Some details missed on the SA2 page I discovered while bored on a rainy, cold, and especially miserable night:
As I recall, the point values for the trick ratings are:
Good - 100
Great - 200
Nice - 300
Jammin' - 400
Cool - 500
Radical - 600
Tight - 800
Awesome - 1000
Extreme - 1500
Perfect - 2000
Fun facts: there is never a place in Sonic and Shadow's stages where you can obtain a Perfect. About the closest there is would be those last 3 rails in City Escape, which gives an Extreme. Meanwhile, I think you get a Perfect in the hunting stages if you find a shard in under 30 seconds (probably not accurate) with no hints. Still, finding one that quick with one hint is 1500 points, and two of those puts you well on the way to an A rank. You're free to use all the hints you like for the last shard, because the stage ends before you can get any trick bonus.
Tails' and Eggman's HP bar restores a fraction of health with every ring collected. The little notches above it are just a more precise measurement of every 10 HP. As a neat touch, you can also pick up Chaos Drives to heal. Also, If you throw a punch/kick while running full speed, Knux/Rouge will go into a spiralling attack while still hurtling forward.
Items:
- I recall there were Random Ring boxes in this game too but it's been too long since i've even played it.
- There's a
very often overlooked quality of Invincibility in this game: it gives you double points until it wears off.
- If you break all 3 Chao containers, the last one gives up a rare animal.
- Time switches don't start counting down to wearing off until they align themselves straight again, which you can nicely abuse - stand against a switch to freely examine a place with no penalty, or make it bob as much you can when you tag it so you get the maximum head start.
- Some rocket and missile platforms have to be activiated by switches first.
- Omochao's got a short memory. Thrash him 'round all you like, but when he returns to the spot you trigger him from, he'll start giving hints again like usual.
Enemies:
- If a Hunter that shoots blue goop bullets snares you, then it'll fire a yellow bullet at you. I believe you get just enough time to break free and dodge it.
- Alternate way to kill Shield Hunter: when he drops his shield to shoot, he's real slow on the draw...
- I forget if the Rhino Cannon actually exists anywhere?
- There's special version of the Blue Eagle that shows up in one spot each in Radical Highway (I think?) and Mission Street. It flies straight ahead very slowly and bombards you with vulcan shot fire. You'll know it's coming by the low jet engine racket that won't stop. I know Tails' is near the ancient ruin for the lost Chao, but it seems like it only appears occasionally...
- Beats me why there's a red recolor Hornet either. Matter of fact, I don't think it shows up anywhere else but way up high in Meteor Herd and Mad Space, and there's only one each...
- I do recall one Unidus in Hidden Base that slings its' spikes, don't know of any others. But the Uni-uni joke was cute so forget it :p
- Motora and the Meleons are missing from Green Hill
Stages (things that are prolly most significant):
- I've read that mashing the buttons in most cutscenes will cause Big to nonsensically pop in from nowhere. Dreamcast only, probably.
- Prison Lane's security cameras no longer award points on Gamecube
- In Metal Harbor, there are two places to grab onto the giant rocket. You have just barely enough time to pass the first and make it to the second, which awards extra points if you do so (and is practically required for the A rank).
- Might mention the monster bounty on Tails' head advertised in Mission Street (that you can shoot), and that inconvenient chunk of the interstate that tries to crush you right before the goal.
- Here's how powerslides actually work in the kart racing: when you initiate one, it causes you to start slowing down gradually, and you can't fix it (or your wild oversteer) unless you let the car straighten out completely. The balloons don't necessarily contain 20 rings each.
- When using Tails and Eggman, quicksand is instant doom.
- Those swinging pirate ships in Pyramid Cave are something else, alright...
- King Boom Boo throws extra fireballs the more he's been damaged
- Eternal Engine has normal gravity, and you forgot the sub-boss-like finale against that very well guarded power supply. Some dynamite is also slapped onto platforms in annoying places, though I guess you could call the whole stage an annoying place.
- The meteors of Meteor Hard aren't so random, as much as if you don't keep moving, one will probably hit you since it's likely programmed to have the meteor shower "chase" you around the stage...
