ======= - You start the stage going down a slope. The first object you come in contact with as you move forward (other then rings) is a Dash Board that sends you flying upward. What you should do is jump OVER this Dash Board and land on the Spring on the other side; the spring will fly you up to a power-up (usually the Fire one). If you get the Fire Power-Up, you can wait till your rival passes you (if he hasn't already) and hit him with the Rolling Fireball (for points), then jostle him (using the homing attack) for fun and to get Jostle points. If you don't want to stall for time, then I recommend you simply activate the Fire Shield (he is bound to get hit by it anyways) instead and continue forward. As you continue, you will eventually reach a log-like boost. No matter which button you press (X or O), you will still obtain a power-up from any side but I suggest you press X, it will lead you to a platform above with a power-up on it. There is another platform next to this one, so jump on the second platform and continue until you reach another log-like boost, press O on this one for a Speed Boost which should lead you to a spring. As you continue, you will reach another log-like boost. Press X on this one to be thrown up onto another platform with another power-up. If you're lucky, there is a chance this one will earn you a Star power-up which allows you to do a Special, so use it when you feel like it. Now jump off the platform and continue forward, also look out for and/or destroy the Egg Pawn nearby. Continue and you will eventually reach a spring. As you continue, you will reach an accelerator leading you to another accelerator and around a trademark Sonic loop. When the head spinning is over and you continue, you will reach another boost, press X on this one to use an Air Boost and get to the area above. Up here, there is a spider robot so use a homing attack on it to destroy it or just jump over it. Now continue forward and you will reach another boost; press X on it to reach a small little platform with a spring attached. This spring will lead you to a power-up that is 99% of the time (unless you were stalled somewhere before), a Special, so get it and use it whenever you please. Eventually you will reach another boost. Pressing X will lead you to the upper area where there is a platform with a spring that leads to another platform with a power-up. This however wastes a little bit more time than simply pressing O on the boost. Pressing O (which is what I recommend) simply gives you a Speed Boost and leads you to a spring that leads to the next area. You'll eventually meet with an Accelerator that will eventually lead you to another boost. Simply press O on this one (regardless of it says) to perform a speed boost. You will then hit another boost, press X on this one to reach the area above. You will immediatly hit another boost, press X on this one as well to reach another area above. When you reach the edge of this area, jump in the direction of the rings that point off the area to lead you to another power-up. When you continue below, you will eventually reach another boost. If you press X on this boost, you will reach an area above with another boost that you should press X on as well, this leads you to another power-up. If you simply want to beat the stage as fast as possible, press O on that first boost to simply continue forward. As you continue, you should eventually hit another boost, press X on this one. This will lead you to a platform above with a spring. This spring leads you to a platform consisting of a power-up (normally a special) and another spring. This next spring flies you to another platform with a spring and this last spring flies you to a rail going down leading to an accelerator leading to a loop. Eventually you will reach a boost, press X on this one to get a power-up. Eventually you will hit an accelerator that will lead you to another boost. Press O to Speed Boost into an accelerator to continue forward. Eventually you will hit yet another boost, press X on this one to reach an area with a Dash Board. This Dash Board will lead you to a rail with an accelerator. At the edge of the rail jump to get a power-up. As you continue, you will hit another boost, press X on this one to get on top of a tree with a spring on top. Use this spring to get to another tree with a spring on it in order to reach the next area with a giant waterfall in the background. Be careful for the Egg Pawn coming up! When you reach a boost, press O to Speed Boost forward and land on a rail which leads down and eventually to an accelerator which leads you to a loop that throws you down a slope going down. You will eventually hit an accelerator that leads you up. Eventually you will come in contact with another boost; press X on it to go upward on a platform with a floating green enemy and a mini-rail in between. When you reach the right edge of the platform, jump to another small platform that is on the right and has a spring on it. This spring leads you to a platform with a 'special' power-up. If you're playing as Sonic, use this special immediatly to speed to the goal. If you're not playing as Sonic, just use the special and continue to eventually reach a twirling linear path. Be prepared for the spider enemy waiting for you next to the goal; destroy the enemy using the homing attack and cross the finish line! ====== Act 2 ====== At the start of this stage, you should see a rail a bit above you so jump on it to hit an accelerator and eventually obtain a power-up (normally an Ice one) at the end of the rail. When you get the power-up, jump off the rail and use the homing attack to go further forward. You will eventually reach a spring leading to another spring leading to the next area. When you continue, you will eventually reach a block that you need to push forward until it falls down a pit. Continue and you will immediatly see a rail above you again, so jump on it. You will hit an accelerator and get another power-up. The rail will eventually throw you down and the next thing you should see is a boost, press X on this boost to reach the area above containing a spring that leads you to an area further above. The area you should be now should contain an Egg Pawn, a mini-rail, a power-up, and a spring at the end. The spring will lead you to a...errr...wiggly stick thingy that I will refer from now on as a "bouncer". Go to to the left edge of the bouncer and jump to reach another bouncer (there are a total of 5 before you reach the next area). The first thing you will notice when you get to the top (after the bouncer thing) is an accelerator that will speed you up in a downward path where you will hit two more accelerators and eventually reach a boost. Press O on this boost to dash forward and get a power-up. Continue and destroy the spider enemy up ahead; now hit the accelerator nearby which will speed you up an upward slope; land on the rail below which will lead you downward. Eventually you will run into a boost; press X on it. In the area above, you run into an accelerator, sending you to a loop and rail. When you reach a boost, press O and it will speed you through a spider web and lead you to an accelerator. This accelerator will speed you through more spider webs and into another accelerator that will lead you to a boost. Press O on this boost to obtain a line of rings and the next area. You will reach another boost, so press X on it to reach an area above. Hit the accelerator on this area to speed up, get a power-up, and eventually reach a rail going down. When you reach the end of the rail jump off immediatly to another rail with an accelerator. Eventually you will reach a boost. Press O on this one to reach a rail with an accelerator. The rail will lead you to an