Changes

You can even have time stopped long enough to dispose of the Chaos enemy ahead while it's still in its shell.  Try jumping and locking on to the robots that are about to fall.  Time will restart, so dispose of both robots then run through the door to shoot the next switch.  When time stops here, you can finish this section with whatever the time reads, which should be under 15 seconds.

You can even have time stopped long enough to dispose of the Chaos enemy ahead while it's still in its shell.  Try jumping and locking on to the robots that are about to fall.  Time will restart, so dispose of both robots then run through the door to shoot the next switch.  When time stops here, you can finish this section with whatever the time reads, which should be under 15 seconds.

In the last room, shoot the Hornet to get it out of the way, then shoot the switch to keep the clock stopped.  Jump on one of the (non)moving platforms, then onto the raised blocks, from there to the platform floating in front of the switch, shoot the switch again for good measure, jump onto the rail of this platform, and jump from there to the top.  Now you can fire shots into the door, then after a few shots turn around and shoot the switch to keep the clock stopped.  Repeat until you've shot the door 12 times, destroying it.

In the last room, shoot the Hornet to get it out of the way, then shoot the switch to keep the clock stopped.  [[SA2 terminology|Hover jump]] to one of the raised blocks at the side, then hover jump from there to the top.  Now you can fire shots into the door, then after a few shots turn around and shoot the switch to keep the clock stopped.  Repeat until you've shot the door 12 times, destroying it.

''Eggman''

''Eggman''

Clock-wise, this is easily the longest section of the stage.  Skip the shielded enemies at the start, and head to the center of the next room to get all four enemies to drop.  Dispose of them quickly to open the door.  Kill the Hornet, then before you get on the platform, hover a bit past and to the right of it, holding B to lock on.  You should pick up at least one lock-on here; release B then hover back to the platform and ride it up.

Clock-wise, this is easily the longest section of the stage.  Take note of the timer at the start of this stage--it comes in handy later on.  Skip the shielded enemies at the start, and head to the center of the next room to get all four enemies to drop.  Dispose of them quickly to open the door.  Kill the Hornet, then before you get on the platform, hover a bit past and to the right of it, holding B to lock on.  You should pick up at least one lock-on here; release B then hover back to the platform and ride it up. I find that for best results, a full-height [[SA2 terminology|hover jump]] will most often allow you to lock onto the back enemy, and then you can lock onto the near enemy once you land back on the platform.

There are two Chaos enemies that need destroying to unlock the next door.  There are a variety of ways to dispose of them: lock on to both then run behind them and shoot once they get out of hiding (slow), let them attack you and shoot them while they're attacking (fast but requires you take a hit), or even get up close to one of them, punch to hit through the shell, and create an explosion that takes out the other one in the process (fast, but very rare).  Get rid of them in some way, then go through the door and jump down.

There are two Chaos enemies that need destroying to unlock the next door.  There are a variety of ways to dispose of them: lock on to both then run behind them and shoot once they get out of hiding (slow), let them attack you and shoot them while they're attacking (fast but requires you take a hit), or even get up close to one of them, punch to hit through the shell, and create an explosion that takes out the other one in the process (fast, but very rare).  Get rid of them in some way, then go through the door and jump down.

The lock-ons you made before hovering to the rising platform earlier on should, ideally, have taken out the two enemies down here through a wall, opening the door immediately.  If there's still an enemy alive, you'll have to destroy it to open the door, wasting time.  Continue forward through the curved hall, and jump and hit the switch above the lasers as soon as you can, then pass through now that the lasers are gone, take out the hiding Chaos, and hit the next switch to keep time stopped.

The lock-ons you made before hovering to the rising platform earlier on should, ideally, have taken out the two enemies down here through a wall, opening the door immediately.  If there's still an enemy alive, you'll have to destroy it to open the door, wasting time.  Continue forward through the curved hall, and jump and hit the switch above the lasers as soon as you can, then pass through now that the lasers are gone, take out the hiding Chaos, and hit the next switch to keep time stopped.

