Rank

Ranks are grades that are obtained by completing a stage or act in the games (sometimes mini stages), and represent how well the player participated in that particular event. The rank he/she receives is determined by how many Rings that are collected throughout the stage, how fast the stage is cleared, the number of enemies defeated, number of tricks done, highest speed reached and other such varying scores.

Ranks made their first appearance in Sonic Adventure 2. Since then, ranks have appeared in the majority of Sonic games released to date, but sometimes the scores are represented by stars instead of ranks (such as in Sonic and the Black Knight). Since Sonic Rush, S-Rank became the highest rank, replacing A, and it has been this way in the most recent Sonic games that use letters for ranks. The exception to this rule is within the Sonic Riders series, where the highest rank received is an X and the lowest rank received is a C. The order of rank grade was A to E starting with Sonic Adventure 2, and S to D starting from Sonic '06. However, in the PS3/360 version of Sonic Unleashed, E returned as the lowest rank. In Sonic Colors, the D rank was the lowest rank that could be received; this is the same in Sonic Generations.

Rank list (in order)

 * X Rank: Violet colored (Sonic Riders games only)
 * SS Rank: Brass colored (Sonic Riders games only)
 * S Rank: Crystal colored/Platinum colored/Gold colored (Sonic Colors DS version only)
 * A Rank: Gold colored/Red colored
 * B Rank: Silver colored/Orange colored/Purple colored (Sonic Colors DS version only)
 * C Rank: Bronze colored/Yellow colored/Green colored (Sonic Colors DS version only)
 * D Rank: Steel colored/Green colored/Light Blue colored (Sonic Colors DS version only)
 * E Rank: Rusty metal colored/Blue colored
 * F Rank: Purple colored (This was supposed to appear in Sonic Heroes, but it later got scrapped, so the E Rank is the lowest of them all.)

Sonic

 * A: "[Whistles] That was cool!"
 * B: "Too easy! Piece of cake."
 * C: "Just made it."
 * D: "Huh, no problem."
 * E: "Barely made it."

Tails

 * A: "I did it, Sonic!"
 * B: "Very good."
 * C: "That was easy."
 * D: "That was a little tough!"
 * E: "I gotta do better next time."

Knuckles

 * A: "Yeah, this is perfect!"
 * B: "Yeah, I feel good."
 * C: "Not too bad."
 * D: "Whew, that was tough."
 * E: "I have to try harder."

Shadow

 * A: "Ultimate victory!"
 * B: "Hmm, too easy for me."
 * C: "That wasn't so hard."
 * D: "Maybe I didn't try hard enough."
 * E: "I guess I'm not at full power here."

Eggman

 * A: "Now you know why I am the best!"
 * B: "Hahaha, piece of cake!"
 * C: "Hmm, that wasn't so difficult."
 * D: "I should have tried a little harder."
 * E: "That was too close."

Rouge

 * A: "How was that, perfect like me?"
 * B: "It's all too easy for me."
 * C: "Not too bad, I guess."
 * D: "I guess I took a little too much time."
 * E: "I'm ashamed to call myself a hunter!"

Team Sonic (Sonic/Tails/Knuckles)

 * A: "[Whistles]. That was tight!"/"Sonic! Knuckles! We did it!"/"Perfect!"
 * B: "Too easy!"/"Not too shabby!"/"Hmm. Not bad!"
 * C: "Barely made it."/"Guess that's that!"/"Guess that's about it!"
 * D: "Hmph! No problem."/"A bit tough!"/"I didn't use all my strength!"
 * E: "Shoot. Not my day."/"We can do better."/"Just enough to pass..."

Team Dark (Shadow/Rouge/Omega)

 * A: "Perfect as always!"/"Perfect! As usual."/"I am Omega! The ultimate E-Series robot!"
 * B: "Piece of cake."/"Piece of cake."/"This proves my power!"
 * C: "Just average."/"Not bad."/"Satisfactory level."
 * D: "Not taking this seriously."/"I can do better."/"Power balance adjustments needed."
 * E: "What's wrong with me?"/"I'm ashamed to call myself a treasure hunter!"/"I couldn't even beat Gamma or Beta..."

Team Rose (Amy/Cream/Big)

 * A: "We're like awesome!"/"I'm so happy, I want to tell everyone!"/"Cause I'm super-duper happy!"
 * B: "I just knew we could do it!"/"As long as we stay together, we can do anything!"/"That was good!"
 * C: "Just this will do."/"Cheese, you did great too. Thank you!"/"Not too bad, I guess."
 * D: "Guess we could've tried harder."/"That was pretty tough!"/"We should try to do better next time."
 * E: "We couldn't even impress Sonic like this..."/"Disappointing."/"I'm feeling a little blue..."

