[flarn2006]

Has anybody else noticed this? In Sonic 1, the exit blocks (which are what you avoid) in the Special Stage, say "GOAL". But that's not the goal; in fact, the goal is to avoid them.

[Ravenfreak]

I believe there was a topic about the goal blocks in the past on here, but I might be wrong. However, I've noticed this for years and I believe they made them to trick the player. Of course long time Sonic fans know that's not what you want to hit, but to new players it'll probably trick them into hitting the blocks.

[Burnt Ash]

Well, it still is a goal. It marks the end of the level, so it's a goal.

[Mykonos]

Something sorta similar that got me about Sonic 4: Episode I, after hitting a red circle (that slightly disappointingly did not proclaim "GOAL" if memory serves) and failing the Special Stage, the results screen still proclaims you "Cleared" the Special Stage.

Think this and the thread has a better place in the Topic of Other Knowledge however, I think most of us here feel the "GOAL" thing was either some odd translation error/joke.

[Overlord]

In the western story, the special stages were traps devised by Robotnik to stop Sonic getting the emeralds & to trap him - in that sense, the GOAL was a goal insofar as you managed to escape =P

[Burnt Ash]

Yeah, the Goal is one thing, but the 'Clearing' of the Special Stage is somewhat odd, as the player didn't clear the stage, and yet they get a screen saying the player did indeed clear the special stage. But then again, it still says you clear a special stage even if one touches a red sphere in Sonic 3 and Knuckles's special stages. I wonder why that is?

[Sik]

Well, technically you managed to get out of the Special Stage without losing a life or something like that, so... (not to mention you still get a score tally for that)

[Ayla]

Overlord, on 03 March 2012 - 09:26 PM, said:

In the western story, the special stages were traps devised by Robotnik to stop Sonic getting the emeralds & to trap him - in that sense, the GOAL was a goal insofar as you managed to escape =P

It was also hypothesised by Cyan Helkaraxe (the creator of some of the first hacking utilities for sonic the hedgehog for you new kids out there) that, with the growing room the sonic 1 levels had available, that, at one time, the levels may have been much larger. This could cash in on the labyrinth feel of the zones while making a "goal" seem like a godsend just to keep from continually going about in circles. Imagine this coupled with the Zone 1 - 2 - 3 circles being in later special stages which would throw you back to the beginning of the game if you weren't careful...

I'm glad the game came out the way it did.

[Sik]

Now that you mention that, I realized the W item may have been a nightmare if it was ever used... Nothing worse than being teleported around in a maze x_x;

[SonicGenesis89]

I think they just said goal to let the player know that that is the way out of the Special Stages and back into the normal levels. I don't think there's any conspiracy around it involving the American Sonic storyline or Sega just trying to trick or troll the player. Besides, once you touch them the first time you'll automatically know their purpose and to avoid them in the future if you didn't obtain a chaos emerald yet. Goal for Sonic games is like another way of saying 'Exit' or 'Finish'.

[HarrisonJ]

Burnt Ash, on 03 March 2012 - 09:29 PM, said:

Yeah, the Goal is one thing, but the 'Clearing' of the Special Stage is somewhat odd, as the player didn't clear the stage, and yet they get a screen saying the player did indeed clear the special stage. But then again, it still says you clear a special stage even if one touches a red sphere in Sonic 3 and Knuckles's special stages. I wonder why that is?

You clear the stage whether you get the emerald or not. Either way, you gain points and possibly extra lives/continues, and you can't lose anything in there. Sounds like a clear to me. Emeralds are a bonus.

[Sik]

SonicGenesis89, on 03 March 2012 - 11:25 PM, said:

Besides, once you touch them the first time you'll automatically know their purpose and to avoid them in the future if you didn't obtain a chaos emerald yet.

Unless you never saw the emerald in the first place, then you won't know at all that you're meant to look for them. Doesn't help that the score tally will say "Special Stage" if you hit a goal block, implying nothing bad happened.

[SonicGenesis89]

Sik, on 04 March 2012 - 01:30 AM, said:

SonicGenesis89, on 03 March 2012 - 11:25 PM, said:

Besides, once you touch them the first time you'll automatically know their purpose and to avoid them in the future if you didn't obtain a chaos emerald yet.

Unless you never saw the emerald in the first place, then you won't know at all that you're meant to look for them. Doesn't help that the score tally will say "Special Stage" if you hit a goal block, implying nothing bad happened.

Well if you are a first timer in a Special Stage in Sonic 1 and you're going through the maze, the first things you're going to want to do is explore and spend as much time there as possible collecting rings for extra lives and continues. As you move through the maze and see dead ends filled with nothing but circles saying "Goal" I think if you are ring collecting and wanting to explore further you will be trying to avoid them. If the player is exploring they will eventually see that glowing Chaos Emerald sitting there among all the blue blocks you roll into to make disappear. Especially if they are playing the first Special Stage Act because it's fairly short and finding the emerald is pretty easy and right there in the players face. Some other Acts have you free falling and the emerald encased in the center and it's literally right in front of your face. I can't see how a player would not know about the Chaos Emeralds or have the incentive to go after it.

[MathUser]

Exit would have fit the blocks better. Same amount of letters too.

[ICEknight]

Yeah, really... the first thing a newbie will obviously try to do is go for the GOAL signs.

They must be another one of Robotnik's traps.

This post has been edited by ICEknight: 04 March 2012 - 05:11 PM