Life

For the energy, see Life (energy).

A 1-Up, a power-up for restoring lives, from Sonic the Hedgehog Modern Style Guide.

The number of chances Sonic has to get through the Act.

— United States instruction booklet, Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit)

The life, also referred to as the try, is a game mechanic that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a play-turn mechanic that playable characters have, defined as the period between start and end of play, and refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a Game Over. This game mechanic is present in almost every major game in the Sonic series and it serves as the player's limit to their gameplay.

Description

Examples of head-up displays from Sonic games, which show the number of lives.

Lives is a term used in a multitude of video games. Much like in other video games, lives in the Sonic the Hedgehog series refer to the finite items that gives the number of tries that the player has to complete a level or boss fight with a playable character before being given a Game Over.

In most cases where the life system is incorporated, if a playable character gets hit and has one or more Rings in their possession, they will lose all of their Rings or some of them, but will not lose a life. If the playable character is hit when they have no Rings however, they will lose a life and return to the last checkpoint passed or the beginning of the level. There are other ways for the playable characters to lose lives as well, such as drowning, falling into a bottomless pit, being crushed, getting a Time Over, or having their Health Gauge depleted. In those cases, the playable character will lose a life regardless of how many Rings they have. If a playable character loses all their lives, it will result in a Game Over for the player, unless the player has Continues. Games or modes in certain games that do not incorporate the life system on the other hand basically just give the player unlimited tries to complete a level or boss with.

Most Sonic the Hedgehog video games also allow the player to spend one life in order to restart the current stage from the beginning via the pause menu (in such cases, this option will be unavailable if the player is on their last life).

When beginning a game with the life system in the Sonic series, the player always starts out with a certain number of lives. Over the course of a game, the player can gather more lives. However, there is always a finite maximum of lives that the player can collect in each game. Throughout the Sonic series, there have been numerous ways to gain extra lives, but the most common methods are collecting a multiple of 100 Rings in a regular Stage/Bonus Stage, scoring a certain amount of points, or obtaining 1-Ups. When the player gains a 1-Up in particular, a small fanfare or sample can be heard in the background while the in-game music stops, only to return to normal after it ends.

The HUD usually illustrates the number of lives in the player's possession with an icon of the playable character's face that the lives belong to and the amount of lives that the playable character has left next to it.

Game appearances

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

In the 16-bit version of Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), and its numerous ports and remasters, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game. The maximum number of lives that can be attained by the player is 99. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small white icon showcasing the playable character's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Video Monitors containing One-Ups.
• Collecting 100 and 200 Rings for the first time in Zones or Special Stages.
• Getting every 50,000 points. This is only possible in the reissued versions (REV01) and certain remasters/re-releases of the game.

In the 2013 remaster of the game, the life system is disabled in the new Time Attack mode.

In the 8-bit version, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing Sonic's face. In gameplay, after clearing the game, each remaining life is worth 5,000 points on the final score tally. In addition, instead of the fanfare track heard in the game's 16-bit counterpart, the player will hear a short jingle when getting an extra life. The player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking video monitors containing One-Ups.
• Collecting 100 Rings in Zones or Special Stages. Doing this also restarts the Ring count from zero.
• Getting every 50,000 points.
• Making the Bonus Panel display Sonic's face.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

8-bit

In Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (8-bit), the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing Sonic's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Monitors containing 1-Ups.
• Collecting 100 Rings in Zones. Doing this also restarts the Ring count from zero.
• Making the Bonus Panel display Sonic's face.

16-bit

In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, its numerous ports and remasters, and the lock-on game Knuckles in Sonic 2, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game in single player and 2 Player VS Competitive mode. The maximum number of lives that can be attained by the player is 99. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small white icon showcasing the playable character's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking monitors containing One-Ups.
• Collecting 100 and 200 Rings for the first time in Zones.
• Getting every 50,000 points in Zones and Special Stages.

Worth noting is that the 2013 remaster does not feature the life system in its exclusive Time Attack mode.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD

In Sonic the Hedgehog CD and its 2011 remaster, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game. The maximum number of lives that can be attained by the player is 99. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the playable character's face. When in the Past version of a stage, the icon will change to a silhoutte of the playable character's face with a "P" in front of it. Likewise, in both Future versions of a stage, the same silhoutte will be seen with an "F" in front of it. In gameplay, instead of hearing the common fanfare music when obtaining an extra life, the player will hear Sonic yell "Yes!" in its place. The player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking monitors containing 1-UPs.
• Collecting 100 and 200 Rings for the first time in Rounds.
• Getting every 50,000 points in Rounds and Special Stages.

Sonic Chaos

In Sonic Chaos, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game with Sonic as the chosen playable character. Beginning the game with Tails as the chosen playable character on the other hands lets the player start out with five lives and three Continues instead. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the upper left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the playable character's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements, depending on if the player has chosen Sonic or Tails:

• Breaking video monitors containing Extra Lives.
• Collecting 100 Rings in Zones as Tails. Doing this also restarts the Ring count from zero.
• Collecting 100 Rings in Special Stages as Sonic. Doing this also restarts the Ring count from zero.
• Receiving a tallied speed (in kilometers per hour) with three of the same numerals in a row (for example 222 km/h) when clearing one of the two first Acts in a Zone.
• Making the Bonus Panel display Sonic's face when playing as Sonic.
• Making the Bonus Panel display Tails' face when playing as Tails.

Sonic Spinball

In the 16-bit and 8-bit version of Sonic Spinball, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives on the Status Strip at the top of the screen by default. No icons are used to illustrate lives in this game. In gameplay, after clearing the game, each remaining life is worth 5,000,000 points on the final score tally. The player will receive an extra life whenever they earn 20,000,000 points. In the 8-bit version, lives can also be obtained by opening treasure boxes in this version's Bonus Stages.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles

In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles and the lock-on game, Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small white icon showcasing the playable character's face. The maximum number of lives that can be attained by the player is 99, although it is possible to exceed this value, causing the life count in the HUD to display such values as an inaccurate where the 100's and 10's digit is respresented by a hexadecimal letter, displaying 100 lives as A0, 101 as A1 and so on. In such cases however, the value will always be reset to 99 upon playing the next Zone or completing the game (as displayed on a cleared save file). In gameplay, the save feature in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and Sonic 3 & Knuckles does not record any extra lives and Continues collected by the player in the game's data if the games are restarted. The player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking monitors containing 1-Ups.
• Collecting 100 or 200 Rings in Zones and Bonus Stages.
• Getting every 50,000 points in Zones and Special Stages.
• Collecting 1-Up Balls in the Gumball Machine and Glowing Sphere Stages.

Sonic Triple Trouble

In Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble. the player starts out with four lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the upper left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small black icon showcasing the playable character's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking monitors containing 1-UPs.
• Collecting 100 Rings in Zones or 2D Stage-based Special Stages.
• Making the Bonus Panel display Sonic's face when playing as Sonic.
• Making the Bonus Panel display Tails' face when playing as Tails.

Tails' Skypatrol

In Tails' Skypatrol, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the upper left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small blue circle with a white "P" in its center. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Picking up 1-UPs.
• Getting every 10,000 and 30,000 points.

Sonic Labyrinth

In Sonic Labyrinth, the player starts out with three lives by default when beginning the game. However, the number of these lives can be adjusted to anything between one and ten from the Options menu before starting off the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the middle of the bottom of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small while frame with Sonic's face inside it. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Obtaining a 1UP from purple triangles.
• Collecting 100 Rings in the fourth Act of each Zone. Doing this also restarts the Ring count from zero.
• Collecting every fourth Ring in the Bonus Stage.

Sonic 3D Blast

In Sonic 3D Blast, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small white icon showcasing Sonic's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking TVs containing Extra Lives.
• Collecting 100 Rings in the first two Acts of any Zone.
• Clearing a Special Stage after getting all seven Chaos Emeralds.

Sonic Blast

In Sonic Blast, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives on the introduction screen for each Act. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the playable character's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking TVs containing Sonic icons when playing as Sonic.
• Breaking TVs containing Knuckles icons when playing as Knuckles.
• Breaking TVs containing ???s. Doing so can bestow a Sonic/Knuckles icon at random.
• Clearing the Special Stage in the first Act of each Zone.

Sonic Adventure

In Sonic Adventure, its enhanced port Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, and its 2010 remaster, the player starts out with four lives for each of the playable character when beginning their respective storylines. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small white icon showcasing the playable character's face:

It is worth noting that in Sonic Adventure DX: Director's Cut, Metal Sonic receives extra lives with his own icons after being unlocked in the game. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing Extra Lives.
• Collecting 100 and 200 Rings in Action Stages.

Sonic Adventure 2

In Sonic Adventure 2, its enhanced port Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, and its 2012 remaster, the player starts out with four lives when beginning either the Hero or Dark stories while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 99. The life count is shared by all playable characters. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the playable character's face. Worth noting though is that the life icons in Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle received an updated look in the 2012 remaster:

Sonic Adventure 2/Sonic Adventure 2: Battle:
Sonic Adventure 2 (2012):

In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing Extra Lives.
• Collecting 100 and 200 Rings in stages.

Sonic Advance series

Sonic Advance

In Sonic Advance, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game in single player mode. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. The display does not show values higher than nine although it is possible for the player to have more than nine lives. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the playable character's face:

In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking boxes containing Extra Tries.
• Collecting 100 and 200 Rings in Zones.
• Getting every 50,000 points in Zones.

Worth noting is that the life system is disabled in the game's Time Attack and multiplayer modes.

Sonic Advance 2

In Sonic Advance 2, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game in single player mode. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. The display does not show values higher than nine although it is possible for the player to have more than nine lives. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the playable character's face:

In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking boxes containing 1-Ups.
• Collecting 100 and 200 Rings in Zones.
• Getting every 50,000 points in Zones.

Worth noting is that the life system is disabled in the game's Time Attack and multiplayer modes.

Sonic Advance 3

In Sonic Advance 3, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game in single player mode while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 9. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the playable character's face, although due to the game's partner-orientated gameplay, the life icons for each character in play will be displayed side-by-side:

In gameplay, the player will receive extra lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Boxes containing 1-Ups.
• Collecting 100 and 200 Rings in Action Stages.
• Clearing Mini-Games (the player can earn up to five extra lives based on how well they perform).

Worth noting is that the life system is disabled in the game's Time Attack, Multi-Pak Battle, and Single Pak Battle modes.

Sonic Heroes

In Sonic Heroes, the player starts out with three lives when beginning each team's campaign in Story Mode while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 99. Each team's life count are independent from each other. The HUD in this game only displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen whenever the player gains or loses a life for a short while (though it is not displayed if the player gains a new life while already having 99 lives), or pauses the game. The character icon displayed in the life counter will be that of the current leader. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the face of the current character leading the playable team:

In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes/Floating Item Boxes containing 1-Ups.
• Collecting a multiple of 100 Rings in stages and during boss fights.
• Clearing the Bonus Challenges or Emerald Challenges in Special Stages (the player can earn up to five extra lives based on their score, time and gauge bonuses).

Due to a bug, Team Sonic's life count is always reset to three stocks whenever the player begins a new playthrough of Super Hard Mode.

The life system is not used in the 2P Play minigames; each team has an unlimited number of tries while playing Action Race, Ring Race, Quick Race and Expert Race.

Shadow the Hedgehog

In Shadow the Hedgehog, the player starts out with five lives when beginning the game while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 99. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the face of Shadow. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing 1-UPs.
• Touching Save Points while holding 100 or more Rings.

Sonic Rush series

Sonic Rush

In Sonic Rush, the player starts out with two lives when beginning the game in single player mode while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 99. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen(s), right below the Tension Gauge. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing a simplified image of the playable character's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing 1-UPs.
• Collecting a multiple of 100 Rings Rings in Zones.

Worth noting is that if the game's Time Limit in Zones is enabled, and the player gets a Time Over, they will not lose a life.

Sonic Rush Adventure

In Sonic Rush Adventure, the player starts out with two lives when beginning the game in single player mode while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 99. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen(s), right below the Tension Gauge. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing an image of the playable character's face, except in Deep Core where Super Sonic and Burning Blaze's life icons are displayed side-by-side. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing 1UPs.
• Collecting a multiple of 100 Rings Rings in Stages.

Worth noting is that if the game's Time Limit in Stages is enabled, and the player gets a Time Over, they will not lose a life.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2006)

In Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), the player starts out with five lives when beginning the game in each episode (including the Last Episode and DLC episodes like Team Attack Amigo and the Boss Attack DLCs), as well as when selecting a stage or Town Mission from the Act Trial and Town Trial menus (as the total amount of lives only saves during Sonic, Shadow, and Silver's Episodes), while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 99.

Lives in this game are shared between characters played within an episode or stage (e.g. Shadow, Rouge, Omega, and Silver will all share the same amount of lives during Shadow's Episode, and any lives gained or lost as them will carry over to the next character). Each episode's life counters are separate from one another (e.g. Silver will have a different amount of lives when he is playable during Sonic's Episode and Shadow's Episode than he has in his own).

The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the upper left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing an image of the playable character's face:

In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing 1-Ups.
• Collecting a multiple of 100 Rings in Action Stages and Town Stages.

Sonic Unleashed

In the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 version of Sonic Unleashed, the player starts out with five lives when beginning the game while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 99. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the upper left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing a simplified image of the playable character's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Collecting 1UPs
• Collecting 100 Rings in Action Stages and Boss Stages.

In the Wii/PlayStation 2 version of Sonic Unleashed, the player starts out with two lives when beginning the game. Like its counterpart, the HUD displays the player's number of lives in the upper left corner of the screen and uses simple images of the playable characters' faces to illustrate them. In gameplay, the player's only way to receive extra lives is to open 1UP Item Boxes within the temple puzzles of each Gaia Gate.

Worth noting is that in both versions of the game, the life system is disabled when participating in Missions or Sub-Missions.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4

Episode I

In Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, the player starts out with two lives when beginning the games, while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 999. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing an image of the playable character's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing One-Ups.
• Collecting a multiple of 100 Rings in Zones.
• Getting 10,000 or more points on the Result Screen for Acts or Special Stages.
• Getting a minimum set of three cards with Sonic's icons on one straight line in Casino Street Zone Act 2 in Score Attack mode. This method is exclusive to the console/PC version of the games. However, it will not work if the playable character only has one or two cards in their possession and does not collect the third one within less than seven seconds (which is when the card set disappears).

Worth noting is that the life system is disabled in the game's Time Attack mode. Unlike most other games, stage restarts in this game does not consume any lives and it can be done even when the player is on their last life.

Episode II

In Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II and Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode Metal, the player starts out with two lives in Single Player when beginning the game, while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 999. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing an image of Sonic and Tails' faces (or Metal Sonic's in Episode Metal). Since Episode Metal is part of Single Player, Metal Sonic's lives are shared with those of Sonic and Tails.

In the Multiplayer mode of Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II, two players share their total lives, meaning the player will lose a life when each playable character is defeated. Both players start with four lives in Multiplayer mode. Unlike in Single Player mode, the players' life counts are not saved if they quit out of Multiplayer mode or the entire game; the game will always reset the life count to four upon accessing the mode again.

In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing One-Ups.
• Collecting a multiple of 100 Rings in Zones.
• Getting 10,000 or more points on the Result Screen for Acts or Special Stages.

The life system is disabled when playing stages in Time Attack mode.

Unlike most other games, stage restarts in this game does not consume any lives and it can be done even when the player is on their last life.

Sonic Colors

In the Wii version of Sonic Colors, the player starts out with four lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the upper left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing an image of Sonic's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Collecting 1UPs.
  • Getting an A or S Rank on the Result Screen. Doing so will reward one or three 1UPs respectively.
  • Breaking the writing on the Result Screen with the Stomp, Spin Attack or Jump Dash. Doing so will randomly cause 1UPs to pop out from the broken letters and numbers.
  • Breaking the interactive end credits with the Stomp, Spin Attack, Jump Dash or Color Powers. Doing so will reward the player with up to six 1UPs based on how actively the player tried to break the end credit letters.

Worth noting is that the life system is disabled in the game's Time Attack mode. Also, in the game's remaster, Sonic Colors: Ultimate, the life system has been completely removed in favor of the Tails Save system.

In the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors, the player starts out with two lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen(s). Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing an image of Sonic's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing 1UPs.
• Getting an A or S Rank or higher for Acts and Special Stages. Doing so will reward one or three extra lives respectively.
• Collecting 100 Rings in Acts.

Worth noting is that the life system is disabled in the game's Missions, Versus mode, and Time Attack mode.

Sonic Generations

In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations, the player starts out with five lives when beginning the game while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 99. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the upper right corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing a simplified image of Classic Sonic's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Obtaining 1-Ups.
• Collecting a multiple of 100 Rings in stages and during boss fights
• Purchasing a "Life +1" from the Skill Shop for 500 Skill Points.

Worth noting is the Last Chance Skill. This Skill allows Sonic to receive one extra life in case the player runs out of them during an Act. In addition, the life system is disabled in the game's Challenge Acts, 30-second Trial mode and Time Attack mode. In Sonic X Shadow Generations, lives can be toggled on or off using the Challenge Tries toggle.

In the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Generations, the player starts out with two lives when beginning the game. This game displays the player's number of lives in the upper half of the Nintendo 3DS's bottom screen. Here, the icon used to illustrate lives is the same as its console/PC counterpart. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing 1UPs.
• Collecting 100 Rings in stages.

Worth noting is that the life system is disabled in the game's Missions, Versus Mode and Time Attack modes.

Sonic Lost World

In the Wii U version and PC version of Sonic Lost World, the player originally started out with five lives when beginning the game. However, if the save file had less than four lives, and the game was closed, the life counter would reset to four when the game was booted up again. After the release of the version 3.0.0 patch however, the restarting lives were changed to nine after receiving a Game Over. Also, pre-ordering Sonic Lost World via Amazon in the United States would include free downloadable content featuring twenty-five extra lives for the player at the beginning of the game. The maximum number of obtainable lives is 99. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the upper left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing a simplified image of Classic Sonic's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Collecting 1-Ups in Zones and on the World Map.
• Collecting a multiple of 100 Rings in Zones. This requirement was first added with the release of the version 3.0.0 patch for Sonic Lost World.
• Collecting a local set of Number Rings.

Worth noting is that the life system is disabled in the game's multiplayer and Time Attack mode.

In the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Lost World, the player starts out with ten lives when beginning the game. This game displays the player's number of lives in the middle of the Nintendo 3DS's bottom screen. Here, the icon used to illustrate lives is the same as its Wii U/PC counterpart. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Collecting 1-Ups.
  • Constructing 1-Ups in Tails' Lab using one Green Material, one Yellow Material, and one Blue Material.
• Collecting 100 Rings in Zones.

Like its Wii U/PC counterpart, the life system is disabled in the game's multiplayer and Time Attack mode.

Sonic Mania

In Sonic Mania and its expansion, Sonic Mania Plus, the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game in Mania Mode while the maximum number of obtainable lives is 99. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing a simplified image of the playable character's face:

In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing 1-Ups.
• Collecting a multiple of 100 Rings in Zones.
• Getting 50,000 points (not available when playing on a cleared save file).
• Catching 1-UP items in Mania Mode's Pinball Stages.

In Encore Mode of Sonic Mania Plus, the series' traditional life system is replaced by a unique life system where the playable characters themselves serve as the player's lives. At the start of each Encore Mode playthrough, the player starts with Sonic and will gain either Mighty or Ray after finishing Angel Island Zone. The remaining characters can be obtained by getting the Character power-up, or from the Pinball Stage. If the player dies, that playable character the player was using will no longer be useable (until the player gets the Character power-up corresponding to that character or catches the character in a Pinball Stage), and the next character in the roster will take his place when the player respawns. The player effectively has a maximum of five lives (one for each character). If the player dies while on their last character, they will get a Game Over.