In the acid room, hover orward, using the blocks or even the short walls that denote where blocks will pass through in order to advance.  After the drop, you'll want to continue to the vertical-path blocks.  Remember that the outer ones move up and the center one moves down.  See if the outer block isn't so high that you can't hover onto it, but isn't so low that it wastes time for it to move up to the next door.  Let time restart, then ride it up to the next door.

In the acid room, hover forward, using the blocks or even the short walls that denote where blocks will pass through in order to advance.  After the drop, you'll want to continue to the vertical-path blocks.  Remember that the outer ones move up and the center one moves down.  See if the outer block isn't so high that you can't hover onto it, but isn't so low that it wastes time for it to move up to the next door.  Also, this is where the timer comes in.  Whatever the timer was at the start, add 30.1 seconds to that, and remember this new time.

This curved hallway plays a lot like the one in Tails' section.  Stop the clock once, then when you're a good deal past it, turn around and shoot the switch again.  Go through the door, and don't hit the checkpoint or else you'll lose time if you die in the remaining part of this section. The clock should be stopped as you start the long fall, and start up when you're partway down.  When the clock starts, the lasers reappear, so take care to avoid them as you fall at full speed.  At the bottom, there are three time stop switches on the wall.  Either lock onto them, or just fall through and have Eggman's machine knock the switch well out of place, then continue forward.  Defeat the two hiding Chaos enemies, then continue to the next room and try to hit the switch to keep time stopped before it can restart.

When you're on the block, jump and hover backwards while holding B.  Lock onto the switch (don't shoot yet), then turn around and hover back onto the block you came from.  Time will restart, and once it reaches the "magic number" you remembered (30.1 seconds plus start time), that's your cue to release the shot.  Time will stop right as the block gets to the level of the door, so hover over and get through the door, then hit the next switch.

The last room can end up taking quite a bit of real time, but no game time.  Make your way to a raised floor on the side.  Jump, and at the peak of the jump fire a volkan cannon shot. You may see it crash into the wall; this is no good.  You want it to hover just above the higher floor, and hit the door for a hit.  Throw in a shot at the time stop switch every so often so the clock doesn't start running again, and keep trying shots at the door until you hit 12 of them to advance.

Get to the second time stop switch in the curved hallway, shoot it, let the door open, shoot it again, and lock onto it once more but don't release yet.  Go through the door, and don't hit the checkpoint or else you'll lose time if you die in the remaining part of this section.  Head through the next door when it opens as well, and once you're on the balcony, release your lock-on.  If done correctly, this shot is sufficient to keep time stopped through to the next time stop switch, enabling you to play the rest of the stage on a frozen timer.

 

Fall through this long shaft without bumping into any enemies, and at the bottom, there are three time stop switches on the wall.  Fall through one of them and have Eggman's machine knock it well out of place, then immediately hover and turn to lock onto another (again, don't release), then continue forward and down.  Release the lockon, defeat the two hiding Chaos enemies, then continue to the next room and try to hit the switch to keep time stopped before it can restart.

 

In the last room, you can hover jump to one of the side ledges, then hover jump to the top.  Unlike with Tails, you can't lock on backwards at the switch unless you're at the very edge.  Do what you can to hit the door with 12 volkan cannon shots without letting time start back up.  Occasionally you'll have one of the moving blocks in the center be in ideal position and you can just take potshots from there.

''Rouge''

''Rouge''

What does this mean?  If you can get the switch to disappear out of draw distance before it comes to a complete stop, it never gets a chance to start beeping.  That means that unless you bring the switch back within draw distance (or hit another switch later on), '''the duration of the time stop is permanent''', or at least until the end of Rouge's section.

What does this mean?  If you can get the switch to disappear out of draw distance before it comes to a complete stop, it never gets a chance to start beeping.  That means that unless you bring the switch back within draw distance (or hit another switch later on), '''the duration of the time stop is permanent''', or at least until the end of Rouge's section.

