SHADOW THE HEDGEHOG
EXPERT MODE FAQ

SECTION 1. Introductory Things
1-1 Unlocking Expert Mode
1-2 How Expert Mode Works
1-3 A Brief Note
1-4 CREDIT where CREDIT is DUE

SECTION 2. Walkthrough
       W-A General Tips

       STAGE 1
       W-1 Westopolis

       STAGE 2
       W-2-1 Digital Circuit
       W-2-2 Glyphic Canyon
       W-2-3 Lethal Highway

       STAGE 3
       W-3-1 Cryptic Castle
       W-3-2 Prison Island
       W-3-3 Circus Park

       STAGE 4
       W-4-1 Central City
       W-4-2 The Doom
       W-4-3 Sky Troops
       W-4-4 Mad Matrix
       W-4-5 Death Ruins

       STAGE 5
       W-5-1 The ARK
       W-5-2 Air Fleet
       W-5-3 Iron Jungle
       W-5-4 Space Gadget
       W-5-5 Lost Colony

       STAGE 6
       W-6-1 GUN Fortress
       W-6-2 Black Comet
       W-6-3 Lava Shelter
       W-6-4 Cosmic Fall
       W-6-5 Final Haunt

       STAGE 7
       W-7 The Last Way

Section 2
       2-1 What do you get for beating Expert Mode?
       2-2 About the guide writer

***
SECTION 1

1-1 UNLOCKING EXPERT MODE:

For one, you must have beaten last story. For two,
you have to get A-ranks in all missions and all
bosses. That's 71 A-ranks in total. Earning those As
is the scope of another guide.

1-2 HOW EXPERT MODE WORKS:

Expert mode is the ultimate training, several
characters put it. You go through every level of the
game (including Last Way, excluding bosses) in order.
You begin with Westopolis and then go to Digital
Circuit, progressing numerically from stage to stage
and then progressing from dark to light. You begin
with three lives, I believe and no continues, and you
can resume your game similarly to a normal one. You
CAN earn extra lives, but it is somewhat difficult.
Expert mode is a separate mode in the title screen,
not under Story Mode.

All the keys you've earned in regular modes will
still work, but any you pick up in extra won't save.

1-3 A BRIEF NOTE OR THREE:

This guide will be written with the understanding
that you already know these levels. You had to get an
A-rank in each and every one of them to get here, so
you had better know their basic layout. My guide will
cover where they differ from normal mode, if
significantly. I may eventually decide to come back
and add those, so I will say that this guide is
incomplete.

The chaos control notes I make will only appear for
certain stages where I feel it's important and had
the time and patience to work it out.

Earlier stages have more summary because they're
harder. No joke. I didn't get lazy, Sonic Team did.

TERMINOLOGY: I use some odd terms. "wall-crawl" is
what I use when you run along the wall, and I have
all sorts of derogatory names for the computer
defense units. Sorry if you get confused. Ask me to
clarify!

One last warning: ALL OF THESE SUMMARIES HAVE
SPOILERS FOR BOTH STORY AND EXPERT MODE. If you don't
want spoilers, avoid looking at the character quote
for each stage (I transcribed them directly from the
game). I will try to restrict them to there.

1-4 CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS DUE

I used no outside resources in the creation of this
FAQ. However, I did use many of the FAQS available on
Gamefaqs site in my initial playing of the regular
game. However, I did not use these guides for my
playthrough of Expert Mode; I did that entirely by
myself. So, I thank the people who wrote all those
wonderful guides for putting me into a position where
I could pave my own path. However, since I did not
use their source material in my work, but rather used
it to get to the game mode I covered, I don't see a
need to credit them individually. I mean, I wouldn't
credit my elementary school teachers in a college
paper for teaching me to read.

Also, major credit to everyone who made the game.
Without them, this wouldn't be here. I make this
guide out of love and deep respect for the work of
art they've created, and a deep desire to share that
beautiful masterpiece in its entirety with all those
who are willing to earn it.

SECTION 2
THE WALKTHROUGH

W-A GENERAL TIPS:
-Move slowly. Very slowly.
-Don't waste ammo.
-Don't miss checkpoints.
-Don't try funky acrobatics. Or, as Knuckles puts it,
"don't waste your lives."
-Chaos Control is your FRIEND
-If you have the secret keys earned, for GOODNESS
SAKE, USE THEM.

