SONIC THE HEDGEHOG For the Mega Drive FAQ by GavLuvsGA@aol.com Version 1: 24 - 4 - 2000 Copyright notice: The contents of this FAQ are the property of the author. Copying of any part of this without including my name is basically not allowed. Contents 1 Items 2 Baddies 3 Robotnik's Attacks 4 Walkthrough 5 Bonus Stages 1 Items Rings Pick them up so that you will not die if you are hit. Getting 100 or 200 will get you an extra life (getting 50 000 points will do the same). If you are hit, your rings will scatter over the screen, so try and retrieve some. TV sets These contain: Super ring: Gives you 10 rings Speed shoes: Gives you a burst of speed Shield: If you get hit, yo won't lose your rings, but you will lose your shield Invincible: Makes you temporarily invincible (but you can still be crushed, or fall off the screen). Sonic: Gives you an extra life 2 Baddies Moto Bug (Green Hill Zone) Simply runs back and forth, making it the easiest baddie in the game to avoid. Crabmeat (Green Hill Zone, Spring Yard Zone) Slightly harder, as this baddie will occasionally open its claws to fire energy balls at you. Buzz Bomber (Green Hill Zone, Marble Zone, Spring Yard Zone) Flies overhead and spits a fireball at you. Chopper (Green Hill Zone) Whenever you see a bridge, there is likely to be at least one of these fish below, ready to snap at you. Newtron (Green Hill Zone) These will appear out of walls; the ones with red eyes will fly at you, while the ones with yellow eyes will appear briefly to fire a ball bomb at you. Caterkiller (Marble Zone, Scrap Brain Zone) It looks harmless, but you can only attack its head as all its spikes are poisonous. If you hit a spike, the Caterkiller will break up and bounce around the screen, threatening to inflict further damage. Batbot (Marble Zone) Found underground, this baddie will simply fly at you. Roller (Spring Yard Zone) Almost a clone of Sonic himself, these are (thankfully) very rare. As you run along, they will roll up behind you, uncurling for a few seconds, before rolling on. They are only vulnerable while uncurled. Spikes (Spring Yard Zone) Like Caterkiller, avoid their spikes. Fortunately these don't break up and bounce over the screen. Orbinaut (Labyrinth Zone, Star Light Zone, Scrap Brain Zone) This guy has four spiked balls, and it practically invulnerable when guarded by them. Only the ones on the Labyrinth Zone and Scrap Brain zone will release their missiles, leaving them open to attack. Chop Chop (Labyrinth Zone, Scrap Brain Zone) These will swim through the water. Be careful when dropping down a shaft, but not much of a hazard otherwise. Burrowbot (Labyrinth Zone, Scrap Brain Zone) These are only visible by their noses, before they burst out of the floor to attack you, usually in groups. Bomb Bot (Star Light Zone, Scrap Brain Zone) When you go near to these bad guys, they will explode into shrapnel, which you should avoid like the plague. Ballhog (Scrap Brain Zone) Very rare, these pigs are found in groups at the end of levels. Their only attack is to throw bouncing balls at you (but in narrow passages). 3 Robotnik's Attacks Green Hill Zone Jump onto one of the floating platforms and attack Robotnik a few times, before retreating into the corner. He will produce what looks like a giant bauble, which he swings back and forth. When it swings away from you, jump up and hit him. Eight hits will see him packing. Marble Zone Jump up and hit Robotnik and he will fly across the lava. Stay where you are as he will set fire to the platform on the other side, before heading back your way. Hit him and jump away, over the lava, before he sets light to this platform (the fire on the other side will have subsided). Keep this up and he will be defeated quickly. Spring Yard Zone Robotnik looks harmless, but this usually means he's up to no good. Stand on the far left block of the bridge and he will hover over you, producing a spike. Run out of the way and he will tug the block you were standing on. Hit him a few times (if you're good, you'll manage about four hits). Keep doing this, each time standing on the furthest left block, otherwise you may end up falling to your death after beating Robotnik (very frustrating). Labyrinth Zone This is an unusual boss. After a very steep climb up a shaft, you will meet Robotnik, who promptly flies away. Chase him up the hardest section of the level, avoiding the spikes and flame spitting dog heads. Try not to be too hasty, or you will make a mistake, even though the water is constantly rising. When you reach the top, Robotnik will run away, leaving you free to get to the prison egg. Star Light Zone Robotnik will drop bombs on to the see saws, and Sonic can attack him either by standing on other end of the see saw