Special Stage (Sonic Advance 3)

For Special Stages in general, see here.

Special Stage
Sonic in the Special Stage.
Overview
Game appearances	Sonic Advance 3
Description	The player stands on the Tornado 2's wing while catching a certain number of Rings and avoid floating mines and flying enemies.
Statistics
Players (story mode)	Amy Rose Cream the Rabbit Knuckles the Echidna Miles "Tails" Prower Sonic the Hedgehog
Number of acts	7

The Special Stage (スペシャルステージ, Supesharusutēji^?) in Sonic Advance 3 refers to a series of seven special levels. To enter the Special Stages, the player must first find all ten Chao hidden in each Zone. The player then needs to find a Special Key in an Act which can then be used to activate a Special Spring on a Zone Map that will transport the player into that Zone Map's Special Stage.

Much like in previous Sonic Advance titles, the main objective in the Special Stages is to collect at least a certain number of Rings to stay in the Special Stage, and when successful, the player is awarded a Chaos Emerald. Once all seven Chaos Emeralds have been obtained (by clearing all seven Special Stages), Sonic can enter Nonaggression directly after clearing Altar Emerald with him as the leader.

Description

The Special Stages are enclosed area resembling an upside-down half-pipe with a transparent roof and a starry sky above it. It also has a large checkered field below it. The color of the Special Stage corresponds to the Chaos Emerald in it.

Gameplay

Upon entering the Special Stage, the playable character finds themselves standing on the wings of the Tornado 2, flying overhead of the Special Stage. The primary objective is to collect to collect enough Rings to pass through two segments of the stage, much like the 3D Stages in Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble. While on the Tornado 2, the player is able to move freely around in the air on the Tornado using and jump by pressing , reaching out to the Rings that appear. Failing to collect enough Rings before the end of a segment will result in the player being expelled from the Special Stage empty-handed. Should the player succeed in passing through the two segments however, they will rewarded with a Chaos Emerald. Along the way, the player will encounter different objects that can either aid or obstruct the playable character.

Objects

Image	Name	Description
	Ring	Golden hoops that the player must grab enough of to collect a Chaos Emerald.
	Sparkling Ring	These Rings give five Rings instead of one if the player touches them.
	Ring Booster	A floating hoop. Flying through one causes the Tornado 2 to transform. For the next few seconds afterward (or until the player takes damage), the Tornado 2's speed will be increased and the amount of Rings the player collects will be doubled. While Ring Boosters are usually stationary, some of them in the later Special Stages can also move.
	Bomb	Red spherical bombs. Hitting one of them will result in the player losing five Rings.
	Missile Badniks	Missile-based Badniks that will try to fly into the player or shoot projectiles at them. Getting attacked will cause the player to lose five rings. However, the player can destroyed with a Spin Jump in order to earn five Rings.

List of Special Stages

No.	Screenshot	Correlating Zone	Segment rings required		Chaos Emerald
			First	Second
1		Route 99	80	160
2		Sunset Hill
3		Ocean Base	90	180
4		Toy Kingdom
5		Twinkle Snow	100	200
6		Cyber Track	110	220
7		Chaos Angel	120	260

Special Stage Mode

Special Stage Mode in the main menu.

After the player collects all of the seven Chaos Emeralds and is currently at the main menu, by inputting the following: Up, , Down, , Right, Left; a secret menu option titled Special Stage Mode will appear. In this mode the player plays through all seven Special Stages consecutively as Sonic and the objective is to collect as many Chaos Emeralds as possible by completing Special Stages. However, once the player fails a Special Stage, the mode ends; the player can then either exit back into the title screen or retry the entire mode again from the first Special Stage. Upon clearing all seven Special Stages, the player will then be taken to the game's title screen. Playing the Special Stages in this mode does not consume any Special Keys.

If the player needs to view the code required to activate Special Stage Mode, they can press Left while highlighting Options on the main menu.

Trivia

• In the early versions of Sonic Advance 3, the players can exit the Special Stage without spending a Special Key. However, this is no longer the case in the final release of the game.

References

Special Stages

Sonic Advance 3

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