Sonic 3: A Zone By Zone Guide To Special Stage Locations (2024)

Quick Links

  • Angel Island: Act 1

  • Angel Island: Act 2

  • Hydrocity Zone: Act 1

  • Hydrocity Zone: Act 2

  • Marble Garden Zone: Act 1

  • Marble Garden Zone: Act 2

  • Carnival Night Zone: Act 1

  • Carnival Night Zone: Act 2

  • IceCap Zone: Act 1

  • IceCap Zone: Act 2

  • Launch Base Zone: Act 1

  • Launch Base Zone: Act 2

The Sonic 3 special stage locations are three-dimensional levels where the player tries to collect all the blue balls to gain Chaos Emeralds. There are many opportunities to access special stages throughout the game, giving Sonic plenty of chances to obtain the Emeralds (these stages also gave players a glimpse of how 3D Sonic might perform).

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Discovering a Sonic 3 giant ring location teleports the player to a special stage. However, they are neither easy to find nor complete (much like many later Sonic stages). They’re often hidden in secret rooms, paths that are hard to navigate, and some are even hidden in plain sight.

Updated by Stephen Morin on February 18, 2022: The Sonic games on Genesis are timeless, and Sega is releasing them again this year. Sonic 3 has always been underrated, and hopefully, more people will get to experience it soon. This update makes a lot of the instructions to reach special stages more clear and succinct. Whether you are playing Sonic 3 on classic hardware or getting ready for the next Sonic collection, speed on!

Angel Island: Act 1

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Angel Island (featured in the second Sonic movie) contains one of the easiest rings to find in the game. To access it, keep going right until you fall down — via a collapsible platform. After the drop, do a spin dash to the left to smash through a boulder. Inside the small cave, you will discover the first of the Sonic 3 giant ring locations.

The second special stage occurs after the Zone is set on fire (after the boss fight). Immediately after this occurs, you will come across four yellow springs in a cavern. Drop down just to the left of the springs. After falling, spin dash to the left to shatter another boulder then jump on the red spring to access the special stage.

Angel Island: Act 2

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This special stage is almost impossible to miss. As soon as you finish the level, keep going right, and you will come across a boulder that can be destroyed via a spin dash. Spin dash through it and maintain speed until you eventually roll into a small cave with the big ring.

Try to take the upper path in this stage until you hit a waterfall. Be careful not to go too fast and speed past it. Jump down to the base of the waterfall — you will be underwater. From here, try to slowly roll up the right ledge of the waterfall to enter an invisible alcove on the right side. This one is very easy to miss!

Hydrocity Zone: Act 1

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Near the end of the stage, you will come across two circular conveyor belts with a yellow spring to the right of them that shoots you out of the water. After being blown onto a platform by giant fans, just keep walking to the left through an invisible wall, and you will eventually reach the giant ring.

The other Ring is just before the last star post. The easiest way to reach this is to spin-dash just after Sonic comes out of the underwater section. The fans will launch him upward and Sonic can dash right into the room as he’s going up.

Hydrocity Zone: Act 2

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Halfway through the level, there is a speed boost that lets you launch up a nearby wall. This is also right after you get an invincibility power-up - if you found it. This should propel Sonic onto a moving gray block next to a wall on the left. Just jump to the left through an invisible wall, and you will see the entrance to the special stage.

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Near the end of the stage, a white hand will automatically propel Sonic through a pipe that goes under the water before shooting him back up toward two levitating platforms. You will want to try to land on the moving platform on the right side. Once you successfully get to the right platform, you will notice the wall to the upper right can be entered. Jump up to the right into it to access the special stage.

Marble Garden Zone: Act 1

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Very early in the stage, you will see a spinning wheel of platforms. Just to the right of it, there is a spiked foe sitting next to an invincibility power-up. Spin dash through both of them into the wall on the right, which will break. The giant ring is behind it.

Almost immediately after finding the first special stage, you will arrive at three platforms that float up and down. Jump on the leftmost platform. To your right, you will see a spinning wheel of platforms, and to your left, there is a high ledge. Jump up to that ledge, and the giant ring is right there to your left.

Marble Garden Zone: Act 2

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About one minute into the level, the player will need to spin-dash to activate a blue wheel, causing some platforms to rise on the right. Go over them, and on the other side are some falling spikes. Spin dash into the wall to the right of them while being careful not to be hit by the spikes. The giant ring is behind the wall.

