Item box

Item Boxes are destructible containers that contain various power-ups or bonuses that can be collected by Sonic or other player characters.

In the early Sonic games and some of the later 2D games, they took the form of grey, rectangular computer Monitors with the icon of the power-up contained inside shown on the flickering screen (empty Monitors spawned through cheat codes only display static). In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the Monitors took the form of a light grey device that resembled a hand-held video game console such as the Nintendo Game Boy. Some Monitors can be found floating in midair in secret areas; hitting a floating Monitor from below will make it drop to the ground where it can be broken easily.

Since Sonic Adventure, they had a redesign to look more like glass capsules with a picture of the item or power-up floating inside, and are now called Item Boxes or Item Capsules. These Item Boxes can be broken open by simply touching them, as opposed to Monitors that had to be broken with an attack (breaking an Item Box by falling on it bounces the player upward). The Homing Attack will target Item Boxes the same way it will target enemies, and some chasms can be crossed by using Homing Attacks on a string of floating Item Boxes. Nearly all major 3D Sonic games use some form of the Item Boxes.

Monitors sometimes make returns, such as in Sonic Heroes and Sonic 4.

There is also one alternative form of Item Boxes: the balloons. These balloons are red and they have a blue circle with a star on them. They act like capsules, except that they are always in air. Since they don't have a picture, you never know what each one contains. They first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2, continued on Sonic Heroes and been used only in spin-offs such as Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games since.

In Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Colors, and Sonic Generations on Modern Sonic's stages, Item boxes seem to be completely replaced by other items. The Super Ring Item Box is replaced by a ring with 10 written in it. Extra Life is replaced by a square with Sonic's head symbol in it. They can't be targetted by a Homing Attack, and no other items remain in Modern Sonic's gameplay. However, in the handheld versions of Colors and Generations, there still are item boxes and they can be homing attacked (even the wisp capsules). In Colors DS, there are ring, shield, thunder shield, life and invincibility capsules in the levels, but in versus mode, there's different capsules that the player can use to throw obstacles at the other player or reduce their speed. those obstacles are springs, spike balls and egg balloons. In Sonic Generations 3DS, Modern Sonic can find Ring and Life monitors through the Classic and the Dreamcast Era. It is not until the Modern Era where he can find Shield and Invincibility monitors.

While some of these items are protective against hazards, spikes and enemies, they cannot protect you from instant death such as being crushed or falling into a bottomless pit.

Item Boxes
Key: SA1 = Sonic Adventure, SA2 = Sonic Adventure 2, SH = Sonic Heroes, ShTH = Shadow the Hedgehog, STH = Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), SR = Sonic Riders, SRZG = Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity