An example of a Mission in Sweet Mountain, from the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors.
Missions in the Nintendo DS version of Sonic Colors are a series of optional challenges available in the six major Areas. They are small tasks given to the player by a non-playable character. There are three Missions per Area, two of them being unlocked by beating the first two Acts, and the third one by finishing the previous two.
Overview[]
Missions are tasks that Sonic can complete to gain access to unlockable content in the form of illustrations and music tracks. However, they are entirely optional, and not necessary to beat to progress in the storyline.
Each Area has three Missions; the first two are accessible by beating the first two main Acts, while the third one is unlocked by completing the other two. They are entered from the Area's map, wherein they take the form of green pyramids. Alternatively, after a Mission is finished, it can be accessed from the Act Select menu. Before a Mission, a short cutscene of Sonic interacting with a non-playable character is shown, with the latter asking the player to do a task for them.
There are five types of Missions in the game, which are as follows:
- Rescue X Wisps!: These Missions request the player to gather the amount of Wisps they are requested within a limited time. Despite the name, only White Wisps count. They can be obtained from their Wisp Capsules or by destroying Eggman robots. The rescued Wisps are shown at the top of the HUD.
- Destroy X enemies!: The player has to destroy a certain amount of Eggman robots to beat these Missions. The destroyed enemies are displayed at the top of the HUD.
- Collect X Rings!: The player has to collect a certain amount of Rings before the time runs out.
- Reach the goal before the time runs out!: In these Missions, the player is given a very tight time to reach the goal. To compensate for this, they can get Time Bonuses to increase the time limit by a small margin. Unlike normal Acts which use Prison Capsules as their goals, these stages use Goal Rings instead.
- Collect the Wisps with flags in order!: These Missions are unique in that the player has to gather White Wisps in the requested order before running out of time. These will hold numbered signs to indicate when to collect them. Additionally, a red arrow on the screen tells the player the direction they have to head to find the necessary Wisp. Only two of these Missions appear in the whole game.
Gameplay in the Missions remains unchanged from the normal game's. Two take place in a portion of the main Acts, and the other one is set in a small, original level. In most Missions, the player has to use the colored Wisps unlocked in the Area to proceed. Due to the shorter stages, there are only two Red Star Rings to collect.
Failure to beat a Mission, either by running out of time or losing a try, will lead the player to a "Mission Failed" screen and the option to play again or quit. All Missions also give these options midway through them though. After the requested task is fulfilled, the player will be given a Rank based on the time spent in the Mission. Unlike in normal Acts, however, no extra lives are awarded by getting a high Rank.
List of Missions[]
| Name | Area | Assigned by | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mission 1-1 | Tropical Resort | Cream | Rescue 30 Wisps! |
| Mission 1-2 | Orbot and Cubot | Reach the goal before the time runs out! | |
| Mission 1-3 | Collect 250 Rings! | ||
| Mission 2-1 | Sweet Mountain | Blaze | Defeat 20 enemies! |
| Mission 2-2 | Silver | Rescue 25 Wisps! | |
| Mission 2-3 | Blaze and Silver | Reach the goal before the time runs out! | |
| Mission 3-1 | Starlight Carnival | Rouge | Collect 200 Rings! |
| Mission 3-2 | Knuckles | Defeat 15 enemies! | |
| Mission 3-3 | Rescue 20 Wisps! | ||
| Mission 4-1 | Planet Wisp | Charmy | Collect 200 Rings! |
| Mission 4-2 | Espio | Rescue 8 Wisps! | |
| Mission 4-3 | Vector | Collect the Wisps with flags in order! | |
| Mission 5-1 | Aquarium Park | Big | Defeat 20 enemies! |
| Mission 5-2 | Amy | Reach the goal before the time runs out! | |
| Mission 5-3 | Amy and Big | Collect 200 Rings! | |
| Mission 6-1 | Asteroid Coaster | Omega | Collect the Wisps with flags in order! |
| Mission 6-2 | Shadow | Defeat 15 enemies! | |
| Mission 6-3 | Shadow and Omega | Reach the goal before the time runs out! |