Super Ring

Super Ring (リング), also called as Big 10 Ring (ビッグ10リング), Random Ring (ランダムリング) or Ring Bonus, is a recurring power-up in the Sonic the Hedgehog series that grants several Rings at once.

Since their debut in Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), the Super Rings have been featured in almost every game since then. During the years where Item Boxes were almost absent, Super Rings would become separated items as well. Despite this, they continue to appear as either separate, collectible items or Item Box power-ups, depending on the games featuring them.

Description
When obtaining a Super Ring, the player is instantly granted multiple Rings at once. Super Rings are either by obtained from Item Boxes or as their own separated item. In the earlier games, it only gave ten rings per monitor. Since then, the amount has been increased, allowing different types of Super Rings, each granting a certain number of Rings. The amount of Rings each Super Ring grants is shown by a number displayed on them. However, there are also Super Rings with question marks on them, which gives variable amounts of Rings. Rings granted by Super Rings function like regular Rings, as the player is able to lose them after taking damage, and can be collected again after being dropped.

Overview
Super Rings in earlier games are one of the major monitor power-ups. Such monitors have a small icon representing a Ring on the screen, and usually grant Rings to the player. When the player breaks the monitor, the sound of Rings can be heard in the background, and the player has the Rings added to their total Ring count. Like others monitors, Super Rings can be hidden behind walls, palmtrees or in other places. In some cases, the Super Rings monitors can appear in groups of three to five to be picked up. Since their debut, Super Rings have functioned identically in every game.

In the early Sonic games, there have been cases where Super Rings have been featured outside of monitors. When the player destroys a purple-colored UFO in the Special Stages of Sonic the Hedgehog CD, they receive a Special Ring, which is worth twenty Rings. In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and its add-on continuation Sonic & Knuckles, the player can find grey gumballs with yellow Ring symbols on them in both the Gumball machine or the Glowing Sphere types of Bonus Stages that work as Super Rings. The Bonus Stage in Knuckles' Chaotix also has blocks with Super Rings in them.

Since Sonic Adventure, Item Boxes for Super Rings have varied in the number of Rings they can grant to the player, ranging from granting five, ten or twenty Rings when opened. The number of Rings the Super Ring item boxes grant are depicted with a number on their surface. Additionally, certain games since then have featured Super Rings with question mark on them, which can awarded the player with a random amount of Rings, even more so than twenty Rings. These variable Super Rings are also featured in both Sonic Advance and Sonic Rush games as well. In Sonic Riders and Sonic Riders Zero Gravity, Super Rings are featured as randomized power-ups in Item Boxes, and can grant ten, twenty, thirty, or even hundred Rings in both games. However, there have been a few games after Sonic Adventure which have kept the original Super Ring monitors that only grant ten Rings, such as Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure and Sonic the Hedgehog 4.

In Sonic Unleashed, Super Rings were introduced as items separate from Item Boxes. In this game, the Super Rings were presented as floating golden Rings that are slightly larger than regular Rings, with a number in the middle that tells how many Rings it will gain to the player, though the number of Rings they grant still only range between five, ten and twenty. A unique sound effect is played when Sonic collects a Super Ring, compared to the regular chime.

Since their redesign in Sonic Unleashed, the Super Rings' status as items belonging to the Item Boxes or being separate items of their own have been rather inconsistent, with the case depending on the situation and version of the game. In the Wii version of Sonic Colors, Super Rings are their own items, while the Nintendo DS version of the game has them as Item Box power-ups. Also, in the PS3/PC/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Generations, classic acts has the Super Rings as monitor power-ups, and modern acts have them as items of their own, while the Nintendo 3DS version only features Super Rings in monitors. Additionally, Sonic Lost World features them both as items of their own and Item Box power-ups. Getting one as a standalone item, the special chime plays, but when collected in an Item Box, the regular ring chime plays. In Sonic Runners, Dr. Eggman carries huge pile of Rings in his Egg Mobile, some of which can be Super Rings as separate items. Hitting Eggman once makes him drop regular Rings and Super Rings to be obtained. Some Companion Buddies like RC Turtle can turn regular Rings into Super Rings after receiving Combos, while Hunk of Meat gives extra amount of Rings for getting each Super Ring and RC Pirate Spaceship will make more Super Rings appear during boss battles.

Variants
In Sonic Chaos, rings as big as Sonic are found in the first two Special Stages that are worth 10 rings each when collected.

Combine Rings
Combine Rings have only appeared in Knuckles Chaotix, where they can be found at monitors with a blue Ring icon on them, much like Super Rings. Combine Ring functions differently by combining all collected Rings in the player score to the one large Ring (hence the name). This is noticeable when getting hit by an enemy or obstacle, as the player loses the large Ring and is able to grab it back with all collected Rings in the score.

Rich Rings
Rich Rings appears in Sonic and the Secret Rings and the legacy missions in Sonic and the Black Knight. Much like Super Rings, the Rich Rings grant twenty extra Rings, and as well increase the Soul Gauge's energy.