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BINGO Highway (ビンゴハイウェイ BINGO Haiuei?) is the sixth stage in Sonic Heroes.
Description[]
Like the preceding stage, BINGO Highway is primarily based in a casino-like area, with large pinball tables and neon-lit paths.
Story[]
After taking an all-or-nothing gamble in Casino Park, Team Sonic continues to try and relax by blasting down the high-speed BINGO slides. Team Dark tries the high-speed slides to continue their search for Dr. Eggman. Team Rose tries the BINGO slides to pursue Sonic and Team Chaotix must collect ten Casino Chips to access Eggman's base up ahead.
Gameplay[]
| This section requires an expansion. |  |
This stage is more difficult than the previous one, considering that the player can fall off the edges of the pinball tables. Also, as the name suggests, there are sections of the level where the player can play a mini-game of Bingo as they slide down a path.
There are three rounds of Bingo in the stage. The first two involve sliding down an extended path filled with bumpers and pitfalls. These boards have many split paths with bingo numbers found in both, meaning it is not practical to get all nine numbers in a single board. Instead the player can look at the markers floating above the stage that show which numbers are adjacent to each other. A player must make contact with numbers to make a vertical, horizontal, or diagonal line of three in order to win and get a Ring bonus depending on how many lines they were able to make with a single number obtained. It is possible to win multiple bonuses on one board.
The final Bingo board is near the end of the second board. If the player is able to take the center path, they will be shot up into the air. The characters will comment that this is 'aerial Bingo' and the character will fall down through an open area with no obstacles, attempting to fall through as many numbers as they can.
Overview[]
Team Sonic[]
- Mission: Blast down the high speed slides! (Reach the goal)
- Extra Mission: Get to the Goal ring within 6 minutes! (Reach the goal within the time limit)
Team Sonic stars on a pinball table which eventually branches into three slides (a ramp prior to this allows the player to reach a Floating Item Box containing a Team Blast Ring directly above the middle slide). The middle slide leads to another pinball table with slot machines (although after the player rolls off of this table, they will fall back down to the other two slides) while the left and right slides allows the player to continue onto the stage, eventually reaching an on-foot section. The right slide leads to the bottom part of the foothold while the left slide leads to the upper area where the player will encounter their first Search Flapper. Defeat the Search Flapper to open the door, then the player can continue on to reach an updraft fan that they must use Triangle Dive to proceed upwards. Two Klagens and a casino Egg Pawn appear in the next part, then the player can destroy the glass to fall down to a brief pinball slope to reach a roulette chart table
On the table, a Solid Flapper (with the Search Flapper's searchlight) is patrolling in the area. The player can destroy the Flapper to open a case containing a ball switch at the back of the table to turn the spinning dice into revolving dice platforms, allowing the player to reach another table ahead with the first Checkpoint and a Power Gong which launches the player into the next pinball table section with the first Bingo round. Alternatively, the player can drop down to a brief pinball table (taking care to avoid falling into a bottomless pit) and emerge onto another grounded platform where the player must destroy the enemies to open a case containing a switch to turn the spinning dice into rising and falling dice, allowing the player to scale up to the pinball table, reach the stage's second Checkpoint, then use the series of springs to reach the first Bingo round table. After the Bingo round, the player will enter a slide which transports them to another table, where they must use the flippers to help reach the top part of the table to exit from it to proceed onto a standard platforming section.
In the next platforming section, the player will encounter their first Gold Klagen; afterwards they can use the Bumper to reach up to the next platform level where they can fly to each die to reach solid ground on the other side with the third Checkpoint. However, if the player falls off, they will land in a pinball table where they must reach the exit on the top end before all of the Drop Targets disappear and cause the player to fall of the table and lose a life. Upon reaching the exit though, the player will be in a special room which has a 1-Up and a Cage containing a Special Stage Key then they can use the bumpers to launch themselves back up onto the main ground. After hitting the spring past the Checkpoint, the player will roll through another brief pinball section; after the first drop, the player can attempt to collect the items behind the Drop Targets or simply continue rolling down. Afterwards, they will be on an on-foot section which plays similarly to the beginning of the stage; defeat enemies to open the door, use a fan with Triangle Dive to reach a higher floor where the enemies are present, which the player must destroy all of them to open a case containing a switch which will open the door, leading to a glass which can be broken by Power Formation's attacks to reach the next major pinball table section containing the next Bingo round.
In this pinball table section, the player must now be vary of more pitfall gaps in the table to avoid losing a life as they go for the Bingo number gates. After the Bingo round, the player pass through a series of slides to reach the second part of the pinball table. Here the player can use the flippers and dash panels to reach the slot machines at the top or take one of the slides to obtain a blue Power Core, otherwise, the player can roll all the way down to a drop which transports the player to the next on-foot section filled with springs.
