*-*-*-* 100% Complete! *-*-*-* _________ / ____\ / _ \| | \| _ ____ _ _ _ ___ _____ / \ | __ || \ | || | / __|TM /__ \ | | ||| ||| \| || || / _/ | \ \ || ||| || || | / ___/ | | |||__||| |\ || || \__ | /___ \_/ |____||_| \_||_| \___| |_____/ A D V E N T U R E |\_ | |\____ / \_________/ *** 'LOST CHAO' FAQ *** <-- Shut up, it's not bad for my first attempt at ASCII art... --> _______________________________________________________________________ SECTIONS: (A) Uh... This one! ^_^' (B) What's new and update information (C) The purpose of this guide (D) Mystic Melody locations for each character: I) Sonic II) Shadow III) Tails IV) Robotnik V) Knuckles VI) Rouge (E) Chao locations for each character, and times needed for 'A' Rank: I) Sonic II) Shadow III) Tails IV) Robotnik V) Knuckles VI) Rouge (F) Credits and contact info _______________________________________________________________________ B: What's new and update information ==================================== Updates: (dd/mm/yy) 12/07/01 -------- Every last Chao has now been found. A list of A-times is also complete. Oh, and I've decided to make the line breaks more obvious, because... I just like them better this way, Ok?! This FAQ is finished, so there will be no more updates. It didn't take half as long as I thought it would. Anyway, thanks for the support, and good luck to you all in reaching that wonderful 180 emblems! ^_^ 07/07/01 -------- First of all, I cleaned up a couple of typing errors, because I'm a fool and I like to waste my time like that... I only need one Chao (Lost flippin' Colony) now, then it's on to the A ranks. Hopefully this FAQ will be complete by the end of the month. I never expected this guide to be so popular! Since I first submitted it, I've been receiving at least one e-mail an HOUR about it! o_O; So, thanks to all of you for taking such a massive interest, especially those that told me how to get Chaos that I was missing completely... Turns out that Rouge's Mystic Melody is in Dry Lagoon and NOT Egg Quarters, as I originally thought (my memory doth deceive me). The guide to her Mystic Melody has been done and tested. I've re-written the Aquatic Mine bit to actually get you the Chao (as opposed to showing you the rough area), and done the same with Death Chamber. Due to a lot of requests, I've elaborated on the Radical Highway Chao too. I also rewrote the 'Purpose of this guide' section, to hopefully put an end to the e-mails I've been getting that ask why people find extra lives in place of Chaos... 02/07/01 -------- The FAQ is created, and I realise what I've let myself in for. After banging my head repeatedly on the desk, I telephone everyone I know and ask them to help me. Somewhat unsurprisingly, only one sad person agrees to help in any way at all. *Note to self: make more friends* Put in Mystic Melody locations for each character (except Rouge, who I'll try to get done for the next update). Got all of Shadow's Chaos, and most of Sonic's. Done the 'A' rank times for all of the Chaos I've found with Sonic. Targets for next update: Well, actually finishing off the FAQ would be nice, but we'll see... Update info: I will try to update this FAQ every week until I have found every Chao and made a note of the time needed to get that wonderful 'A' rank that you all want so badly. In general, it will be updated on weekends. _______________________________________________________________________ C: The purpose of this guide ============================ Well, DUH. If you opened this guide by mistake, then the giant picture at the top of the file might be a subtle clue as to what lurks inside the rest of the file, eh? *Tuts* I dunno, kids today... Anyway, this guide is NOT going to tell you where to find a new Chao for the Chao Garden. What it is going to do, however, is give you instructions on how to get the third ('Find the Chao!') emblem on each stage. Please note, most - possibly all - of the Chaos are 'hidden' near these small statue things. To get the statue to do something, such as make a trail of rings appear, you have to get your character to play 'Mystic Melody' on... er, some sort of weird invisible flute thing, so unless you have found the upgrade for each of the characters, you can't get to the Chao (although in some levels, there are ways around this). You MUST be playing the level's third mission, or an extra life will show up in the Chao's place. So please don't e-mail me asking why you only found an extra life, 'cos now you know. ;> If I do get any more e-mails regarding that, no matter how nicely you ask, I will simply delete the letter straight away. DON'T DO IT, it drives me insane!! Also, the 'A-rank' times are the times you have to do the third mission in, to (you'll never guess!) get an A on that mission, which will result in you being one step closer to each character's 'All-A' emblem. Oh, and one last thing - I know SA2's camera isn't perfect, so when I say 'forwards', I mean into the screen, not in whatever direction you happen to be facing at the time. Ok? Let's get on with it, then! ^_^ _______________________________________________________________________ D: Mystic Melody Locations ========================== You need