Best Ending Guide

This is a short guide to have text documentation on the simple route and the requirements for the Best Ending.

**Best Ending Requirements:**

- Get the seven chaos emeralds (they are shared among all four characters, so you can get any emerald with any character)
- Beat the game with all four characters

**Chaos Emeralds**

Each Chaos Emerald is obtained by finding its corresponding special spring in a stage and clearing the special stage after hitting it.

The following acts have a special spring in them, and using the following characters is fastest for the special spring:

- Neo Green Hill 1 - Tails
- Secret Base 2 - Knuckles
- Casino Paradise 1 - Knuckles
- Ice Mountain 1 - Tails/Amy - about the same speed
- Ice Mountain 2 - Amy
- Angel Island 2 - Tails
- Cosmic Angel 2 - Tails

**Clearing the game**

All four characters are available off of a fresh file, so you can beat the game with any character order you'd like.

- The game saves you clearing the game with a character after the score countdown & whiteout of X zone. It is safe to reset the moment you see the cutscene of your character falling from the sky.
- Unlocking Moon Zone requires beating the game with all four characters beforehand. As accessing Moon Zone requires beating X Zone with Sonic, this means you will ultimately have to beat X Zone with Sonic twice, because you must have already beaten the game with Sonic if you want to access Moon Zone.

So the route & reset points overall looks like:

1. Beat the game with your first character. Reset after X-zone's score & whiteout.
2. Beat the game with your second character. Reset after X-zone's score & whiteout.
3. Beat the game with your third character. Reset after X-zone's score & whiteout.
4. Beat the game with your last character. Reset after X-zone's score & whiteout.
5. Go to Sonic's level select and scroll down. You should see "Moon Zone" in gray below X Zone. Beat X Zone and you should see the extra cutscene at the end with Sonic going super.

General Mechanics Guide

# **General Mechanics**


**Spin Dash**: When you are standing still, press and hold the D-pad down, then tap A once or twice. Release the D-pad to blast off in a burst of speed. Two tap spindashes are faster than one tap, though there are instances where one tap dashes can be useful. Amy cannot spindash.

**Ball Mode**: All characters except Amy can enter "ball mode" by tapping down while moving on ground, or spindashing. You have less control over your character in ball mode, especially if you jump out of it. Balled-up characters will always decelerate unless going downhill.

**Quickstop**: Generally, when you land while moving horizontally, you'll maintain some of that momentum on the ground and slide. If you hold down, your character will roll (except Amy). You generally want to come to a complete stop before attempting to spin dash, which can be done by either using a character's attack, or pulling back.

**Slope Jump**: When floors are not level, the incline affects the angle and speed of your jumps. When jumping off an uphill incline, the character will go much higher but not as horizontally far. When jumping off a downhill incline, the character will not gain much height, but will gain much distance (and sometimes horizontal speed).

**Loop Jump**: A variation on the Slope Jump, which takes place inside a loop. If you enter a loop from the left and jump from its top left, you catch the next corner of the loop and are propelled off, gathering more momentum than usual. You get the same effect if you jump from the top right of a loop after entering it from the right.

**Aerial Speed**: Generally, your character's horizontal speed will decrease whenever the vertical speed is upward, but it will increase when the vertical speed is downward. This means your character will slow down when ascending in jumps, and speed up upon descending. This is also why downhill slope jumps are important for gaining speed, since your character gains no height (thus no speed loss) but will gain speed thanks to jumping downward. Understanding this mechanic is important in gaining speed or losing minimal speed.

**Path Swapper**: Generally, 2d sonic games have different programatic paths where only one is active at a time. An easy example is, you usually hit an invisible path swapper when going through a loop, which tells the game that you're on a new path. In this game, you can take advantage of these path swappers and go out of bounds. The main method is to crouch in a certain spot on a loop's base (just after the path swapper, so the game thinks you're in the loop) until the screen scrolls down, then move past the path swapper trigger very quickly while the screen is still scrolled. The game will think you're in the loop when you're not, which then leads to some interesting effects. This can be a valuable shortcut in many levels, especially Angel Island 1, where all four characters can take advantage of it.