Near the very end of the level is the tallest vertical shaft that players need to use blue discs to ascend. Instead of going up, you just need to continue left past the falling spike trap. This leads to what seems like a dead-end, but keep going left through the invisible wall to find the big ring.

Carnival Night Zone: Act 1

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The first Ring is easy to find. At the beginning of the stage, you will descend a candy-cane-looking pipe. Instead of continuing to the right, gain some momentum and run back up the pipe, but allow yourself to fall off of it, rather than returning to the upper platform. When below the pipe, you will see a room to the left with the giant ring.

The second ring is found about one minute into the level. After being sucked up by a small tube, you will encounter a large multi-layered circle that looks a lot like a cell. The outer circle is white while the inside is red with a yellow nucleus. It has its own center of gravity, so use it to jump to the platform to the left of the floating cell. The giant ring is right there.

The third special stage location is found right after the second big ring. Keep going until you funnel down a yellow lightbulb-esque tube. Keep going to the right until you see two more circular floating cells. Go below them to the right until you find the next checkpoint. The big ring is directly to the right of the checkpoint in plain sight.

Carnival Night Zone: Act 2

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The first special stage ring is located about a minute into the level. Jump on the levitating red and white cannon that shoots Sonic higher depending on when you time the jump. You will eventually jump high enough to land on a platform with two boxes. One is a shield, and the other is a ring. There is an invisible wall to the left of these boxes you can jump through to find the special stage entrance.

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The second Ring is about halfway through the level a spot with a bat and two Blastoids on stairs going left. Keep going left and allow yourself to be sucked up to the higher platform. There will be a red and white floating platform directly next to you. Wait until it ascends then go through the invisible wall to the left (it is yellow) to find the special stage.

The last Ring is near the very end of the level past the vacuum tube that launches Sonic up into a series of balloons. Using the momentum from the tube and bouncing off the highest balloon, the player can fly through a gap and into the room above the balloons to the far right to access the final big ring.

IceCap Zone: Act 1

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The first special stage is found early on. Sonic will find himself standing next to a frozen switch with a floating blue ice enemy to the left of it. Do not hit the switch yet! Look to the right, and you will see a wall. Go behind it, and you will discover the first special stage.

The second Ring is tricky to access. After hitting the switch, Sonic will begin tumbling down a series of icy slopes, giving you very little control. On the eighth slope, which slants to the right, you will need to jump onto a ledge to the right to access the special stage. This is one of the hardest Sonic 3 giant ring locations in the game to reach!

IceCap Zone: Act 2

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Midway through the level, you will come to a bunch of ice platforms floating on the water. There are two penguin enemies sitting on the middle platform. Keep going until you arrive at the last small floating platform, which will begin to sink when you land on it. Allow yourself to fall in the water, but push against the right wall beneath the water the whole time. Holding down right, you will enter a secret alcove with a giant ring.

The other Ring is near the end of the Zone. Using the catapult at the end, the player should launch into an area with a bunch of floating rings. When you successfully land on the ground, keep going right through an invisible wall to access the special stage.

Launch Base Zone: Act 1

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Keep going right until you find yourself at a long, gray metal pipe that Sonic can run across. Instead, drop down and keep going left behind an invisible wall to find the special stage.

The second Ring is past the frog sitting on a speed booster following a set of tubes. The idea here is to use the spinning machine to launch off to the left onto a small ledge where the Ring room is located.

Near the end of the level is another long gray pipe with two enemies on it. It is right after two boxes sitting below a red and purple(ish) cylinder. Drop below the cylinder and look to your left. You should see a pipe going through the left wall. Jump through that to find the special stage.

Launch Base Zone: Act 2

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When starting out, go right until you land in the water. You should see a red spring to your left. Jump on top of it then walk behind the invisible wall to the left. You will see the first big ring.

Keep going until you reach a checkpoint to the upper-left of a long, gray pipe. Drop down, go left, and jump into the platform that winds around the silver piping. Instead of going right, jump into the pipe in the left wall to find the next special stage.

The third Ring is found in between two long, gray pipes later in the stage. Fall under the top pipe and jump through the wall to the right to find the next special stage.

The final special stage is very close to the third one. Jump down below the lower aforementioned long, gray pipe. You will land on a smaller, black pipe. Follow it to the right then jump through the pipe into the right wall. Congratulations, you've found the final Sonic 3 special stage location!

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Sonic 3: A Zone By Zone Guide To Special Stage Locations (2024)

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