You will first play as the Gaia Colossus against Dark Gaia. When Dark Gaia opens his hands, quickly hit him with two hands or let him swing his arms and dodge them, giving you a chance to hit him with a normal punch until you finish him off. Next, you will play as normal Sonic. Start running through the Gaia Colossus, and dodge Dark Gaia's tentacles and bullets. Run to the Speed Dash, and hit the correct combination. You must do this three times, each time for one eye. The levels get more difficult, so be careful. Finally, you will play as Super Sonic. Start collecting rings, and attack Complete Dark Gaia's eyes (seven in total). You will need at least eleven rings to attack an eye. Keep track of your ring count. Start hitting the side eyes, and dodging the rocks that are ahead, which get harder by the eye, until he opens his middle eye. Attack the eye, look all around for flying rocks, and hit the last eye. The score is an "S" or "C", so watch your time.

Use the following trick to dodge Gaia's six hand attack. While playing as Super Sonic in the final showdown against Dark Gaia, when he has all his small eyes open, he will try to slash you. A short time later he will get mad and attack with all six claws. It is possible to dodge this attack. Go just under the big eye in the middle of the slash. There is a small square you can fit in. You will not take any damage. However, if you get slashed, you will lose all your rings and fall into the lava.