Special Stage (Sonic Mania)


 * For Special Stages in general, see here.

Special Stages in Sonic Mania are a series of seven extra levels. Entering and completing a Special Stage will award the player with a Chaos Emerald.

Overview
The Special Stages are ominous environments with winding roads on top of strange fields. The layout and setting is viewed from a parallax background. One Special Stage for example has a clear night sky above a city as a background with a purple field and columns, buildings based on Greek architecture, and floating multicolored fish next to the roads.

Gameplay
Upon entering the Special Stage, the player stands on a square, pseudo-3D board. The player is then tasked to chase down a UFO containing a Chaos Emerald that is traveling through this stage within a certain time limit. During the gameplay, an indicator will be displayed on the top of the screen's HUD that shows the player's speed and remaining time. Along the way, the player can also utilize different items.

Upon catching the UFO, the player will be rewarded with its Chaos Emerald.

Trivia

 * The Special Stages for Sonic Mania combine several elements from past Sonic games:
 * The Blue Sphere concept from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
 * The open layout and UFOs of the Sonic the Hedgehog CD Special Stages.
 * The floating fish from the Special Stages in the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
 * The 3D gameplay from the scrapped Sonic Saturn.