Now that you don't have to worry about the clock, proceed through the stopped waterfall of Kool-Aid.  Your clock stoppage might have been for naught, as you're about to find out.  Drop down in the next room, and look for the moving black block that can block the passage.  If the block is in the way, this is no good.  You'd have to hit the switch here and have time restart in order to unclog the path, but it's better for your time to just die and try stopping the clock at a different time so the block isn't in the way.

Now that you don't have to worry about the clock, proceed through the stopped waterfall of Kool-Aid.  Your clock stoppage might have been for naught, as you're about to find out.  Drop down in the next room, and look for the moving black block that can block the passage.  If the block is in the way, this is no good.  You'd have to hit the switch here and have time restart in order to unclog the path, but it's better for your time to just die and try stopping the clock at a different time (the start time of this section plus 10.2 seconds is good if you can make it there that quickly) so the block isn't in the way.

When you finally get the clock stopped and the block in a good position, head forward, hit the Chaos in the middle, press the switch under it to open the liquid-draining button in the middle of the starting area, and head back out into that room to hit the switch and move on.

When you finally get the clock stopped and the block in a good position, head forward, hit the Chaos in the middle, press the switch under it to open the liquid-draining button in the middle of the starting area, and head back out into that room to hit the switch and move on.

''Knuckles''

''Knuckles''

Dive down into the Kool-Aid, holding left and slightly down, and aim for the time stop switch atop pillar #4.  Don't resurface; you're going to take a different path that laughs at everything you normally have to do in this section, and that leaves the "normal" path in the dust.  Head forward--not into the lasered-off entrance, but to the entrance below it (the one that Rouge went through).  Dive down to the time stop switch just below the moving-block path.  You don't actually need to hit the switch, but it saves time.  Shoot back up with A, and move into the right corner at the top of the room.  It's covered in acid, so you'll take a hit, but that's okay.  After being hit, move back to the same corner and press A to shoot up through the ceiling!

Dive down into the Kool-Aid, holding left and slightly down, and aim for the time stop switch atop pillar #4.  Don't resurface; you're going to take a different path that laughs at everything you normally have to do in this section, and that leaves the "normal" path in the dust.  Head forward--not into the lasered-off entrance, but to the entrance below it (the one that Rouge went through).  If you're feeling comfortable with the move, you can jump, land back on pillar #4 before dropping, and start an [[SA2 terminology|underwater glide]], though you'll have to break it shortly to avoid wasting time against the wall.  Another underwater glide is possible when you arrive in the tunnel, by getting kicked up after running on the diagonal edge.  Dive down to the time stop switch just below the moving-block path.  You don't actually need to hit the switch, but it saves time.  Shoot back up with A, and move into the right corner at the top of the room.  It's covered in acid, so you'll take a hit, but that's okay.  After being hit, move back to the same corner and press A to shoot up through the ceiling!

Now you're gliding around (not swimming) out of bounds.  Glide forward, and eventually, next to a room full of lasers, you'll see a cubical room.  Aim for the right side of that room, and enter the wall to go back in bounds and back to being considered as swimming.  This is the room that holds the final security door switch, so swim over to the switch and press it.

Now you're gliding around (not swimming) out of bounds.  Glide forward, and eventually, next to a room full of lasers, you'll see a cubical room.  Aim for the right side of that room, and enter the wall to go back in bounds and back to being considered as swimming.  This is the room that holds the final security door switch, so swim over to the switch and press it.

There is one thing to watch out for: as you go down the (nonmoving) slide of orange Kool-Aid, the first downslope takes you through a small opening that takes the form of a snake's mouth.  If you're not going fast enough through this opening, Sonic will just stop right there...and you'll be unable to control him.  He's considered to be underwater, so you have no choice but to wait until drowning and start over from the beginning of segment 5 (or, I guess, you could pause and choose Restart, but that takes you back to the beginning of segment 1, and why would you want to do that?)

