I must just be bad at the UFO stages.

[queenelise9830]

First few were easy enough, but no matter how hard I try I can't seem to get past UFO Stage 4. With this and my general lack of skill in finding Big Rings, I've managed to get to Lava Reef Zone and still no 4th Chaos Emerald. Oh well, I only have 3 more medals to go before I unlock Debug Mode, so I still get to play with Super Sonic soon regardless. lol

[Tunaria]

Nah, Stage 4 is quite the jump in difficulty.
Needed a couple of tries myself before I got the hang of it.
If it's of any comfort, though, Stage 7 is easier compared to Stage 4-6.

[Bitnerd7]

im stuck on stage 6 :(

[TheForestSpirit]

I've failed on Special Stage 2 3 times now so no I'm the bad one here

Blue Sphere I'm doing pretty well at though, I'm just over half way through with those. It's getting Gold that makes them really difficult due to how fast everything is moving at by then.

[Bitnerd7]

yep

[Bitnerd7]

i got all 7

[Kitt 🌟 Stargazer]

You'll get better at them with practice. When you beat the game you can even do level sellect and those big rings will respawn every time you restart the level. I do mirage salloon often because the big ring that used for the one achievement is fairly quick to get too. Take the route till you get to the bar, push the one barrel and fall onto the water thing, when it's spraying water spin dash to the ring.

Knuckles has one very close to the start of the first level/act as well for him.

I've gotten all 7 on my third playthrough by the time I got to studiopolis act 2 playing on Knuckles alone.

[Bitnerd7]

nice

[Pook and Pie]

I found the fourth special stage to be, strangely, the hardest of them all. I failed it three times before succeeding, and then proceeded to get the others in one try.

Being patient is super important. My largest issue is that the fourth stage is when I discovered that a, "Course Out" was a thing by falling off the road. Just collect blue orbs, initially, and then focus on grabbing rings as often as possible during late Mach 2 and Mach 3, and you'll hit the UFO eventually.

Also, you can't jump over any corner with a bumper. That messed me up pretty badly too, because I'd be in the air, try to jump over a corner and then get flung backwards because jumping over a bumper is a no-no even though it doesn't extend off the ground at all (and in some cases is difficult to distinguish from just a course edge when running at Mach 3- then again, my new glasses don't come in for three more days).

Once you know about course outs and that bumpers bounce you backwards even if in mid air, I literally had no more trouble getting any of the emeralds. I like Mania's special stages even a little bit more than CD's (yeah, I liked CD's special stages. Sue me. Sonic 3&K's were the greatest though).

[-|Nur|-]

A guide is definitely needed that lists all the giant ring locations. As it is, it's pretty hard to get in any practice with the stages because coming across them is quite difficult. I just finished Hydropolis and have found only three giant rings (and gotten two emeralds). Meanwhile, I've got about 3/4 of the blue sphere stages done.

[Saph]

That DAMN fourth Chaos Emerald!

[Martyboi]

haha, i have probs with em' too. It's only cause i haven't memorized the ufo's movement pattern though.

[Pook and Pie]

Originally posted by Saph:

That DAMN fourth Chaos Emerald!:2016bee:

Classic!

[Kitt 🌟 Stargazer]

Originally posted by -|Nur|-:

A guide is definitely needed that lists all the giant ring locations. As it is, it's pretty hard to get in any practice with the stages because coming across them is quite difficult. I just finished Hydropolis and have found only three giant rings (and gotten two emeralds). Meanwhile, I've got about 3/4 of the blue sphere stages done.

Playing as tails can help you out there. Since it's easier to explore the levels for them with him.

[queenelise9830]

Originally posted by Saph:

That DAMN fourth Chaos Emerald!:2016bee:

Haha, yeah. Never played Shadow the Hedgehog myself but I've watched playthroughs and I remember that scene. I wonder if this was intentional?

[(Edgy) Asriel Dreemurr]

Originally posted by Kitt Stargazer:

Originally posted by -|Nur|-:

A guide is definitely needed that lists all the giant ring locations. As it is, it's pretty hard to get in any practice with the stages because coming across them is quite difficult. I just finished Hydropolis and have found only three giant rings (and gotten two emeralds). Meanwhile, I've got about 3/4 of the blue sphere stages done.

Playing as tails can help you out there. Since it's easier to explore the levels for them with him.

Also Debug mode.