area with a mini-rail and power-up, leading to another accelerator that sends you down a rail going down. This rail will lead you to a spring which will lead you to another spring and then to the next area. As you continue, you will reach an accelerator that speeds you down a slope or hill. You will eventually reach a boost, press O on this one to get a line of rings and get to the other side which contains a power-up. Hit the accelerator nearby to speed around a loop that leads you down and onto an accelerator that speed you down a rail. When the get off the rail, continue and hit an accelerator nearby which sends you going an upward path and onto a spring. Hit the accelerator in the area you should be in now. This accelerator will lead you to a flying leaf which will fly you up to an area above. When you reach a boost, press X on it and watch out for the Egg Pawn above. Continue to hit an accelerator which will send you around a loop containing a power-up above. The loop will lead you to a rail going down and the rail will lead you to a spring which will fly you to another rail. This rail has an accelerator which sends you around a loop. This rail will eventually lead you to a spring leading you to a small platform will another spring. The area above should contain a power-up and an accelerator. The accelerator will lead you down a mini-rail which will lead you to a hill going down. You will eventually reach a boost, so press O on it to dash forward and get a power-up. Continue and you will reach a slope going down. You will eventually reach a bridge-like area with a boost, press X on it. The platform above has a boost as well, press O on this one to get a power-up and reach a platform with a Dash Board sending you up. As you continue down the hill, you will reach a boost. Press O on this boost to speed forward. You should see a few more boosts, but you should just keep on pressing O on them for boosts. You will eventually reach a accelerator leading to a spring leading to a small rail with a power-up and accelerator going down. When you see a boost, press O on it. You should then reach a speed log. Just continue and you will eventually reach an accelerator and the finish line! ---------------------- G4. Colosseum Highway ---------------------- Stage Overview: Well, think of a Rome colosseum-esque racing track. Bad example but you get the point. This stage has a lot of paths, some which require boosts and many other requiring timed jumps. ====== Act 1 ====== You start the stage going down a hill. The minute you see a small trail of rings leading to an area above, jump toward the rings and onto that area. This area contains a power-up (usually the lightning power-up). This area leads to Dash Board that will fly you up. Continue and you will meet with your first boost (which resembles a small pillar rather than a log), press X on this boost to get to the area above which contains a spring that will send you up to a platform containing a Star (Special) Power-up. Now jump back down to the right and continue towards an accelerator nearby. This accelerator will lead you to a loop that will send you flying upward towards a spring and onto the next area. You will eventually reach a boost, pressing X will lead you to a shortcut of sorts if you know what you're doing, but I recommend you press O which sends you flying forward to a power-up. For those that press O, you will be led to a rail that goes down. Eventually you will hit a Dash Board that sends you flying up. This Dash board will lead you to a boost that you should press O on. Pressing O will lead you to a spring that leads you to a (Special) Power-up. You will then hit another spring. As you continue, you will hit yet another spring; watch out for the vultur robot above! As you continue, you will hit an accelerator that sends you around a loop and eventually to another boost. There are three paths you can take now; you can press O to Speed Boost forward, you can press X to Air Boost to the area above, or you can simply ignore the boost and fall to the pit in front which leads you to another path. It makes no difference (besides power-ups in each path), but I suggest you press X because this leads you to a fun and speedy path. When you reach the area above, you should come in contact with a power-up and a boost. Press O on the boost to be sent forward to an accelerator. This accelerator will send you to a power-up and then down a fast rail. As you go down, you should get another power-up. When you get off the rail, you will land on another rail. When you leave this rail, you will then reach a series of Dash Boards flying you forward. The next area will earn you yet another power-up (unless there's that big chance you already have an unused power-up at your disposal). Continue and you will reach a mini-rail going down. When you reach a pit (that leads to a spring either way), jump over it and onto the next area. This next area has two boosts and two moving statues that hurt you if you get hit by them. Pressing X on the boosts will allow you to avoid the statues and earn some rings. Pressing O will give you some nice speed boosts if you are on a hurry to complete the level fast. Anyways, continue down the path and you will eventually reach an accelerator that sends you around a loop. Eventually you will reach another boost, press O on this one; you should reach a power-up and then a spring that sends you up. Continue and you will eventually reach another spring. In the next area, you will reach a pillar that you need to tumble down by pushing. When the pillar is midway from falling, jump over it to not waste time. Continue and watch out for the Egg Pawn below; you will then reach another pillar, so use the same tactic. Continue and you will reach an accelerator that sends you around a giant loop with some other accelerators attached. As you continue, you will eventually hit another accelerator that speeds you forward. Eventually you will hit another accelerator as you are speeding forward that sends you around a loop. As you continue, you will hit yet another accelerator that speeds you around a loop. Follow the path and you will eventually reach a boost. Press X on this boost to reach the platform above; at the end of the platform, jump to the next area. Continue and you will reach another boost. Press X on this one to reach the area above containing a power-up and rail. When you reach the end of the rail, use the homing attack on the green enemy in front and then continue forward to another rail. When you reach the end of this rail, try to jump and home attack forward in order to reach an area above a loop containing an accelerator. This accelerator will lead you down a rail containing a loop and power-up. When you get off the rail and reach the area below, press O on the boost you will eventually meet to be sent to a spring that should lead you to an accelerator. Evntually you will hit another spring. Continue forward to hit another accelerator leading you to an upward path. As you Continue and you will hit another accelerator and later a spring. Continue in the area the spring leads you to reach another spring. You will then hit an accelerator that sends you speeding toward a spring that sends you flying up to a power-up. Continue to hit another accelerator that sends you around a loop. You will then hit a few more acclerators and be sent to another loop. Continue and you will reach a catapult that sends you flying far away to the area containing the finish line! ====== Act 2 ====== As you start the stage, you will reach a boost. Press X on the boost to reach the area above containing a power-up. Try to then jump on another area to the right (follow the rings). You will then reach another boost, press X on it as well. You should