STAGE 1
W-1 WESTOPOLIS
Mission: Hero/Dark (goal ring beyond last checkpoint
for hero mission)

Eggman: Shadow, can you hear me? This is going to be
the ultimate test of your abilities. Now go! Head for
the Goal Ring!

Westopolis starts much the same, but there are more
laser strikes. Don't worry about them, they're fairly
easy to avoid. Try to get as many rings as you can,
because you need to start stockpiling lives now. I
strongly recommend that you focus your attacks on
Black Arms troops because of Chaos Control. It will
help you. For my guide, I will be refraining from
using it, so I can tell you every little bind you
might get into. Continue on past the first checkpoint
until you get to the place with one soldier and three
aliens. There will be an extra soldier with a shield
there. Make sure to kill him and take his gun. It's
the "bigger gun" (I believe it's actually an mp5?)
with a higher firing rate.

After this, be careful because there seem to be more
laser strikes. When you get to the crate that
normally has the faster, it doesn't seem to be there,
so just move along. Continue forward. In the area
with a lot of crashed cars, you'll find a soldier
with another of your gun. Kill him to get his weapon.
Then continue as normal until you reach the narrow
road with the laser strikes. There's an extra one, so
be careful. There's also a soldier with the larger
gun here. A laser strike up ahead will take out some
of the red fruit for you. When you kill the aliens up
here, if you killed the ones that came before, you
can use Chaos Control. Also, if you prefer the alien
gun, pick one up here.

Anyway, There's a triangle jump ahead, followed by a
light dash setup. Go through it normally, and don't
be afraid to wall-crawl.  At the next checkpoint,
things are pretty normal. Until you get to the crane.
Instead of that, there's a moving platform. From
there, things are normal until you get up on the next
platform.  There's a small laser strike that you
probably won't hit. Don't go up the crane, you can't
get up. Instead, triangle dash across. I'm not
certain, but I suspect that there is no bottom
beneath you here. I didn't actually check--I have
lives to worry about, and I wrote the bulk of this
guide on my first playthrough. Anyway, this is
another area where you will need to wallcrawl/walk.
Remember, also, go right first, then left, just like
before.

After this there are a bunch of aliens, like normal.
Go to the dash panel. If you killed a lot of soldiers,
you'll run into a chaos blast soon. Remember that you
can't increase your hero bar when under Chaos Blast,
even if you're doing heroic things. Anyway continue.
Watch out for extra laser strikes. Up ahead, at the
third checkpoint, go right and get the balloon with
the shield (you'll need to shoot it) and the gun in
the crate. Up ahead, past the bus, is another gun in
a crate on the side. Then there's a shadow crate up
here. You really don't need any of its contents right
now unless you've run out of ammo-I only recommend
the Shadow rifle against the larger flying aliens and
worms, and higher-level GUN mechs. Anyway, continue,
watching for laser strikes, and flip the bus. Then
continue as normal until the next checkpoint.

There'll be a bus, and gasp, your old keys still work.
Flip the bus to open another Shadow crate. The
soldier up ahead has one of the bigger guns, too.
Aside from increased weapon strikes, this level is
mostly the same until you get to the former location
of the goal ring.

If you were diligent in killing aliens, you will get
another chaos control. This one will take you to the
ramp before the real goal ring. Anyway, continue to
the next checkpoint. There are two weapons crates
ahead but you won't need them, there's an alien there
too, so watch out for her... Go to the dash panel and
fall, being careful. Then avoid the aliens and
soldiers ahead, who are mostly the same, and BE SURE
TO HIT THE checkpoint. You need the extra lives, if
you have over 100 rings. Then go to the goal ring.
Congratulations. The game will save your progress and
you will move on to...

STAGE 2

W-2-1 DIGITAL CIRCUIT
Mission: Dark (Goal ring at former location of target)

Sonic: Hey shadow, how're you feeling? Your
training's just getting started. It might be a little
tough, but I know you can handle it. Now, you've
gotta get to the goal ring. Let's move it!

QUICK Note: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should you use
chaos control before the part where you have to
homing attack large chains of beetles to attract the
light. It will glitch out and waste your CC if you do.