# **Sonic**


Sonic is the fastest-moving character all around, but at the cost of not really having any abilities to enhance his movement outside of air dash. This means he can't access some shortcuts that the three other characters can access. If you want to play as Sonic, be prepared to mash the d-pad a lot to doair dashes as his air dash is what sets Sonic apart from the others.

**Slide Attack**: Press B once to spin slowly. A second time makes him flip. A third time makes him slide. This move is primarily useful for bringing Sonic to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around, though if you want to do this, just press B twice instead of three times. The full combo can be useful for bosses though. The initial roll upon pressing B once can also be useful as he will always roll at the same slow speed, at that same distance.

**Air Dash**: Double tap right or left after jumping in the air to do an air dash. Alternatively, press a direction while running, jump, then press the same direction again to do an air dash. As long as the second tap is in the air, and not too long after the first tap, the jump can be before or in between the taps. This ability is what sets sonic apart from the other characters and helps him move very quickly, since it gives him more forward momentum each time he does an air dash. You want to do air dashes as much as possible, especially from downhill slope jumps (and not uphill) since you'll gain more speed that way. It's also useful for adjusting your jumps or if you need a little bit of extra distance from a jump.

**Insta-Shield**: After jumping in the air, press A again to perform insta-shield. This gives you a very brief moment of invincibility, which can be useful for damaging bosses (particularly the angel island boss). It also gives you an extra bounce if you bounce off of an enemy or item box. Finally, if you jump out of ball mode then insta-shield, you regain all air control of Sonic.

# **Tails**


Tails has the unique ability to fly, which is handy in basically every level. He's the most versatile in terms of aerial movement, but his flight is also very slow. Understanding how to maintain speed from his flight, and taking advantage of slope jumps to avoid his slow vertical flight is key to getting fast times with him.

**Tail Swipe**: Press B to perform a tail swipe. This move is primarily useful for bringing Tails to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around. It's also useful for bosses, since it has long reach and Tails won't get hurt if you hit something with his tail.

**Flight**: Press A after jumping to start flying. Each tap of A will increase his height. His flight is pretty slow for vertical movement, but his horizontal speed carries into the flight. It's primarily useful for crossing larger gaps without losing much speed, though if it allows for shortcuts, it's also useful for that. Note that Tails loses speed when flying if he's ascending, and gains speed when descending. So generally, each tap of A will make him lose a little bit of horizontal speed, whereas he'll gain speed whenever you don't, so mashing A is generally a bad idea for horizontal distance. Learn to pad out your A presses so you have exactly enough height to reach your destination while losing as little speed as possible.

# **Knuckles**


Knuckles can glide, which help him a lot with horizontal distance and controlling his speed. While he doesn't have a direct method of jumping higher like Tails and Amy, he can climb walls too. Thanks to his glide and punch being the best abilities in the game to come to a complete stop, on top of his punch giving him ledge boosts, he's one of the fastest characters in the game. He also floats on the water surface, which is very useful for one boss.

**Punch Combo**: Press B three times to perform a triple punch combo. This move is primarily useful for bringing Knuckles to a complete stop so you can spindash without accidentally rolling around, though only the first punch is necessary for this. He has the best ability for this since his first punch is very quick and shorter than Sonic's and Tail's ground attacks. His first punch also gives him a brief increase in speed before coming to a stop; use this punch to move very short distances very quickly, or off a ledge so he gains horizontal speed.

**Gliding**: Press A after jumping to start gliding, and hold A to continue gliding. This is useful for gaining extra horizontal distance. This will also always set your horizontal speed to a set amount, so it's useful for controlling your speed, especially if you want to abruptly change directions in the air while jumping. Another nice use is that Knuckles will always be at a complete stop upon landing from gliding, allowing you to spindash immediately. So if Knuckles needs to spindash immediately from a jump, glide just before landing so he doesn't have to adjust his speed.

**Climbing**:Glide into a wall to have Knuckles cling to it. Press up or down to climb. Climbing should be avoided since it's very slow, though it has its situational uses.

