Goal Ring

The Goal Ring (ゴールリング), also called Goal Medal, is an object that appears in the 3D games in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. They are giant Rings that mark the goal of the playable Stages and touching them is often required to complete a Stage. They serve as a modern replacement for the Goal Plates. The Goal Rings first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2 and has appeared in nearly every following game since.

Description
The Goal Rings appear at the end of the playable stage, where they mark that the player has reached the end of the stage. To complete or end the stage the player is in, the player usually has to touch the Goal Ring with the playable character, which in turn will end the playthrough of the stage and rate the player's performance.

In many Sonic games, such as Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog, the objective of some or all of the stages is to reach the Goal Ring.

Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle
The Goal Ring first appeared in Sonic Adventure 2 and its remake Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. In this game, the Goal Ring is exactly what it says on the tin: a giant ring with the word "GOAL" written in the middle.

Sonic Heroes
In Sonic Heroes, the Goal Ring was given a slight change in appearance; instead of having the word "GOAL" written in the center, it had a small revolving gold star floating in the center, with segments of a red ring surrounding it. For some missions in the game that involves completing an objective that can be found in the stage, the Goal Ring will act as a return point that will send the player back to the beginning of the stage. For such missions, the Goal Ring has a back arrow in its center. In this game, it is the first and currently only time that the Goal Ring could be targeted onto with a Homing Attack to reach.

Shadow the Hedgehog
In Shadow the Hedgehog, the Goal Ring appears as a simple, massive ring. However, for any Action Stages that are not Lethal Highway, Cryptic Castle, Central City, The Doom, Sky Troops, Mad Matrix, Death Ruins, Iron Jungle or Lost Impact, the Goal Ring will have a Chaos Emerald floating in the center.

Sonic Advance 3
The Goal Rings also appeared in Sonic Advance 3 where they are called Goal Medals In this game, it is a type of smaller ring with a star inside it. When touching the Goal Medal, it will turn gold, silver or bronze depending on the clear time.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)
The Goal Ring made another appearance in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006). Its appearance in this game is identical to those in Sonic Heroes.

Sonic Rush
The Goal Ring also appeared in Sonic Rush. In this game, it is identical to the ones in Sonic Heroes. Once a player touches it, however, the Goal Ring will show a gloved hand inside it making the peace sign. Unlike the other games, it won't disappear once touched, and it would spin fast unstoppable.

Sonic Rivals 2
In Sonic Rivals 2, the goal ring is changed into a giant gold ring with a big blue star in the center. Like Sonic Rush, it won't disappear once touched, it would spin fast unstoppable. Like Sonic Advance 3, it is called Goal Medal.

Sonic Unleashed
In Sonic Unleashed, the Goal Ring changed to a giant gold ring with a red star in the center surrounded by rainbow colors inside it (setting the current look for it).

Sonic Colors
The Goal Ring also appeared in Sonic Colors where its appearance was the same as it were in Sonic Unleashed. On the DS version of Sonic Colors, the Goal Ring only appeared in the first run of Tropical Resort Act 1 and certain missions. Also in the Sonic Simulator, the Goal Ring will release Rings when touched before the act ends.

Sonic Generations
The Goal Ring also appears in Sonic Generations where its appearance was the same as in Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors. It only appeared in Modern Sonic's stages and challenges.

Sonic Lost World
In Wii U version of Sonic Lost World, Goal Rings are only featured in multiplayer modes Speed Race and Expert Race. In this game, Goal Rings are replacing Capsules as the end level goals and they have lost the shining effect from previous games.

Trivia

 * Eggman makes a joke about the Goal Ring in one of his PA announcements in Sonic Colors, in which he says: "Attention! If you find the Goal Ring, please return it to the lost impound, thank you!". This also breaks the fourth wall.
 * In PAX 2013 demo of Sonic Lost World, Frozen Factory Zone 2 does not contain the boss battle against Zeena and instead uses the Goal Ring to end the Zone.