At San Diego Comi-Con, Sega announced that Special Stages will be a part of this month’s Sonic Mania . Now, Sega has announced that Bonus Stages and Time Attacks will also be extra features in the game.
Bonus Stages take the form of those from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 . Sonic, Tails or Knuckles will navigate the space, collecting blue spheres in order to win. But when a blue sphere is collected, it turns red, and touching a red sphere is an instant fail. Winning a Bonus Stage nets the player a Silver Medallion, while winning and getting every blue sphere results in a Gold Medallion and a perfect score.
Time Attack is exactly what it sounds like. You are testing yourself to finish levels as quickly as you possibly can. But Sonic Mania will also have global leaderboards, so players will be able to compete with each other for the fastest times.
Finally, if you missed the Special Stage announcement, this is where the Chaos Emeralds come in. Players will chase UFOs to get emeralds. Collecting blue spheres will provide speed boosts. (Fortunately, said blue spheres don’t turn red and threaten to immediately end the stage!)
As a reminder, Sonic Mania releases on August 15 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC.
Source: Press Release