Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-26167440-20160111225919/@comment-679780-20160122185329

I don't believe the Special Stages are gone. In fact I have headcanon.theories that involve the Special Stages in modern times and I believe they play a crucial role to both Chaos Emeralds and common gold rings.

Note that this is a theory of mine that boarders on headcanon than genuine canon to the game. I could be wrong entirely about it all, but Special Stages are still used in modern Sonic games, just not the major ones. Heres my theory why:

I believe the Chaos Emeralds somewhat follow "dragon ball rules", only before being scattered across the four corners of the world, first they warp to the "Warp of Confusion" or the "Special Zone" (I'm not entirely sure what it's called all this time) a sort of pocket-universe where destruction and creation are constant but the laws of physics and earths atmosphere still applies (gravity, air, etc) Here the Chaos Emeralds will scatter and cause a phenomenon that creates a Special Stage around it. Each special stage is unique every time, but usually follows a design shared with it's other emeralds.

The times Sonic or friends have to go into Special Stages to collect Chaos Emeralds was because while the emeralds have been charge, were yet to scatter across the world. However Dr. Eggman also used the Special stage as an ideal place to store and secure the Chaos Emeralds after he found them long dormant on South Island.

The whole process of these Chaos Emeralds is because while the power of the Chaos Emeralds are infinite, they still need a recharge period after great use, such as a doomsday plot or Super Sonic. Over time the Chaos Emeralds will be charged and stable in which they warp back to Sonic's world. Where exactly they end up is uncertain but they are attracted to Zones which means they don't end up lost at deep sea or somewhere impossible.

It could also be possible that when Chaos Emeralds "warp" back to earth after it's recharge period, not only do they scatter across earth but may also scatter throughout time as well, this explains how some cultures have the Chaos Emeralds in history longer than others, such as the Soleanna royals history with the "Miracle Gems". Time can be irrelevent to the Chaos Emeralds but there is definately seven of them regardless of paradox copies of them.

As for how the gold rings and the classic "Emerald Cut" Chaos Emeralds to the modern "Brilliant Cut" Chaos Emeralds are involved, well we're getting rather off topic now.