# **Amy**


Amy is the slowest moving character as she cannot spindash nor enter ball mode at will. However, she compensates for having a lot of abilities to control her height and speed, as well as an overpowered hammer. She jumps the highest out of the four characters, even without using hammer flip. Hitting a vertical or diagonal spring (not horizontal) with her hammer launches her much farther than hitting it without a hammer, allowing for several nice shortcuts. Her hammer's hitbox is way bigger than the game makes it look. She's also easily the best boss slayer all around in the game, requiring very minimal luck for some key bosses thanks to how many options she has with her high jump and huge hammer. She's also the only character who can crouch while running, as the other characters will roll instead.

**Giant Step**: Press Down+A while on the ground to perform a giant step. This is Amy's primary method of acceleration. While significantly slower than spindashing, this is something she can do multiple times without revving nor without worrying about having to come to a complete stop to perform it. Avoid giant stepping into an uphill slope though, since Amy will usually come to a complete halt if done so.

**Faceplant**: Press B while doing a Giant Step to have Amy faceplant on the ground. Why this is an attack, I don't know, but it does damage bosses and enemies. It's also useful for a skip in Angel Island 1, and going through item boxes that she can't jump around.

**Hammer Combo**: Press B twice to perform a hammer combo. This can be used to hit bosses with its huge hitbox, and also hit springs. The second hit is sort of not very useful.

**Air Hammer**: Press B after jumping to have Amy swing her hammer. This is VERY useful as it does not slow her down in the air, and allows her to hit springs while in the air without actually touching them. It's also useful for bosses thanks to its ridiculous reach. Using this on enemies or item boxes will let her "bounce" off of it like other characters do. Keep in mind she can't perform any other air actions after this, until she lands.

**Hammer Jump**: Press Down+B on the ground to perform a really high jump. Slope jump mechanics apply to this. This ability is very useful as it does not significantly slow Amy down (and can speed her up, if used downhill), yet still has really high vertical reach. Use this to reach higher platforms as necessary. Keep in mind that she cannot perform any air actions from a Hammer Jump.

**Hammer Twirl**: Press Down+B in the air to have Amy twirl her hammer. This ability is very useful as it sets her horizontal speed to 0 without affecting her vertical speed, no matter how fast or slow Amy is moving. The hammer also has nice horizontal reach, so she can hit springs with this. It's incredibly useful for coming to a complete stop, or basically turning any diagonal spring into a vertical one. This is also what allows her to bounce on bosses to deal damage repeatedly.

Route Maps & Strats

Below you'll see a map for every stage as well as the general path that each character takes. You can click the maps to enlarge them. The routes assume full-game runs, not individual level runs. The paths are color coded:

- Green = Default Consistent Path. If you don't see a character's color, they follow this path
- Purple = Backup/Yolo Path. This will be explained each level this shows up in.
- Blue = Sonic
- Yellow = Tails
- Red = Knuckles
- Pink = Amy

There'll be a strat overview (both in general and character-specific) below each map. If there's a trick/glitch involved, a setup of how to do them will be discussed as well.

Disclaimer: All initial maps taken from **[Sonic Center](http://www.soniccenter.org/maps/sonic_advance)**

## **Neo Green Hill Act 1**


http://i.imgur.com/4IwKv61.png

This is overall a pretty simple level, the main difficulty being cleanly going over the curve after the long stretch of flat land at the first checkpoint.

Sonic & Tails:


They generally follow the same path. Air Dash & Flight are needed to access the hidden tunnel cleanly from the land before the frog.

Knuckles:


Before the first checkpoint, jump at the right spot along the wall to jump super high, then start gliding at the peak. He can then just glide to the end, which is the fastest way to beat this stage. This is more annoying than it sounds since he's completely off screen for both the initial jump and the glide. If you miss the glide or don't want to do the superglide, follow the green path and use his glide to access the hidden tunnel.

Amy:


Amy takes a very unique route, as she's the only character that can access the first speedshoes quickly thanks to hammering the spring after the checkpoint. Making the jump after the speed shoes requires using a hammer flip after it takes full effect, then she can essentially jump over the rest of the stage. Navigating around the bee, second speed shoes, and spring can be tricky since she moves so quickly here, so you'll have to adjust accordingly and try to fall back down to where the other checkpoint is quickly.