There is one thing to watch out for: as you go down the (nonmoving) slide of orange Kool-Aid, the first downslope takes you through a small opening that takes the form of a snake's mouth.  If you're not going fast enough through this opening, Sonic will just stop right there...and you'll be unable to control him.  He's considered to be underwater, so you have no choice but to wait until drowning and start over from the beginning of segment 5 (or, I guess, you could pause and choose Restart, but that takes you back to the beginning of segment 1, and why would you want to do that?)

Best video: [http://www.soniccenter.org/videos/blaze_CannonsCore1_13202.wmv 1:32.02 by blaze]

Record video: [http://youtube.com/watch?v=lxGihKXtsTs 1:15.94 by SadisticMystic]

'''Mission 2'''

'''Mission 2'''

Follow the mission 1 path, but be sure to collect all the rings as you go and don't get hit.  Most of them can be collected with time stopped, so you don't have to worry about losing time.  Tails' section has 42 rings.  As you come to the top of the acid-block room in Eggman's section, you should have 94, and the last 6 are just ahead.

Follow the mission 1 path, but be sure to collect all the rings as you go and don't get hit.  Most of them can be collected with time stopped, so you don't have to worry about losing time.  Tails' section has 42 rings.  As you come to the top of the acid-block room in Eggman's section, you should have 94, and the last 6 are just ahead.

'''Mission 3'''

'''Mission 3'''

Kill both enemies up on the ledge to open the door, then make an easy run to the Chao.

Kill both enemies up on the ledge to open the door, then make an easy run to the Chao.

'''Mission 5'''

'''Mission 5'''

''Sonic''

''Sonic''

The first time stop switch here is gone.  After the first Chaos retracts its tendrils, do a spindash jump across the gap, dodging all three enemies.  Jump up into the spawning Chaos beyond that (being sure to hit its head instead of a cell), then run to the door that opens. Start a spindash from the doorway, then release it and jump to hit one Chaos, homing attack into the second, and again to land back on solid ground.  Do one more spindash, jump over the lasers, and try to land on the time stop switch as fast as you can.  A spindash from here down the curved hallway can finally stop the clock permanently, and the rest is the same (except for the addition of nonmoving Chaos enemies which you can hit for free points if you feel like it...and if you do a spindash jump up to where the Chao is in mission 3, you'll find five extra lives instead).

The first time stop switch here is gone.  After the first Chaos retracts its tendrils, do a spindash jump across the gap, dodging all three enemies.  Now you have two choices, easy and slow or hard and fast.<br>

''Easy and slow--''Jump up into the spawning Chaos ahead of you (being sure to hit its head instead of a cell), then run to the door that opens. Start a spindash from the doorway, then release it and jump to hit one Chaos, homing attack into the second, and again to land back on solid ground.  Do one more spindash, jump over the lasers, and try to land on the time stop switch as fast as you can.<br>

''Hard and fast--''Stop upon landing, and face the near left corner of the opening.  You want to do a [[SA2 terminology|super bounce]] into this corner.  Often you'll overshoot and bounce to your death, or bounce into the ceiling which is no good.  The result you want is to hit the very edge of the opening so that your super bounce ejects you into the previous room, hugging the wall.  The wall here is fake above a certain point; you can homing attack through the wall to see objects inside the hallway you're shooting for, and if you bounced high enough, you'll land in the hallway.  Now you can just jump over to the time switch.

''Reunity--''A spindash from here down the curved hallway can finally stop the clock permanently, and the rest is the same (except for the addition of nonmoving Chaos enemies which you can hit for free points if you feel like it...and if you do a spindash jump up to where the Chao is in mission 3, you'll find five extra lives instead).

Best video: [http://soniccenter.org/videos/2-4-31-5-12489.wmv 2:04.89 by SadisticMystic]  

Record video: [http://youtube.com/watch?v=37uFlYb5s6M 1:47.19 by SadisticMystic]  

[[Category:SA2 Strats]]

[[Category:SA2 Strats]]