Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers/Sealed Star
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Sealed Star stages are the equivalent of Special Stages in Dr. Robotnik's Ring Racers. There are currently 14 available, one for each Chaos and Super Emerald.
Accessing
In order to reach a Sealed Star stage, the player needs to have earned enough rank points in order to be able to get an A rank on Intense or higher at the end of the final race of the cup, or be in 1st place overall on Master. The remaining Continues become the number of attempts they can take on the Sealed Star before they are kicked out to the results screen.
When all Chaos Emeralds are collected (Sealed Stars 1 through 7), discovered Sealed Stars can also be accessed from the menu at any time. Completing them in this way does not count for obtaining the Emerald for that cup, but can be used to clear certain challenges.
Mechanics
Each stage spawns the player with 20 rings on a long course that does not loop. Moving ahead of them will be a giant UFO catcher following a predetermined route along the course, containing one of the 14 Chaos or Super Emeralds (in varying order, see below).
The player must use a combination of Item Boxes, Item Capsules, physical contact at speed, and Insta-Whip to break the catcher. Once broken, they need to collect the Emerald as it continues along the course and complete the stage to the end. Falling off the course, exploding, failing to catch the Emerald, or finishing the course before the Emerald will all cost the player a continue and reset the stage.
Regardless of success, the cup will still be considered completed. When an Emerald is successfully collected, the results screen for the cup will be improved by one rank (making it possible for A rank to be improved to S), and the collected Emerald will appear next to that cup. Note that the number of continues used will also be considered for scoring purposes; this may result in a lower final score for the cup if many continues were used attempting the stage.
Stage Order
Initially, when the player qualifies for a Sealed Star at the end of any cup, the stages will appear in order (Sealed Star 1, Sealed Star 2, etc). These will contain a corresponding Chaos Emerald until the 7th is completed.
Once all 7 Chaos Emeralds have been collected, they will "reorder themselves to their correct locations", into the first 7 cups in the selection screen. This will also unlock Special mode, allowing replay of discovered stages, and also unlock new stages containing Super Emeralds. Sealed Stars 8 through 14 can then be accessed by completing their corresponding cups (S.P.B. Cup, Rocket Cup, etc) within the original requirements.
The stages for cups 15+ loop the stage order, starting with Sealed Star 1. These stages function identically to their original versions, except the corresponding Emerald is replaced with a golden Chaos Emerald. When collected, the cup will receive a plus sign (+) instead of an Emerald icon to indicate completion.
Stages
There are currently 14 available Sealed Star stages. Each name hints at its theme and mechanics.
| Stage Name | Related Cup | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Balconies (Sealed Star 1) | Ring Cup | An introductory level featuring a wide variety of items and several opportunities to deal damage |
| Church (Sealed Star 2) | Sneaker Cup | An open level featuring a small church house midway through and slightly more technical damage sections |
| Courtyard (Sealed Star 3) | Spring Cup | A course featuring high jumps and rotating spike hazards, with many capsules to deal damage |
| Villa (Sealed Star 4) | Barrier Cup | A course featuring several jumps and trick pads, with many opportunities to boost into the catcher |
| Venice (Sealed Star 5) | Invincible Cup | A course featuring sneaker pads over water, requiring the player to boost or risk falling out |
| Spikes (Sealed Star 6) | Emerald Cup | Exactly what it says on the tin. Features several spike traps and many triangular towers shaped like spikes |
| Fountain (Sealed Star 7) | Extra Cup | A longer course featuring short water crossings and many circular sections containing item capsules |
| Gallery (Sealed Star 8) | S.P.B. Cup | A course featuring Gachaboms, which are used both to deal damage and break targets to progress |
| Alley (Sealed Star 9) | Rocket Cup | A course with narrow jumps and corners, crushers, and a long spike wall section |
| Steeple (Sealed Star 10) | Aqua Cup | A course navigating high towers, with short sections to damage the catcher |
| Rooftops (Sealed Star 11) | Lightning Cup | A high speed course featuring several jumps, sneaker pads along curved rooftops, and a narrow bridge section |
| Roulette (Sealed Star 12) | Flame Cup | A course covered in bounce targets and springs with few guardrails, with a section shaped like a roulette wheel |
| Towers (Sealed Star 13) | Super Cup | A twisty, winding course with blind corners and pitfalls |
| Atlantis (Sealed Star 14) | Egg Cup | A highly technical course featuring most elements from previous stages, plus an underwater section |
Strategy
- Use early attempts to practice instead of expecting a clear on the first try. Each stage is incredibly challenging (especially the second set of levels), and will typically require many attempts to succeed.
- Once Special mode is unlocked, each discovered stage can be practiced freely before trying again "for real".
- Approaching the catcher will apply a tether to it, speeding up the player similar to tethers in race mode. This can be used to close the distance for dealing damage.
- Look for item capsules and note where they appear. These typically hint where and how you can deal damage.
- Item roulettes are entirely pre-determined. You can learn the timing of each one to get the items you need.
- Multiple items (Orbitars, Bananas, Gachaboms, etc) can be fired in quick succession for several hits at once.
- Downward slopes can be used to ram the catcher one or more times in a row. Keep centered to prevent your character from falling off the edge, though!
- While helpful for players adept at its usage, the Insta-Whip is not required to damage the capsule with enough speed. Nor is its use required to clear any of the stages.
- The catcher will "keep" some of the damage done to it during a run in GP mode, up to 40%. If you can't get it on the first try, persist to build damage for a subsequent continue.
- Consider slowing down in certain sections. The catcher will rapidly accelerate if overtaken by the player, and this may skip critical sections that allow for more damage.
- Use your brakes often. Several sections are incredibly technical and cannot be taken at speed, especially by heavier characters.
- Some sections require maintaining speed to cross safely. If you know you won't clear a jump or a gap, a timely spin dash will usually be enough.
- If all else fails, try a different character. This will alter what lines and speeds you can take the course on, which may drastically improve your odds of winning.
Trivia
- Sealed Stars are very similar to the UFO chase special stages from Sonic Mania, but contain their own mechanics and theming.
- The Sega-branded UFO catcher is a reference to Sega's line of physical crane and arcade games.
- The text "Fall Out!" appearing when a player falls off the course is a homage to the Monkey Ball series of games.
- When out of rings, rings are more common in the item wheel, as though the player were in first place for a race. If the catcher is broken, the item wheel will only contain rings.
- The stage names and previews are only visible in Special mode. Otherwise, only the number of the stage (eg, "Sealed Star 1") is shown.
- Should you complete the stage before the corresponding Emerald, the message "Empty Handed?" will appear before the level resets (and a continue is docked).
- Before all stages are completed, a stinger after the ending credits will taunt the player (either to increase their difficulty to Intense or with the missing Emeralds). Collecting all 14 will replace this screen with a card congratulating the player instead.
- Some challenges require the player to complete the stage in a certain way (eg, only use Orbitars) to unlock. These can be unlocked freely in Special mode.
- Special mode uses Gear 2 (Intense) settings for its difficulty. Higher difficulties in GP mode speed up the catcher, similar to the speed increase used for CPU carts.
- Currently, using the Ring Shooter does work and does not cost a continue to use (in Grand Prix mode only, as using it in Special mode restarts the course). It's not clear if this is intended behavior.
- Unlocking Special Mode via password will skip the need to collect 7 Chaos Emeralds first. This skips the first step of how all emeralds are unlocked, allowing all stages to be available immediately both in the menu and their specific cups.