## **Neo Green Hill Act 2**


http://i.imgur.com/NsNzvRG.png

This is a pretty straightforward level where all four characters take the same route. The two weird parts will be working around the platform cycle after the 5 ring box, and jumping over the hidden bush spring near the end.

To maintain speed with the bush spring, you want to jump as late as possible without hitting the spring. This is pretty lenient with Sonic since he can just do an air dash a bit early and still maintain a lot of speed. Tails and Knuckles can spindash if they miss. It's very punishing for Amy to miss the jump since she can't spindash.

## **Secret Base Act 1**


http://i.imgur.com/u7eRXYR.png

The general route is the same for most characters. You can skip the second pulley at the start with all characters, though it's unreliable to do so with Amy. Grabbing the speed shoes in the middle of the level is very important, as it's used ideally through the entire second half of the level and speeds up the ending section significantly.

Later, there's a pulley with a spring right after it. You'll just have to time jumpin just after getting off the pulley but before hitting the spring. You can mash A safely with Sonic and Amy, but you'll lose all your speed if you try to do that with Tails and Knuckles, even if you succeed.

At the end, keep following the green path if you still have speed shoes. If you run out of speed shoes, you want to take the upper purple path instead, as you can't make the big ending jump via the diagonal spring (unless you're Amy, who can just hammer the spring either way).

Sonic:


If he still has speed shoes active, he should take the blue path. Being able to air dash out of spin makes this lower path faster for him than the center/upper path.

Tails:


Follow the general green path. Tails should take the purple path if his speed shoes run out at that point.

Knuckles:


Knuckles can abuse an out of bounds with a path swapper exploit at the start then glide to the very end of the stage. This is pretty unreliable and saves only a few seconds. If you choose not to do this, then follow the green & purple paths appropriately.

TODO: Explain setup for the out of bounds

Amy:


Follow the general green path. She never needs to take the purple path, as she can hammer the ending diagonal spring and make the jump even without speed shoes.

## **Secret Base Act 2**


http://i.imgur.com/Klmjh05.png

You want to wait at the start of the stage a bit, then jump to the second manhole when it's at the peak. This will let you cleanly get to the upper route early.

The first speed shoes are important as they let you navigate a long section of land much more quickly than without the speed shoes. Ideally you want to maintain them until you're past the later pulley section. Don't grab these speed shoes if you're using the path swapper glitch.

TODO: Setup for path swapper

The boss is pretty straightforward. You want to land 4 hits before his second jump, which will trigger his super jump pattern (if you fail, just hit him repeatedly until he does his super jump). When he's off screen, a reliable strat is to get to the side of the screen, face away from that side, then get hit. You can get the last 4 hits quickly before your invincibility frames run out.

Sonic:


Sonic has the hardest time doing the pulley skip in-bounds since it requires maintaining speed shoes to that point. If you do get the skip, follow the lower blue path since his air dash is well suited for that area. If you fail it, follow the green path.

Tails:


Tails can use the path swapper trick and save a few seconds (follow the green path if you don't want to use it). If you grab the hook, hit the speed shoes, then fly after falling a bit, you have plenty of time to reach the red diagonal springs before he tires out. With the incorrect path active, there's a small invisible floor that he can jump off of below the pulley. Feel free to mash A for this, since you can easily adjust his flight accordingly. Be sure to fly low below the horizontal red spring, since there's an invisible wall there. After that, just land on the boost pad and you're back in bounds.

Knuckles:


Knuckles can use the path swapper trick and save a few seconds (follow the green path if you don't want to use it). You want to glide low after hitting the speed shoes to avoid the risk of hitting the two lava pools. Stop gliding when he's over the vertical yellow spring. With the incorrect path active, there's a small invisible floor that he can jump off of below the pulley. You'll need to time pressing A at the right time while having speed shoes active, adjust, land and immediately jump off of the horizontal red spring, then superglide off of the 5 ring box, then land on the boost pad.

Amy:


Amy unfortunately doesn't have anything interesting in this level, since her high jump and hammer abilities aren't particularly useful, so follow the green path. She does have the easiest time hitting the boss before his super jump, thanks to her hammer's huge hitbox.