Hold a hard left when you first enter. You won't get
any of the nifty bonuses, but you will avoid
firewalls. What follows is normal until you have to
cross the gap. Be careful in homing the beetle so you
don't fall. Get directly in front of it and hit it.
You may want this weapon. Shoot the other one if you
do at all, and then continue. At the gap, instead of
two green barrier steps, there's one. You need to get
on that one, get to the very end, and homing attack
forward to make it. There are aliens ahead, but there
is a glitch in chaos control in this level, so I
advise you to skip one of the upcoming alien worms.

Now a bunch of the electronic enemies that split,
which I'm just going to call vegetables for my own
amusement, will be cropping up. Avoid them and
continue to the place that normally has the four
moving blocks. Wait until the block is close to the
rings to light dash up. When you light dash, press
forward moderately, not too much but not too little,
so you land on the next block. If you press to hard,
you'll overshoot and fall. This takes practice.
Didn't I tell you you needed lives?

Then jump over, carefully, kill the aliens, and watch
out for the carrots. Kill one or both of the worms
that appear next and then go to the spring. Jump into
it, and try to get into the light. The light will
carry you. When you arrive out of the light, count to
two and homing dash forward to get a fire shield.
This will be handy. From here, all is normal until
you get to the lightspeed circuit. One of the
firewalls will be nearly unavoidable, I think you
have to tap right inside a one second interval.
Didn't I tell you to get that shield? You're just
going to need fast reflexes here to see and avoid the
firewalls. After the lightspeed circuit is some ammo.
Take it and go up, then avoid the carrots and get
back in to the circuit.

You will end up in with a great divide to cross by
attacking beetles. Do it. Do not fall below. Do NOT
Pass up this Shadow crate, you need it to kill worms.
And of all the worms, this is one you want to kill.
Once you do, move up and get onto the die to be
carried across. From here things are pretty normal,
barring perhaps a few extra worms. An extra carrot
will pop up right in front of a barrier, so just
homing attack the heck out of it. There's another one
behind that, and then there's the thing where you
ride up the light. That's pretty normal, except that
you can jump forward right away now, instead of
having go to back and wait for the next die to come
down. The path to the keys will have holes now, so
jump carefully. Hit the checkpoint, go up, kill the
worm, etc.

If you have keys, take that, but if not, get on the
left most bar of light. Either use the floating die
to get up to the next platform, or wait until you're
high up and homing attack the ring balloon.

Homing attack the three beetles to get taken through,
and then follow the same steps as before to get a
fire shield. There's a beetle floating around in
there. Ignore it. Drop and go to the lightspeed
circuit. There's a small chance you can avoid all the
firewalls here, but don't count on it; just get the
shield. After the circuit, there is only one panel
where there should be three, so wait to land before
you homing attack it if you're not good at homing.
Then continue forward, pretty normally, until you get
to the single beetle floating beneath a searchlight.
You can kill one of the bipedal aliens without
activating chaos control.

Here's the part I've been warning you about. You
should NOT have had a chaos control yet. So, homing
attack these beetles (the first one is hard, the
others are easy) and the light will take you. It's
just like before, only the chains of attacks are more
complicated, but if you got this far, you can take it.
When you emerge, homing attack the single green
vegetable, then the next, then make your way to the
lightspeed circuit. You'll find yourself where the
goal ring used to be. Hit the checkpoint and then act
like you're going to the real goal ring. There'll be
a worm there. If you kill it, it should activate
chaos control. The rest of this area is normal.

I'm not sure if the two beetles with electric powers
in beyond the portal (after the normal one) are as
they were in the regular game, but it really doesn't
effect gameplay much. Up head, you have to get into
the light, but there's no die to ride on. So you have
to take a real leap of faith. When you get up, press
forward, then homing attack at the last minute. You
will NOT get this right the first time. Then, when
you get to it, jump up and press forward, and homing
attack as necessary to get to the other side. From
here it's pretty straightforward until the end.

W-2-2 GLYPHIC CANYON
Mission: Normal

Tails: Shadow, can you hear me? This is going to be a
true test of your abilities. Good luck! Oh, by the
way, if you run out of lives, you won't be able to
continue. If you want to abort, go to the pause menu
and select quit.

This one starts out normal until the top of the first
set of stairs (don't forget your Shadow rifle!).
Normally there'd be another loop here or something,
but instead there are platforms you need to jump
across. This is one level where you CANNOT rush. Be
sure to home at the last jump. Kill the aliens and
take the upper path. Continue normally, or fairly
normally, until the two loops. Another speed trap. Go
to the end and jump, then use light dash to cross.
This is annoying, isn't it? Keep going, grabbing
shadow crates (I recommend the Shadow Rifle) and
killing worms, and if you kill all the black arms
you've encountered on this route, you should be able
to chaos control sometime around the spring that
shoots you up to the next platform. Even if you don't
CC, you need that invincibility to get through the
winding path. That's pretty normal, though. Just keep
on going.