Mystic Melody to be able to get to the areas where the Chao are, so here is where to find the upgrade for each character... I) SONIC Level: Final Rush After the fifth checkpoint, grind up the large vertical rail and hit the spring at the top (you'll remember it from doing the level the normal way). Then take the rail on the right (the ORANGE one, you directionally-challenged girlie man) and hold 'B' all the way to go as fast as possible. With a bit of luck, you'll land on a small platform to the left of another rail; take the rocket on this platform to an extra life, then jump forward a little bit onto a platform with an animal and a spring. Whether you take the animal or not is up to you, but from here you need to use the spring, then the rest is quite straightforward. ;> II) SHADOW Level: Final Chase After the third checkpoint, you go down the blue square hole, right? >From then on, make sure that you ride every vertical green-sticky-tube thing to the top, and soon enough, you'll find it (it's something like the fifth one). III) TAILS Level: Hidden Base Slightly trickier, this one. Play through the level until you meet some bomb monkeys at the top of a pulley, then jump off of the pulley to the right (towards a green carpet) and you'll see a small opening in the wall. Shoot through it to blow up some dynamite and make a platform collapse, then get onto the platform and walk into the middle. In the distance, you will be able to see a doorway. Hover over to the doorway (trust me, it's much safer than jumping off of that platform...) and a group of steel boxes will pop up. Providing you've found the power-up that enables you to shoot them, destroy the boxes to gain access to a new - albeit dangerous - room. Navigate the platforms inside this room to find it. IV) EGGMAN Level: Sand Ocean This one's easy. Get on the rotating platform right at the start of the level, and stay on it until it goes anticlockwise three quarters of a full circle. Next, hover over to the canister and you're there! :D V) KNUCKLES Level: Wild Canyon Find the 'Lonely Statue area' (take the wind at the start, then turn around and just carry on forwards), then climb up the wall that he has his back turned to. At the top of the wall you'll find one of those pictures that you can dig through, and upon doing so you'll find Mystic Melody for Knuckles. VI) ROUGE Level: Dry Lagoon >From the start of the level, glide over to the two robots you see and you'll find one of those pictures that you can dig through on the wall. Go through it and the upgrade will be right in front of you! Easy, no? _______________________________________________________________________ E: Chao locations for each character, and times needed for 'A' Rank =================================================================== I) SONIC -------- Level: City Escape After running down the side of the skyscraper, go back towards the springs that you are forced onto, then search around there for a statue in a corner. Play Mystic Melody to make a spring appear, then double- tap 'A' to home in on each of the enemies in turn (careful though, one is supposed to be used as a spring, and the one at the top can make itself electrified through the power of thought alone). At the top, you do NOT grind on the rail. It is actually a pole, which you are supposed to swing on. Hold Up as you come down from the pole-jump (get it?! Oh, never mind) to land in a small alcove where the Chao is mocking your gaming ability. It's definitely possible to get this one without Mystic Melody, but the method only works about one in every ten attempts! -_-' Anyway, you just press 'A' once as you're running down the side of the building, then the second you see an enemy, hold the analogue stick towards it and tap 'A' again to (hopefully) home in on it and start high up in the chain of enemies. << Time Needed for 'A': 2:30:00 >> This is quite easy, with a bit of practise you'll be able to get under 2:10:00. Level: Green Forest Shortly after the second checkpoint, you'll have to hop through a series of small floating islands. After bouncing off of the final spring here, don't continue forwards to the next checkpoint. Instead, come back into the screen until you see a big green tube on the ground. Upon seeing this, go left to the end of it and you will find another small island underneath you. Drop off of your current platform onto the one you just discovered to reveal the statue. Play Mystic Melody, then use Sonic's bounce attack (found on the pyramid level, you need it to finish the game) to gain the extra bit of height required to reach the second platform. Now go onto the last 'hidden platform' using the same method and use the homing attack on the two enemies you find to gain access to the platform with the Chao. << Time Needed for 'A': 1:30:00 >> This time it's a bit tighter. Try hitting the second checkpoint with a time somewhere between 55 seconds and 1 minute. BTW, a little side note: Has anyone else noticed how parts of the music to this level is suspiciously similar to 'Americana' by The Offspring? Level: Metal Harbor After you do the light dash along a path of rings (and the planes are attacking you), go over to the middle of the three warehouses to the left and use the 'bounce attack' to reach another one containing the statue. Give your invisible flute a toot, then follow the platforms to another death-defying Chao. << Time Needed for 'A': 0:50:00 >> A little tough, but if you can get to both the statue and the first platform in one bound each, it makes it that little bit easier. Level: Pyramid Cave Ignore the statue at the third checkpoint, it's a dummy (it works, but doesn't take you to the Chao). Take the normal route instead until you find an extra life in the middle of the path (next to a robot that is stood on the top of a white wall made out of boxes), and through a difficult timed door at the top of a steep hill. You'll find the 'real' statue there, when you play Mystic Melody on this one you'll uncover a spring. Take it, go through the door on the platform you find, flip the switch, cross your fingers and go for it! Your mission is to swing on each of those bars without dropping off of one... You need to bounce to get onto the first one, from there it's up to you! << Time Needed for 'A': 3:45:00 >> Well... Grind whenever you can, don't let the ghost stop you, and get through the 'difficult timed door' I mentioned by holding 'B' then letting go to whiz effortlessly past it. But above all, DON'T PANIC! This emblem is actually quite easy once you're used to the route. Level: Final Rush After the fifth checkpoint, grind up the large vertical rail and hit the spring at the top (you'll remember it from doing the level the normal way). Then take the rail on the left (the PURPLE one, you vertically-challenged leprechaun) and you'll end up more or less dead in front of the statue for this level. Then what? Well, then you play the usual Mystic Melody, and follow the platforms, the purple rail, and finally the last platform in the sequence, the end of which you should just walk straight off of. Now play Mystic Melody again at the next statue, use the light dash along the ring trail and follow the rest of the platforms and rails forwards to add another one to your collection! << Time Needed for 'A': 4:15:00 >> At the first checkpoint, jump off the platform and hold diagonally up and right. Press 'B' to fall faster. You can land on one of those rails way down yonder (although the one on the left is preferable, seeing as you'd have to jump over to it at some point anyway) and cut out a part of the level. Other than that, wear a horseshoe around your neck, stick a few four-leaf clovers down your pants, cross your fingers and you just might make it. Four minutes exactly is my average time after writing this. Level: Crazy Gadget Right at the end of the level is a room full of brightly coloured platforms with more thrills and spills than watching me make beans on toast. Once inside, flip the switch to reverse the gravity, then follow the platform that you end up on to the end (until you have to jump). Next, jump off to the right and try to land on the red platform with the 'prototype' robot on it. Get rid of it, then go left of this red platform and switch the gravity again. You should end up on a purple, 'L'-shaped platform. Follow it to the end to see this level's statue, then after playing Mystic Melody, light dash along the rings (but hold forwards as you do so, or you might miss the next platform). The Chao is on this platform, but there are also a couple of flying enemies that will make your life hell just before you reach it, so be careful. << Time Needed for 'A': 5:00:00 >> Apart from telling you to learn the level, or to shove a horseshoe down your pants for good luck, there isn't much I can help you with here. This time limit is VERY strict, so don't just casually stroll through expecting an 'A', like you can do with some levels. If you're at about 4 minutes when you get to the final checkpoint, you should be okay. ^_^ Level: Cannon's Core ********************************************************************** As far as I can tell, the only way to get to the Chao on this level is to find a statue with each character in turn. Each statue seems to have an impact on the next part of the level (as well as revealing a handy shield for the current character), which makes their statue available. I only listed this level as Sonic's simply because his icon is on it on the level select map, you don't need the 'A' for Sonic's all-As emblem. ********************************************************************** Tails: ???