## **Casino Paradise Act 1**


http://i.imgur.com/IdGX6YM.png

This level is heavily cycle-oriented and very sensitive to minor mistakes, so learning all of the relevant moving objects and learning how to adjust is very important. You also want to wait a bit at the start of the stage for the proper cycles to line up.

When falling out of the warp hole, you want to move a bit left but still land on the steep slope, then hold left when you land. This lets the character land with a lot of speed, then carry that into a jump to hit the balloons.

There is a clip you can use which involves a spindash into a frame perfect jump upon hitting the flipper. This saves a few seconds, and is noted via the purple path, but isn't recommended since it's very unreliable and inconsistent. Amy can't do this since she can't spindash.

Sonic:


Sonic can skip across the first giant gap using well-timed air dashes. If you don't want to do this, follow the default green path at the start. You want to then grab the speedshoes then run through the middle section of the stage. Moving objects are on global cycles so you have to adapt to them. Near the end, Sonic can't take the warp path since he can't increase his height directly in the air, so he has to take a lower route.

Tails:


Follow the standard green route. The main notable strat is that he can fly over the spike pit, which is faster if you know how to maintain his flight speed appropriately.

Knuckles:


Follow the standard green route. The main notable strat is to glide over the spike pits.

Amy:


Hammer the first spring at the start to gain the height needed to access the green route. Amy's Hammer Twirl is very handy for halting her speed, which is useful in two spots to drop down vertically in this level.

## **Casino Paradise Act 2**


http://i.imgur.com/bLXz38l.png

This is a pretty straightforward level where everyone follows the same general path. For the two sets of rotating platforms, you can either jump across the platforms, or land on a spring below to cross it, just be careful of the annoying ball clown right after that.

The boss is completely random, and you have to improvise depending on where eggman comes out, and where the spike ball comes out. Sonic and Knuckles should either be waiting on the lip of a bottom tunnel or on the central platform, since neither of them can reach the central platform from the bottom floor. Tails can reach the boss from anywhere since he can fly up and hit eggman with his tails. Amy has a huge hammer and can jump to the middle platform from anywhere, so she has the easiest time with this boss.

## **Ice Mountain Act 1**


http://i.imgur.com/HVNgUDi.png

Another really simple level in terms of general route. All characters follow the same general route, and grab the set of speedshoes in the middle.

Sonic & Tails:


At the top of the first giant slope, by using a spindash into air dash / flight, both characters can essentially fly across the two lower loops.

## **Ice Mountain Act 2**


http://i.imgur.com/xg2oOCN.png

All characters follow the same general route. The jump after the pulley to avoid the diagonal spring can be tricky, it's best to hold left to give yourself a much bigger window to avoid the spring. Jumping over the second pulley can be tricky and depends on if you jumped off of the flat spot before the yellow spring or the slope before it. If you're not confident in that jump, feel free to take the purple route instead (this is a good backup too). Just make sure you don't fall into the water area.

Sonic:


Air dashing helps guarantee making it over the second pulley. Sonic has the hardest time with the boss since he has no means of staying high nor hitting the boss from below, so he has to rely on the falling icicles. Use air dashes on the icicles to gain horizontal momentum, and insta-shield to help reach the boss.

Tails:


Doing a short 1-tap flight helps Tails guarantee making the jump over the second pulley. For the boss, Tails can simply fly and hit Eggman repeatedly with his tails (just make sure you're above water surface, since he can't hit the boss while swimming). Tails will tire out after ~4-5 hits, so after that hit, try to land on a higher icicle so you can refresh his flight more quickly.

Knuckles:


Knuckle's glide isn't well suited for making it across the second pulley without losing speed since his horizontal speed resets upon gliding, so use the backup purple path if needed. When fighting the boss, reach the surface of the water as quickly as you can so Knuckles starts floating. Then simply jump into eggman and keep floating. Make sure you hit Eggman on the descent of each jump, because if you hit him on the ascent of any jump out of water, Knuckles will rebound downward and back to the floor.

Amy:


Amy doesn't have any aerial abilities to make it across the giant gap for the second pulley, but she can use her hammer on the purple path's spring. Amy has the easiest time with the boss, since she has the highest jump and her hammer can hit the boss at the peak of her normal jump.

