Extra Special

[FlashTHD]

Well, I almost uttered an audible "oh shit no" when Advance 3's last stage asked 260 rings of me in the second half. They had a decent concept going there with those stages, it just didn't come together well enough in the end. The graphics there are terribly bland and the object placement demands more precision from the player.

As for Special Stage mode, they may as well have added a middle-finger arrangement with the rings at the end of the last stage.

[Arcade]

Sonic the Hedgehog [Mega Drive] special stage is classic that will always live in my dreams, together whith the jokes about power rangers and dragon ball Z parodies.

[Ritz]

Chaotix. Nothing that hasn't been said already, but regardless, the stages were aesthetically pleasing and quite impressive for their time, and I simply adored the level design. The variety of objects to interact with and the clever deviations from the usual tube setting make this the most unique and enjoyable iteration of the half-pipe, as far as I'm concerned.

Sonic 3D Blast is next on my list. It's quite pleasant on the eyes and ears, and as someone else previously mentioned, it did a fine job conveying a general sense of speed, what with the springs, the orgasmic corkscrews and the oftentimes overlooked slow-roll move that enabled you to gain momentum on steep slopes. And then there are a few other minute details, such as the ring echos in the tunnels. It didn't add as much to the concept as Chaotix's stages did, but then again, it didn't have to. A little polish really went a long way.

And then there's Sonic CD's stages. Fun, challenging, unique concept. Of course, the only reason anyone really cares about them is because of the backgrounds; they alone would make Sonic G's stages playable.

[jenkins]

Of course, the only reason anyone really cares about them is because of the backgrounds; they alone would make Sonic G's stages playable.

The music! You're forgetting the amazing music!

Otherwise, you're completely right.

[Ritz]

Didn't think it was necessary to mention it. At this point, praising SCD's soundtracks would be the equivalent of saying "Wow, gay guys sure do like other men".

[Brazillian Cara]

In other words, fuel to the snow owl.

[j-man]

o rly?

Oh God, please don't kill me. I'm so, so sorry.

[Omni Hunter]

I still don't understand why the S3+K is the most popular. Yeah, it has a learning curve, and lots of variety, but it doesn't really stick out to me.

[James McGeachie]

I still don't understand why the S3+K is the most popular. Yeah, it has a learning curve, and lots of variety, but it doesn't really stick out to me.

It had a pretty simple concept and not much in the way of obstacles/variation per stage but still managed to be pretty challenging, well balanced and, above everything else, was actually fairly enjoyable to play, something I certainly wouldn't class most of the others as.

I definitely think if more people actually owned a DS and had played it however that Rush would be doing better on the poll than it is, although perhaps that's only because I got into a furious contest with someone I know where we kept trying to beat each other's scores on the last stage (I'm willing to bet I'm either world record holder or close to such for my ring count on that, but I don't really think there's much competition on it sadly). I can say without a doubt in my mind though that the Rush special stages couldn't possibly have worked as well on any other system than the DS.

[jenkins]

Hey, cheer up. At least they're currently tied with the reeeal winner, Chaotix. How do the Rush special stages work, anyway? I haven't played the game, and it looks like I'll have a DS emulator before I have a DS, so please, by all means, do tell.

[James McGeachie]

http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/9173 ... ial5sn.jpg

Not the best screenshot and like everything in Rush they look far better in motion, but basically they involve running down traditional half pipe stages filled with rings and spikey bomb obstacles, with the twist being that all Sonic's movements are controlled entirely by stylus. Occarionally enemies will pop up and attack that you'll have to touch to jump and destroy, there's also little balloon things littered around the stages that upon hitting will take you into a number touching minigame where you'll have to tap numbers in an order on the touch screen, with faster completition speeds earning you more rings. The best thing about the stages though is just how well it works weaving Sonic around inbetween spikes with the stylus, as I've said I personally enjoyed them and found the difficulty curve through levels to be pretty good as well (the last will probably seem impossible at first though, but with practice it becomes incredibly simple). They're also accompanied by some catchy music that you'll probably either love or hate.

I'll have to make one thing clear though, I've nothing but praise for them on the DS, but I'm fairly confident they'd be horseshit on emulator using the mouse.

[Arcade]

The Sonic 1 special stages are probably the most notably different.
The gameplay is kind-of recycled for the Sonic 3 bonus stages but it's never been used for grabbing the emeralds again.
Ever since Sonic 2 it's always been the 3rd person view and as fun as it may be, the chutes, plains, balls and so on have been recycled a lot, why not use the original special stage design again?

Yeah, thinking about how the advance games where just crap copies of the Genesis games, I find it amazing that they never re-used the special stages of Sonic 1.

[foxboy666]

I can only say I've played special stages in sonic heroes and the sonic advance series, and I think the 3D stages were much more interesting

[gr4yJ4Y]

I can only say I've played special stages in sonic heroes and the sonic advance series, and I think the 3D stages were much more interesting

Let me assure you, the other Special Stages are superior, in particular Sonic Rush. I actually hope that Sonic Wild Fire plays like those stages.

[Zeta]

Sonic Rush's special stages are the only ones I would just play for fun.

[Popcorn]

Despite the fact that the rest of the game sucked serious buttock, the Saturn version of Sonic 3D had the most kickass special stages of any Sonic game I've played.

[Segaholic2]

I was going to say that. If there were some cheat or something to skip the entire game and play nothing but the special stages repeatedly, I could die a happy man.

[Locit]

I'll third that, with a motion that the music was pure kickass.

[CM August]

Richard Jaques for the win. Didn't he do some more Sonic stuff for that "videogames live in concert" thing a year or two ago?