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Special Stage (Sonic Colours)

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Special Stage
Special Stage Colours.png
Special Stage
Special level, Sonic Colours (Nintendo DS)
Number of Acts: 7

The Special Stage in the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colours is played by utilising the Nintendo DS system's touch screen capabilities, much like the previous Sonic Rush titles. To access it, the player must finish any Act of each corresponding Area with at least 50 Rings, then select "Yes" when asked to enter the Special Stage. The seventh Special Stage must be accessed by playing a Versus race against the CPU in Game Land.

Gameplay

This Special Stage sees Sonic running through a half-pipe much like the Special Stages from Sonic Rush, and much like those stages Sonic is controlled by using a stylus or the player's finger to move along the left or right to guide him in that direction. If the player has Sonic run off the side of the tube, he will jump off the sides into the air, allowing him to reach items above each side.

As Sonic runs through the half-pipe, the player must collect Coloured OrbsMedia:Colours DS EU Manual.pdf[1] of a particular color in order to progress. Each Special Stage loops around, with the player going around 3 times, having to collect a different Coloured Orb each lap. The first time around, red Orbs can only be collected; on the second lap, blue Orbs have to be collected; and on the final lap, yellow Orbs have to be collected. Touching the wrong Orbs will knock them away, rendering them unable to be picked up on later laps, thus making things harder. Rainbow-coloured Orbs will award more Orbs when collected. Collecting multiple Orbs in a row will increase a chain counter for bonus points, but going for too long without picking up an Orb will reset the chain to zero.

Should the player successfully meet the quotas for all three laps, they will be awarded a Chaos Emerald. Failing to meet a quota will end the Special Stage in failure. At the end of a Special Stage, the player's score for that stage is calculated based on how many Orbs were collected and maintained chains, with a Rank awarded based on score. The Special Stage can be restarted through the pause menu as many times as the player needs.

Objects

Switches: Appears halfway through a lap. Stepping on it will make a row of 8 checkered Orbs appear, and collecting all of them will award a 10-Orb bonus.
Striped Orb: Appears at the end of a lap. Collecting it will make a shower of bouncing Orbs appear.
Spike Balls: These will make Sonic drop 5 Coloured Orbs on contact. They will also make Sonic unable to move for a short amount of time, but he also is invulnerable for a slightly longer period.
Dash Panels: These boost Sonic ahead at a faster-than-normal speed along a predetermined path. They're usually useful for collecting a long row of Orbs.
Springs: Catapults Sonic into the air. Useful for jumping over hazards or to get airborne Orbs.

List of Special Stages

Stage Orb goals Chaos Emerald Associated Area
Lap 1 Lap 2 Lap 3
#1 60 65 70
SonicRush DS Sprite Emeralds.png
Tropical Resort
#2 65 70 85
SonicRush DS Sprite Emeralds.png
Sweet Mountain
#3 70 75 75
SonicRush DS Sprite Emeralds.png
Starlight Carnival
#4 75 85 85
SonicRush DS Sprite Emeralds.png
Planet Wisp
#5 75 80 90
SonicRush DS Sprite Emeralds.png
Aquarium Park
#6 65 75 80
SonicRush DS Sprite Emeralds.png
Asteroid Coaster
#7 90 90 90
SonicRush DS Sprite Emeralds.png
Game Land

Take note: All of the special stages may be played out of order, meaning that the first stage depending upon when it was accessed, may be played in Asteroid Coaster instead of Tropical Resort. All of the stages however will appear in order, referencing to the aforementioned example, wherever the first time that the ring quotient was obtained, the special stage will account for it.

References


Sonic Colours (Nintendo DS)
Sonic Colours DS Title Screen.png

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