now be on a semi-moving platform; try to jump and then home attack on an area above to obtain a Special Power-Up (assuming you have already used the power-up you obtained before). You will then hit an accelerator that will send you around a loop and down a slope/hill. As you continue, you will eventually reach a spring that will send you flying toward several other springs. You will then come in contact with a boost, press X on it to fly up onto a rail. As you reach the end of the rail, you should see a giant spinning ring above you to the right, try to jump on it. These rings also count as boosts, so press O on it. You should obtain a special power-up and then come in contact with another (log-like) boost. Press O on this boost to be sent flying forward to a ring boost; press O on this boost to be sent to yet another ring, press O on this one as well. You should be sent to a rail. When you reach the end of the rail, try not to fall down, instead jump to the area in front. In the area you should be in now, continue forward to hit an accelerator and go around a loop. Watch out for the Egg Pawn below and continue forward. You will eventually reach a boost, press X on it to be sent flying upward on a platform containing a spring. This spring should lead you onto a rail. When you reach the end of the rail, jump forward to reach an area with a vultur and some rings. You will reach a boost in this area, so press O on it to reach a mini-rail. At the end of this rail jump over a vultur and onto another rail. This rail will lead you to an accelerator and another rail. At the end of this rail jump to yet another rail containing an accelerator in the middle. This rail will lead you to a spring that flies you upward and toward a mini-rail that will lead you to an accelerator that speeds you over a loop. This loop will lead you to a power-up and to the next area. Continue until you reach an accelerator that speeds you toward an upward path containing another accelerator. Continue and you will reach another boost, press X on this one to reach another rail. At the end of the rail, jump toward the area in front containing a bouncer (wiggly stick thingy), a power-up, and a boost. Press O on the boost to speed forward to an area containing a power-up. Continue to reach a spring that will send you flying forward. You will eventually reach another spring that will lead you to a hook ride thingy. This "hook ride" will lead you to an accelerator that sends you speeding to an upward path containing three other accelerators. Continue and you will reach a boost, so press X on it to go up. The boost should have led you to an area containing a green enemy and eventually an accelerator that sends you around a loop. This loop will lead you to another accelerator and then a Dash Board that sends you flying forward to an area containing an accelerator that will lead you down and then around a loop. Continue to reach yet another boost that you should press X on; this will lead you to a platform containing a spring. The spring will lead you to a rail. When you reach the boost at the end of the rail, press X on it to reach an area containing an accelerator above. This accelerator will lead you around a loop and onto another accelerator. You will eventually reach a rail, jump at the end of it to go over a vultur and reach another rail that will lead you to an accelerator that will send you around a loop. As you continue, you will eventually reach a Dash Board that will lead you to a platform containing a spring. continue from where the spring leads you to reach an accelerator that speeds you upward. When you reach a boost, press O on it. You will then reach an accelerator that sends you flying up. As you continue, you will reach a spring that flies you up. Continue to reach a spring that flies you to an area containing an accelerator. This accelerator will lead you to another accelerator which sends you around a loop. You will eventually reach a series of boosts. If your rival is ahead, press X on these boosts to obtain power-ups to hit him with in order to pass him. If you are in front, then press O on these boosts to simply Speed Boost all the way to the finish line! ------------- G5. Sky Park ------------- Stage Overview: This is basically the circus or carnival level of this game. The first Act seems like a normal circus stage with some obstacles, but Act 2 has a few more obstacle and broken parts, it is also where you face Metal Sonic for the first time with any character. ====== Act 1 ====== The stage starts with you walking on a rollercoaster track. Try to make it to the other side containing an accelerator before the rollercoaster appears and runs you over. The accelerator will lead you to a spring that sends you upward. Try to destroy the Egg Pawn above and continue on. Below you should obtain a power-up (perhaps an illusion one) and then be walking on another rollercoaster track, so continue on before you get run over. You will eventually see an area above just as the rollercoaster appears, so jump there and use the Dash Board present to be thrown upward. This Dash board should send you to a power-up. When you land, you should see an accelerator in front, so use it. It will lead you to another accelerator and around a loop. When you come in contact with a boost (now it looks like a mini-barrel), press X on it to be sent upward to an area with an accelerator. This accelerator will send you to a rail and eventually a boost. Press X on this boost to obtain another power-up and a rail above containing an accelerator in the middle that sends you around a (rail) loop. As soon as you reach the end of the rail, quickly jump to the other rail in front of you. As you continue, you should come in contact with a weird machine containing a few lights. When you get on this machine, press X rapidly to be sent upward to a hook ride. Continue to reach a point in which the ride splits and there is an accelerator present. This accelerator should send you to some other accelerators and a path that curves multiple ways. You should also hit a rail and a power-up along the way (talk about a ride n_n). When you reach a teddy bear stand, there should be a power-up above, so get it if you can/want. Continue and you should hit another accelerator that sends you up a hill where you will see the moon while on top and later will be sent back down. When you reach a boost, press O on it. You should be sent to a ring boost, so press O on it and every other ring boost you come in contact with. Continue and you will reach a spring. As you move forward, you will come in contact with a big jack-in-the-box that you need to push forward for a bit till it falls in a pit. When you reach a boost, press O on it to be sent flying forward. Continue and jump over the red teddy bear in the middle of other teddy bears (it attacks and slows you down...). You will eventually reach an area with two platforms, a power-up in the middle, and some spikes on the bottom. Try to fall down, but not hit any spikes. Below there should be some MonoClown enemies, so watch out for them and use the accelerator nearby to continue on upward and onto some springs. As you continue, you will reach a hook ride. You will then reach an accelerator that speeds you forward. When you reach a boost, press O on it to Speed Boost forward and obtain a power-up. Continue and watch out for the red teddy bear again. You will then reach another machine in which you need to press X rapidly, so do so. This machine will fly you up to two rails. Try to get on the top one. When you see a ring boost, jump on it and press O to obtain a special power-up. You will then be sent to another rail containing an accelerator and then a spring that sends you up to a platform. From this platform, jump