After traversing past the springs, the player can either continue onwards to fight a Gold Klagen, a Klagen and an Egg Pawn or drop down to a lower area where the player can step on a ball switch underneath a Weight to stop the two spinning dice to use them as rising platforms. If the player stands on top of the weight, they can find a switch handle which can be used if the player changes the leader to Tails, which will open a door on the upper area leading to a vault containing a large number of Rings, a cage containing a Special Stage Key and a Power Gong to reach the other side. The player can return through the door to use the green Bumper balls to reach an upper platform with the stage's final checkpoint and a Power Gong to reach the next section.
In this section, the player can use the wide spring to reach up a wide floor containing six glass panels. Defeat the enemies around here, then destroy the top-left glass panel and break one of the containers to find a ball switch which will stop the dice from spinning, allowing the player to fly up to the upper floor. Alternatively, the player can break the top-right glass panel to find a spring which can launch the player up to a green Bumper ball if they're in Fly formation, which can launch them to the upper floor. In the upper floor, there is a narrow chute which leads to the final pinball table section of the stage.
The player will now need to control their character to avoid falling into every pit encountered along the way. After the first Bingo round, the player will encounter three slides; the left and right slide leads into another series of slides to reach the final pinball table with an alcove containing the Goal Ring where the player must break through drop targets to reach it. If the player takes the middle slide, they will be launched high into the air for the final round of "aerial" Bingo, before landing right into the pinball table alcove with the Goal Ring.
A trick to navigate through the last pinball table section without the risk of losing a life (due to all characters falling off of the pinball table) is to switch to Power formation, position the Power character such that he is standing to the left of the chute (such that the Fly character starts traveling down the chute into the pinball section), then switch to that Fly character who will now enter the pinball section while the Power and Speed character remain behind at the entrance chute. Then should the player fall off from the pinball table, the game will switch to the Power character who will still be at the entrance chute, allowing the player to try again and repeat the process.
In the stage's Extra Mission, the stage remains identical, albeit the player must reach the goal within six minutes. As such, the player should not waste too much time on the pinball tables in order to complete this mission.
Team Dark[]
| This section requires an expansion. | |
- Try the high speed slides! (Reach the goal)
- Defeat 100 enemies! (Defeat enemies)
Team Dark's stage is overall similar in length to Team Sonic's version albeit having more enemies. Pinball table sections now have Badniks (namely the casino versions of the Egg Pawn and red Flappers) placed on them although the player will be in spinball mode while on pinball tables anyway, the enemies should not pose much of a threat. However, there is Laser Flapper in the pinball table with the first Bingo game.
In order to open the vault, the player must activate two ball switches simultaneously, which are located behind the middle light pillars before the vault door.
For the Extra Mission, it is possible for the player to encounter 100 enemies within a single cycle of the stage though this requires the player to destroy enemies in the pinball tables which are often hard to reach due to the pinball mechanics. However, the player should not be too concerned about missing any of these enemies and can focus on getting through the stage quickly to encounter more of the enemies in the ground section.
The player should also let themselves be detected by Search Flappers so that they can spawn more enemies that can be destroyed as these enemies will count towards the mission requirement.
Team Rose[]
| This section requires an expansion. | |
- Mission: Try the BINGO slides! (Reach the goal)
- Extra Mission: Collect 200 rings! (Collect rings)
Team Rose's stage starts at the same point as Team Sonic and Team Dark's version but their end point is at the top of the vault door and the layout has less enemies. The vault door can be opened by moving to the same floor where the Goal Ring is at, then turn around to hit a Target Switch with a Thunder Shoot.
The Extra Mission is not too difficult to complete, due to the abundance of Ring sources available, including the Bingo game, as it can be finished right after the first Bingo round.
Team Chaotix[]
- Mission: Collect 10 casino chips! (Collect items)
- Extra Mission: Collect all 20 Casino chips! (Collect items)
In the first mission, the player can collect any of the 10 casino chips in the stage to complete it. The casino chip locations in this stage are located here. In the Extra Mission, the player must collect all 20 chips, requiring them to traverse through the entire stage. Team Chaotix spawns into the stage from the drop just after the first pinball table.