Checkpoint number 5 yields the next trap, but all
that's different is that under the light dash area,
there's no panels if you fall. After that things are
normal (but don't forget the shadow crate!) until you
get to the area that normally has a jewel and a worm
and some platforms. Jump on the platforms, and don't
linger. I don't think they fall, but I'm not wasting
my lives to find out.

Keep moving. What's ahead is normal except for some
small and harmless landscape changes and the absence
of a Shadow crate. Go in to the temple, kill aliens,
get the crate. The beat goes on. Things are pretty
normal, and if you kill all the aliens you'll get a
chaos control right about when you get the other
winding and windy path with all the debris. This
should bring you to the end of the level. Navigate
your way to the goal ring, and don't forget to hit
the checkpoint on the right.

W-2-3 LETHAL HIGHWAY
Mission: Dark

Knuckles: Hey, Shadow! Don't tell me you're getting
tired already. Don't waste your lives, okay? Now, go
find the goal ring. Good hunting!

Isn't this level so much better without that tank?!
But there are a lot more aliens who drop down at
random times, with shields and weapons. I won't tell
you where all of them are because that takes the fun
out of it. Just keep going like normal, but take your
time. Also, try to use the ramps to grab the item
balloons that are way up in the air. They'll help.

In the area where you'd normally jump across,
there'll be a pully that takes you down. Watch out
for the alien that drops to your right. Go through
and kill soldiers and aliens alike until you get to a
section of road that's collapsed. Flip it to blow up
the fruits (after killing the alien spawn of course)
and dash past. Kill stuff (feel free to stop near the
beetle and the alien and watch their movements for a
few laughs) and then go up and kill aliens. You'll go
hero and be able to chaos control sometime soon.
Anyway, watch out for the alien that drops down on
the slime you slide on. Take it up, and there'll be a
black hawk there. Kill it.

Up here, you'll have to kill the aliens in the room,
or at least the big ones, for the door to open. A lot
of aliens will drop down up ahead, near the really
big section of road that drops, where the tank
usually flies by. Expect to lose your shield. And
watch out for the alien that drops on you on the
narrow path, and the hoardes of alien spawn below.
There's a shadow crate, but you don't want to get it
unless you waste your other Ammo on the black hawk
you have to kill to progress.

After this room, if you kill the three aliens
immediately afterward, you'll get chaos control (if
you didn't use it before and skip aliens). Kill them
to open up the box and spring up. On the next
platform there's a beetle behind the debris, shoot it
to open the cage. After that is a leap of faith. Jump
and light dash. Stock up on Ammo and then use the car
as a shield from the little aliens. You'll need to
hop out to take care of some obstacles, but it's
really fun. Don't forget to nab a shield near the
second ramp by shooting!

Then comes the fun part. A homing attack setup
followed by a light dash. The first beetle is
electric, too, so time it right. If you miss, it's
okay, there's a path below you, but I'm going to
pretend you made it. You'll still end up on the path
below. Don't bother to open the box. Instead continue,
killing surprise aliens. There'll be a motorcycle up
ahead; use that too. In the room, kill the stationary
hawk and the bipedal alien to unlock the door. Make
your way to the rocket, and kill the two beetles
beyond the next platform. One is electric, so don't
waste ammo. The box will open and you will be shot up.
Do not stay in the center or you will lose your
shield to the electric beetle there; instead go to
the side and hop up. Homing attack through the fence
and then ride the red tendril.

There will be a car. Go for a joyride. The road will
collapse and you'll fall; kill the GUN troops and
shoot the cage, kill the black hawk, and use the
spring to get back up. Another bomb will blow up the
road, but jump and press forward to get the pulley.
Get through the fence, avoid the gun soldiers, and
you'll find yourself in a blue tunnel.
Congratulations. The rest of the level is smooth
sailing, and you've completed stage two.

STAGE 3

W-3-1 CRYPTIC CASTLE
Mission: Normal

Rouge: Well, how's it going? You look a little beat.
You probably know this already, but if the game ends
during all this, you have to start all over. Now be
careful! Go and find that goal ring!