- In Knux vs. Rouge, they'll bounce away from each other if you attack the boss while they're swinging at you. The "heat blast" floor opens and shuts at long intervals - the boss drops straight back to the floor as soon as it closes, but you'll prolly have KO'ed them before then. Lest we forget this: when the boss climbs the wall, just run like hell or get Drill Drive'd.
- The highly combustable tubes in Tails vs. Eggman 2 can hurt the boss and are by far the easiest way to do so... also generally, I find that if you don't end the fight in about 20 seconds (or really quickly after they start using vs. mode attacks), you're toast.
- There are, um... floating platforms in Final Rush... quite a few of them...
- The lost Chao in Sand Ocean is one of the very few that doesn't need the Mystic Melody to reach.
- Correct me on this one: the dialouge, or the way the cutscenes were run in the dub suggests that Maria's wish in the flashback before Radical Highway was "obscured" and Shadow didn't recall all of it until the Last story. Is it like this in the original?
- Rouge says right before Security Hall that 5 minutes ought to be plenty to get the gems instead of 15, hence the panic-inducing time limit.
- Rouge's batmobile handles identically to the Cyclone. In the kart minigame itself, Sonic and Shadow are the "speed" characters, Tails and Rouge are "acceleration & handling", and Knuckles and Eggman are "average, good brakes, but fucking heavy".
- Mad Space's "gaping wide planet" has no gravity of its' own.
- In SA2:B, they managed to cock up the collision programming on Final Chase's gravity drums rather badly.
- There's a particular gimmick to each segment of Cannon's Core: Tails' is a bit tenuous (learning the time switches?), Eggman's is trickier time switch puzzles, Rouge's is finding that switch to flood the room, Knuckles' is finding another switch in said flooded chamber, and Sonic is basically "look at how sinister it is this close to the end". And uh, the SA1 water slide.
Other/SA2:B:
- Now that the Dricas websites are history, the Moon Chao is more or less extinct unless you can hack your VMU.
- In Boss mode, slogging through All is the only way to fight the last two bosses
- The new red ! bubble for GC hunting stages sure kicks ass for buried shards...
- The level 4 stages in SA2:B's vs. mode must be unlocked by clearing the story side they belong to (Hero story for Final Rush, ect.)
- I don't believe Downtown Race has any snow...
- I believe it's been documented that the frequency of Amy's special attacks makes her astoundingly cheap
- Metal Sonic's Black Shield locks out the control stick when you put it up, so you're at the mercy of whatever momentum you were carrying.
- The level 1 shooting match races ditch the HP gauge and are splitscreen. The level 4 stages are also splitscreen, and Eternal Engine is not actually that stage, but rather a 2-player version of Tails vs. Eggman 2!
- The red Cyclone also has weaker attack power and no special attacks (that I recall), but vulcan shots are replaced by insta-firing homing missiles.
- From what I recall reading about this on GameFAQs quite a while back (where there is Chao documentation beyond belief), SA2:B takes the Intelligence and Luck stats and hides them, making them preset and all but unalterable. Still means you can ignore em.
- A GBA Sonic game isn't needed to run the Tiny Chao Garden, you can load it into a cartridge-less GBA. Can't leave it there forever of course (but it has a Sleep mode instead of Save & Exit).
- The special Sonic and Shadow Chao giveaways were in fact shiny versions of said Chao that you can't obtain otherwise. (you could already make Sonic/Shadow Chao ingame) As shown
here, there was also a Shiny Tails Chao at one point.
- Speaking of the Tails Chao, it's the only event Chao you can still legitimately get,
if you have PSO I & II for Gamecube. (i'm guessing the artwork there is fanmade)
- And now that i'm digging through Sonic CulT again,
oh hey! The menu themes that never got a download key for the DC version are still on the disc, including the President's Secretary.
- Finally: no mention of Sega of America tripping over the translation of "Bernal sphere" and calling it a Bernoulli one?
And that's about all I can think of. Phew. And now i'm in a better mood :p