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Combine Ring

From Sonic Retro

Chaotix 32X Sprite Monitors.png

The Combine RingMedia:Chaotix_32X_US_manual.pdf[1] (コンバインリング Konbain Ringu)Media:Chaotix_32X_JP_manual.pdf[2], also known as the Hyper RingMedia:SM_PC_DIGITAL_MANUAL_UK_V10_LR.pdf[3] (ハイパーリング Haipā Ringu), is a rare monitor power-up that has only appeared in Chaotix and Sonic Mania so far. Its icon is represented by a dark blue ring.

Game appearances

Chaotix

In Chaotix, the first game to feature the item, breaking open a monitor containing the item will combine all of the player's Rings into one larger ring. To indicate this, the Combine Ring's icon will be displayed at the bottom of the screen and will stay there until the player takes damage. Upon taking damage, they will drop the large Ring, which will give back all of the Rings they just lost after taking damage. They only have a few seconds to get the large Ring, as it will eventually burst into the usual shower of Rings if they are not quick enough to retrieve it.

Sonic Mania

The Combine Ring would not be seen again until its return in Sonic Mania, where it is now known as the Hyper Ring, though its function is slightly different than before. When the player obtains the item, the Ring counter in the HUD will turn blue and display a blue ring to indicate that it is active instead of displaying the monitor's icon at the bottom of the screen. Instead of dropping a single large Ring worth all of their Rings, the player will drop up to eight large Rings upon taking damage, each worth a fraction of the player's total Ring count. These Rings will eventually fade away like regular Rings instead of exploding.

Interestingly, if the player has collected more than 100 Rings and has earned an extra life from doing so, they can recollect the larger Rings and earn another extra life from collecting 100 Rings.

Similar monitors

The Combine Ring does not appear in any capacity in Sonic the Hedgehog CD, but its icon exists for an unused monitor in the game. However, should the player spawn the blue ring monitor using Debug Mode, breaking it will have no effect. In the 510 and v0.28A prototypes, the monitor would simultaneously give the player Invincibility and Power Sneakers similar to the "S" monitor, while in the v0.51 and v0.70 prototypes it would function like an invisible Shield, allowing the player to take a hit without losing their Rings, and even stack with a regular Shield.

The Combine Ring's icon would also be used for a different monitor in LEGO Dimensions that awards the player 20 blue rings when cracked open.

Gallery

References

Items in the Sonic the Hedgehog Game Series
Collectibles   Ring | Super Ring | Special Ring | Rich Ring | Heal Ring | Red Star Ring | Number Ring | Silver Moon Ring | Sonic Medal | Sun Medal | Moon Medal | Sun Tablet | Moon Tablet | Planet Tablet | Secret Item | Red Orbs | Blue Orbs | Green Orbs | Emblem | Chaos Drives | Special Stage Key | Material | Portal Gear | Memory Token | Vault Key | Red Seed of Power | Blue Seed of Defense | Dream Orb
Power-ups   Shield (Water, Lightning, Fire, Gold, Magnetic) | Invincibility | Power Sneakers | Rocket Shoes | Propeller Shoes | Hyper Heli-Tails | Eggman Mark | Super Ring | Combine Ring | Forcejewel | Power Core | Light Cores | Special Combination
Level Objects   Item Box | Item Panel | Spring | Spring Pole | Crane Lift | Accelerator Gun | Rocket | Bobsled | Buggy | Dash Rail | Spikes | Checkpoint | Time Warp Plate | Signpost | Goal Ring | Hidden Treasure Ring | Giant Ring | Dash Ring | Rainbow Ring | Capsule | Water Barrel | Ice Generator | Fire Generator | Crate | Door | Button | Dark Energy Key | Bumper | Speed Booster | Air bubbles | Chao container | Exploding Balloon
Powerful Items   Chaos Emeralds | Super Emeralds | Master Emerald | Time Stones | Chaos Rings | Precioustone | Sol Emeralds | Jeweled Scepter | World Rings | Excalibur | Phantom Ruby | Reverie | Dream Core
Weapons   Piko Piko Hammer | Chaos Energy Cannon | Caliburn | Wispon
Devices   Remote Robot | Combi Confiner | Mother Computer | Nega's Camera | Arks of the Cosmos | Miles Electric
Other   Chili Dog | Fortune Cards | Speed Down Boots | Chao Egg | Scepter of Darkness | Cacophonic Conch