before the bomb is dropped and being catapulted up to Robotnik, or jumping on the see saw after the bomb is dropped and catapulting the bombs at him. Be warned that if you die, you will be sent to the lamp post (restart point) immediately before Robotnik, and you will not be able to collect ANY rings or shields. Scrap Brain Zone There is no boss; see the: Final Zone This is tough! You will be in a room with six pressers (three in the floor and three in the ceiling), and two - at random - will pop out to try and squash you flat. One has Robotnik inside, and this is the one you must hit. As if that wasn't hard enough, four energy balls will now be released at the top of the screen and will home in on you. Make sure you avoid them or they will kill you. After eight hits, chase Robotnik to his flying pod, and - to make things a bit more satisfying, ram him and it'll blow up (although this isn't necessary). 4 Walkthrough Green Hill Zone The easiest zone, this has only a few hazards. Watch out for the spikes that are found down pits, as falling on these will usually spell instant death even if Sonic has rings and a shield. Also, watch out for the rotating logs with spikes on near the end of act three. It is possible to get every ring on act two by simply running along to the first swing, going past it to kill the fish, then coming back and going down and left, then spin attacking through the false wall to the left to reveal a secret passage. Then, go down and right and cross the spikes and use the spring at the end. Go left and collect all the remaining rings, then head right. Before you enter the last tunnel, go down and left and along the passage at the bottom of the screen. Voila! Also, there is a very secret area on act 3, which can be accessed by running along the bottom of the level until you find what appears to be a wall in the way. Spin attack it to break the false wall and take the bottom passage, which will end with a set of spikes - or does it? Jump over the spring and spikes and you will enter a secret area containing five super ring boxes and one 1 up. Leave the area, using the spring on the right, but do so quickly as hanging around will actually cause the screen to scroll up automatically, killing Sonic at the bottom. For those of you who have trouble beating Robotnik on this level, there is an invincibility box hidden in a tall palm tree near the end of act three. In fact, there are several boxes hidden in this way throughout the zone! Marble Zone This is tougher; watch out for the pits of lava, and the platforms that sink into it. There are several ways to be crushed, too, including the pillars that move up and down and the spiked chandeliers and lead weights on chains that rise and then crash to the floor. You can also use there to reach higher levels. Also, watch out for the grey blocks that you can break with a spin attack. You get points for attacking them and - like bad guys - hitting multiple ones without stopping will earn you extra points (at one point in act two, you can accumulate 100, 000 points doing this). Each act has a secret extra life. On act 1, this is in the first shaft leading up to the open air. As you rise on the chandelier, jump into the wall on the left. There are four super ring boxes too. On act two, you will cross a lava pool on a grey slab at one point. At the far end is another grey slab, which you should jump onto, rather than to the raised platform on the left. Enter the wall on the left for a 1 up and twenty rings. Finally, on act three, follow the level and you will come to a point where you ride across a lava pool on a slab and get fired up to the next section. Go right, until you come to a wall and three chandeliers. Jump in the wall on the right, instead of heading downwards, and you will find a 1 up. Continue right for a short cut. Spring Yard Zone There are some secrets one act two. First of all, take the lower route to the shaft where it looks like you must go up. Use the spring and enter a passage to the right, in the wall. Avoid the moving blocks and get the 1 up at the end. The act also has TWO exits! When going down the final ramp, make a large jump to a platform high overhead and you will get some extra rings and there will be a second signpost! Labyrinth Zone This is arguably the hardest level in the game, being the first one to be almost completely full of water. When underwater, you must keep grabbing large air bubbles, or you will drown (a five second countdown will begin if you leave it too long). Act One has a brilliant short cut! Continue right past the first underwater section and drop into the second one. There are two switches; get the one on the left, and stand on the platform below it, which rises. Stand there