Bonus Stage (Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles)
From Sonic Retro
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles both contain individual Bonus Stages which are accessible only by passing a checkpoint. Sonic 3 & Knuckles contain all 3 of these stages, which are still accessible by passing the checkpoint with a certain number of rings.
Contents
Sonic 3 bonus stage
Gumball Machine
Accessed by passing any checkpoint with 50 rings or above, this bonus stage consists of a large vertical space with a gumball machine at the top, Metropolis Zone-style bumpers on the sides, and springs at the bottom. Spheres come out of the gumball machine and have a variety of effects:
- Clear Balls - Nothing
- Black Balls - Bounces Sonic off of ball
- Pink '1-Up' Balls - Gives an extra live
- Green 'REP' Balls - Replaces the springs at the bottom
- Blue 'B' Balls - Gives a water shield
- Red 'B' Balls - Gives a fire shield
- Yellow 'B' Balls - Gives a lightning shield
- Grey Ball with Ring - Gives 10 rings
Sonic & Knuckles bonus stage
Glowing Spheres
Entered by passing a checkpoint with 35 rings or more, the Glowing Spheres special stage features bumpers and flippers on the sides, magnetic balls, star bumpers, rings with grey orbs in the middle, and a rising laser that will knock you out of the stage when you touch it. Touching one of the grey orbs will change it into one of the following spheres:
- Clear Balls - Nothing
- Black Balls - Bounces Sonic off of ball
- Pink '1-Up' Balls - Gives an extra live
- Blue 'B' Balls - Gives a water shield
- Red 'B' Balls - Gives a fire shield
- Yellow 'B' Balls - Gives a lightning shield
- Grey Ball with Ring - Gives 5 to 100 rings. The closer to the top of the stage you are, the more rings it will give.
Rotating Maze
Entered by passing a checkpoint with between 20 and 34 rings, the Rotating Maze is like a Sonic 1 special stage, but without the up/down circles and with a ring gambling machine like the ones in Sonic 2's Casino Night Zone. Ring combinations are:
- 1 Bar: Win 2 Rings
- 2 Bars: Win 4 Rings
- 3 Bars: Win 8 Rings
- 3 Tails: Win 20 Rings
- 3 Knuckles: Win 25 Rings
- 3 Sonics: Win 30 Rings
- 3 Jackpots: Win 100 Rings
- 3 Robotniks: Lose 100 Rings
Getting 1 Jackpot and 2 others gives you double what you would get if you got 3 of those others (i.e. Sonic + Sonic + Jackpot gives 60 rings). Does not apply to Robotnik; you will still only lose 100 rings.
Getting 2 Jackpots and 1 other quadruples the effect of 3 of the others (i.e. Sonic + Jackpot + Jackpot gives 120 rings, the highest possible payout.). As above, this does not apply to Robotnik; you will still only lose 100 rings.
If a player enters this bonus stage with 50 or more rings, collecting one standing ring in the stage gives you a continue. This could be a code leftover from Sonic 1- in which collecting 50 rings in the special stage there offers you a continue also.