Sonic Frontiers

In Sonic Frontiers, Lives appear exclusively as part of Story Quests. In this game, they have a similar design to their Sonic Generations counterpart. In Quests, the player starts with 3 Lives, which are drained by taking damage, and they cannot be restored once they have been consumed. If the player loses all their 3 Lives in a Quest, it will be restarted, thus losing all progress done in that Quest. When playing on the Extreme difficulty, Sonic only has a single Life.

Lives also appear in the Hacking Missions, where, instead of Sonic's face, they are represented by the avatar that the player is controlling, a triangular ship that can switch between white and black. When the player changes color, lives counter also reflects this.

On hard difficulty or higher in the original game, the player fights The End in a similar vein to the Hacking Missions where Sonic and Sage fight it using Supreme from the previous fight. Again the lives are represented by the same avatar used in those missions, starting at 3. If the player repeatedly loses against The End for an extended period of time, one life is added to make the fight easier, for a maximum of 10.

Other game appearances

Sonic Pocket Adventure

In Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, the player starts out with three lives by default in single player mode when beginning the game. However, the number of these lives can be adjusted to anything between three and five from the Game Option menu before starting off the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing Sonic's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking item boxes containing 1UPs.
• Collecting 100 and 200 Rings in Zones.

Sonic Pinball Party

In Sonic Pinball Party, the player starts out with three balls when beginning the pinball match. In gameplay, the player will receive more balls when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Shooting a ball through the center ramp lane twenty times in Normal Mode on the Sonic table.
• Shooting a ball through the Inside Ramp Lane ten times on the NiGHTS table when not in Normal Mode.

Sonic Jump series

Sonic Jump

In Sonic Jump, the player starts out with two lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the upper left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the face of Sonic. In gameplay, the player will receive an extra life every time they collect fifty Rings during an Act.

Sonic Jump 2

In Sonic Jump 2, which is essentially a re-release of Sonic Jump, the life system is the same as the one in its predecessor.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Didj)

In Sonic the Hedgehog (Didj), the player starts out with three lives when beginning the game. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small white icon showcasing an image of Sonic's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when breaking TV Monitors containing One-Ups.

Sega Superstars Tennis

In Sega Superstars Tennis, there are a couple of Sonic the Hedgehog-themed missions involving clearing said mission with varying amounts of lives. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the lower left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small icon showcasing the playable character's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives in the Score Attack mini-game by collecting Life+1 Item Boxes.

Sonic the Hedgehog Level Creator

In Sonic the Hedgehog Level Creator, the player starts out with three lives when beginning a playthrough. The HUD in this game displays the player's number of lives in the left corner of the screen. Here, lives are illustrated by a small white icon showcasing an image of Sonic's face. In gameplay, the player will receive more lives when fulfilling the following requirements:

• Breaking Item Boxes containing 1-Ups.
• Collecting 100 Rings in levels.

Super Smash Bros. series

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, the life system itself does not appear as a gameplay mechanic for Sonic. However, it does make a small cameo in the form of Sonic's stock sprite, which uses Sonic's head from his model.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the life system itself returns as a small cameo in the form of Sonic's stock sprite, which uses the Sonic series' icon for lives instead of the format for most other characters in the game.

Trivia

• In Launch Base Zone of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, there is a trick to earn an infinite number of lives. By standing on one of the alarms and revving up a Spin Dash without releasing, a Flybot767 will fly over at the playable character. Because they will be spinning, the Flybot767 will get destroyed and give points. The player can thus just simply keep revving the Spin Dash for more Flybot767s to appear and be destroyed granting them a higher amount of points which will eventually turn into lives.
• Even though Knuckles and Amy have received new life icons for all time periods in the Sonic the Hedgehog CD remaster included in Sonic Origins Plus, only the Future versions of their icons are used in-game, as Classic Mode only allows Sonic as the playable character and the only mode that can be entered with lives as Knuckles or Amy is the Boss Rush mode, which always takes place in the Good Future. This also applies to Tails in this version, although his icons are properly used in the 2011 remaster that the Origins port is based on.
  • Likewise, due to Classic Mode only allowing playing as characters included in the original game, most life icons for characters not originally in the featured games can only be seen by selecting them in the Level Select on Classic Mode for each respective game except Sonic CD.

External links

• Life (video games) at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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