Current Fastest Time

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Preliminary Notes

Tails's flight ability is heavily influenced by physics. It takes on the physics you currently have while entering flight, and also affects physics in its own way. Many sections require precise timing of flight. This is really hard to explain and is something best understood by developing a feel for it. For more specific game engine details, refer to Sonic the Hedgehog game mechanics and glitches.

Unless otherwise stated, you should start each stage with a [6-tap spin dash].

Angel Island 1

Start by taking the top route and rolling into the speed shoes on the left (with near perfect, TAS-like execution, the bottom route is fastest at the start). Do a 3-tap spin dash to the right, bump the ceiling with flight, and make sure not to fly afterwards. Jump upon collecting the 2nd ring and after bumping the ceiling, time your flight so you maintain speed but don't miss the ledge. There are two options for this next part:

• Slow down and jump to the left of the fire shield in such a way that you don't bounce downward and can clear the zip line with a flight.
• Hit the underside of the fire shield and time a flight so you go straight under the zip line (slightly faster, but requires more precision).

If you use the 1st method you want to clear or land on the rock. If you don't have enough speed, you'll have to time a single flight just before approaching the rock. With the 2nd method, you always have to time a flight just before the crumbling platform, then a low jump over the rock. Jump again at the 1st or 2nd ring and bump your head to clear the yellow spring. When going through the loops in Angel Island, never follow a loop jump with a roll, because the unique angle AI loops have will actually slow you down. Loop jump and maintain your run. After the starpost, there are two methods for clearing the gap and 4 yellow springs:

• Jump from the slanted ground at the 1st-2nd rings and fly so that you land on the rock up ahead.
• Jump at the very edge and bump the ceiling (slightly faster, but risky; only works if you have a really fast spin dash and jump almost as late as possible).

After landing on the crumbling platform, wait until you clear the small gap between it and the stable ground. Jump from the ground and bump the ceiling to keep your speed, then roll to hit the Catakiller, Jr (you'll get hit if you don't have enough speed). Piano all 3 buttons when landing on the rock to increase the chances of jumping from it.

Boss: Just before the boss music cues, fly straight up for the 1st hit, then jump repeatedly for the rest.

Time to aim for: 0:47

Acceptable time: 048

Angel Island 2

Use a 3-tap spin dash to enter the tube. When exiting the tube, jump as soon as you touch the 2nd crumbling platform. The start positions for the swinging ropes in Angel Island are based on the power on timer (as soon as you turn your console on). After flying up to the top route you will see one behind you, use it as a reference to know where the 2nd one will be (they are synced). After your spin dash you want to avoid grabbing the 2nd rope, so you may have to jump over it. The 3rd rope is not necessarily synced with the other two, so after hitting the Bloominator make sure you roll upon landing so as to slightly reduce your hit box size.

After the last starpost, stand right next to the breakable wall and do a 1-tap spin dash. Inputs in the tube are not recognized, and the tube can actually do a few different things based on your speed upon entering (faster spin dashes increase the chances of getting bad tube luck) and subpixels. You can either go very fast unhindered, get slowed down, or even get sent in reverse. If you go very fast, simply hold right when exiting. If you're slowed down, land on the ground and spin dash, then continue to hold right without jumping so that you maintain a high run speed after Robotnik appears.

Boss: Keep running until you hit the right side of the screen, then do a quick 1-tap spin dash to the left. Wait a slight moment and jump, you'll bounce repeatedly for a very easy quick kill. Depending on your timing, you might bounce too low and get hit by a fireball on the left. To always avoid this, make sure you are in-between the two guns around the 4th bounce, then move back to the left.

Time to aim for: 1:27

Acceptable time: 1:29

Hydrocity 1

Hold right while the level starts and begin a single flight after the title card leaves the screen. Once aligned with the rightmost purple column in the background, hold left and land so that the hand in the ground doesn't appear. After hitting the red spring and landing, do a 1-tap spin dash and do not loop jump. Hold right and you will land on top of the next loop. Slightly after crossing the center of the loop, jump and tap flight 4 times (this will let you land in the perfect spot). Do a full jump off the wall and hold it. Hug the wall to the left, bounce off the lightning shield, and the spring will push you to the right. Hold right and, once off screen, release jump and quickly fly. The longer you take to enter flight after releasing jump, the more speed you'll lose. Make sure to stay off screen.

Once you see the next wall, stop flying and count the green blocks. After the 8th one, roll and adjust your aerial speed if necessary so you land and roll just before the invincibility (go too fast and you'll bounce on it). Once off the loop, release right just before landing and Tails will do one of two things:

• He will come to a complete stop, allowing you to spin dash (most common occurrence).
• He will keep moving (you'll have to stop him manually, as he won't have enough speed to clear the loop).

