Curricular Gadgets are a set of three minigames that appear in Sonic the Hedgehog (Didj). The player can enter them by touching hidden Teleport Rings in normal Acts. After completing the Curricular Gadget, the player will be granted a Badget.
Gameplay[]
While all three Curricular Gadgets have their own unique design, gameplay is mostly unaffected. A Curricular Gadget will be randomly selected after touching a Teleport Ring. If the player is stuck in a Curricular Gadget, they will be able to press the Hint button to get a small hint to complete the Curricular Gadget. If the Hint button is pressed more times after that, the player will enter Tutorial Mode, where the game will tell the player how to play the Curricular Gadget they are in.
Curricular Gadgets[]
Scrambled Station[]
Sonic in Scrambled Station.
Scrambled Station[1] takes place on solid ground, with a platform above it and another, smaller platform located on the left side of the screen so that the playable character can get to the former. Several TV Monitors with letters on them are scattered across the Curricular Gadget. At the bottom part of the screen, there is a black box with empty spaces, the amount of which depend on how many TV Monitors there are.
In gameplay, the player will have to break the TV Monitors in the correct order so that they can form a word. As the player progresses through the game though, words will be longer and trickier to form. The player will be able to perform a Jump on the TV Monitors to break them. However, if they break the wrong TV Monitor, the TV Monitor will be appear and the playable character will appear in their hurt animation. If they repeat this two times more, the correct answer will be shown for four seconds[1] and the playable character will be taken back to the normal Act, without being granted any Badgets.
If the player forms the correct word, ten Rings will appear for the player to collect. They will also be taken to another Scrambled Station Curricular Gadget. After completing the Curricular Gadget five times, the player will be granted a Badget and return to the normal Act.
Letter Cannon[]
Sonic in Letter Cannon.
Letter Cannon[2] takes place in an open area, with solid ground and a single cannon on it. Many Bubbles will pass by the Cannon while carrying large TV Monitors with a random amount of letters in them. On the top of the screen is also a black box with an incomplete word.
In gameplay, the playable character will automatically be inserted into the Cannon. They will then be able to aim the Cannon by pressing left or right. To fire the playable character, the player will have to press A. If the player misses, the playable character will run back into the cannon. If the player hits the wrong Bubbles however, they will receive their hurt animation and return to the Cannon. If this happens two times more, the correct answer will be shown for three seconds[1] and the player will be taken back to the normal Act, without being granted any Badgets.
Destroying the Bubbles with the right letters causes ten Rings to appear on the ground, which Sonic will automatically collect while running back to the Cannon. After completing the Curricular Gadget five times, the player will be granted a Badget and return to the normal Act.
Word Wheel[]
Sonic in Word Wheel.
Word Wheel[3] takes place in a small room with the Word Wheel, which resembles a metal nut on a screw and letters printed on its sides. Above it, there is a lever. Also, on the bottom part of the screen, there is a black box with empty spaces.
In gameplay, the playable character will be standing on the Word Wheel, unable to get off it. The player can move left or right to rotate the Word Wheel. The letter selected will then be highlighted in yellow. Moving left and right causes the Word Wheel to move, thus changing the letter selected. To pull the lever above them, the player must Jump to reach it. If the letter the player selects is correct, it will be placed in the black box. Collecting all the right letters causes ten Rings to appear on the ground and allows the playable character to hop off the Word Wheel to collect them. Afterward, the player will be granted a Badget and be returned to the normal Act.
Trivia[]
- The cannon in Letter Cannon is taken from Carnival Night Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sonic the Hedgehog (Didj) game design document, pg. 27.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog (Didj) game design document, pg. 28.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog (Didj) game design document, pg. 29.
| Playable characters | Sonic | |
| Non-playable characters | Bubbles · Dr. Eggman · Animals (Becky, Flicky, Churps, Johnny Lightfoot, Locky, Mouse, Porker Lewis, Rocky, Sally Acorn, Tocky, Tux, Wocky) | |
| Zones | Green Hill Zone · Emerald Hill Zone · Sandopolis Zone · Hydrocity Zone · Scrap Brain Zone · Chemical Plant Zone · Egg Base Zone · Curricular Gadgets | |
| Enemies | Buzzer · Coconuts · Grabber · Grounder · Masher · Sandworm · Skorp · Spiny | |
| Bosses | Drill Eggman · Graviton Mobile · Water Eggman · Eggman Mech | |
| Moves/Techniques | Duck · Jump · Roll · Spin Dash | |
| Gimmicks and obstacles | Cannon · Catapult · Conveyor belt · Dropping platform · Electrical emitter · End Act Sign · Glove on a stick · Pneumatic tube · Poison water · Spikes · Spring · Star Post · Switch · Upward fan · Word Wheel | |
| Items | Chaos Emerald · Egg Mobile · Giant Ring · Item Box (Invincible, One-Up, Shield, Super Ring, Super Sneakers) · Ring | |
| Other | Corkscrew · Death Egg Robot · Game Over · Life · Loop · Tunnel | |