Goal

The Goal Ring, a common form of the goal in the Sonic series.

The goal is the end point of a playable level in a video game. In the Sonic the Hedgehog series, the goal is the final destination of a level that will end said level upon reaching it.

Overview

The goal is often an object positioned at a certain point in the level (usually known as a Zone or stage) that must be passed, collected or destroyed. Upon reaching the goal, the gameplay in the level automatically ends and the player is taken to the Result screen, where their scores are tallied. This tally takes into account (for example) Rings collected, enemies defeated, points gathered, and the time taken to complete the level. Bonuses are also often provided depending on the score achieved or speed of completion. For example, in Sonic Rush, the player can get a bonus if they cross the goal at high speed.

Some levels come without a physical goal. Instead, may take the form of a set of conditions that must be satisfied (for example, "collect 200 Rings").

List of goals

Goal Plate

Robotnik/Eggman side of Goal Plate in Sonic Generations.

The earlist, yet most well-known goal in the Sonic series is the Goal Plate. They appear at the end of each Act of almost every Zone in the games featuring them. They take the form of large signposts on rotatable posts that spin round when passed, sometimes accompanied by a Giant Ring if the player is carrying fifty Rings or more. When a Goal Plate's spinning is initiated, it starts off by displaying Eggman's face, and switches to the player's character's face. In games like Sonic Chaos and Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble however, the Goal Plate may show one out of multiple pictures, each one giving a different award when shown, after finishing its spin.

Goal Plates are not always used for the final Act of a Zone. In such cases, there will be a boss battle instead. Destroying the Capsule after the boss fight officially finishes the Act.

In games like Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic Mania, the Goal Plate will drop down from above after the defeat of the sub-boss (Act 1) of that Zone. It will spin continuously until it lands. Jumping into it as it falls pushes it up into the air again, granting 100 points each time. If the Goal Plate lands on certain spots on the ground, it will cause hidden Item Boxes to pop up, which can be collected before or after the score tally.

Chaos Emeralds

File:Sonic2SpecialStage.png

Sonic rewarded with a Chaos Emerald in Special Stage.

Chaos Emeralds are usually the goals of Special Stages. Obtaining one of these Emeralds in a Special Stage counts as reaching the goal. In games like Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I and Sonic Colors (Wii), the Chaos Emeralds are usually ready for collecting somewhere in the Stages, and the player has to make their way to them. In other games, like Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, the player has to fulfil certain requirements before the Emeralds will appear for the player to obtain, like collecting enough Rings before crossing certain checkpoints or time limits, or obtaining all blue Spheres in a stage.

In more recent Sonic games, Chaos Emeralds can sometimes be the goal of certain stages due to collecting them being part of the game's story. However, the Special Stages still appear from time to time. In games like Sonic Heroes and Sonic Generations (Nintendo 3DS), rather than being at the end of Special Stages, the Emeralds first appear at the beginning of the stage, then flies away, leaving the player to chase them. In this kind of Special Stage, it is possible to reach the goal very early on if the player is fast enough. Also, Sonic Rush Adventure features waterbike races against Johnny. The winner of these races gets the Chaos Emerald at the end.

Capsule

A statue of a capsule in Sonic Generations.

Originally, capsules appeared at the end of third acts in Zones, but in Sonic Adventure, they would appear as the goal of Action Stages for Sonic and Tails. The animals that escape from the capsules are the same kind of animals used for raising Chao, and some of them would even go towards Sonic or Tails to be collected. In Sonic Lost World the capsules return as the end of stage goal, though smaller ones can be found that will not end the stage but still reward you with animals for opening them.

In Sonic Colors, a similar capsule is used by Dr. Eggman to hold Wisps, the game's new, power up-like, alien creatures.

Goal Ring

Goal Rings are the standard for recent Sonic games, beginning with Sonic Adventure 2. They look like the Warp Rings from early Sonic games but serve as the goal at the end of the Stages. In Sonic Adventure 2 the goal ring is a giant ring with the words GOAL in it; Sonic Heroes' goal ring has a star in it, while in the game Shadow the Hedgehog usually has an emerald in the ring.

Other Variations

• Usually defeating the boss in the end of zone or in separate level.
• In Sonic Adventure, Big the Cat has to fish out Froggy to complete the stage.
• In Sonic Adventure, Amy Rose has to grab the Goal Balloon to complete each Action Stage.
• Missions such as completing the level in a certain amount of time, destroying all the targets, collecting a certain amount of a specific item, or finding a lost Chao.
• The player has to find 3 shards of the Master Emerald, 3 keys or 3 emeralds. This variation appears in Knuckles' and Rouge's levels in Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2.
• A unique goal gate in Sonic Advance 2 that makes the player stop running, and the game measures the bonus points at specific spot where the player stops, with how far they go depending on their speed. If the player stops too late, bonus points are not earned. If the player collects all Special Rings and enters to Special Stage, bonus points are not earned either as the player just keeps running over the field to enter the Special Stage.
• Gold, Silver or Bronze awards (Sonic Advance 3, Sonic and the Secret Rings and both Mario & Sonic series).
• In Sonic Forces, an animated hologram gate with an Eggman Empire logo is used as the goal. Once the player goes through it, it disappears and becomes a blue-starred Resistance logo.

Ranking

Starting in Sonic Adventure 2, the player is ranked on performance in a stage, but no actual bonuses were granted until one had completed everything with an "A" or "S" rank (depending on the game).

In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), additional Rings were rewarded depending on performance. The higher the rank, the more rings were obtained.

In the Storybook games, there are instead unique methods of ranking. The medal ranking system in Sonic Advance 3 was used in Sonic and the Secret Rings with three ranks: gold (highest), silver (2nd highest) and bronze (2nd lowest), introducing the "no medal" rank as lowest. In Sonic and the Black Knight, performance in a level is ranked by stars, where ★★★★★ is the highest and ★☆☆☆☆ is the lowest (though in some rare cases, one could get ☆☆☆☆☆ in a similar fashion to ★☆☆☆☆).