(You don't really need it anyway, and there might not BE one) Eggman: Just after a checkpoint and through the door, hop up onto the rail that guards the platform you are on, then hover over to the door WITHOUT landing on the platform on the way. Break open all of the steel boxes to find the statue, then play Mystic Melody. Rouge: Provided that you got the statue with Eggman, a door will be open (look around at the start) with a tunnel behind it that leads to another statue. Again, play Mystic Melody and pick up the shield. Knuckles: Head for the 'security door' at the start (opposite way to the lasers and enemies), without going underwater. You should find some of those platforms that usually only appear after playing Mystic Melody and you should also jump up them to find a pulley which will show you to the statue. Don't forget to play Mystic Melody! Another pulley at the end of this corridor will take you back down to the beginning. Sonic: When Eggman tells you that 'It's all up to you now!' and you are forced down the stream at the end of the level, turn around and keep doing the homing attack to climb back up the stream to the top. Once there, you'll see a path of rings. Perform the light dash along them to gain access to a platform with two of those 'prototype' water-based nasties, the door will open once you've taken care of them to reveal more enemies, but once you've destroyed them too the Chao is pretty much yours for the taking. ^_^ << Time Needed for 'A': 7:30:00 >> I found this one quite difficult. Try giving yourself time limits for each character, for example, I gave myself up to 1 minute with Tails, then tried to do Eggman's by the time I got to 3 minutes. Oh, and don't dilly-dally on Knuckles' bit, and hit the time-stop switches whenever possible, because they stop the timer too! ;> With practise, you could probably get well under 7 minutes... II) SHADOW ---------- Level: Radical Highway Go through the level as usual until the 2nd checkpoint. Now be on the look-out for a group of vertical cylindrical platforms, like the ones on City Escape; when you find them jump on top of them and hit each of the enemies at the top, then take one of the springs you find to get on top of the bridge, where a golden robot awaits. Destroy it, then go right, to where Omochao talks about grinding. Now, instead of grinding down the rail through the path of rings, you should find another rail leading in the opposite direction to the rings (into the screen. Take this giant, U-shaped rail, then hold 'B' until you are halfway back up it. If you don't let go of 'B' at the right time, you'll end up either flying off of the end of the rail, or not gaining enough speed to get up it, so be careful! Anyway, at the end of the rail is a platform, go into the middle of this platform to find a statue. Play Mystic Melody next to the statue to make two platforms appear, follow these out to find the Chao! ^_^ (Please note, ask me to elaborate any more and I may have to kill you) << Time Needed for 'A': 2:30:00 >> Pfft. If you know the level, you'll be fine, but don't expect an A-rank on this level without a couple of practise runs... Level: White Jungle A short while after the third checkpoint, be on the look-out for one of those spike enemies in front of a black (weight) 'trap'. It's just past a golden robot. Go past this trap to a Chao box, then take the nearby spring up to the platform above the trap. Now instead of going forwards and grabbing that handle, come into the screen until the much sought after statue makes an appearance. Whip out your good old transparent instrument and play the usual tune, then jump onto the statue to enable Shadders to jump high enough to reach the common-or- garden invisible platform, then follow the rest of the platforms to the top. Once at the top, wait a second, an enemy will appear and you can use it to reach the platform with the... Whatever it is... That will force you onto another one and up to yet another platform, from which you can (slowly!) home in on the enemies as they show up one by one. Careful - we don't want our friend to have an electrifying experience! << Time Needed for 'A': 3:20:00 >> Relax! This one's quite easy, so just sit back and enjoy the level. You'll probably do it in under 3 minutes on your first go! With some practise, it's probably possible to shave an entire minute off of the target time. Level: Sky Rail At the second checkpoint, don't grind down the rail. Instead, smash the nearby crate to discover the statue, play Mystic Melody next to it and follow the path of rings that appears. Then use the make-shift lifts (try saying THAT after 5 tubes of Smarties) to reach to top of Pumpkin Hill, where the poor little Chao is crying his eyes out because he's missed today's episode of Coronation Street, and now he'll never know whether that's Roy Cropper's real hair or not. :P << Time Needed for 'A': 1:10:00 >> It's not TOO hard, but you'll probably have to take a couple of 'test runs' to learn the route. Level: Final Chase Once you've come back up through the blue square-tube-thingy, carry on across the horizontal spinny-cylinder-thingies until you're at the end, where you have to use a pulley and ride to the top of a vertical version of those cylinder things. But try not to hit the spring at the top (if you do, perform a homing attack into the screen to return to the cylinder). Instead, stand at the top and press the 'L' and 'R' triggers to rotate the camera until you can see another pulley. Take this pulley to find the statue, but wait for a couple of seconds after playing Mystic Melody because if you try to do the light dash before all of the rings have appeared, you'll just end up missing the target platform and falling to your fiery doom! But whatever, when you're over there, make sure that you have a few rings and SLOWLY go up the *sighs* vertical cylinder whatchamacallit to avoid being knocked off by one of the