Items and two-player modes
Know the survival tools and how the competition differs from helping Sonic.
Original 1992 16-bit Mega Drive/Genesis release. Manual Tails flight, the restored Hidden Palace and additional playable characters from later remasters are excluded; Sonic & Knuckles lock-on is a separate variant.
12 items · one picture per entry · open a picture for full size.
Rings and monitors
Ring
Holding at least one ring turns a hit into scattered rings instead of a lost life; 100 rings give an extra life.
Super Ring
Adds ten rings.
Power Sneakers
A short burst of extra running speed.
Shield
Absorbs one hit so you keep your rings.
Invincibility
Brief immunity to enemies and hazards other than pits, crushing and drowning.
1-Up
An extra life; the face matches the character you are playing.
Robotnik
Hurts whoever breaks it, just like touching an enemy.
Two-player monitors
Level objects
Star Post
Restart point; pass it carrying 50 or more rings and a ring of stars leads to the Special Stage.
Signpost
Spin it to finish the first act of a zone.
Animal capsule
Open the capsule after a boss to free the animals.
Quick notes
- Use the monitor reward. A Super Ring item gives ten rings, a Shield absorbs one normal hit, a 1-Up grants another life, Invincibility briefly protects from many hazards, and Power Sneakers increase movement speed.
- A checkpoint has two purposes. Touching a Star Post sets the Act's restart location.
- Helping and racing are separate modes. An assisting second player controls Tails beside Sonic in the normal adventure, sharing its main camera.
In competition, compare the evaluation results rather than judging the winner only by finish order.
Picture details
Game artwork belongs to its respective rights holders.