Sonic Chaos/Special Stage

Chaos emeralds are scattered in zones known as Special Stages, just like in the 16-bit games. However only Sonic may enter special stages, and the means to entering one is different from the Genesis/Mega Drive counterparts. Sonic will be automatically warped to a special stage once he collects 100 rings.

There are 6 chaos emeralds to collect, however there are only five zones to enter. The player must collect the chaos emerald before the timer reaches zero. Eggman has the last chaos emerald, and the other five are scattered in Special Stages. Unlike the 16-bit games, Chaos' special stages are all unique and have different layouts and gimmicks.

Zone 1
Sonic is placed on top of a Rocket Shoes monitor upon entering the stage. Since it's the first special stage, it's pretty easy, however there is a time limit of only 59 seconds to obtain the emerald. Simply jump to obtain the power up, and Sonic will continue flying throughout the stage. There are small rings that grant you 1 ring, and giant rings that grant you 10. You'll first encounter a group of small rings, and then the first group of giant rings that spell out the word SHIMA. Continue flying and you'll encounter another set of small rings, but this time it's only a single row of eight rings. Try not to collect them, as they lead you off course. You'll then encounter another set of giant rings that spell out RAY, followed by another row of small rings. Align Sonic so that he collects all the small rings and keep him in this portion of the level, as it's on course to getting the chaos emerald. Another set of giant rings come into view that spell out SOO, followed by eight sets of small rings. Remember, do not collect any of the small rings as they throw Sonic off course! After the eight sets of small rings the last set of giant rings will appear, as well as the first chaos emerald in the middle of the giant set of rings. If you miss it, quickly turn around and realign Sonic so he's in the middle of the screen to obtain it.