## **Angel Island Act 1**


http://i.imgur.com/IM7uwZp.png

This level is completely broken using a path swapper glitch at the first loop, and every character can take advantage of it, which saves almost a minute for all characters. The setup and backup strats will be discussed for each character, since this level works differently for all characters. If you don't want to use the path swapper, you can follow the in-bounds green route instead, but note that the level takes almost twice as longer.

Sonic:


Crouch at the appropriate spot until the screen scrolls down, then do a 2-tap somersault without the skid. He should now be on the wrong path. Get on the platform, then on top of the loop (don't touch the side of the loop or else you'll reset the path). From the left side of the loop, do a 2-tap spindash into a jump, then insta-shield at the peak to regain air control, keep holding right, bounce off the yellow spring, then land on the brown platform. Hold left just before sonic runs off of it. If timed properly, he should land on the now-falling platform again, and eventually he'll be standing in the air.

Once he's standing in the air, keep running right and to the goal. There's a vertically moving block near the end, so slow down before getting near it and make sure you don't touch it. If you got the wrong initial height from the glitch (which is effectively random, you'll know if a diagonal spring is in the way), then hit the diagonal springs and try to land on the highest diagonal spring in the series without actually using the top spring. Do a 2-tap spindash off of it, hold right until you get a ring, then hold left to hit the checkpoint and die. You should respawn from the checkpoint, in-bounds, then follow the green route to the end.

Tails:


Tails is the only character who cannot instantly move a set short distance without the screen scrolling, so he has the hardest time getting out of bounds. Crouch at the appropriate spot until the screen scrolls down. As quickly as you can, do a 1-tap spindash into a jump then start flying. The inputs for all of these are very tight as you have to do the jump before the game's path swaps; if he starts flying through the left slope, you got it. If not, try again. Then simply fly to the brown platform, then to the speed shoes (get it), then fall to the checkpoint and suicide to get back in bounds. After the death, follow the green route from the checkpoint. Note that checkpoints don't work in Time Attack, so you have to use a different strategy for individual level runs.

Knuckles:


Crouch at the appropriate spot until the screen scrolls down, then do a triple punch combo. Immediately do a short jump left then start gliding right. Keep gliding until you're over the ending checkpoint then fall into it, suicide. After the death, follow the green route from the checkpoint. Note that checkpoints don't work in Time Attack, so you have to use a different strategy for individual level runs.

Amy:


Crouch at the appropriate spot until the screen scrolls down. Do a giant step left then immediately hammer flip before falling through the left slope. If done correctly, you should be able to gain enough momentum to move right and on the floor without falling to your death. Get on the platform then on top of the loop (don't touch its side or else you'll reset the path trigger). Get on top of the diagonal spring without using it, then do a giant step right and keep holding right. Amy should generally hit the yellow spring then land on the brown platform. The moment she runs off of it, do a hammer twirl to halt her horizontal speed then land on the right tip of the now-falling brown platform. She'll now be standing in the air

Once Amy is standing in the air, just start running right and to the goal. There's a vertically moving block near the end, so slow down before getting near it and make sure you don't touch it. If you got the wrong initial height from the glitch (which is effectively random; you'll know if a diagonal spring is in the way), do a faceplant to lower her height without falling to her death, then keep going.

## **Angel Island Act 2**


http://i.imgur.com/A8lLr6P.png

Secret Base 2 Skip Tutorial

Video guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BWbIPIBeuU

Theory Speedrun Videos

These are speedruns kirbymastah created using savestates in bizhawk that replicate what a perfectly-executed run by him looks like for each character. Strats will vary depending on personal preference, but these runs are intended to be used as learning resources. The input display is visible in the upper-left corner.

Sonic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9oxmoCwTMk
Tails - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tobawWe41M
Knuckles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94D5RbvhlB0
Amy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZyym6r74Gs

Nazwa	Autor
Best Ending Guide	kirbymastah 1 year ago
General Mechanics Guide	kirbymastah 8 years ago
Route Maps & Strats	kirbymastah 8 years ago
Secret Base 2 Skip Tutorial	kirbymastah 6 months ago
Theory Speedrun Videos	kirbymastah 1 year ago