Boss: When spin dashing through the loop, do not jump. Simply hold right and let Tails land. Once landed, face left and wait a split second, then 6-tap up the wall. When you go off screen, hold right and bounce off the boss once, then adjust your position so you miss him. Land on flat ground, then jump and swim just before breaching the surface, this will give you an easy superflight. Use the invincibility for the remaining 5 hits.

Time to aim for: 0:36

Acceptable time: 0:37

Hydrocity 2

Spin dash immediately. You can deal with the upcoming slope in a few different ways:

• Bump the ceiling before it to break into a run, this way you can slow down a little and control your jump.
• Jump from a very specific part of the slope to get the correct trajectory (riskier and not faster).

You should hit the starpost at 0:07, then trigger the wall. Hold a spin dash, this will stabilize your hit box and enable the wall to crush you faster than if you stand. The time at fadeout should be 0:14. When you return, a simple 1-tap and low jump will suffice. Jump and start swimming just before reaching the apex, holding right the entire time. You want to touch the rings just when you hit the apex. The wall will push you into the floor; continue holding right until you get the [level wrap] and fall down (you'll see the screen move downward). At this point face left and rev your spin dash. At around 0:20 you will see a blue tube on screen, this is when you release the spin dash. When you get near the boss room, jump to gain a bit of extra height.

Boss: Jump out of the water and fly such that you are not at the top of the screen, but close. If you hit Robotnik at the top, Tails will "stick" to the top and you won't be able to get more hits. Wait until he comes down a bit and then fly into him repeatedly 4 times. Mash the buttons quickly after the 3rd hit and move a bit left. You'll get the 4th hit quicker and get a good bounce down/right to avoid his propeller. Jump after landing and bounce for the remaining 4 hits.

Time to aim for: 0:32 + 0:07 (from death)

Acceptable time: 0:33 + 0:08

Marble Garden 1

Follow the path normally. When you get near the yellow diagonal spring, there are two options:

• Jump from the slanted ground just before the spring. Bump into the wall, hold left, and then fly right before touching the ceiling. This will let you clear the blue spinner and land on the slope without risk of your momentum being interrupted.
• Hit the spring without holding anything, then hold left midway through (slightly faster, but big risk of the slope stopping you).

When doing the [screen wrap], you want to hold right and jump when the black background is more or less near the center. After using the fire shield to enter the wall, hold left to [zip] to the right. Jump over the Spiker near the end and continue running if the speed shoes are still in effect. If the effect is gone, stop and do a spin dash instead.

Boss: You'll come into this room rolling. Make note of the uneven ground; if you jump from the wrong spot you'll miss the first hit entirely. You want to get 5 hits before he goes off screen (6 is possible, but it will actually result in a bad pattern for the act 2 boss). He will always appear on the far left, so fly up and stay at the top of the screen. If you only got 4 hits, stand on the left and hit him between the drills.

Time to aim for: 0:51

Acceptable time: 0:53

Marble Garden 2

After doing the level wrap, it's important to raise the screen position before it passes the boss room. Face left and do a 2-tap spin dash, you'll stop in the perfect position (there's a small chance the slope will interrupt you, simply do another 2-tap if that happens).

Boss: Stand on the small slope near the right and face right. Time a spin dash so that you release a 1-tap as the left drill reaches the midway point of the screen. Walk right and jump when you collect the ring to hit Robotnik, then jump again. Before he enters the ground, stand on the left side of him and release a spin dash right before his invincibility ends. The purpose of this is to bounce off him staying as far left as possible and hitting the spikes on the left quickly. After the bounce, make sure to face left during the roll. Another quick spin dash to get to the left wall, and another spin dash to hit him as he comes up (too slow and you'll bounce off him and to the right). Jump twice to get 3 hits for this cycle, then 2 more times when he comes down the diagonal path.

Time to aim for: 0:46

Acceptable time: 0:47

Carnival Night 1

An important tidbit to keep in mind at the start is that you cannot spin dash immediately when landing from Tails's auto flight. You cannot move for a few frames upon landing, so delay your spin dash appropriately. A 6-tap here is actually detrimental, but go for it anyway to increase the likelihood of 5-tap speed, then jump and fly into the 3rd or 4th balloon. When you land on the ring monitors, you will gain rightward momentum automatically from the wheel glitch, so counteract it by tapping left enough to land on the floor just before falling off the ledge. Remember not to jump, as it removes wheel glitch.

Wait for the spikes to retract, then do a 2-tap and hold left right after you clear the slope and begin moving right. Continue holding left (release if needed so as to not bump into the spikes on the ceiling). When you move around the platform and begin moving left, switch to holding right to grab rings, go through the fire shield, and under the balloons. Spin dash to the left twice to gain height. Note: if you hold down for too long you will break your leftward momentum and fall down. After the level wrap, do two more spin dashes to the left, and maintain your position by alternating between left and neutral. Keep in mind that Tails will move down faster than he walks up, so you should be holding left a bit longer than neutral.