many obstacles surrounding it. And you'll never guess what's at the top... << Time Needed for 'A': 5:15:00 >> As long as you make it to that last checkpoint in good time (4 minutes) you'll be alright. ;> Just learn the level and try your best! III) TAILS ---------- Level: Mission Street Get to the bunch of cylindrical platforms where Omochao says something about being 'careful not to fall off', then climb about halfway up and hover in a diagonal forward/left direction. Your target is the single cylindrical platform in the distance, but go slightly to the right of that to discover a platform with a statue. And you know what a statue in the middle of nowhere means... Play Mystic Melody, then go into the warp you create to end up on the roof of a building. Go forwards, and try to land on the tops of each of the cylindical platforms in turn. For some, you have to shoot a robot as you hover, to do so, just keep hold of 'A' and press 'X'. Watching your shadow and hovering slowly is a big help for landing here. << Time Needed for 'A': 3:25:00 >> Actually, you won't need any tips for this one - it's embarrassingly simple! Sonic Team, you have brought shame and dishonour upon your friends and families! ;P Try setting yourself a target of under 2:25:00 instead. It's possible, you know... Level: Prison Lane Ok, about halfway through the level you go up one of those big lifts, then you see a checkpoint, right? Open the doors just after that part, then ride the square lift in the nearest corner of the room you just opened (from the top, you can shoot two containers, one holding some rings, the other, a shield). At the top, hover over to the left and land on the platform you see to find (you'll never guess!) a statue. Play that Mystical Melody you're probably familiar with by now, then keep bouncing up and down on the spring you've just created until you have shot all of the enemies up there. Now bounce up one last time, and rescue the naughty A-Life from his cell. The scoundrel. << Time Needed for 'A': 2:00:00 >> Remember kids, no matter what your teachers tell you, one thing will ALWAYS be true - you have to be in it to win it. Er, or something... ;P Level: Hidden Base After the fourth checkpoint and through one of those Robotnik doors, you'll see the statue in an alley. Play Mystic Melody to open up the door next to it. Once through the door, go close to the quicksand at the bottom of the room and hover through the door to the left, where an enemy will attack you. Shoot it, then continue through the opening and hop onto the platform on the left when it's flat (it's higher up ;>). >From there, jump onto the pulley and destroy the enemies at the top, then get off of the pulley to find a spring on a platform to the left. Use the spring - the Chao awaits, and he's upset about those hoaxed pictures of Sonic in Smash Bros. Melee (or so Keptan thinks). ;> << Time Needed for 'A': 2:50:00 >> Another hard one, guys! I know you love challenges, and tips won't be very helpful since it's so close to the end of the stage... Level: Eternal Engine After the first checkpoint, there is a room where you have to touch a switch to proceed to the next room. Just after this is an outside walkway area, when you first get outside hover over to the left to find the statue on a small platform. Make your multicoloured musical notes appear, then follow the platforms up and through a large door. Try not to shoot anything in this corridor, and follow it to the end and past a second door. Hop onto the cages and jump, then hover INTO the lasers on the other side of the room. During the time that you are temporarily invulnerable, hover through the lasers (AFAIK, there's no way to turn them off), where the Chao is scared to death of returning the way he came, lest he be fried... << Time Needed for 'A': 2:00:00 >> JaguarMaster told me that after reading these directions, he got an 'A' on this level first time... So I don't see why you can't! :P IV) EGGMAN ---------- Level: Iron Gate Straight after 'breaching' security door 3, go straight forwards (the camera rotates if you don't go fast enough, but you know the direction I mean) and hit the spring at the end of the pipe that you presumably just walked across. Break open the steel crate to unveil another spring which will shoot you up onto a platform (you may need to hover a bit). You should trust the middle spring on this platform, and not bother to try hovering. If you do try to hover, then you're likely to overshoot the pipe and die. Once on the pipe, follow the trail of rings by slowly hovering around the corner, then land on the pipe at the end and jump off to the left, to land on the platform that hosts this level's statue for you to play your wonderful melody to. Do so, then jump up the three platforms that you made appear. When you're at the top, turn around to find the fourth platform, from which you can access a pulley that will take you up to a secret room. Jump and hover off of the pulley to the right, then follow the room around to find another statue. Play Mystic Melody a second time and follow the platforms that appear to find the Chao, and no, I have absolutely no idea how he got there to start with! << Time