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The Sonic the Hedgehog series has always been about players using their skills and speed to finish stages quickly and stylishly, earning different letter ranks along the way as proof of their talents. Sonic Colors: Ultimate continues this series tradition, having fans earn ranks from as low as D to as high as S as a symbol of how expertly they've tackled Sonic the Hedgehog's stages. As gamers explore Eggman's Interstellar Amusement Park to show their stuff, this guide has some tips to make sure they can obtain an S Rank on every stage.
Ranks have always been judged through the player's high score by several easy-to-remember factors; clear time, tricks, and rings collected throughout the stage. Sonic Colors: Ultimate also includes the use of Wisp powers in the score tally, as well as whether or not the player has activated Super Sonic.
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Tricks and Bonus Points
One way fans can make sure to raise their score in Sonic Colors' HD re-release is by performing tricks and making sure to accomplish feats throughout the level to get bonus points. The biggest notable example is for players to succeed at mashing the jump button at certain points throughout the stage, but other ways include homing attacking enemies in succession or smashing through them all at once, grinding on rails, or performing quick steps. Players should take note that wasting time to make sure to pull these off and possibly dying in the process will hurt their score rather than help it, so they should only focus on things like quick-stepping frequently when they have the opportunity.
Clear Time and Lives
Sonic Colors: Ultimate is unique in that the amount of time players take to finish stages doesn't affect the score too much, but players can get a helpful boost to their rank by beating their own personal best times. Even though gamers won't be penalized too harshly between second or minute differences, the game is designed so that taking around 8 minutes or more will stop the score counter entirely. Also, if fans need to be rescued by Tails in a stage even once, the highest rank they can get is A. When hunting for S Ranks, making sure Sonic stays alive is very important.
Ring Collection and Wisp Powers
Naturally, the score also takes into account how many rings players collect during their run through the stage. Collecting these are highly important, as they may be the difference between A and S. Players can earn extra points by collecting the Red Star Rings scattered around the stage, which help with unlocking Metal Sonic's Rival Rush levels and other features new to Sonic Colors: Ultimate. Also relying on Sonic's new friends, the Wisps, is also important as players get a special bonus depending on how long the Wisps' Color Powers are active. Fans can get the same type of Wisp active in another capsule to extend the time a Color Power can be active for, making it that the bonus keeps going until the gauge runs out. Some of the Wisps need to be saved in specific levels, so going back to stages again might mean a new Color Power could help boost players' ranks.
In general, skilled players may find that getting S Ranks may be easier than they expected, as it mostly comes down to the skill of the person playing as they do what they can to beat stages. There's no reward for getting every S Rank, but the diamond S on the hub world screen does look nice. For those willing to take on another challenge to make 100% completion easier, using Super Sonic from start to finish in any stage nets gamers an S Rank instantly, so Super Sonic is worth getting for sure.
Sonic Colors: Ultimate is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
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