Various Warp Flowers are present in the stage which can teleport back and forth between the major pinball table sections of the stage, which can be useful for the player if they need to backtrack through said sections to collect missing casino chips. Netherless, a trick can be done where the player can use Espio's Leaf Swirl to leave Charmy and Vector behind on solid ground while Espio ventures into the pinball tables alone. This nets the player a fail-safety measure; if Espio falls off of the pinball table, the game will switch control to Charmy or Vector and snap to their locations on the solid ground before the pinball tables, preventing the player from losing a life. This trick can also be done to "retry" pinball table sections safely and quickly, particularly if the player missed any of the casino chips located in these sections.
The stage "ends" above the vault area (where Team Rose would normally finish their version of the stage) where there is a Warp Flower which transports them to a pinball table that can be used to collect the last casino chip (#20). Otherwise, the slides which the gutters off this pinball table will lead the player down through slides (which are incidentally part of the initial pinball table that the other three teams go through at the start of their versions of the stage if they went through the middle of the three slides), leading Team Chaotix back to their starting point of the stage.
Super Hard Mode[]
In Super Hard Mode, the stage length is identical to Team Sonic's and Team Dark's versions of the stage, aside from the additional enemies. Just like Team Dark's version, enemies will also appear in the pinball tables; in particular, the player has to watch out for Needle Flappers.
2P Play[]
In the Action Race version of BINGO Highway, the beginning of the stage resembles the final on-foot platforming section prior to the final pinball section of Team Sonic's and Team Dark's versions of the stage in 1P Play. First the player can simply fly up to a series of dice to reach the entrance to the final pinball area. The route is similar, although additional barriers are added to help the players avoid falling off the table. However, the pits are still present (albeit they have a Drop Target or a bumper to help the player avoid falling off). Number gates for the Bingo table are present that either player can play to try and score more Rings.
After the Bingo table part of the pinball section, the players can choose one of three slides to roll along; the left and right ones leads to another series of slides which leads to the final pinball table where the player must pass through the three Drop Targets to access the Goal Ring. The middle slide leads to a spring that will launch the player up into the air (unlike the 1P Play versions the "aerial" Bingo round is not present), leading to the goal if the player maneuvers properly.
Ranking[]
| Rank | Score[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Sonic | Team Dark | Team Rose | Team Chaotix | |
|
32,000 | 42,000 | 35,000 | 32,000 |
|
28,000 | 35,000 | 30,000 | 28,000 |
|
24,000 | 28,000 | 25,000 | 24,000 |
|
20,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 |
|
<20,000 | <20,000 | <15,000 | <20,000 |
| Rank | Score/Time[1] | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team Sonic | Team Dark | Team Rose | Team Chaotix | |
|
|
32,000 | 12:00 | 3:30 | 20,000 |
|
|
30,000 | 12:30 | 4:00 | 18,000 |
|
|
28,000 | 13:00 | 4:30 | 15,000 |
|
|
26,000 | 14:00 | 5:00 | 12,000 |
|
|
<26,000 | >14:00 | >5:00 | <12,000 |
Other game appearances[]
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games[]
In the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, BINGO Highway appears as the track where the Dream Sprint event takes place. It is also the location and event of the Rival match against King Boo, who once appeared as a boss in Hotel Delfino's casino in Super Mario Sunshine.
In other media[]
Books and comics[]
Archie Comics[]
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, BINGO Highway appears as a location near Casino Park, both of which were created by Neo Metal Sonic for Breezie the Hedgehog.
Trivia[]
- It is possible in both missions to get a PERFECT BINGO on the first table. With some practice, it is even possible to get Perfect Bingo in the second table. By using Sonic or Shadow's Light Speed Dash at the entrance tunnel and leaving the others behind, Team Sonic and Team Dark can repeat the third table up to three times to get a Perfect Bingo. However, it is not always profitable to lose so much time.
- It is possible to clear the entire stage with all four teams by using only the Power Type character as the leader, provided that the team doesn't drop down onto a pinball table section while jumping onto a die.
- In the "Prototype (10.8)" version of Sonic Heroes for the GameCube, there is a small chance the bingo text will use additive blending instead of the regular method. This is one of the graphical bugs that were present in this development build and was fixed on later releases of the game for the console.
- If two switches are pressed near the end of the stage, the player can access Eggman's vault. It is filled with rings and a Special Stage key. Sonic remarks; 'this must be where Eggman keeps his money!'
Music[]
| Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music track |
|---|---|---|---|
| "STAGE 06 : BINGO HIGHWAY" | Keiichi Sugiyama | 2:26 | |
| "BINGO HIGHWAY / Remix ver." | Keiichi Sugiyama | 5:10 | |
| "BATTLE : CASINO AREA" | Keiichi Sugiyama | 2:42 |
Videos[]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Guess, Gerald (6 January 2004). Sonic Heroes: Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Prima Games. p. 159. ISBN 0761544496.