Needed for 'A': 2:00:00 >> Try to do everything up to security door 3 as quickly as possible, then you don't have to worry about the difficult bits. ;> Level: Weapons Bed After the third checkpoint, you go up a pulley with an enemy that you need to shoot at the top. After jumping off of this pulley, go forwards and be on the lookout for a group of warehouses to the left. The statue for this level is in the third (end) warehouse, so play Mystic Melody next to it and go into the warp that is created to end up bang in front of a very lost Chao... << Time Needed for 'A': 2:15:00 >> My best advice here is to not be afraid of large groups of enemies. All you have to do is hold 'X' or 'B' to lock on to huge groups, then keep hitting the button to get them all. In other words, Don't be scared, just plough straight through them! Level: Sand Ocean On the second giant rotating platform (just in front of a checkpoint), you should be able to see a platform with a spring stuck to the side in the distance. Hover over onto it, then across to the moving platform (as it is coming towards you). From the moving platform, shoot the group of four crates to the left (or at least enough to get past), then hover around the corner, on top of the other steel crates, to gain the correct amount of height required to get across to where the first load of crates were. Now just go to the end of this platform to find the upset little Chao, whose Dreamcast stopped playing games last week. << Time Needed for 'A': 3:00:00 >> Probably the easiest time limit in the game, you'll probably do this one first time, with over a minute to spare! ^_^ Level: Cosmic Wall On the platform just above the second checkpoint, glide to the right to find a platform with a pyramid thingy on it. Destroy the pyramid box to reveal a Chao box and the statue, practise your flute-playing and then use the newly-revealed spring to access another platform. Keep hovering straight up (thanks to the poor gravity on this level) until you find a high-up meteorite, then blast it apart and use the springs behind it. Use one of these springs to discover another pyramid, with the Chao wondering why it's so dark inside... << Time Needed for 'A': 1:30:00 >> When you see the first green arrow pointing left, jump and glide up to cut out a huge walkway. Without doing this, it might not be possible to break the time limit. Level: Lost Colony After the second checkpoint, when you get to the first group of outdoor walkways, run over to Omochao. From there, hop forwards (towards the door, only slightly hop mind) OFF of the walkway, a difficult-to-see hidden platform will catch you and elevate you up to another walkway. Next, play Mystic Melody at the statue you see, then jump onto it and follow the platforms through two sets of doors. Hover towards the far door, but be careful because an enemy will appear; you need to shoot this enemy to unlock the door. Now destroy the next enemy and it's just one more door - oh look, it's a Chao, and it appears to be lost! We've found it, so why do we have to pick it up to receive the reward?! :P << Time Needed for 'A': 2:30:00 >> Damn hard to find first time, but after that, when you know the route and are wary of that invisible enemy, it's not too bad... V) KNUCKLES ----------- Level: Wild Canyon Glide forwards from the start, and into the wind shaft. At the top of it, hold left and you'll (hopefully) land on a ledge with a chest and two springs. Drop off of either side of the ledge (but not the front, which is opposite the chest) and cling to the wall. Crawl under the ledge to find a picture. Dig through the picture to be faced with an entire room full of the things, which is when you'll be thankful that I'm here to help! :P Once you're inside this room, stop for a second, and face away from the large picture you just came through. Only one of the pictures you can see will lead you to the Chao, and it's the middle one on the right-hand wall. Dig through it to... Oh, you know. No, this level doesn't require Mystic Melody! << Time Needed for 'A': 0:40:00 >> It's not very hard at all once you're sure you know where the first picture is, and even if you don't you'll probably manage straight away. Level: Aquatic Mine Glide forwards from the start of the level, then go up the pillar as far as you can to find a pulley that takes you to the room with the water level 3 switch. DO NOT TOUCH THE SWITCH. The statue is also in here, and playing Mystic Melody will open a door in the room. Go through the door, punching to break the overturned mine carts, then follow the tunnel to the end and dive down into the water. Assuming the camera hasn't rotated (it depends on how fast you were just going), swim forwards to find a vertical trail of rings. Follow the rings up into another tunnel, where you have to come into the screen instead. I suggest going a short way in, then rotating the camera so that you are safe from the spiked ball at the end. Naturally, having Knuckles' air necklace helps here, but it isn't that hard to get the Chao without it. Whatever, make use of the pulley at the end of this tunnel to finish this stage. ^_^ << Time Needed for 'A': 1:00:00 >> You know, I think