In every main level, except for boss battles, there are five Red Star Rings (RSR's) to find throughout the area. If you've played Sonic Colors or Sonic Generations, you should already be familiar with these types of collectibles. You can collect these in any order across multiple playthroughs, and you can also collect them again after you've gotten them before to still increase your level score. After finding all five RSR's in a level, you'll be able to find a set of five Number Rings (NR's) in that level from now on. These are usually very close to each other, and unlike Red Star Rings, have to be collected in order from 5 to 1. After you collect these, Silver Moon Rings (SMR's) appear in the stage. This last type of collectible is also usually found within close proximity to the rest and doesn't have a specific order in collecting them. The catch to the SMR's, however, is that all five need to be collected very quickly before a set amount of time passes, otherwise they disappear.
Below is a guide to finding all of the sets of Special Rings. Each level's description starts off with the Red Star Rings, and is followed by the Number Rings and Silver Moon Rings, respectively. If you prefer to see where the Rings are instead of reading about them, the playlist link below will lead you to a whole set of videos showing where they all are.
Sonic Forces | Special Rings
Green Hill - Lost Valley
The first Red Star Ring appears before you use some springs and see the giant blue worm for the first time. After making it to reach a straight path to those springs, use homing attacks on the enemies in the air above the big gap; finishing the chain will send you into the first (1/5) Red Star Ring. Once you've seen the worm, you'll soon reach a lone robot on top of a ledge with a Wisp behind it, as well as a lower path below it. Stick with the lower path now, since you can come back to the high path later, and wait for the ground below you to collapse. Falling down from here should put you straight into, or at least right next to, the second (2/5) Red Star Ring. The third (3/5) Red Star Ring is just in sight from here. Use the spring to the right and get on top of the higher platform to the right of the swinging platform, then use the platform to get to the RSR. Jump from the left side of the platform's swing to the side of a set of spikes, and then jump over them and use a boost to return further to the left. Now that you're back here, you can use the curvature of the ground to boost up to the lone robot. Keep going to the right on the high path and use an orange boost ring to get up to an even higher area, and then use a homing attack on a spring hidden in a tree to get another (4/5) Red Star Ring. Continue with the level until Sonic says his line about Green Hill looking more like Sand Hill. Just after this is a corkscrew, and you should constantly hold D until you're on the path to the right. Staying on this path will lead you to a small (and faster) path where Sonic will automatically run on a wall of sand, and you'll get the last (5/5) Red Star Ring here. Finish the level to make sure these RSR's stay in your collection.
Return to the Lost Valley for the chance to get the set of Number Rings "hidden" in plain sight on the lower path past the swinging platform from earlier. All you've got to do is collect the rings in order from 5 to 1 to make it count.
The SMR's are on the high path at around the same area. After you use the boost ring to get to where the fourth RSR is, use the swinging platform to the right to get to another high area, and do so again to find the five Silver Moon Rings. You need to collect all five very quickly before they disappear, but that isn't hard to do in this level.
Chemical Plant - Spaceport
There's a 2D area right after the start of the level, and near the end are some springs that launch you up towards a grappling point. Use the grappling hook here from either set of springs, and you'll be sent into the first (1/5) Red Star Ring. After a little while, you'll ride some rails towards a spring that leads to another 2D area with the first Wisp power-ups in the level. Try to keep the Burst Wispon equipped to your Avatar so you can use the Burst Wisp when you get to this area. Stand right where the Wisp is and burst straight up in the air over and over until you get to the second (2/5) Red Star Ring. The third (3/5) Red Star Ring is right in front of the checkpoint after the QTE with the cargo trains, so finding this one takes no effort whatsoever. Later on is another Wisp followed by a spring under four small platforms. To the right of the top of these are some more platforms with 10-Rings on them. Drop down before the first 10-Ring platform and you'll hit some springs; drop down to the left of the springs, though, and you'll find two grappling points. Use both of them, and you'll earn the next (4/5) Red Star Ring. The final (5/5) Red Star Ring is obtained by using the rainbow ring on the right-most rail during the final stretch. Just stay on that rail the entire time and you'll get it.
The Number Rings are in the area that the first RSR was at. Look at them carefully and make sure you get them in the right order; Ring 2 and Ring 1 can easily be confused with each other.
