Yeah, I just figured out a new strategy. And since there is no easy way to transfer a 4 page guide (because submitting it would make it seem like I created it), I'll just post it here. The area in italics is the changed area. Note that almost the entire guide is changed due to all totals requiring 4 more rings, but the italics are only the change in strategy. also note that I kept as much original words as I could.
Perfect in Crazy Gadget 1
(Special thanks to mike89 for the location of 8 of the rings)
This guide is meant to help you get a (true) Perfect in this mission. I've set this up in a checklist-like format, which basically means I'll be holding your hand through the whole thing. If you don't like it, TOUGH! Go get a Perfect on your own!
Before I start, I would like to explain some terms used in this guide.
Directions - whenever I talk about shifting gravity, I indicate a direction. Most times it's obvious what I'm talking about, but just to clear things up:
Note: These directions are all relative the camera, situated behind Sonic as he enters a room.
Normalize gravity - Shift gravity so that Sonic is pulled toward the floor, like in the other levels.
Reverse gravity - Shift gravity so that Sonic is pulled toward the ceiling.
Shift left - Shift gravity so that Sonic is pulled toward the left wall.
Shift right - Shift gravity so that Sonic is pulled toward the right wall.
Shift forward - Shift gravity so that Sonic is pulled toward the Goal Ring.
Abbreviations:
AC - Artifical Chaos
RA - Ring Attack
SDJ – Spin-dash Jump
Okay, here we go:
NOTE: You need the Flame Ring and the Mystic Melody to get all the rings in this mission. The Flame Ring is located in this level, in the room you are deposited to after the second warp tube. Sonic's Mystic Melody is located in Final Rush.
You also need to be able to Super Bounce and Spin-Dash Jump. If you cannot do either of these techinques with decent consistancy, you may want to practice before attempting this run.
Also note that there are two changes in the locations of rings between the Gamecube and Dreamcast versions. If something is different for Dreamcast I will put the difference in brackets []. Also, for the numbers in parentheses after the directions, the number to the left of the slash is the number of rings you'll have at that point for Gamecube version and the number to the right is for Dreamcast version.
This guide uses a "sacrifice" strategy. This means that it loses rings in the level, in order to get more from checkpoints. In this case, 6 rings are lost soon after the first high speed warp tube. This is made up for by an extra 10 rings from check manipulation.
-Get the 3 rings in front of you. (3/3)
-Get the 5-ring box when the hallway turns. (8/8)
-Get the 7 rings on the rail on the ceiling. (15/15)
-This is optional, but get the shield in the iron container on the right in the next room (the one with the AC at the entrance). Since you are RAing, you want to make sure you don't get hit and lose your rings!
-There's actually another shield on the ceiling under the steel container to the left that you can get after you reverse the gravity in the room. Why there are 2 shields so near to each other I do not know. o_O
-Move along and get the 8 rings on the ceiling. (23/23)
-Normalize gravity and go to the next room. There are 8 rings on the floor in this room. (31/31)
-Go up the two pulleys and hit the checkpoint for 5 rings. (36/36)
-Get the 6 rings right after the checkpoint. (42/42)
-Go into the high-speed warp tube. Do not collect the 6 rings in front of you.
-Perform a Homing Attack on the beetles and get to the other side. Reverse gravity, then bounce up on the spring behind the wooden crates to get 4 rings. (46/46)
-Before you get the rings in front of you, look to the right to find an iron container. Jump on it, then jump straight up. You should hit a 10-ring box. (56/56)
-Now get the 3 rings back on the main path. (59/59)
-Hit the checkpoint for 10 rings. DO NOT GET THE CAPSULE DIRECTLY BELOW YOU. (69/69)
- SDJ and land on the other side of the pit with the rail on it. Than walk forward and “fall†to the ceilingâ€. Do not get the rings in front of you.
- If you (already) lost your shield, shift gravity toward the left wall, then go to the end (past the gravity switch) and get the shield there. Now shift gravity to be sent to the right wall and continue as stated below.
-Shift gravity toward the right wall, and run down it. Get the 5 rings hovering 'over' the rail. (74/74)
-You will probably be sent toward the back wall if you were crouching on the rail. The moment you get off the rail, jump (don't move the Control Stick) and you should destroy the AC. Get the 4 rings you may have passed right after the rail. (78/78)
- Avoid the rings in this hallway.
- Fall down and destroy the AC there (which will in turn destroy all the cells). Go to the next room and hit the checkpoint for 20 rings (98/98)
- Now head toward the back of the last room (toward the camera). Locate the Ancient Shrine on the left side of the room and jump on it (it's not quite against the wall, so don't overshoot it). If you miss and lose your shield, hurry and get on it before your temporary invincibility wears out. Play the Mystic Melody and jump on the platforms that appear. Note that the platforms are shifted very slightly toward the camera a bit, so adjust your jumps accordingly. When you get to the top, you will see a gravity switch. Get over to it and reverse gravity.
- Go back to the previous room with reversed gravity. You may want to get the Magnetic Shield on the ceiling here. Personally I would advise against this because the shield makes it harder to Light Dash, but you be the judge. After you either get it or skip it go to the point where the rail is below you and do a jump + blast attack. You will fall upwards for a while and land on the ceiling.
- Collect the 8 rings on the ceiling here. (106/106)
- Go towards the camera and perform a super bounce on the wall Sonic is now facing. If you do it right, you should land in a little alcove from which you first entered this room through.