you'll be able to do this one without any tips... Level: Pumpkin Hill >From the start of the level go forwards and left to find a rocket that, when activated, will ferry you across to Church Mountain. Once you're on top of there, look around and you'll see another rocket, which will take you to Pumpkin Mountain. Press and hold forwards and 'A' as soon as this rocket explodes to glide into a high-up floating island, then climb to the top and just glide forwards to find a scared little Chao! (Or just find your own way to the top of Pumpkin mountain and play that Mystic Melody if you want, but my way's guaranteed to bag you an 'A') << Time Needed for 'A': 1:00:00 >> Glide from the rocket, and you'll be fine. I did, and my best time is 35 seconds - half of the limit to acquire an A rank! Level: Death Chamber Take it away, Keptan! *Paste* ********************************************************************** NOTE: Air Necklace powerup found in Aquatic Mine needed to complete this Chao. ********************************************************************** Go to the statue in Boom Boo's room, and dive down. Swim forward for a while until you see an hourglass guarded by a ghost. Either dodge the ghost and hit the hourglass or let him grab you (if you have the Air Necklace) and hit the hourglass. Immediately head for the closed door near where you dived in. Try to swim in a straight line for it as best you can. Duck under it just as it closes and you'll come into another room, with another hourglass, another closed door, and one of those dang E-102 robots. I hate them so much... Pounce on the hourglass and swim for the door by staying along the ceiling because (1) E-102 will always iss you and (2) it's faster than bobbing up and down. Duck right under it again and swim up into a hole. There's a few Chao murals in here! Yay, you're very close. Climb up onto the wall and into an overhang where you'll find yet another hourglass. Bop it then glide out, then go up one overhang and into a closing door, where the Chao awaits! Whew. << Time Needed for 'A': 2:00:00 >> Although the limit isn't too bad, the route is quite difficult. Try going through on a different mission (where an extra life appears in place of the Chao), then when you're confident that you know the route, just go for it. ^_^ Level: Meteor Herd Glide forwards from the starting point, then climb up the wall you grab hold of. Go left a little at the top of this wall to hit a spring, but don't hold any directions as you are in the air and the spring will elevate you onto a thin platform. From here, jump into the middle of the vertical tube you are in and fall a little bit, with a bit of luck you should land on a platform with a rocket on it. Ride the rocket, remembering to hold forwards as you fall, to get to a white platform. Kill the enemy here by gliding into its head, then glide into the screen, onto a platform marked by a moon symbol. Now glide to the right and climb up the side of one of those giant blue containers to reach the highest point so far. Next, turn right and hold 'L' to see your new destination - another white platform (with brown sides). Climb onto this platform to find another rocket, take it to the top and cling to the wall. Now hold diagonally up and left (perhaps utilising the camera rotation function on the way)until you climb to the very top of the entire level and end up on an overhang. Now glide clockwise around the huge cylindrical wall (which is actually the ARK) to discover a statue! Act as a one-man band for your own entertainment once again, then hop into the warp and wait until you hit the floor. Another statue?! Yep, just play Mystic Melody again to open up a new vortex, which will drop you on top of a very surprised Chao! ^_^ << Time Needed for 'A': 1:30:00 >> Unless you take the exact route I pointed out, you've got no chance. This limit is extremely tight unless you know exactly what to do, so you might also need to practise a little first. VI) ROUGE --------- Level: Dry Lagoon Glide forwards from the start of the level until you hit the tall, thin building at the back of the room, and climb all the way to the top. Now turn around and glide in the opposite direction (as though you were headed back to the start of the level, which you effectively are) until you land on another wall, then climb to the top of that. After making your attack on the enemies there, walk forwards a bit and smash those steel crates to reveal a picture that you can dig through. Go through to find a statue, then play Mystic Melody to open the door in front of it. Through the door, jump up and you'll realise that what you really did was create a warp, and you've just gone through it so the Chao is practically found - just go forwards. << Time Needed for 'A': 0:40:00 >> Can't really say anything except the usual - learn the route, then it's simple! Level: Security Hall *********************************************************************** Note: You MUST have Rouge's 'Treasure Scope' upgrade in order to reach this Chao. To get it, Find the Statue on the blue floor marked 'B', then play Mystic Melody, follow the platforms that appear, smash the steel crates that you find and