The Powers of the Ring Racer!

Supercharged by the unstable but incredible power of the High Voltage Ring, Dr. Robotnik and Miles “Tails” Prower have created an all-new vehicle! It’s got plenty of tools for every situation: make use of all of them to dominate the track!

Basic Controls

Hold A to accelerate and X to brake. Use the Control Stick or D-Pad to steer your Ring Racer. When stationary, hold X to drive in reverse.

Drifting

Hold the R button while steering to start a Drift. Drifting slows you down a little, but locks your movement into a tight circle, letting you slide through sharp corners.

Drift for long enough, and you’ll see drift sparks fly from the back of your Ring Racer. When you release the R button, those sparks will disappear, and you’ll drift boost for a burst of speed.

Drift for even longer, and those sparks will change color, from yellow, to red, blue, and rainbow! The longer you charge, the faster you’ll rocket away once you release your drift.

Drifting (Advanced)

• You can steer while drifting to slightly change your angle. Steering away from your turn will let you take a wider racing line, but reduce your drift-spark charge. Steering into your turn will do the opposite.
• Use Rings to offset the speed loss from drifting. They’ll also make it easier for you to adjust your angle.
• Lightweight racers have tighter, more responsive drifts. Slower and heavier racers charge drift sparks faster, and get stronger drift boosts.
• While drifting, ACCELERATE and BRAKE at the same time to slow down and take a sharper turn. This can be vital for heavyweight racers!
• Be careful of offroad and obstructions while drifting. If you move too slowly, your drift sparks will become gray, the weakest possible boost.
• If you’re drifting while you enter the air, you can hold the drift—and any drift sparks—until you land. See “Advanced Techniques” for more details.

Rings

Even without a special item, you can always count on your handy Rings! The Ring Racer can hold up to 20: when you’re not holding an item, pressing L will consume some for a boost.

Ring Sting

Taking damage from hazards (or getting bumped by other racers) will knock Rings out of your vehicle, spraying out from the collision.

You can still drive while you’re out of Rings, but bumping other racers will shock you into a brief “Ring Sting” spinout; be careful when emptying your wallet!

Ring Debt

If you keep taking hits when you’re out of Rings, you’ll stack up “Ring Debt”, and your counter will tick into the negatives. Try to restock quickly, because at -20 Rings, the next hit will destabilize your engine—with explosive results!

Rings (Advanced)

• There’s a short delay when burning or picking up Rings. Think ahead for things that will slow you down, like slope climbs and long drifts, and keep your eyes peeled while you’re restocking.
• Rings are great for going fast, but they’re even better for staying fast. Use Rings in slow sections of the course, then rocket down straights with a Drift Boost!
• Speedy characters get shorter, higher-intensity boosts from Rings.
• Heavyweights are naturally resistant to Ring Sting. If a lightweight bashes into their vehicle, they might barely even notice.
• After using your last Ring, you can keep holding L to burn any rings that you grab. (If you don’t grab any Rings for a few seconds, your Insta-Whip will start charging: see “Advanced Techniques”.)
• If you pick up an Item Box while burning Rings, you’ll still continue to use Rings as long as you hold the button down. Once you’ve released the button, the next ITEM press will stop the Item Roulette instead.

Gravity HOLD

Sometimes, regular brakes just don’t cut it! Accelerate and brake at the same time, and you’ll redirect your engine force to the “E-Brake”.

The E-Brake changes the flow of gravity, letting you stay in place even on steep slopes. Being bumped by another racer will weaken the effect, but keep HOLDing, and you’ll come to a stop again.

You can’t E-Brake while drifting—but accelerating and braking simultaneously will still slow you down and improve your control.

Spindash

Once you’ve come to a stop with the E-Brake, you can hold R to rev up your engine while Gravity HOLD keeps you in place. (You can also use the C button to E-Brake, and you’ll Spindash automatically when stopping.)

As you build up power, you’ll see a countdown; release on “GO!” for the strongest effect! When you release the E-Brake, you’ll burn rubber and shoot forward, easily cutting through rough terrain.

If you’ve been knocked deep into offroad, or you’re sliding down a slope, this is your best chance to get back into the race!

TIP: When you have no Rings, the Ring Racer will divert excess power to the Spindash, making it charge twice as fast!

Fast Fall

If you activate Gravity HOLD while airborne, you’ll plummet out of the sky in a “Fast Fall”.

When you land, you’ll bounce into the air, redirecting your forward momentum towards where you’re looking. In a pinch, this can save you from falling to your death!

The bounce after Fast Falling isn’t affected by slopes. With the right setup, you can totally ignore short inclines!

Tethering

Drive behind another racer to generate a Tether, a chain of sparks connecting your vehicles. With a Tether linked, you’ll start to speed up right away; keep yourself lined up to keep building speed!

Tethering Tips

• When you’ve maxed out your speed gain, you’ll see your Ring Racer start to kick up dust. Go for a slingshot overtake!
• Lightweight characters have long tethers, but they’ll “break” quickly if you look away. Heavyweight characters have shorter tethers, but they’re easy to maintain and hard to break.
• Some effects can boost your Tether potential; when you see a chain of lightning-sparks, you can tether from unlimited distance!
• Slow characters have snappy tethers; they’ll gain a lot of speed in very little time. Fast characters have more sluggish tethers, but once they get started…

Boost Stacking

When you chain together boost items like Sneakers or Rocket Sneakers, your active boost will get stronger. This can also work from the glowing green “Sneaker Panels” found in certain levels.

Class C players take note—lightweight racers get more power per boost!

Ring Shooter

If you ever find yourself in one of Dr. Robotnik’s diabolical speed traps, or just need help getting back into the race, you can use the Ring Shooter by holding Y to launch yourself back to safety. The longer you hold the button, the further your Ring Shooter will launch you. Other racers can take your Ring Shooter after you’ve launched off!

If you’re stuck in a highly unusual situation and your Ring Shooter won’t deploy, hold Y for a few seconds, and you’ll eventually respawn on your own.

Lightsnake

When you mess up or use a Ring Shooter, your vehicle recovery system will kick in. After a short delay, you’ll be carried down the track in a beam of gold light; when you’re dropped back to the tarmac, hold A to Drop Dash and pick up some speed.

If you take a hard hit and end up soaring through the air, the recovery system will balance it out; the longer you’ve been out of control, the farther you’ll travel along the track.

You can’t Drop Dash if you were spinning or tumbling when you respawned; you’ll need to use Rings or a Spindash to get back to speed.