Ring (Sonic Boom)

The Ring is a recurring object in the Sonic Boom video games. Throughout the series, Rings serve as a unique health system in gameplay; as long as the players hold a Ring, it will protect them from defeat when taking damage. Instead, the players lose only a portion of their Rings. Aside from that, they have also served other purposes.

Appearance and background
The Rings' design is based on either the basic and round-edged wedding rings or solid brass round rings. The size of Rings varies between situations; in some cases, in-game models and certain show them being as about half the size of the playable characters, while others depict them at about the size of Sonic's head. Often the most common item in the games, Rings can be found everywhere in the primary playable levels where they spin around in one spot and either lie close to the ground or float in midair. Generally, they are arranged in large clusters or in strings along pathways, above Bounce Pads, around loops, along rails, or simply in midair.

While appearing nothing out of the ordinary, Ring can protect their wielders from harm at the cost of themselves. When he received a rough pat on the back, Sonic lost a Ring while showing no sign of discomfort. Rings' unique properties also let their users absorb them, allowing large amounts of them to carried at once.

It is not known where Rings come from and no backstory has been given for them, except that they are spread all over the earth.

Functionality
In gameplay, the player can collect Rings by simply touching them. When this happens, it disappears, often leaving only a small sparkle effect behind while a chime can be heard. As their primary function, Rings prevent their holder from being defeated. Possessing even a single Ring prevents a character from having to start over from the last Checkpoint/beginning of the level upon taking damage from things such as impacts with enemies, enemy attacks or damage-inducing obstacles. If an (unshielded) character takes damage while holding Rings, they drop their Rings which are then scattered in a circular pattern and bounce around the environment, while the player gives a small twitch. However, there are certain dangers Rings cannot protect well against, such as being crushed or falling into a bottomless pit. Taking damage without a Ring will result in the player's defeat.

During the brief period where the player drop their Rings after taking damage, there is a chance to collect the scattered Rings, but they will eventually all disappear after a while. The amount of Rings the player drop when taking damage varies between games. In most cases, the player only drops a portion of their Rings when taking damage just once, while in other games the player will drop all of them. However, in general, fewer "recoverable" Rings are displayed on-screen when they are dropped than the number actually lost.

Trivia

 * The Ring is based on the iconic gimmick from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.