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Lightning Shield

From Sonic Retro

Revision as of 20:59, 20 March 2017 by Hyprdusit (talk | contribs)

The Lightning Shield, otherwise known as the Magnetic Shield, is a power-up first introduced in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and a variant of the standard Shield. In addition to serving as a one-shot barrier against damage and life loss, the Lightning Shield attracts rings towards the player if they get close enough. It is often considered a particularly useful power-up because of this feature.

While all variants of the shield drag rings in, minor details differ from game to game. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the shield would be lost if the player took it underwater; and when playing as Sonic, holding a Lightning Shield exchanged the Insta-Shield move with a sparking double-jump, enabling the hedgehog to leap much higher and potentially access otherwise difficult platforms. Finally, the shield made Sonic invulnerable to both electric damage (like the crackling sub-conveyor-belt floors in Death Egg Zone (S&K)), and, curiously, the spiked projectiles hurled by IceCap Zone's Star Pointer. While Sonic R kept being able to lose the shield due to falling in water, none of these features are in effect in any other game where the shield appears: namely Sonic Adventure, Sonic Adventure 2, the Sonic Advances 1, 2 & 3, and Sonic Rush.

The Yellow Gem in Sonic 06 gives Sonic an ability very similar to the Lightning Shield, but it is a move and isn't permanently active.

In Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colours, while the shield does not appear, the Sonic Boost move attracts rings towards Sonic as he runs past them.

The shield returns in classic monitor form in Sonic Generations, and like the original shield can protect against lightning damage and double jump. The shield in this game is called the Thunder Shield.

The Lightning Shield appears in iOS/Android remake of the original game if you set "Items" to "S1+S3" or "S2+S3" in the Level Select menu (or place a Lightning Shield monitor in debug mode). It behaves exactly as it does in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, including the double-jump and disappearing when it touches water.

In Sonic Mania the Lightning Shield appears once again, except now with the ability to stick to electrified surfaces in Flying Battery Zone.

Other variants of the basic shield include the Fire Shield, Water Shield, and Gold Shield.