Cryptic Castle starts out pretty normally, although
you need to watch out for additional enemies. When
you get to the trap door you flip, aliens will drop
down. Kill them and then open it up. When you drop
down, the checkpoint will be there, but the balloon
won't be. Kill the eggbot and then collect that
single ring. A balloon will pop up. Use that to get
up. Hold forward when you emerge from the hole to
land near the rail, and go down. Kill the bomb bots
and then go to the trees. The torches here are now
hidden inside the trees. So knock them down with your
roll attack until you can get to the torches.

Continue, fairly normally, to the balloon. IT goes a
lot faster, but just hop off when you're over solid
ground. Hop on the rail, but watch out for the tiny
black bat on it. Continue as if you were on the hero
path until you run into Cream. You must touch her to
open the cage. Kill the monsters, and then hit the
spring. Jump to the platform and kill away. Get the
black hawk. This part is normal except for more enemy
hawks. Anyway, get to the checkpoint and take the
rails across. Watch out for the black birds and the
fire on the rail. Continue as normal until you get to
some moving platforms. Doesn't this bring back
memories? Get to the one that moves left to right.
Then homing attack the black bird there and use that
height to get to a light dash. It's hard, but I did
it on my first try.

When you get to the door that's in the "House"
portion of the castle, the door will be locked. You
need a torch, so go back up the rail to get one.
There's one there, and a bunch of aliens. Kill them
and get it. Then continue as normal. Wander around a
bit until you find a lantern. Light it. Then find the
other. They're on the rightmost forks of the path
beyond the broken wall. This will open the path on
the right. All the chao are in the fan area. Find
Cheese among them to progress. Then continue normally.

The chao room is full of alien slugs! Continue
through to the breakable doors and kill the bomb bot
with its own bombs. Then you get to a wall area with
alien spawn on the side. Go aross by wall walking and
jumping when you reach a cluster of aliens. Then
throw up the trap door and descend. Now the fun
begins. The chase isn't any harder than in the normal
mode, actually. Just go on ahead, hit the checkpoint,
and go for the goal.

W-3-2 PRISON ISLAND
Mission: Hero (Goal ring at location of last disk)

Vector: Hey Shadow! You hanging in there? I know it's
tough, but training is training, after all. Now, be
careful, and go find that goal ring.

This starts normally, except for the addition of some
extra gun mechs that drop down and the early
appearance of some worms. Don't forget to jump across
the gap on the left at a certain spot to get a fire
shield. I recommend you use the larger mech's guns.
When you go ahead, watch out for shield aliens, and
use the red slime to go up and get ammo for the big
gun. Move on. The landscape has changed a bit, but
nothing to be too nuts about. Just go slowly on the
green river. Be careful and use the spring to go up.
Up ahead there will be bars in the path that you
can't break. You'll have to jump over and around them,
risking a fall into the abyss. Use homing attack to
get back on track. It's fairly normal from here on
out, and if you kill like a nutter you should get
chaos controls and chaos blast capabilities right as
you reach the fire covered jump panels. When you get
to the area on the bottom with the slugs you'll have
to fight off like three aliens, spawns, and a worm.
Then it'll send you up. There'll be another spring
that you have to jump up and a ring trail. You need
to hold forward to get the ring trail and then light
dash across. Not hard.

Continue, watching out for potshots by beetles and
dropping mechs. It's pretty straightforward. When you
get to the alien on the saucer, carefully use the
saucer and get it up top. It's sort of glitchy. Then
go down the green river. Be careful, and eventually
you'll get to the old goal ring area. Go up and shoot
all the aliens off the side of the walls, then
triangle jump across. When you get to the next area,
you have to go up on the red slime to get a
hovercraft. Kill the alien there and move on. Watch
out for worms popping out of the river, and make sure
you're fast enough on the parts of the river where
there are no jump panel, but slow enough with the
debris areas. When you get to the long area and then
the jump panel at the end, jump, and it'll send you
right to the goal ring, where the last secret disk
used to be.

W-3-3 CIRCUS PARK
Mission: Normal

Amy: Hey Shadow! I heard you were doing some sort of
training. They say you need to make it to the goal
ring, right? Good luck!

