Sonic & Knuckles contains the same items as Sonic 3. Each shield has a unique power that can be used by Sonic. Knuckles is unable to use these powers as he can glide.
Rings[edit]
Rings protect you when you are hit. If you are hit when you are carrying rings, you lose all of them, and if you are hit when you have no rings you lose a life. Additionally, when hit with more than 32 rings, only 32 will appear. At numbers lower than 32, only that number of rings come out. Every 100 rings collected gives you an extra life. At the end of each act, you are given a Ring Bonus equal to 100 times the number of rings you have.
Item Boxes[edit]
Sonic/Tails must attack these to get the contents.
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Super Ring: | Gives 10 Rings. The most common box. |
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Invincible: | Makes the player invincible for a short period of time. Note that some moving objects are still harmful. |
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Flame Shield: | Protects the player from flames. When playing as Sonic, he gains the ability to dash forward in a fireball and destroy robots. Goes out in water. |
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Bubble Shield: | Allows the player to breathe underwater. When playing as Sonic, he gains the ability to bounce. This ability was used again in Sonic Adventure 2 as the Bounce Bracelet. |
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Lightning Shield: | Acts as a magnet for rings. Goes out in water. The only elemental shield to continue as a fixture in the series. When playing as Sonic, he gains the ability to perform a double jump. |
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Power Sneaker: | Lets the player run faster for a short period of time. The music in the stage speeds up for the duration of the power up. |
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1-Up: | Gives the player an extra life. Note that the picture is of the character being played as. |
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Eggman: | Causes damage. Can wipe out shields, lose rings, and if hit when without any rings, kill the player. |
Shields[edit]
Shields protect you from harm. If the player is hit when in possession of a shield, he loses the shield instead of rings. In Sonic & Knuckles, there are 3 different types of shields. Each shield gives Sonic an extra attack while he has it. All shields can deflect weak projectiles.
| Name | Effects | Attack (Sonic only) |
|---|---|---|
| Bubble Shield | Allows the player to breathe underwater | Bounce |
| Lightning Shield | Acts as a magnet for rings. Electric attacks do no harm. | Double jump |
| Flame Shield | Fire does no harm | Fireball Dash. |
Giant Ring[edit]
These are hidden around the levels. When a player goes through them he will be taken to the special stage. If all the Chaos Emeralds have been collected, it will give 50 rings instead.
Chaos Emeralds[edit]
There are seven Chaos Emeralds in total. Each Chaos Emerald comes in a different colors: red, blue, green, orange, purple, white, and aqua, respectfully. Collecting all seven Chaos Emeralds will turn Sonic into Super Sonic, and result in a special ending upon the completion of the game. Knuckles can also become Super Knuckles, though he does not change colors.
Star Post[edit]
These are placed at random through out most levels. If you die, you restart at the last star post you ran through. If you have 20 or more rings when you pass through a star post, a ring of stars will hover above. You can jump into these to go to the bonus stage.