Team Chaotix (Espio/Charmy/Vector)

 * A: "Impossible feat! Ultimate ninja power!"/"Awesome! Totally awesome!"/"Perfect! The work of professionals, heh!"
 * B: "Good job! Nothing more to be said."/"No problem!"/"No complaints!"
 * C: "Not bad. No complaints."/"Not bad, don't you think?"/"Not bad!"
 * D: "Be on guard! Focus, and prepare yourself."/"Maybe we could've done a little better!"/"Maybe... this wasn't our day."
 * E: "Insulting. Your training has been a waste of time."/"Ok, stop foolin' around!"/"Lackluster performance, I'd say."

Team Sonic bosses (Sonic/Tails/Knuckles)

 * Egg Hawk: "Piece 'a cake. Too easy!"/"Amazing machine, but not amazing enough!"/"Hmm. Ready for the junk pile."
 * Vs. Team Rose: "Marriage? No way!"/"Sorry, but we're in a hurry!"/"Sorry, but we're in a bit of a rush."
 * Robot Carnival: "I've got no time to waste on these pests!"/"Making robots is the same as breaking them!"/"What a waste!"
 * Egg Albatross: "Eggman! You know you can't win!"/"Take that, Eggman!"/"Eggman, you'll never beat us!"
 * Vs. Team Dark: "Hey, guys. Chill out."/"If only we had more time..."/"What a ruthless bunch!"
 * Robot Storm: "What? That's it?"/"Whew. We need a break from these robots."/"Not a very bright move for a genius."
 * Egg Emperor: "Great party, Eggman!"/"You're finished, Eggman!"/"The three of us are unstoppable!"

Team Dark bosses (Shadow/Rouge/E-123 Omega)

 * Egg Hawk: "Don't underestimate me, Doctor."/"Obviously the doctor's robots are useless."/"Cruiser battleship: destroyed!"
 * Vs. Team Chaotix: "You should thank me for letting you live."/"Best to keep your guard up while those guys are around."/"Suspicious group: destroyed!"
 * Robot Carnival: "Hmm. Worthless pieces of junk."/"Whew. Did we get them all?"/"A group of sentry robots: destroyed!"
 * Egg Albatross: "Did you forget who I am, Doctor?"/"Why not just give it up, Doctor?"/"Large weapon transporter battleship: destroyed!"
 * Vs. Team Sonic: "Just a fake. Like I thought."/"Sorry, but no time for greetings."/"Group of Shadow-like creatures: destroyed!"
 * Robot Storm: "That won't stop us, Doctor."/"I've had enough of those guys!"/"Sentry robot troop: destroyed!"
 * Egg Emperor: "End of the line, Eggman!"/"Thanks for the treasure, doc!"/"Large ultimate battle robot: destroyed!"

Team Rose bosses (Amy/Cream/Big)

 * Egg Hawk: "Why does he keep making these machines?"/"We broke Dr. Eggman's machine!"/"That was a huge birdie."
 * Vs. Team Sonic: "Sonic, let's go on our honeymoon!"/"We're sorry, Team Sonic."/"Hmm... I wonder if Froggy is here."
 * Robot Carnival: "Man! There sure were lots of them!"/"That was quite a challenge!"/"Why is there so many of them?"
 * Egg Albatross: "Let's go look for Froggy and Chocola now!"/"Ok, Cheese. Let's go find Chocola!"/"I have to find Froggy!"
 * Vs. Team Chaotix: "Sorry, but there's no time for this!"/"You cannot have Cheese!"/"It's not nice to make fun of my friends."
 * Robot Storm: "Robot freaks are so disgusting!"/"There were so many of them!"/"Is it finished?"
 * Egg Emperor: "My love is undeniably powerful!"/"Dr. Eggman, please stop being bad!"/"We did it! Now I can finally take Froggy home with me!"

Team Chaotix bosses (Espio/Charmy/Vector)

 * Egg Hawk: "Death to the evil one. Prepare to die, Eggman!"/"That's what you get for being a bad guy!"/"Eh! Take that, Doctor!"
 * Vs. Team Dark: "You won't get off so easily next time."/"Hey! What's next!"/"Before picking a fight, better know who you're up against."
 * Robot Carnival: "Such a disorderly crowd. Just a waste of our time."/"Wow! There were a lot of them!"/"Where did all those robots come from?"
 * Egg Albatross: "Target destroyed."/"That giant ship was so cool-looking! Too bad we destroyed it!"/"That'll shut him up for a while."
 * Vs. Team Rose: "Forgive me, but this is our duty."/"What? Can that be all?"/"Sorry, ladies. We took it easy on ya."
 * Robot Storm: "Did he really think he could stop us with that?"/"Keep bringing them on! We'll take them all out!"/"There sure were a lot of them, boys!"
 * Egg Emperor: "Evil must die! This world has no place for evil!"/"Alright! Our work is done!"/"Alright boys! A job well done!"