- Face towards the rail. Run forward, jump, and blast attack. You must land on the rail. Slide a bit and depending on your speed you may need to jump and blast again to get to the other side. Hit the 10 capsule directly below the checkpoint. Than take the rail to the other side collecting any rings you missed before. (123/123)
- In the 3 switch room, shift gravity to the right wall and take the rail down to the room where the AC once was. Go into the next hallway and collect the 8 rings there. (131/131)
-Past the 3 beetles, there are 4 rings to collect. (135/135).
- Go back to the gravity switch that took Mystic Melody to access. Shift gravity upwards. Walk out of that small room and take the spring into the area with the third checkpoint.
-Grind the rail after the checkpoint and get the 7 rings on it. (142/142)
-Grind the rail shortly afterwards for 7 more rings. (149/149)
-Now, on the ceiling collect the 3 columns of 8 rings. (173/173)
-Hit the switch to normalize gravity. DO NOT GO FORWARD YET. Instead, go back and jump up on the higher platform then spindash-jump to get back to the other side (you will probably JUST make it). If you have the Magnetic Shield, you could just go and jump and get the rings that are in front of you, but then you have to accurately land on the rail below (from my tests you can only get 4 of the 5 rings while still being able to turn around and Homing Attack the spring below). Homing Attack the beetles like you would normally and then Light Dash to get the 5 rings. Alternatively, you could Light Dash from the back, let the beetle hit you, then recover quickly and hit the spring below. [Dreamcast: There are 6 rings to Light Dash through here.] (178/179)
-Hit or skip the checkpoint depending on your shield preference. Get the 6 rings that lie just beyond. (184/185)
-Use the warp tube and when you are deposited, Light Dash to get the 12 rings in front of you. (196/197)
-Go to the other side of the room and normalize gravity. DON'T GO ANY FARTHER YET.
-Thanks to mike for this. To your left and right are springs. Bounce up on either of them, then ride the rails near the wall until you get back to the other side (alternatively you can spindash-jump as well; just do it from the edge and jump without moving the Control Stick, since the camera tends to go wacky here). Hit the Chao box to reveal a switch. This will make 8 rings appear over the gap in the middle of the room so that you can get back to the other side. Light Dash across the rings. (204/205)
-Reverse gravity and destroy the iron containers, then somersault under the opening. Get the 4 rings here. (208/209)
-Proceed through the path until you reach an acid pit. There are 13 rings you will collect whilst Light Dashing here. (221/222)
-Hit the middle iron container and bounce to the bottom of the room (normalizing gravity). Destroy the AC there and Light Dash across the huge arc of 49(!) rings. (270/271)
-Destroy the cell-spawning AC, and when you make the turn in the hallway, there will be 8 rings there. (278/279)
-Continue through the winding hallway until you reach the end. Go into the warp tube. There are 10 rings in front of you. Destroy the AC behind them first. (288/289)
-Now, a slightly tricky part. You must traverse the narrow beam on top to get to the upper entrance. The best way to do this would be to spindash-jump and then Homing Attack the beetle there. Once you have done so, get the 3 5-ring boxes there. DO NOT REVERSE GRAVITY. (303/304)
-Go back down, and enter the lower entrance. You're doing this because the door won't open from the other side (the side you would be on had you continued on). Get the 5-ring box here. (308/309)
-Get to the top of the next room, and hit or skip the checkpoint as you see fit. After the checkpoint, hit the switch then hit the middle speed booster to get the 11 rings automatically. (319/320)
-Reverse gravity, then on the purple block, Light Dash the 7 rings there. [Dreamcast: There are no rings here. :(] (326/320)
-Shift gravity to the left, then on the green block, Light Dash the 7 rings there. (333/327)
-Shift gravity to the right, then on the yellow block, get the 10 rings there. (343/337)
-Homing Attack the beetle and get to the blue block. Light Dash the 6 rings there. (349/343)
-Normalize gravity. If you've lost your shield, the yellow block has one on the right side.
-Shift gravity forward, then bounce up the spring and onto the "upper" yellow platform. Light Dash (faster) or use the spring (slower) to get the rings on the rail here. (370/364)
-On the green block, hit the spring to be launched to the purple block. On the purple block, Light Dash the 11 rings to get to the blue block. (381/375)
-Hit the 5-ring box on the blue block. (386/380)
-Shift gravity to the left, and hit the switch near the end of the purple block path. Reverse gravity, and on the red block hit the gravity switch to the left to normalize gravity and land on the purple block.
-If you want, jump onto the green block you see behind the purple block. A normal jump from the edge of the purple block will be enough to get you on the green block. There are 2 Extra Lives here. Bounce up the spring at the other end of the green block to get back to the purple block.
-There's an Ancient Shrine at the end of this purple block path. Play the Mystic Melody to make a line of 12 rings appear, then Light Dash through them. REMEMBER TO HOLD UP TO GET TO THE RED BLOCK ON THE OTHER SIDE!! (398/392)
-Now, on the red block, be wary of the beetles here and, if you want, get the Extra Life that replaces the chao on any non-Mission 3 mission. Now, you want to get down to the platform with the goal without falling into space and losing all that progress, right? From the extra life, go forward a little bit, maybe halfway between the Extra Life and where the red block path splits in two. Jump off and move slightly so that you are directly underneath the red block. You SHOULD land safely. Finally, launch the rocket and hit the Goal Ring.
And there you have it. (Better than) Perfect in Crazy Gadget 1. Now you don't have an excuse to not have 398 (GC) or 392 (DC) rings on this mission.
~PK