on the rail above. You should then see a ring boost, press X on this one to be sent to another ring boost. Press O on the next one to be sent to a mini-rail containing a spring at the end that will send you to another rail containing another spring at the end. This spring will send you to an area with accelerators. The accelerators should send you on another curvy path with some loops. When you make it out of that "ride", you should obtain a power-up. Continue and watch out for the Monoclown and Green Enemy. Hit the accelerator in front of the enemies to be sent to a rollercoaster track. When you see an area with an accelerator and rail, jump on it. You should eventually reach a Dash Board that sends you to a platform containing a hook ride, so jump and grab it. You should then continue on down a rail and then a spring that sends you up to another rail and then an accelerator. This accelerator will send you to another rail that leads you to a platform containing a power-up and a spring. Jump over the spring and home attack forward (to not hit the spikes) to fall down. Continue and you should reach 3 target sheet things; use the homing attack on these to break them. You will then reach a jack-in-the-box, so push it forward. Continue on to reach an accelerator that speeds you up to a Dash Board. From here on you will be sent flying to different platforms with Dash Boards at the end of each of them. When you reach a path with an accelerator, follow the path to reach the finish line! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ H. Bosses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Need help beating the bosses or just can't beat them Hard Mode challenges? Well you have come to the right place. ;D The bosses in this game are unique because they are big and 3D, kind of like in Sonic Rush but easier. In these boss battles, your only priority is not just to beat the boss, but to beat the boss before your rival does. If he defeats the boss first, you lose. ---------------------------------- H2. Egg Turtle (Forest Falls Boss) ---------------------------------- Challenges: - Win with 15/30/40 rings - Defeat the boss in 1:25/1:10/0:55 - Jostle Rival 2/4/6 times # of hits needed to defeat boss: 6 Boss Strategy: This boss is constantly spinning around like there is no tommorrow. His only attacks are basically shooting out his head and tail at you. All you have to do to beat this guy is chase his head around; when he shoots it out at you, simply jump on top of it to damage the boss. It is easier to hit him directly if you are right in front of his head when he shoots it forward because then all you have to do is jump up. Sometimes this boss will shoot his head forward but spin around (making it hard to hit him), so be prepared. Also beware of your rival as you chase the boss's head, he might jostle you and beat you to the boss, which is a no-no. You can attack the boss's tail to cancel out your rival's attack on him and send a shockwave toward him (and yourself...which hurts); this is utterly useless when doing the Hard Mode challenge though. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Hard Mode Challenge Strategy: Just as any other challenge, please note that you can do one challenge at a time instead of all of them at once. The ring challenge is easy, just grab any rings around as you are chasing the boss and jostle your rival using the O button to steal some of his. Your main priority in this challenge is to focus on the rings AND on your rival to make sure he doesn't beat the boss before you or jostle you (thus taking away 10 rings). The time challenge is a little harder as you have to hit the boss at every opportunity you're given as fast as possible. If you miss any hits or your rival hits him before you, restart the boss battle because you will not be able to win. The Jostle challenge is probably the easiest. Just hit the rival 6 times and defeat the boss. You can hit the rival using the O button or homing attack, it makes no difference because you will both be chasing the boss's head anyways. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --------------------------------------- H3. Egg Falcon (Colosseum Highway Boss) --------------------------------------- Challenges: - Win with 25/50/75 rings - Defeat boss in 2:20/2:10/1:50 - Jostle Rivals 2/4/6 times # of hits needed to defeat boss: 6 Boss Strategy: You are set in a circular stage just like the Egg Turtle, but here we have a bunch of rotating platforms. All the way on top of the platforms is the boss flying around (which resembles the Egg Hawk from SH...). This boss has three attacks and they all involve dropping bombs on the floating platforms. The ice bomb freezes a platform and whoever jumps on it, the shrink bomb turns a platform pint-sized thus making it hard to jump on it, and the fire bomb ignites a platform in fire and hurts whoever touches it. Your goal is to jump all the way to the top platforms and wait until the boss descends to jump on (or home attack) his cockpit to damage him. Always stay on the front side of the boss to be able to hit him faster. Another thing to look out for are the springs on the bottom area of the stage; these are SUPPOSED to get you to the top faster, but in reality are completely useless because there is usually a platform above them blocking any jumps. Simply jump on the platforms patientally (don't home attack to get on top of them) to make life easier. You also do not need to worry much about rivals in this stage as they will always find it harder than you to reach the top; be careful of any jostles they use on you though. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Hard Mode Challenge Strategy: This boss can be both frustrating and easy when doing these challenges. The ring challenge is annoying cause you have to gather rings from the bottom area and top area of the stage while making sure to hit the boss before your rival does. What makes this challenge annoying is that you might end up getting hurt by the boss's fire attack or a rival's jostle a few times if you aren't careful, and falling down to the bottom area can be annoying too. When the rival is near you, jostle him (using the homing attack) before he does so to you; this will prevent any ring loss. The time challenge can be both hard and easy. As mentioned before, reach the top of the stage by jumping PATIENTLY on each platform. When you are on top, simply stay in front of the boss and wait on the platform you think is best until he descends, then hit him for some damage. As long as you hit him at every opportunity given without allowing your rival to hit him once, you should be fine. The jostle challenge can actually be pretty annoying in this stage because of all the platforms around (you lose track of your rival). Since the rival will most certainly want to get to the top area of the stage, just wait for him there. When he reaches the top, use the homing attack to jostle him. Just repeat this until you have enough jostles for the challenge. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ------------------------------------- H4. Egg lynx (Crystal Mountain Boss) ------------------------------------- Challenges: - Win with 10/15/20 rings - Defeat boss in 2:50/2:20/1:45 - Jostle Rival 2/4/6 times # of hits needed to defeat boss: 6 Boss Strategy: You are now in a semi-circular stage with your rival and a boss who moves left and right a lot. This boss is overall easy. The boss has two main attacks: the first one is basically where he shoots purple-looking missiles at you or your rival; these are easy to dodge by simply using the homing attack to evade them (or just jumping out of the way). His other attack is the one you have to look out for; he will go out onto the stage and slam the ground using his paws, hurting you if you are under his paws, destroying part of the ground, and sending shockwaves on the left and right sides of the stage (which can hurt you if you do not dodge them). When the Egg Lynx uses this paw slamming attack, stay a few inches away from his paws, dodge the shockwaves by jumping, and land on one of his paws. Now all you have to do is hit the cockpit in order to damage the boss. Just repeat this everytime he uses this attack until he is defeated. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Hard Mode Challenge Strategy: Possibly the easiest boss to complete any challenge with. The ring challenge is both easy and annoying to complete. Since the stage is semi-circular, there aren't much places to run to so the rings are right there in front of your face. Problem with all this is that it's really easy to get hit in this stage. If it isn't by accidently falling into the boss's attacks, it's by getting attacked by the rival, so be cautious of both. Just collect all the rings you can while trying to damage the boss. Also remember to jostle your rival using the O button in order to steal some of HIS rings as well. The time challenge is pretty easy. Just hit the boss every opportunity you are given using the boss strategy stated above. The CPU half of the time is too stupid to climb the boss's paws, so you don't really need to worry about him beating the boss first. =P The jostle challenge is very VERY easy. Since the stage is narrow, your rival should be right in front of you, so attack him any way you feel like until you have completed the challenge. ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ------------------------------------- H5. Egg Kong (Death Yard Boss) ------------------------------------- Challenges: - Win with 20/40/60 rings - Defeat Boss in 3:40/3:15/2:50 - Jostle Rival 2/4/6 times # of hits needed to defeat boss: 6 Boss Strategy: Once again you are thrown into a circular stage. What's different about this boss is that you do not need to worry about a rival defeating the boss before you since you will also be fighting Metal Sonic in this boss battle. All this boss does is basically throw missiles like crazy, so you have to run around the stage during the entire fight. Make sure to jostle Metal Sonic everytime you get the chance. This boss also throws special missiles that create a boost on the floor (requiring you to press X or O on it); when you perform a boost it will send a missile flying around the stage; if you or Metal Sonic get hit by it, one of you will freeze. Also note that these boosts add points to your overall score/rank at the end of the fight. In order to damage the boss, wait until its head opens up and Eggman comes flying down in his Egg Mobile to attack. Just as Eggman creates two shockwaves, attack him by jumping on him or using a homing attack. Also note that the shockwaves he creates go around the stage 2-3 times so be sure to dodge them by jumping. Just keep on hitting Eggman when he comes flying out of the Egg Kong and don't worry much about Metal Sonic. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Hard Mode Challenge Strategy: Please note that no matter who you choose as your rival in challenge mode, he will act just like Metal Sonic during this boss battle (as your enemy and not a rival). The ring challenge can be both easy and hard. It is normally very easy because you should be grabbing all the rings you need as you run around the stage, you don't even need to jostle the rival to get extra rings. It can be hard because it is easy for you to get hit by this boss's attacks (namely, the shockwaves Eggman's Egg Mobile creates), so be cautious! The time challenge varies because it all depends on the time it takes Eggman to get out of the Egg Kong to attack you. As long as you hit him at the right time, it shouldn't be hard at all, but it still depends on Eggman. The jostle challenge is pathetically easy because as you run around the stage, you will meet your rival (or enemy in this case...) a lot and have an unlimited amount of opportunities to hit him any way you please. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// --------------------------------- H6. Egg Destroyer (Final Boss) --------------------------------- Challenges: Win with 10/20/30 rings Defeat boss in 2:55/2:40/2:25 Jostle rival 2/4/6 times # of hits needed to defeat boss: 8 Boss Strategy: Here we are at the final boss. This boss is actually more of a ship or stage with phases (and a timer) than an actual boss. There are four sections to the ship and each has a variety of traps on the ground. To advance to the next area of the ship, you have to hit the cannons at the end of each section twice. I will divide these sections into phases below. Also note that Metal Sonic is your rival in this boss fight as well, so he will try to hurt you and not the boss. Phase 1 = In the first section of the ship, there are two traps. One is an electric barrier; wait till it disappears and quickly jump over it to continue before the barrier respawns. The second trap is just a fan that sends a gust of wind that blows you away; keep on homing attack forward until the fan goes away and then try to jump over it to continue. When you go over the fan and continue, you will meet with the first cannon. Attack this cannon to damage the boss. When you damage it, you will be thrown back to the beginning of this section, so now you have to repeat everything again and attack the cannon one more time to advance to the next section of the ship. Phase 2 = After you destroy the first cannon, you will witness as the first section of the ship explodes, now it's time for phase/section 2. Once again there are 2 traps, but this time they are different. The first trap is a cannon that shoots ice or snow in a backward U pattern. If you touch the ice, you will freeze. You can easily go pass this cannon by just waiting till the cannon goes away and then proceding. You can also spin dash at full speed into the ice, use a homing attack right before hitting the ice, turn into an ice cube, and watch as you slide through the section; only do this if you do not mind getting hit by the next trap. The second trap is another small cannon that shoots fireballs forward; just jump over it and bam. After you pass the two traps, you will eventually reach the main cannon, so hit it. When you damage the main cannon, you will be thrown to the start of the section just like before, so now repeat everything and hit the main cannon once more to advance to the next section/phase. Phase 3 = Now we are in the third section of the ship. You would think that there are only two traps in this section, but there are actually four. The two traps in this section are interchangable, so when one trap goes away, another pops up to take its place. The first trap is the fan that blows wind, but when the fan goes away, out comes the electric barrier in its place! Just stand near the electric barrier and wait till it goes away, then quickly jump over it before the fan pops up to blow you away. The second trap is the cannon that shoots ice, but when the cannon goes away, out comes the fire cannon in its place. Simply wait till the ice goes away and jump over the fire cannon. You will eventually reach the main cannon, so attack it to damage the boss. After you damage it, you will have to repeat everything again as usual to advance to the next area. Phase 4 = This is it, the final section of the boss. In this section there are 3 traps! However, these traps all change into other traps, so there are actually 6 traps in all. The first trap is the Ice cannon that turns into the Fire cannon, so wait till it turns into the fire cannon and jump over it. The second trap is the most annoying trap this boss has; it is the electric barrier which turns into....another electric barrier! In other words, it never leaves since it will quickly respawn in less than a second. You will either have to do it the noob way and spam the homing attack (hurting you along the way) to eventually get through the barrier when it changes or you can do it the 1337 way and wait till Metal Sonic (or your rival) gets near to use the homing attack on his head and get a boost to jump over the barrier. The third and final trap is yet another Ice cannon that changes into a Fire cannon, so just wait for the Fire cannon and jump over it. When you advance forward, you will eventually meet with...the boss's cockpit and Eggman (or E.Nega) himself! Just hit it once to be thrown over to the start of the section, now just repeat everything again and hit Eggman one more time to finally defeat the final boss! ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// Hard mode Challenge Strategy: The ring challenge is very hard for a boss challenge. There are initially 16 rings per section. So why is this challenge hard? Well because of the traps and your rival of course! The main trap that makes this hard is that last electric barrier; You will HAVE to jostle the rival and get a boost in order to get pass the barrier without getting hit (unless you have the luck and manage to use a homing attack at the perfect time). The other thing that makes this challenge hard as mentioned is the rival because he is your enemy in this battle (like in the Egg Kong battle) so he will try to jostle you at every moment he can. The rival will continuously be next to you and jostle you every second, so try to hit him before he hits you. Also watch out for the floating rocks/meteors around (they hurt). Everything else is straight forward, so just be careful not to get hit TOO much by the traps and be as patient as you can while collecting them rings! The time challenge is also hard. Unlike the ring challenge, here you cannot be patient. Try to get to the last section of the boss as quick as possible and spam the homing attack as much as you can to get pass traps, but also try to not get hit a lot. Floating meteors and electric barriers should stall you, so be careful. For the last electric barrier, use a homing attack on your rival to jump over it or a homing attack at the right moment when the barrier leaves for a second to pass through it (as long as you do not get hit), whichever is faster. The jostle challenge is as easy as always. Just hit the rival any way you feel like until you have completed the challenge. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I. Unlockables ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the great things about this game is the variety of unlockables it has. It is because of these unlockables that this game has so much replay value (if you enjoy it anyways). In this section, I will talk about the unlockables and how to unlock them. -------------- I2. Costumes -------------- Each character has three different costumes which can be unlocked by collecting a specific set of cards for each part of the costume (Suit, Gloves, and Shoes). I will list the costumes below; also note that if two cards share the same name and year, I will use their card number to differentiate them. The costumes for each character are as follow: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// I. Sonic: ==================== 1. Leather Costume ==================== Cards needed for suit: Sonic the hedgehog (1991), Sonic the hedgehog 2 (1992), and Sonic the hedgehog 3 (1994). Cards needed for gloves: Cream the Rabbit (2005), Cheese (2003), and Cream & Cheese (2003). Cards needed for shoes: Sonic & Amy (1993), Amy Rose (2005), Amy Rose (2004). ===================== 2. Ice Costume ===================== Cards needed for suit: Miles "Tails" Prower (2004), Miles "Tails" Prower (2005), and Mile "Tails" Prower (2002). Cards needed for gloves: Big the Cat (2006), Froggy (2003), and Big the Cat (2004) Card needed for shoes: Storm the Albatross (2006), Wave the Swallow (2006), and Jet the Hawk (2006). ====================== 3. Black Tie Costume ====================== Cards needed for suit: Sonic the Hedgehog (2005), Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), and Sonic the Hedgehog (2003). Cards needed for gloves: Amy's Racing Car (1994), Tails' Racing Car (1994), and Sonic's Racing Car (1994). Cards needed for shoes: Sonic (Santa version - 2002), Sonic (Santa version - 2001), and Sonic (Santa version - 1999) /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// II. Knuckles =================== 1. Leather Costume =================== Cards needed for suit: Charmy Bee (2006), Espio the Chameleon (2006), and Vector the Crocodile (2006). Cards needed for gloves: Crabmeat (1991), Catterkiller (1991), and Orbinaut (1991). Cards needed for shoes: Coconut (1992), Turtloids (1992), and Buzzer (1992) =================== 2. Armor Costume =================== Cards needed for suit: Charmy Bee (2005), Espio the Chameleon (2005), and Vector the Crocodile (2005). Cards needed for gloves: Clamer (1994), Rhinobot (1994), and Snale Blast (1994) Cards needed for shoes: EggRobo (1994), Fireworm (1994), and Skorp (1994) =================== 3. Eggman Costume =================== Cards needed for suit: Knuckles the Echidna (2002), Knuckles the Echidna (2005), Knuckles the Echidna (2004), Rhinotank (1998), and Kiki (1998). (NOTE: I am not 100% sure about that Rhinotank or Kiki card; they are on the gloves section, but the game lists them as suits...either way you need them for the entire costume though) Card needed for gloves: Boa-Boa (1998). Cards needed for shoes: Gun Wing (2001), Hornet-6 (2001), and Shield Hunter (2001). /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// III. Shadow =================== 1. Leather Costume =================== Cards needed for suit: Team Sonic (2003), Team Rose (2003), and Team Dark (2003). Cards needed for gloves: Tikal (2001), Chaos (1998), and Master Emerald (2001). (NOTE: The Master Emerald card can only be obtained by completing Knuckles' Story Mode) Card needed for shoes: Maria Robotnik - #046 (2005), The President (2001), and The Commander (2005). =================== 2. Flame Costume =================== Cards needed for suit: Doom's Eye (2005), Black Doom (2005), and Devil Doom (2005) Cards needed for gloves: Black Oak (2005), Black Warrior (2005), and Black Hawk (2005). Cards needed for shoes: Black Bull (2005), Egg Breaker (2005), and Heavy Dog (2005). ================== 3. 80's Costume ================== Cards needed for suit: Maria and Prof. Gerald (2005), Space Colony ARK (2005), and Maria Robotnik - #060 (2005). Cards needed for gloves: Big Foot (2001), Flying Dog (2001), and Hot Shot (2001). Cards needed for shoes: Shadow the Hedgehog (2005), Rouge the Bat (2006), and E-123 Omega (2006) /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// IV. Silver =================== 1. Leather Costume =================== Cards needed for suit: Chao - #094 (2001), Dark Chao - #095 (2001), and Hero Chao- #096 (2001) Cards needed for gloves: Chao - #097 (2001), Dark Chao - #098 (2001), and Hero Chaos - #099 (2001). Cards needed for shoes: Chaos 2 (1998), Chaos 4 (1998), and Chaos 6 (1998). ===================== 2. Lightning Costume ===================== Cards needed for suit: Light Chao (2001), Dark Chao (2001), and Hero Chao (2001). (NOTE: The Light Chao is known to many as the "Chaos Chao" from SA2. The Dark Chao and Hero Chao listed are actually known as the Pure Dark Chao or Devil Chao and Pure Hero Chao or Angel Chao from SA2 by many.) Cards needed for gloves: Egg Pawn (2003), Solid Pawn (2003), and Egg Knight (2003). Cards needed for shoes: Vultur (2006), MonoClown (2006), and Drill Worm (2006) ====================== 