and jump before you are impaled to death on the spiked ceiling, and you should land on a platform, and you can now climb out of the water. A tiny platform will have appeared, so use it to cross the lake, quickly jumping off at the end. You are now in a short cut to the end of the act. Act three begins with a seemingly endless waterfall (N.B. there is an interesting graphics SNAFU in this part, as you can see into some of the rooms ahead, which contain Chop Chops, but NO water. The fish are, nevertheless, swimming in mid air. When you reach these rooms, however, they will be filled up. To escape the waterfall, wait until you are falling to the left and time it to leap to the platform with the switch (also find the platform with a shield on), allowing access to the right. There is also a short cut here; go down from here to a platform with some spears on and a sinking cork, which will take you to a secret passage. If you choose to go the long way, however, there is a hidden life. When you get to the first large pulley, drop down and jump left and you will find a secret room (also containing four super rings). If you have trouble with the boss on this level, I suggest you miss out the final lamp post (which - if you took the short cut - will mean starting from the beginning again), as restarting from here will mean you can't collect rings (but you can get a shield). Star Light Zone This level has the best music in the game, and is (thankfully) also one of the easiest levels (I only lost two lives getting through it on my first go). The only real danger is falling off the bottom of the screen. Sega, realising this, put only one restart point in the entire level (the one just before Robotnik, which we could easily do without - see Robotnik section). Unlike the previous level, where you generally had no more than two options per act, this level has multiple routes you can take (to a far greater extent than any other level! At the start of act 1, be aware of the false wall on the right and ram it for forty rings and a 1 up. Scrap Brain Zone This is one of the best levels in the game. Act 1 takes place outside the factory, with about three different routes available (warning: don't take the bottom route unless you're an expert, or suicidal, as it leads to the hardest section in the entire game!) Act two takes you inside the factory. There are two routes to take, and the best option is probably the lower one, as it is easier and leads to a chance to grab a 1 up, in the room just before the ballhogs. Wait patiently and some platforms will appear to the left, which you must quickly get to and climb up before they vanish. At the top are four super rings and a 1 up. The lower route also includes and interesting (and weird) feature you may like to check out; after the first warp tube, get an extra life in a small pit, then ram the corner of the floor to the right of this. If you're on target, you will hear a pop and it appears that you killed a caterkiller (although none were visible previously). At the end of act two, you will meet Robotnik, but he'll press a switch which makes the floor collapse. Don't try and avoid falling, as you can't. You will drop into act three, which - despite being labelled Scrap Brain - is actually in the Labyrinth Zone (only everything is a different colour (the water is pink, ugh!) Make your way through here for the final showdown; the quickest route is to press the first switch, then overtake the moving platform and continue down. Then head right, and up the next shaft, and head along the top of the screen until you have to go down. Go up the shaft on your right, avoiding the swinging ball - and chains and use the spring to reach the final fight. 5 Bonus Stages When you get 50 rings on a level, a giant ring will appear at the end. Jump into it to enter a bonus stage, which takes place in a rotating maze. You must collect the chaos emerald to win, and avoid touching the red spheres with "GOAL" written on them. Note that the "R" pads reverse the direction of rotation, the "UP" ones speed it up and the "DOWN" ones slow it down. To get the emerald, you will have to keep bashing the coloured blocks until they vanish. They usually start off blue, before turning green, yellow and pink, then vanishing on the next hit. Be warned that you can only enter the ring on acts one and two and you cannot do so in the Scrap Brain Zone. Interestingly enough, if you get 50 rings and ignore the giant ring while in the Star Light zone, the sign post at the end will start flashing. If you get less than 50 rings and haven't got all the emeralds, the ENTIRE sign will flash (very odd!) END OF FAQ If you spotted any mistakes, or things that were missed out, write to the address at the top.