Boss: Hold left and maintain your position just below the ring counter. Make note of the purplish column in the background. When the spinning top is to the immediate right of the leftmost column, hold down to roll and land on it. You will not roll while still moving up, so make sure you release to neutral a bit early. Hold your spin dash and get hit. When the top nears the right wall, tap right to push against it and then release immediately (you want to always have the same position on the top). Hold left at the same time the top bounces from the boss, then time your roll so that you fall off just as the top bounces downward. This boss is very frame-dependent, so you won't always see the same result. You'll have to react to the top's bounces and dodge it accordingly.

Time to aim for: 0:56

Acceptable time: 0:58

Carnival Night 2

Hold left while exiting the boosters until you land on the cylinder. After bumping the ceiling in flight, fall until just below the zigzag line and then fly once moving to the right. Before touching the rounded part of the ceiling, move left and curve your flight so that you are just about centered. If you fail and run out of flight, land on the spiral and fall through it, then go to the cylinder and bounce from the balloon again.

Once in the ceiling hold left until you reach the very top, then switch to right, you will be walking up a wall off screen. When Tails begins to move, alternate between right and neutral (holding right a tad longer). You want to try and maintain a stable, centered position. If you go too high or low, you will be stopped by walls. You can continue by releasing to neutral (if too high), or holding right (too low).

Boss: Stand on the white tile on the far right (not the one barely visible). As soon as Robotnik is visible, fly straight up and you should hit him without getting hit. Aim for this spot 4 times before he drops the ball, then simply fly into him for the remaining 4 hits, making sure to land between each hit (you can fly underneath him repeatedly, but this strategy results in you getting hit more often than not).

Time to aim for: 0:44

Acceptable time: 0:46

Ice Cap

Make your way to the falling ice platform, and note the blue portions of the background. When the top of the blue background ice to the immediate left is aligned with the top of the platform, hold right and you'll activate slope glitch once the platform breaks the pillar. Jump and fall straight down. From here you have two options:

• Tap jump once as soon as you land on the steep slope, then roll upon landing on the 2nd.
• Wait a split second upon landing on the slope, then tap jump twice (the 1st will not properly jump off, but the 2nd will) and roll on the next slope.

The 2nd method is recommended because it avoids the possibility of entering the wall with a low y-position, which will cause you to exit the upcoming wall hitting the ice block where the spring is. Upon entering the wall hold left, then hold right about halfway through, and lastly switch back to left as you exit the wall and continue to hold it. This will give you the perfect trajectory to avoid being interrupted by objects in the level. Since the map area for Ice Cap 2 loads midway through the tunnel that leads to the act 1 boss, and Ice Cap 2 does not wrap vertically, you will die if you continue to fall without jumping. Wait until the right moment (shown in video), then jump and make note of your location. Depending on whether you land in the tunnel leading to the Sonic & Tails boss or Knuckles boss, you will have to consider different things:

• Sonic & Tails tunnel: Look at the small mounds of snow on the ground. Jump onto the right side of the 2nd one from the ice pillar so that slope glitch gets a downward angle. Hold right to clip into the ground and zip for a level wrap. After the wrap, hold left for about 2 seconds, then right for 1 second, then left for 1 second and jump. You should notice the screen shift downward indicating a lower y-position. Hold right and jump twice, then wait for the boss to trigger and jump down.
• Knuckles tunnel: Be very careful not to land on top of the bridge, ice block, or breakable platform to the right. These are all sprites and will remove your slope glitch. Also take care not to go too far to the right where the ice block is, because an ice pillar will shut behind you and you won't have enough space to get a quick level wrap (a backup strategy here exists, but it is a bit slower). Use the 3rd mound from the bridge for the level wrap (the ones before that are not far enough, you'll wind up zipping straight into the bridge and lose slope glitch). After the wrap, hold right for 1 second, then jump when you see the tunnel just before the boss room.

Boss: With slope glitch still active, you can gain an upward trajectory from the mound on the far left. As the boss comes down, walk to the right using this angle to gain height, then jump near the right edge of the screen and get the 1st hit. Robotnik bobs twice before he lowers the platform. On the 2nd bob, jump on the platform moving left, then jump off and avoid hitting him with any upward momentum. As you near the jump's apex, hold right and bounce repeatedly for a fast fight.

Time to aim for: 1:00

Acceptable time: 1:05

Launch Base 1

Launch Base 2

Mushroom Hill 1

Mushroom Hill 2

Flying Battery 1

Flying Battery 2

Sandopolis 1

Sandopolis 2

Lava Reef 1

Lava Reef 2

Hidden Palace

Sky Sanctuary

Death Egg 1

Death Egg 2