Go through like normal, but use the robot's lances to
kill the bomb bot. Continue as normal until you get
to the next set of balloons (for killing the next
bomb bot) and be very careful jumping onto the
barrels. Keep going, killing bots as necessary to
unlock new areas. Watch out for the electric bots. Be
careful in the next area after the roller coaster,
because bots will jump down after you where the GUN
mechs usually are. Use the turret to get the shield
in the balloon beyond the rings of fire. In the next
area, get to the balloons. They'll shoot you onto the
platform so you can catch the barrel. Just run
through the next area, avoiding things, until you get
to the check point. Make sure to hit the big thing
for 50 rings and then homing attack forward to get
more. Then go to where the electric shield is and get
that. Keep going, watching out for new robots.
There's really not much to say here. Be careful in
the area where you normally use the balloons, you
will hurt yourself on the bomb bot and there's a
crazy GUN beetle that will go after you. Expect to
lose your shield. But continue on, nabbing 50 rings,
and get to the checkpoint. Continue, but watch out
for bots that pop up on the ropes.

Navigate the next area, with all the barrels and fire
hoops, VERY CAREFULLY. Expect to die at least once.
Try to get to the left, go center, then right, hop
through the hoops as the barrel approaches it, go to
the center, and then wait for the next center one.
The rest is pretty normal, except less bells and
whistles, and some more (and more conveniently
placed!) fire hoops.  Congrats. You beat Stage 3.

STAGE 4
W-4-1 CENTRAL CITY
Mission: Dark

Espio: Shadow, good job with your training here.
Every day brings new challenges, remember that. Your
task here is to destroy the city annihilator bombs.
Good luck!

I hate this level. You have to destroy the bombs. Go
left and get a gun. Go up the spring and ill the
aliens. Watch out for the two giants who will drop
down. Kill them to open the cage and shoot up the
bomb. Keep moving, triangle jump across like normal,
and then use the dynamite to blow up the wall.
Keeping going until the next bomb and kill GUN mechs
until the cage opens (you may want to get the rocket
launchers.) Then boom! Find Checkpoint three and go
that way until you get to the gren river. Then follow
that river, going right, until you get to the next
bomb. Shoot up the mechs until the giants appear,
shoot up the giants until the cage opens, and boom!

Climb the pole, go to checkpoint 4. Go forward until
you get to a rocket that takes you to checkpoint 5.
Use the car to drive across the green stuff.

Now, you see that little platform with two rings on
it off to the left? Take that. Keep going until you
see checkpoint 6 and an explosion, and then there'll
be this stair looking thing with two rings each on it.
Reminds me a lot of the Chaotix's Rail Canyon in
Sonic Heroes, actually. Go up it. Kill the robots to
open the cage, jump on the spring, fall to the street
below. Use that spring to get up. Kill the aliens,
and then shoot the bomb. WIN!

W-4-2 The DOOM
Mission: Hero

Maria: Shadow, how is your training going? I'll be
cheering you on!  Here you have to rescue all of the
wounded researchers. Good luck!

Wow, a level whose "encouragement" character is the
same as in story mode. In The Doom you have to save
all the researchers. But none of them are in place.
So grab a heal gun from the Shadow container in its
usual spot and continue as normal Don't forget to use
the emergency panels to get to the other shadow crate
and get another heal gun. Really... just keep going
and expect harder enemies. At the very end, at the
top of the level, you'll find a room full of
scientists. Use your heal gun to save them all, and
voila. Done. But wasn't that scary, though, to think
you missed them all?

W-4-3 SKY TROOPS
Mission: Normal

Charmy: Yahoo! It's me, Charmy? How's it going? Huh?
Huh? Me? I'm actually in the middle of running some
errands. See ya later!

Just go for the goal. It's just like Glyphic Canyon
before, watch for speed traps, and don't be afraid to
hold forward after a light dash. I'm not going to
give you details until you need them, but if my
instructions are vague, ask me to clarify. But really,
this level is almost unchanged. Just go through it.

W-4-4 MAD MATRIX
Mission: Hero

Omega: Shadow, I hear you're engaged in some training.
You know you'll never be stronger than me. If you
think so, then I challenge you to find and access all
four of the world's databases.

Watch out" there's a worm under the ?. There are no
more purple dice on the introductory light shafts, so
you'll have to jump straight up to the platforms.
There is more stuff to shoot at.

Be careful not to homing dash into one of the color
panels after you shoot it to bring the die down.