3. Christmas Costume ====================== Cards needed for suit: Egg Chao (2001), Pumpkin Chao (2001), and Skull Chao (2001) Cards needed for gloves: Egg Turtle (2006), Egg Falcon (2006), and Egg Destroyer (2006). Cards needed for shoes: Eggman Nega (2005), Blaze the Cat (2005), and Silver the Hedgehog (2006) //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// V. Metal Sonic =================== 1. Leather Costume =================== Cards needed for suit: Egg Mobile (1992), Egg Mobile (2003), and Egg Walker (2001). Cards needed for gloves: Egg Hornet (1998), Egg Walker (1998), and Egg Viper (1998). Cards needed for shoes: Egg Albatross (2003), Egg Emperor (2003), and Egg Hawk (2003). ==================== 2. Circuits Costume ==================== Cards needed for suit: Dr.Eggman (1993), Dr.Eggman - #131 (2005), and Eggman - #132 (2005) Cards needed for gloves: E-101 Beta (2005), E-101 Mark II (2005), and E-102 Gamma (2005). Cards needed for shoes: E-103 Delta (1998), E-104 Epsilon (1998), and E-105 Zeta (1998) =================== 3. Jester Costume =================== Cards needed for suit: Metal Sonic (1993), Metal Sonic (2001), and Sonic vs Metal Sonic (1993). Cards needed for gloves: Knuckles Doll (1998), Tails Doll (1998), and Sonic Doll (1998). Cards needed for shoes: Super Sonic (2006), Super Sonic (2003), and Super Shadow (2005). ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ------------------ I3. Skins ------------------ In this game, skins are just unlockable title screens and formats of each character when beating their specific Story Mode and obtaining an exclusive card from doing so. The following are the unlockable skins: 1. Sonic's skin: In order to unlock this skin, you must beat Sonic's Story Mode to obtain the Exclusive "Sonic the Hedgehog - #001 (2006)" card. 2. Knuckles' skin: In order to unlock this skin, you must beat Knuckles' Story Mode to obtain the Exclusive "Knuckles the Echidna - #002 (2006)" card. 3. Shadow's skin: In order to unlock this skin, you must beat Shadow's Story Mode to obtain the Exclusive "Shadow the Hedgehog - #003 (2006)" card. 4. Silver's skin: In order to unlock this skin, you must beat Silver's Story Mode to obtain the Exclusive "Silver the Hedgehog - #004 (2006)" card. 5. Metal Sonic's skin: In order to unlock this skin, you must beat the Story Mode with every character to obtain the Exclusive "Metal Sonic - #005 (2006)" card. ----------------- I4. Metal Sonic ----------------- Yes, everybody's favorite Sonic clone returns in Sonic Rivals as a special rival in the game's Story Modes and an unlockable character for the game's Challenge Mode, Cup Circuit Mode, and Multiplayer Mode. Below I will list how to get him and what makes him so special. Unlocked by: To unlock Metal Sonic, you must obtain 4 special cards gotten only by beating the Story Mode with every character. The cards are: Metal Madness (2003), Metal Overlord (2003), Neo Metal Sonic (2003), and Metal Sonic - #005 (2006). The card collection library lists only the first three needed to unlock him, so maybe Knuckles' story Mode isn't needed to be beaten, but I have not tested this out myself. How is he different from other characters? Well, Metal Sonic plays a bit different in that he floats rather then run and does not spin when you use a Spin Dash with him (just super dashes). The floating makes him more slippery than other characters but also a BIT faster. Metal Sonic also does not have a special of his own, he simply copies the special of whichever rival he is racing against. When he uses Sonic's special however, he flies at super speed rather then run though. Besides this, Metal Sonic has his own costumes and that's about it. Who is Metal Sonic? You should be ashamed if you do not know who Faded's favorite Sonic character is! Just kidding. Metal Sonic first appeared in Sonic CD as a robotic clone of Sonic who kidnaps Amy. He has made many appearances after this in the Sonic series; his most recognized reappearance has to be when he came back in Sonic Heroes as the main villain. Sonic Rival marks his latest reappearance. --------- I5. Cups --------- This game has a Cup Circuit mode which is quite empty in the beginning with only one Cup to play. These Cups are just racing tournaments that allow you to play 3 stages in a row, kinda like a survivor mode because if you lose once, you lose it all. You unlock new Cups by completing challenges in Challenge Mode and obtaining special Chaos Emerald cards. Below I will list how to unlock the Cups and what stages they have to play: 1. [Green Chaos Cup] - In order to unlock this Cup, you must complete every challenge for Forest Falls Zone and obtain the green Chaos Emerald card by doing so. Stages: Forest Falls Zone Act 2, Colosseum Highway Zone Act 2, and Sky Park Zone Act 2. 2. [Cyan Chaos Cup] - In order to unlock this Cup, you must complete every challenge for Colosseum Highway Zone and obtain the cyan Chaos Emerald card by doing so. Stages: Egg Turtle Boss, Egg Falcon Boss, and Egg Kong Boss. 3. [Red Chaos Cup] - In order to unlock this Cup, you must complete every challenge for Sky Park Zone and obtain the red Chaos Emerald card by doing so. Stages: Colosseum Highway Zone Act 2, Crystal Mountain Zone Act 1, and Meteor Base Zone Act 2. 4. [Yellow Chaos Cup] - In order to unlock this Cup, you must complete every challenge for Crystal Mountain Zone and obtain the yellow Chaos Emerald card by doing so. Stages: Crystal Mountain Zone Act 2, Death Yard Zone Act 2, and Meteor Base Zone Act 2. 5. [Blue Chaos Cup] - In order to unlock this Cup, you must complete every challenge for Death Yard Zone and obtain the blue Chaos Emerald card by doing so. Stages: Egg Falcon Boss, Egg Lynx Boss, and Egg Destroyer Boss. 6. [Purple Chaos Cup] - In order to unlock this Cup, you must complete every challenge for Meteor Base Zone and obtain the purple Chaos Emerald card by doing so. Stages: Crystal Mountain Zone Act 1, Death Yard Zone Act 2, and Meteor Base Zone Act 1. 7. [Grey Chaos Cup] - In order to unlock this Cup, you must complete every single challenge in Challenge Mode and obtain the grey Chaos Emerald card by doing so. Stages: Forest Falls Zone Act 2, Sky Park Zone Act 1, and Death Yard Zone Act 2. *Now I bet many are wondering what beating all the Cups earn you! It earns you....absolutely NOTHING! No really, they are just there for fun and bragging rights. >_> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ J. Card Collection ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here I will list all the obtainable cards this game offers. Note that cards in this game can only be gotten by completing a stage, you get 1 at a time for every stage won. A fast way of getting cards you don't have is by completing challenges; you get a card for every challenge you complete at a time (4 challenges in one stage = 4 cards). I also heard that by completing hard mode challenges your luck increases in getting a card you didn't have before, but I am not too sure about this. There are also cards that are gotten special ways; they are the Chaos Emerald cards, the Master Emerald card, the Neo Metal Sonic Card, the Metal Madness card, the Metal Overlord card, and the special skin cards gotten by beating the Story Mode with each individual character. I should have mentioned them somewhere in this FAQ above. Anyways, here are all the cards and their attributes in order: 1. Sonic the Hedgehog 2006 - Skin Card 2. Knuckles the Echidna 2006 - Skin Card 3. Shadow the Hedgehog 2006 - Skin Card 4. Silver the Hedgehog 2006 - Skin Card 5. Metal Sonic 2006 - Skin Card 6. (Green) Chaos Emerald 2006 - Cup Card 7. (Cyan) Chaos Emerald 2006 - Cup Card 8. (Red) Chaos Emerald 2006 - Cup Card 9. (Yellow) Chaos Emerald 2006 - Cup Card 10. (Blue) Chaos Emerald 2006 - Cup Card 11. (Purple) Chaos Emerald 2006 - Cup Card 12. (Grey) Chaos Emerald 2006 - Cup Card 13. Sonic the Hedgehog 1991 - Suit Card 14. Sonic the Hedgehog 2 1992 - Suit Card 15. