Phantom Egg

The Phantom Egg is the semifinal boss in Sonic Mania. A mecha designed and used by Dr. Eggman, it was used during his battle against Sonic, Tails and Knuckles in the Titanic Monarch Zone.

Concept and creation
The Phantom Egg is based on the inital design for the Metallic Madness boss from Sonic the Hedgehog CD, when it was under the name as the "Psycho-Egg".

Appearance
The Phantom Egg is a fairly large mecha suit. The suit itself is in the shape of an egg, colored burgundy on top and light blue on the bottom. The appendages of the mecha suit are gray and burgundy. It also has six piledrivers pressing into the top of the suit; these piledrivers are gray with two yellow lines. The Phantom Egg has four tethers connected to each corner of the room that allows the Phantom Egg to hold its own weight. These tethers have eight ball joints, each green with a yellow X-shaped mark and a blue dot in the middle of the mark inscribed on each ball joint. The Phantom Ruby is placed in the Phantom Egg's chest, along with a window that allows Eggman to see from inside the suit.

Features and abilities
The Phantom Egg boasts several abilities that make the suit one of Eggman's more uniquely powerful creations. The Phantom Egg is equipped with an orange force-field that protects it from damage from any threat it comes across. It also can electrify its tethers that will shock any opponent it touches. However, when Eggman uses the electric tethers, he cannot use the force-field, making him open to attacks. It can also launch up to four missiles that can home in on opponents with great precision. The Phantom Egg also has the ability to send foes to another room if captured by red holographic hands that Eggman can control at whim.

While in the suit, Eggman can jump incredibly high and stay in the air with the suit's tethers, even if only one tether remains.

History
During his scheme to use the Phantom Ruby for his own, dasterly schemes, Eggman created the Phantom Egg in a secured room in the Titanic Monarch Zone. However, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles would arrive to defeat the Phantom Egg-wearing Eggman and secure the Phantom Ruby from further tampering. During the battle, Eggman used the help of the Phantom Heavies to defeat the heroes, but to no avail. Upon the Phantom Egg's defeat though, the Phantom Ruby sucked Sonic and Eggman into another dimension.

Battle
The Phantom Egg serves as the final standard boss and the twenty-fourth boss in Sonic Mania. It serves as the final boss for Tails and Knuckles, as well as for Sonic if the player did not collect all seven Chaos Emeralds.

Boss guide
Being the final standard boss of Sonic Mania, the Phantom Egg is a difficult boss to subdue. The Phantom Egg will move across the stage, leaping from one space to another in an attempt to squish the player. The Phantom Egg is protected by an orange shield that deflects any attack the player aims towards it. However, this shield will be lowered when the Phantom Egg situates itself in one spot and electrify the tethers. Touching the electrifying tethers will hurt the player, but the tethers will also stop outputting electricity for several seconds, allowing the player to hit the Phantom Egg. The Phantom Egg will also fire four missiles at a time, each aiming at the playable character's current position. The Phantom Egg will also sometimes stay afloat and initiate a pair of holographic hands that, when the player is grabbed, will transport the player to another section of the boss where they will encounter one of the Phantom Heavies. The following contains each section of the Phantom Heavies:


 * Phantom Gunner: The Phantom Gunner segment is the first section the player will be transported to. The Phantom Gunner will launch several red and blue missiles at the platform the player is on: red missiles will burst on the floor and spread fire to the platform, while blue missiles can be knocked back at the Phantom Gunner with an attack.
 * Phantom Shinobi: The Phantom Shinobi, now in the shape of a shuriken, will move across the room and attempt to launch his blades at the player while on the left side or right side of the room. When doing this, he will go to the left side of the room first before heading to the right side of the room.
 * Phantom Magician: There are three bowls, one in the middle that the player must pay attention to while the bowls will be shuffled. When the bowls are done shuffling, two of them will blast at the player, but the bowl that the player should have paid attention to at the beginning of the segment will be the bowl that will not blast at the player. The Phantom Magician will appear in the middle before moving up with the bowls and ending the segment.
 * Phantom Rider: There will be two roads in the section: one where the player will run and another where the Phantom Rider will ride on a modified Jimmy. The two roads will eventually separate, with the road Phantom Rider on the top road and the player on the bottom road. The bottom road will be filled with spikes that the player must avoid.

Hit the Phantom Egg sixteen times (each four hits will destroy a tether of the mecha suit) and the boss battle will end.

If Sonic has all of the Chaos Emeralds, the fight will continue into the Egg Reverie Zone during the pursuit of securing the Phantom Ruby and stopping Eggman and the Hard-Boiled Heavies once and for all.