Special Stage (Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I)

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I

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Special Stage

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Special Stage
Special Zone, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I
Number of Acts: 7

The Special Stages of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I are similar in concept to the Special Stages of Sonic 1; each stage is a rotating maze with various bumpers and blocks, Rings to collect, and a Chaos Emerald hidden somewhere. However, it is not a direct copy of Sonic 1, having some key changes.

To access the Special Stage, the player must finish any regular Act with at least 50 Rings, then jump into the Giant Ring after the Signpost. Once a Special Stage has been cleared, the same Act cannot be played to enter another Special Stage; the player will need to play a different Act.

Gameplay

Rather than moving Sonic around, the player instead moves the maze itself; Sonic now bounces off walls, and he can only jump by pressing a button to shake the maze when he's touching a wall (which causes him to bounce off it). Walls no longer deteriorate to open passages or doors as Sonic touches them. In addition, there is a time limit, which can be increased by hitting time balloons in the maze. Sonic will also have to collect a predetermined number of Rings in parts of the stage to pass certain barriers to obtain the Chaos Emerald. The player must still take care to not let Sonic touch the goal blocks, which will end the stage immediately.

To rotate the maze, these stages use the D-Pad or Analog Stick by default, but motion controls can be assigned in the iOS, Wii, and PS3 versions. The Special Stage can be restarted through the pause menu as many times as the player needs.

List of Special Stages

The times listed here specify the amount of time the player starts with, and the maximum possible time from collecting Time Items.

Stage	Screenshot	Time		Total Rings	Chaos Emerald
		Start	Maximum
#1		1'30"00	1'35"00	141	Red
#2		1'30"00	1'50"00	108	Blue
#3		0'30"00	1'35"00	138	Yellow
#4		1'30"00	2'20"00	183	Green
#5		0'30"00	1'30"00	191	Grey
#6		1'30"00	2'50"00	201	Cyan
#7		1'30"00	2'50"00	120	Purple