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 1994 - Suit Card 16. Cream the Rabbit 2005 - Glove Card 17. Cheese 2003 - Glove Card 18. Cream & Cheese 2003 - Glove Card 19. Sonic & Amy 1993 - Shoe Card 20. Amy Rose 2005 - Shoe Card 21. Amy Rose 2004 - Shoe Card 22. Miles "Tails" Prower 2004 - Suit Card 23. Miles "Tails" Prower 2005 - Suit Card 24. Mils "Tails" Prower 2002 - Suit Card 25. Big the Cat 2006 - Glove Card 26. Froggy 2003 - Glove Card 27. Big the Cat 2004 - Glove Card 28. Storm the Albatross 2006 - Shoe card 29. Wave the Swallow 2006 - Shoe card 30. Jet the Hawk 2006 - Shoe card 31. Sonic the Hedgehog 2005 - Suit Card 32. Sonic the Hedgehog 1991 - Suit Card 33. Sonic the Hedgehog 2003 - Suit Card 34. Amy's Racing Car 1994 - Glove Card 35. Tails' Racing Car 1994 - Glove card 36. Sonic's Racing Car 1994 - Glove card 37. Sonic (Santa version) 2002 - Shoe card 38. Sonic (Santa version) 2001 - Shoe card 39. Sonic (Santa version) 1999 - Shoe card 40. Team Sonic 2003 - Suit Card 41. Team Rose 2003 - Suit Card 42. Team Dark 2003 - Suit Card 43. Tikal 2001 - Glove card 44. Chaos 1998 - Glove card 45. Master Emerald 2001 - Glove card 46. Maria Robotnik 2005 - Shoe card 47. The President 2001 - Shoe card 48. The Commander 2005 - Shoe Card 49. Doom's Eye 2005 - Suit card 50. Black Doom 2005 - Suit Card 51. Devil Doom 2005 - Suit Card 52. Black Oak 2005 - Glove Card 53. Black Warrior 2005 - Glove Card 54. Black Hawk 2005 - Glove Card 55. Black Bull 2005 - Shoe Card 56. Egg Breaker 2005 - Shoe Card 57. Heavy Dog 2005 - Shoe Card 58. Maria and Prof. Gerald 2005 - Suit Card 59. Space Colony ARK 2005 - Suit Card 60. Maria Robotnik 2005 - Suit Card 61. Big Foot 2001 - Glove Card 62. Flying Dog 2001 - Glove Card 63. Hot Shot 2001 - Glove Card 64. Shadow the Hedgehog 2005 - Shoe Card 65. Rouge the Bat 2006 - Shoe Card 66. E-123 Omega 2006 - Shoe Card 67. Charmy Bee 2006 - Suit Card 68. Espio the Chameleon 2006 - Suit Card 69. Vector the Crocodile 2006 - Suit Card 70. Crabmeat 1991 - Glove Card 71. Catterkiller 1991 - Glove Card 72. Orbinaut 1991 - Glove Card 73. Coconut 1992 - Shoe Card 74. Turtloids 1992 - Shoe Card 75. Buzzer 1992 - Shoe Card 76. Charmy Bee 2005 - Suit Card 77. Espio the Chameleon 2005 - Suit Card 78. Vector the Crocodile 2005 - Suit Card 79. Clamer 1994 - Glove Card 80. Rhinobot 1994 - Glove Card 81. Snale Blaster 1994 - Glove Card 82. EggRobo 1994 - Shoe Card 83. Fireworm 1994 - Shoe Card 84. Skorp 1994 - Shoe Card 85. Knuckles the Echidna 2002 - Suit Card 86. Knuckles the Echidna 2005 - Suit Card 87. Knuckles the Echidna 2004 - Suit Card 88. Rhinotank 1998 - Suit Card 89. Kiki 1998 - Suit Card 90. Boa-Boa 1998 - Glove Card 91. Gun Wing 2001 - Shoe Card 92. Hornet-6 2001 - Shoe Card 93. Shield Hunter 2001 - Shoe Card 94. Chao 2001 - Suit Card 95. Dark Chao 2001 - Suit Card 96. Hero Chao 2001 - Suit Card 97. Chao 2001 - Glove Card 98. Dark Chao 2001 - Glove Card 99. Hero Chao 2001 - Glove Card 100. Chaos 2 1998 - Shoe Card 101. Chaos 4 1998 - Shoe Card 102. Chaos 6 1998 - Shoe Card 103. Light chao 2001 - Suit Card 104. Dark Chao 2001 - Suit Card 105. Hero Chao 2001 - Suit Card 106. Egg Pawn 2003 - Glove Card 107. Solid Pawn 2003 - Glove Card 108. Egg Knight 2003 - Glove Card 109. Vultur 2006 - Shoe Card 110. MonoClown 2006 - Shoe Card 111. Drill Worm 2006 - Shoe Card 112. Egg Chao 2001 - Suit Card 113. Pumpkin Chao 2001 - Suit Card 114. Skull Chao 2001 - Suit Card 115. Egg Turtle 2006 - Glove Card 116. Egg Falcon 2006 - Glove Card 117. Egg Destroyer 2006 - Glove Card 118. Eggman Nega 2005 - Shoe Card 119. Blaze the Cat 2005 - Shoe Card 120. Silver the Hedgehog 2006 - Shoe Card 121. Egg Mobile 1992 - Suit Card 122. Egg Mobile 2003 - Suit Card 123. Egg Walker 2001 - Suit Card 124. Egg Hornet 1998 - Glove Card 125. Egg Walker 1998 - Glove Card 126. Egg Viper 1998 - Glove Card 127. Egg Albatross 2003 - Shoe Card 128. Egg Emperor 2003 - Shoe Card 129. Egg Hawk 2003 - Shoe Card 130. Dr.Eggman 1993 - Suit Card 131. Dr.Eggman 2005 - Suit Card 132. Dr.Eggman 2005 - Suit Card 133. E-101 Beta 2005 - Glove Card 134. E-101 Mark II 2005 - Glove Card 135. E-102 Gamma 2005 - Glove Card 136. E-103 Delta 1998 - Shoe Card 137. E-104 Epsilon 1998 - Shoe Card 138. E-105 Zeta 1998 - Shoe Card 139. Metal Sonic 1993 - Suit Card 140. Metal Sonic 2001 - Suit Card 141. Sonic vs. Metal Sonic 1993 - Suit Card 142. Knuckles Doll 1998 - Glove Card 143. Tails Doll 1998 - Glove Card 144. Sonic Doll 1998 - Glove Card 145. Super Sonic 2006 - Shoe Card 146. Super Sonic 2003 - Shoe Card 147. Super Shadow 2005 - Shoe Card 148. Metal Madness 2003 - Character Card 149. Metal Overlord 2003 - Character Card 150. Neo Metal Sonic 2003 - Character Card ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ K. FAQ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Q. What previous Sonic game is this most similar to? A. It is only similar to the old Genesis multiplayer modes. Other then that, it combines elements from the 3D, 2D, and racing Sonic games together. >_> Q. Is this game going to be ported? A. No...the game isn't exactly a commercial success for Sega to even bother with. Q. Is this game good? A. This depends on personal preference. Play it first and you tell ME. Q. Do YOU like the game? A. Yes I do, it's decent and addicting if you get into it. Check my review posted on G-Faqs to see more on my 'opinion'. Q. How do I use Specials? A. First get a Star-looking power-up in any stage and then activate it like any other power-up, by pressing the triangle button. Q. Hey, I hit the Rival with this power-up and it didn't add to my final score or earn me a challenge check! A. Hurting the Rival with Fire Shields or Specials does not count to your final score or any challenge mission. Q. What do you get for obtaining all 150 cards? A. Nothing. Everything cards earn you, you obtain AS you're collecting them (Costumes, Cups, etc.). Q. Is there any point to completing cups? A. Nope, not at all. They are utterly pointless and are just there for the "fun" of playing different stages at a time. Q. Is there a Last Story mode? A. Nope, not in this Sonic game. Q. Are there Super Forms in this game? A. Nope, no Super Sonic or anything. If the developers were smart, they would have made them unlockables after completing cups, but whatever. n_n Q. Wait, don't the chaos Emerald cards unlock Super forms!? A. No, they unlock the useless Chaos cup Tournaments in Cup Circuit mode (IE Cups). ;D Q. You accidently called card #147, "Super Shadow". A. Nope, that is what this game calls him. This confirms that Shadow's Super form is NOT called "Hyper Shadow". Q. Who is "Neo Metal Sonic"? A. He's the punk-like wizard-looking form of Metal Sonic from Sonic Heroes. Sonic Rivals also confirms this as his true name. Q. How do I equip costumes? A. Highlight any character in any character Selection screen and press Triangle to go into the "Change Outfit" Menu. Q. Do costumes do anything? A. I have tried to test several theories, but from what I see costumes do not give you any special abilities or do anything at all. Even if they do have an effect on the characters, these "effects" are so unnoticable that they are barely worth being mentioned at all. Costumes are just there to make the characters look pretty. Q. Your FAQ sucks...why did you bother? A. I'm sorry I failed you. ;___; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ L. Credits ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ - Asakura Yoh (for teaching me how to make a FAQ some time ago) - The creators of this game (for making a decent Sonic game) - You (for reading this FAQ)