Sonic

 * Act Stages: "Yes!"
 * Boss Stages: "Can we try this again?"
 * Unknown/Big Swell: "Is that it?"

Blaze

 * Act Stages: "How's that?"
 * Boss Stages: "Never get on my bad side."
 * Unknown/Big Swell: "My enemies always fall before me."

Sonic

 * S: "That was incredible!"
 * A: "Too easy! No sweat."
 * B: "Just made it."
 * C: "Hmph! No problem."
 * D: "Man! Today's not my day."

Tails

 * S: "Great! I did it, Sonic!"
 * A: "An "A" effort!"
 * B: "Well, not bad!"
 * C: "I had a bit of trouble there."
 * D: "I've got to do better..."

Knuckles

 * S: "Alright!"
 * A: "That felt good."
 * B: "Well, that wasn't too bad."
 * C: "Hmph. That took longer than I thought."
 * D: "Shoot! I still have a long way to go..."

Elise

 * S: "I don't believe it!"
 * A: "I'm so happy."
 * B: "How was that?"
 * C: "I'm a bit tired."
 * D: "I need to try harder..."

Shadow

 * S: "Perfect."
 * A: "Hm. Not even a challenge."
 * B: "Guess that was alright."
 * C: "Need to stay focused."
 * D: "Maybe I wasn't strong enough."

Rouge

 * S: "What did you think of my beautiful technique?"
 * A: "For me, it was a piece of cake!"
 * B: "That was pretty good, I guess."
 * C: "I guess I took a bit too long."
 * D: "How can I call myself a treasure hunter?"

E - 123 Omega

 * S: "Perfect mission."
 * A: "Good performance."
 * B: "That was adequate."
 * C: "Expected time frame: not met."
 * D: "Has one of my systems broken down?"

Silver

 * S: "Perfect!!!"
 * A: "Looks like I'm on a roll!"
 * B: "That was easy!"
 * C: "That took too long."
 * D: "I need to pull it together."

Blaze

 * S: "Can't complain."
 * A: "All it takes is a little effort."
 * B: "That was so-so."
 * C: "I should have done better."
 * D: "That was weak."

Amy

 * S: "Just perfect!"
 * A: "Aren't I just incredible?"
 * B: "Yay! I rock!"
 * C: "Phew. That was close."
 * D: "I gotta do better than this."

Sonic (Day Stages)

 * S: "Piece of cake!" - "Beautiful!" - "Sweet!"
 * A: "Yes!" - "Cool!"
 * B: "How's that?!" - "Not bad."
 * C: "Eh, can't win 'em all." - "Yeah, I'm good."
 * D: "Hmph! Well that was lame." - "Oh, I've gotta try that again." - "Not my best run."
 * E: "No!" - "Oh no."

Sonic (Night Stages)

 * S: "Oh yeah! That's right baby!"
 * A: (Growls)
 * B: "Wow! I rule!"
 * C: "Hmm, not so bad."
 * D: "Hmph! Can I start over?"
 * E: "Darn!"

Sonic Colors (DS version)

 * S: "Amazing!"
 * A: "Great!"
 * B: "Very good!"
 * C: "Good!"
 * D: "Don't give up!"

Trivia

 * In the Wii/PS2 versions of Sonic Unleashed, the rankings went from S to C, although the D and E ranks were present in the 360/PS3 versions. Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Heroes ranked A to E while Sonic 06 and Sonic Generations ranked S to D.
 * In Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors, the ranking is given by the time score and most likely rings and your score. However, in Sonic Generations, even if you have at least one ring or just a small amount, you will get an S rank; but only when you don't lose a life in the stage. This means that in Sonic Generations, the ranking is given by time.
 * In the PS3/Xbox versions of Sonic Unleashed, Sonic and Chip look directly at the ranking. Depending on what the rank is, they will behave in a certain way. They will get annoyed if the rank is low (E or D), remain calm if the rank is average (C or B) and will dance for joy if the rank is high (A or S).
 * Since Sonic Colors, after getting any rank, Sonic will do a pose for the player, but only when the time to interact with the results screen stops. In Sonic Generations, after getting your score results and your rank, Sonic will do a pose, perform a move or just dance (depending of what rank the player gets).