When you're in the yellow tower, be careful on the
rising platforms. Turn all the red panels yellow to
progress. In the red tower, there's nothing there you
can't handle.

Green tower is extremely hard.  You have less room to
move around in or land on, and some of the patterns
are more complicated. Just be careful and practice,
and expect to go through five or so lives.

W-4-5 DEATH RUINS
Mission: Dark

Black Doom: Shadow, I understand that you're training
to be the ultimate. As to be expected from my
bloodline. Now go! head for the goal ring!

Man, this has the best intro ?. Anyway, just keep
moving. It's pretty straightforward. In fact, this is
even easier than the normal Death Ruins

Congratulations! You've beaten Stage 4!

STAGE 5

W-5-1 THE ARK
Mission: Hero

Cream: Good day, Shadow! Thank you so, so much for
rescuing me the other day! Cheese and I will be
cheering you on during your training! Good luck!

This level is essentially unchanged, except for a few
additional enemies.

W-5-2 AIR FLEET
Mission: Normal

President: Shadow? It's me. Word has reached the top
brass that you're doing well with your training
Secretary: Mr. President, you're late for your tee
time with the chief cabinet secretary of Japan.
President: Ah, yes. I almost forgot. Shadow, I'll
talk to you later.

This level is also nearly unchanged. Even easier.
There is one area that normally has a lot of
platforms that no longer has them. You have to wall
crawl across. No biggie. After that, you have to take
the GUN side.

Remember the 2D mini-game though? It got a lot harder.
Now there are weights you have to jump on. After that,
it's pretty much normal.

W-5-3 IRON JUNGLE
Mission: Normal

Eggman: Shadow, it's me again! Are you upset with me
for something? Agh, very well! You're about halfway
through your training! Keep at it, and head for the
next goal ring.

This level hasn't changed too terribly much. Go to
the GUN jumper and go up. Then follow the normal path.
You will want that Shadow rifle. Continue on until
you get to the next jumper mech, and take that. At
the next fork in the path, take the rails. Get as
many Shad rifles as you can and just plow through.
It's a joke.

W-5-4 SPACE GADGET
Mission: Normal

GUN Commander: Shadow, do you read me? First, I want
to... apologies, for the other day... Actually, I
just became a grandfather last week, and I was
thinking of maybe having you over. I know that
training is tough, but try and do your best.

Yeah, this level has changed for the easier.
Therefore, I reserve the right not to comment.

W-5-5 LOST IMPACT
Mission: Dark

Gerald: Shadow? It is I. I hear that my research
experiments have escaped and are running lose. The
positive and negative electrode must have been
reversed! Guess I must be getting old. At any rate,
would you drop by my room? I'll be waiting for you.

The level has turned into a freaking maze. Go out the
door to the gun lift and the platform will be there.
Hop up and take the rocket. Then land on the next
platform and use the dash panel. Homing attack your
way to the door.

After that the level is fairly normal. Just keep
going. After you go through the meteor field, start
checking side rooms for the goal ring.

Congrats. You've cleared stage five.

STAGE SIX

W-6-1 GUN FORTRESS
Mission: Hero

Sonic: Hey, Shadow! You've only got six stages left
in your training! Have you got enough lives left to
do it. Remember, once the game is over, it's all the
way back to the start. Be extra, extra careful.
Anyhow, keep going.

There are some mild architectural changes. Just take
it slowly. The walker mech is missing up ahead, but
you won't need it. The hero path is pratically gone,
and there are a few speed traps and extra enemies.
Nothing to worry about. I got through without dying.

W-6-2 BLACK COMET
Mission: Hero

President: Shadow? It's me again. Sorry about last
time. I've been busy planning the reconstruction
Secretary: Mr. President, it's time for your karaoke
party with the minister of finance.
President: Ah yes, I almost forgot. Shadow, I'll talk
to you later.

Yet another level that's almost identical. There are
some pitfalls where oceans of goo should be, with
platforms across, and more enemies. It's almost
easier.

W-6-3 LAVA SHELTER
Mission: Dark (lava machines auto-activated)

Rouge: So Shadow, how are you holding up? You're
doing great. Only four stages left.
Omega: This is Eggman's secret base. I will defeat
him, and prove that I am the strongest.
Rouge: Omega, cut it out. Don't you have anything
better to do?
Omega: Oh.

Basically, Dark path with the lava automatically
turned on. It sucks. But you can get through it.

