This is a short guide to have text documentation on the simple route and the requirements for the Best Ending.

Best Ending Requirements:

• Get the seven chaos emeralds with Sonic (they are not required for any other character despite being tracked separately)
• Beat the game with the four main characters (i.e. Sonic, Cream, Tails, and Knuckles. Amy is not included)
• See the post-credits cutscene of "Get the Chaos Emeralds" with Eggman

Chaos Emeralds Each Chaos Emerald is obtained by clearing any one of the two acts in its corresponding zone while collecting all seven SP rings in one go, then clearing the following special stage. If you fail the special stage, you have to repeat the stage and recollect the seven SP rings again. This can be difficult for some stages, as while Sonic is the fastest character in the game, he lacks any form of flight and height gainers, so missing some SP rings will require completely restarting the stage.

This guide has a map with each SP ring for every act circled in a contrasting color so their locations are more obvious and easy to find. You'll want to get the SP rings in Leaf Forest 1, and act 2 of all other zones.

Clearing the game

Off a new file, the only character you have access to is Sonic. As unlocking True Area 53 and other characters requires beating the game with Sonic anyways, it is best to just beat it with him and collect the chaos emeralds for the first character. Afterwards, you can beat the game with other characters in any order you wish.

• The game saves you clearing the game with a character after the score countdown & whiteout of X zone. It is safe to reset the moment you see the cutscene of your character falling from the sky.
• Features like Tiny Chao Garden are stored on separate flags, and require watching the credits until you visibly see the "You unlocked the Tiny Chao Garden!" screen.
• True Area 53 will not unlock until after you see Eggman's "Get the Chaos Emeralds" cutscene, after credits.

So the route & reset points overall looks like:

1. Beat the game with Sonic and the 7 chaos emeralds. Reset after X-zone's score & whiteout.
2. Beat the game with your second character. Reset after X-zone's score & whiteout.
3. Beat the game with your third character. Reset after X-zone's score & whiteout.
4. Beat the game with your last character. Watch the credits, and reset when you see Eggman's Chaos Emeralds cutscene
5. Go to Sonic's game map, you should see a short cutscene of True Area 53 unlocking on the map.