enter the room that you just got to. *********************************************************************** Go straight forwards from the start, destroying the spiked enemy on the way, then cling to the box to the left and climb onto the top of it. Use the spring you see between the two black boxes, then also take the pulley at the top of the jump. Stick to the nearby wall at the top of the pulley and climb up it to find three yellow letters on the floor. Equip the Treasure Scope (marked 'Sunglasses' in the action window), and a new spring will be revealed on the letter 'B'. Hold forwards as you use this spring to see the Chao on an incredibly high-up platform. That's right kids, you don't use Mystic Melody in this case (well, technically you do if you haven't got the sunglasses, but let's not get into that)! << Time Needed for 'A': 0:30:00 >> Well, you SHOULD do this one first time, but if not, hold forwards when you're about halfway up the last spring-jump, instead of holding it as soon as you hit the spring, which is likely to see Rouge banging her head on the Chao's platform... Level: Egg Quarters Go forwards and left from the start, through an open door, then follow the corridor until you find a big room with a platform in the middle of it. Climb on top of the platform to find the statue. Play Mystic Melody then jump in the swirling vortex of doom. After realising that you can never get rid of Rouge no matter how hard you try, glide over to the left and tunnel through the useful dig-through-able picture there to end up in a new room with steel crates on the floor. Immediately run over to the back-left corner and smash the crate that is one into the screen to find a switch. Switch the, er, switch; then jump into the pit in the middle of the room and press 'B' to dig through the picture on the floor. You'll come back through a vortex and end up on top of the weight in the previous room (which you just disabled). It is now safe to jump off and run under the obstacle, where the Chao awaits... << Time Needed for 'A': 1:00:00 >> If you know where you're going, it's a breeze. ^_^ Level: Mad Space Keptan, you're a star... *Paste* Climb very high, like in Knux's Meteor Herd. To get there, get to the Holy Planet, which you can get to faster by taking the rocket with the switch hidden in a box near a spring (on the platform you start on). Then rocket up some more and climb up to the very high overhangs. Glide around until you see a large platform. You should see the statue from the air, but when you get closer to it you'll see that it's guarded by a Chaos-like robot. (I hate them more than I hate E-102...) Destroy it with a Drill Drive and play the usual. You'll soon appear in a long corridor. Follow them all through (the second has an enemy in it, be careful) and you'll get to the poor lil' thing. << Time Needed for 'A': 1:30:00 >> This one's quite easy too, another one that you could do first time... _______________________________________________________________________ F: Credits and contact info =========================== *** Contributions by level *** ------------------------------ Thanks to all of the following people who wrote in to help! Wild Canyon: Jamie Baker, Keptan Aquatic Mine: JaguarMaster, Tails Prower Death Chamber: JaguarMaster, Keptan Meteor Herd: Keptan, Michael Schultz Crazy Gadget: BigFatal, Keptan, ZakofAllTrades2 Dry Lagoon: Keptan Security Hall: Keptan Mad Space: JaguarMaster, Keptan Lost Colony: A.J. Ferolie, JaguarMaster, Keptan, Strech Eternal Engine: JaguarMaster Final Chase: JaguarMaster Cannon's Core: Sonique the Hedgehog A special mention has to go out to Keptan, who was incredibly helpful for getting the Chao I found difficult. Cheers dude, you da man! ...As is JaguarMaster, who was one of the only people to send in times for A ranks. May luck and honour descend upon you in the winter months! Oh, and thanks to the guy who sorts out all of the FAQs at GameFAQS, I appreciate the time you took to post and update this. Ta, mate! ^_^ This guide was both written and posted at www.gamefaqs.com by me, Richard Davies (AKA 'Annoyboy'). Although I seem to be naturally good at finding Chao, I'm not too hot at finding character upgrades. So without the help I've had from Chris Bunclark (who also found the Chaos on Iron Gate and Sky rail before me, which saved us a lot of time), I'd be limited to giving you the locations for Sonic and Shadow! o_O; So, thanks, Chris. And you guys should look out for the character upgrades FAQ, which should is available at GameFAQs. I suggest that you take a look at it, because it would be a very useful accompaniment to this FAQ seeing as for some Chao you need to dash along paths of rings, or maybe break steel crates, which you couldn't do without the necessary items! Thanks guys, I couldn't have done it without you. ^_^ Sooo... If you have any questions or comments regarding this guide, please e-mail me at annoyboy@annoyboy.co.uk, or visit my website at http://www.annoyboy.co.uk and leave a message on the message board. ;> Or if it's just to ask if you can put it on your website or message board, feel free, but please don't modify the contents of this file. See ya, - Annoyboy