W-6-4 COSMIC FALL
Mission: Hero (goal ring in computer room)

The "script" for this stage is obnoxious chocola
singing, and then Cream saying "Cheese says, 'Good
luck, Shadow!'"

The level is as normal until you get to the alien
birds to home to the next platform. They aren't there.
None of them. And it's harder to get the ring trail
to light dash. Otherwise, pretty normal.

There's no backup area under the vertically flipping
platforms. You have to make your way across all of
them without falling, then the last one will drop
down past the one with the giant. You have to jump on.
I can't tell you how, it takes precise timing and
very good reflexes. You will lose at least five lives
on this.

After where the goal ring usually is, you have to get
across this area by using these freaky platforms that
move funny. Then find the artificial chaos and
carefully get up the red stream. Then... lots of
leaps of faith. Count on losing like 10 lives. And
don't mess with your cameras! If you do, you'll have
even less a chance of seeing where you need to go. DO
NOT BE AFRAID OF WAITING. After the bajillion
attempts at this, you'll get to an area with large
gaps you need to jump across. Get a running start and
it'll be easy. Then the rocket area for the computer
room is normal.

W-6-5 FINAL HAUNT
Mission: Hero

Vector: Hey Shadow, how's it going?
Espio: You Feeling the pressure yet?
Charmy: Training, training
Vector: Charmy, I thought I told you to sit down and
be quiet.
Charmy: Oh come on, leave me alone! Besides, you ate
my pudding, didn't you vector?
Vector: Aww, busted
Charmy: Now you owe me for that, and don't forget it
Vector: Alright, alright, fine, do whatever the heck
you want!
Espio: Sorry about that, Shadow.

Everything is the same until the first triangle jump
area. Now the beams are criss-crossed. Just wallcrawl.
After that, follow the hero path.

W-7 THE LAST WAY

Eggman: This is the final stage!
Sonic: Great job making it this far, shadow!
Tails: Give it your best shot and make your way to
the last goal ring.
Knuckles: You can do it!
Rouge: Good luck, Shadow.
Amy: Good luck shadow!
Vector: Give it all you've got!
Charmy: Fight!
Espio: You're gonna do fine
Cheese: Good luck!
Chocola: Chao!
Omega: Good luck.
Black Doom: Now go, head for the goal ring!
President: We're all counting on you, Shadow
Secretary: Best of luck.
GUN Commander: Good luck.
Gerald: Good luck!
Maria: Shadow, I believe in you.

The area with the ? is full of enemies, so be careful.
There are some additional enemies, but again, nothing
you can't handle. Eventually, go right and get the
black volt (I hope you have a shadow rifle!).

You HAVE to use Chaos control for this one. And there
are some more enemies. IN some places, though, those
enemies make the level SIGNIFICANTLY EASIER.

Congratulations!

SECTION 2

2-1 WHAT DO YOU GET FOR BEATING EXPERT MODE?

The credits. Yeah, you don't get anything. Not even
extra sound test.

2-2 About the Guide Writer
Hi. I'm Typical. I'm a college student in Michigan,
and I love Sonic the Hedgehog. I've been a fan of
Sonic since I was 4, read the comics until I was 12,
and have been playing Sonic games since I was 9. That
gives me 10+ years of experience playing, as I am 19
of this writing. My favorite characters are Sonic and
Eggman (although in the old days it was Tails and
Knuckles). Strangely, though, my favorite Sonic game
is Shadow. That's because the alternate perspective
on Sonic in the game really brought me to love him,
and I found that the plot was captivating and nicely
wrapped up the lose ends left by SA2 and the nonsense
that was Sonic Heroes. Don't flame, it's just my
opinion. I wrote this guide because when I was stuck
on Cryptic Castle, I couldn't find anything to help
me.  I hope you enjoy it, and I hope you don't steal
it.

2-3 CONTACT ME

Because of e-mail issues, I am only giving out a link
to a post in one of my blogs. This post has been set
aside for this FAQ only and any reply to it will go
straight to my e-mail, without actually revealing my
address. This is the URL:

http://www.greatestjournal.com/users/_allthatsfake_/1
332.html

If you have any questions, comments, requests, or
data you want to share, PLEASE leave a message. I
make no guarantees that I will update the guide or
even get back to you. I am a busy woman with a busy
life. However, I intend to try.

FIN!

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