When you kill an enemy, an animal will appear and bounce ahead of your character. To earn points from them, catch up to them and touch them to collect it. Animals are worth 2,500 points each. Using a companion that increases the animals received, such as the Skull Chao is one way to earn extra bonus points.
Cannons
Take your time when in a cannon. You will not have a time limit for shooting yourself out of it. The cannon will continue to swing back and forth allowing you to rest if needed before lining up the shot. If you bypassed rescued animals and have entered a cannon, wait inside until they catch up and get collected by your companions.
Collectible points
Collectable items are worth varying amount of points.
Gold ring: 70 points (only visible on end-of-run scoreboard)
Golden enemy: 300 points
Large blue gem: 50 points
Large green gem: 100 points
Large red gem: 150 points
Regular enemy: 10 points
Rescued animal: 2,500 points (only visible on end-of-run scoreboard)
Small blue gem: 5 points
Small green gem: 10 points
Small red gem: 15 points
Eggman
During standard stages, Eggman will appear at 500m, 1,800m, and 3,500m. He will drop springs to slow you down. You cannot be seriously hurt or killed during those segments. Do not jump over Eggman or run past him. This will end the section without rewarding you extra rings for hitting him. Make sure to hit him whenever possible. Bonus items are saved during mid-run boss fights. If you collect a bonus just before reaching the Eggman part of a stage, its timer will stop decreasing and will resume only after you reach the next running section. This happens for items that do not help you during the Eggman sections, such as springs. Items like the magnet will remain active. Run under bouncing items during boss fights. If Eggman throws something at you that bounces, run under it. You only need to jump over items at ground level. Otherwise, most items are timed to bounce over you.
Extended boost
Tap soon as you hit the ground while in a Sonic boost (very fast blue burst of speed obtained from loops and other areas). If timed correctly, the boost will continue and Sonic can boost-jump across a large area.
Flatbed springs
The flat red springboards can launch you in the air if you time your jump. Jump just as your character is in the middle of the board, past the white line. If done correctly, your character will be launched very high into the sky. You can earn bonus points while in the air. After a flat springboard catapult, your character cannot jump out of that trajectory. Tapping will give you bonus points while he is flying. Tapping repeatedly will award you even more points.
Gift box
Some gifts or bonuses must be collected from your gift box if they do not appear in your inventory.
Layout
Follow the paths formed by gems and rings. They are often arranged in single lines that lead in certain directions. Following those paths is usually the best way to progress through the level. Pits, spikes, and walls often appear after loops. Because you exit loops at high speeds, it is easy hit the hazard. Always be ready to jump after leaving a loop.
Leveling
Spend rings to level your characters. When you level up, a random stat will increase. Level up Sonic the most frequently. Although Tails and Knuckles can specialize in some stages, Sonic is the most well-rounded character and easiest to play. Once he reaches a high enough level, Sonic will perform better than the other characters.
Power-ups
There are three power-ups that turn you into a wisp temporairly. They are the indigo asteroid, yellow drill, and cyan laser. The indigo asteroid destroys everything it touches, and also has a large magnet ability. It continuously floats downward, then floats back up when you tap. Use it to destroy as much of the landscape and enemies as possible. Sometimes you will uncover hidden treasure from the ground. The yellow drill automatically burrows underground and continues along this trajectory. It pops aboveground when you tap. Time your taps when you see arches of gems or enemies. The cyan laser shoots forward through the sky automatically. When you tap, all gems or rings on the screen will be pulled into him automatically. Tap quickly to collect as many items as possible.
Red star rings
Red star rings are the game's premium currency. They can be earned during a run or boss fight, as well as from the daily bonuses and completing episodes. Red star rings can be spent to spin the companion roulette wheel, to buy normal gold rings, or to continue a run once after dying. They are best spent for gold rings. You will eventually earn eggs that will let you spin the better version of the companion wheel. You should only continue after death if you are close to a new high score. This will cost 5 red star rings and only can be done once per run. Additionally, you will lose any power-ups that were equipped prior to dying. Also, you will come back as the yellow drill for a brief period of time. If you purchase a continue during a Boss battle, you will receive a shield instead of coming back as the yellow drill. If you win, it will still be considered "flawless".
Rings
When you cross a checkpoint, any rings collected during the level will be banked. If you die, you will still get those rings. However, banking the rings will leave Sonic unprotected. Get new rings immediately after a passing checkpoint to regain protection. When you are using a piggy bank companion and you get hit, you will get some rings that are sent directly to your bank, and not your current inventory. However they award these rings each time you get hit. To earn easy extra rings, play a level with a piggy bank companion and intentionally get hit. Then, collect at least one ring in the level and get hurt yourself. You will earn free rings from the piggy bank companion each time.
Roulette prizes
Each day that you login will give you three free spins on the item roulette wheel. You will always win something, and if you land on the "Big" and/or "Super" slots, your spin will be upgraded to a wheel with better prizes.
Route bonus
At the map screen, icons will sometimes appear below the path Sonic is walking, with either "+50" or "+100" next to them. These indicate that there is a route bonus while you stand in that area. Whenever you play near that icon, at the end of your run you will receive a bonus to your score. These result in noticeable boosts. When you are receiving a route bonus, try to maximize its related score.
Scoring
The points required to reach the next stage is cumulative. For example, if you need 20,000 points to reach the next map point and you earn 50,000 in a single run, you will reach the next stage and the remaining 30,000 points will be included for the map point after that one.
Showdown levels
When reaching a "Showdown" level at the end of an episode, you must click the "Showdown" button followed by "Begin boss battle" to fight the boss. At times it is better to postpone a Showdown level. Each time you complete an episode, your revive tokens are restored. If you are about to enter a Showdown with more than one life, use the extra lives first on standard levels to build extra rings. Then, enter the Showdown to refill your lives.
Speed
Each stage has a maximum speed. After fighting Eggman three times in a standard run, you will reach top speed. When this happens, there will be no more rings available and lots of hazards ahead. Try to have a shield and/or invincibility available by this point.
Stages
There are three types of stages; field, sky, and lava. Each stage type has a particular character designation; field for Sonic, sky for Tails, and lava for Knuckles. You are not forced to use those characters on their preferred stage types. However some sections will be easier with the correct character. Before starting a stage, an icon next to the episode name will indicate its type (shoe for Sonic, wing for Tails, or fist for Knuckles). The background will also give a clue to the stage type.
Tails
Tails is more vulnerable to damage than Sonic. His limited attack range makes him challenging to play. When Tails is double or triple jumps, he helicopters and becomes vulnerable to enemies. However he can only kill them by landing on them from above. When playing as Tails, beware of enemies in front or above you.