The Silver Moon Rings are where the fourth RSR was, except between the springs underneath the 10-Ring platforms. You'll have to jump over the springs quickly to get all five.
City - Ghost Town
At the start of the level, stay on the high path and you'll eventually come across a curved corner right before a booster. Stand at the base of the corner and charge up a spin dash so you fly high up into the air, and jump on top of the corkscrew that the booster would normally push you through. Pick up the (1/5) Red Star Ring up here and use the springboard to get ahead, and then continue on the low path, which should take you through two corkscrews before handing you the next (2/5) Red Star Ring for free. The two paths reconnect as Tails talks about how terrible the city's condition is. Use the high path that starts after a single robot blocks your path, and then use some yellow springs to get up to the next platform, which has a booster on it. Use it and hold D to get to the next set of yellow springs, and continue moving right to get to another springboard. Using it sends you into the third (3/5) Red Star Ring. After you land, return to the left side of the area you're at and drop down the left side while continuously holding D so you can fall into a small cave with a path leading towards the next RSR. Jump from collapsing panels to robots and so forth until you get to three small pits in a row. The second one has a (4/5) Red Star Ring above it, so drop down in the center of the pit to get to the springs below. Keep moving ahead until you approach the very end of the level. Once you're there, backtrack on the low path down two curved pieces. The first will be much smaller than the second one, which will be to the left; use a spin dash on the left curved piece to fling yourself up towards the fifth and final (5/5) Red Star Ring.
Simply start the level using solely the low path, and you should find the Number Rings all in order.
Remember those collapsible platforms above some pits that appear before fourth RSR? Head back there (use the little cave trick on the high path if you're lost) and you'll find the Silver Moon Rings. The timing on these is very tight, so move quickly between SMR's so you can get to them all in time.
Death Egg - Prison Hall
You can get the first (1/5) Red Star Ring by hitting the second boost ramp at the start of the level. You'll have to position yourself towards the center of the hall to get to it. Do the same thing for the third boost ramp, which will instead be more towards the left, and you'll be very close to the next RSR. Drop down below the orange boost ring and slowly approach the springs on the other side of the hall. Make sure you use the spring in the center so you can grab the (2/5) Red Star Ring floating above it. The third (3/5) Red Star Ring comes naturally through the level; there's no way to complete the stage without collecting it. After Silver says "That's one more thing Eggman will answer for!", you'll find a set of four springs. Use these to get ahead and activate the downward-moving platform above them, but jump to the right as you're descending. This will take you to a series of three sets of springs. Bounce on all three consecutively to get to a (4/5) Red Star Ring floating above another downward-moving platform. The last (5/5) Red Star Ring is in the final hallway of the level. To get it, just make sure you don't fall off. As you move left and right with Q and E, make sure you move to whichever side has rings on them; those are always the safe paths, and won't be attacked by enemies. The last RSR appears before the first boost ring does in the hall, so if you passed it and don't have the fifth RSR, you must've missed it.
The Number Rings aren't really hidden at all for this mission. You'll easily spot Ring 5 floating above a Wisp as you replay the level. Jump to Ring 4 from where Ring 5 was, and then drop down to Ring 3. After having dropped down, it's just a matter of moving forward to get the remaining two rings.
Unfortunately, the Silver Moon Rings appear in the final hallway. You'll have to move to the correct side of the hall AND use both sets of boost rings in order to grab all five.
Death Egg - Egg Gate
After leaving the initial interior at the start of the level, direct yourself to the middle of three rails past some enemies using homing attacks. The first (1/5) Red Star Ring is tucked beneath a rising and falling platform; don't worry about being crushed if you're underneath it. From here, keep climbing upwards and smash a crate near the top with a yellow hexagonal symbol on it. This will reveal a spring that takes you to the platform with another (2/5) Red Star Ring on top of it. Make your way over to it SLOWLY, and then head back to to the very start of this long platform. Take a look at the left side of the platform and look at those little gray things sticking out slightly from the ground. Find the second one on the left (the first is by a robot enemy) and drop down underneath to get to one of the other paths you would've been able to take had you gone a different direction. Use the springs here to get into the next area, and by merely using a yellow spring inside, you should earn the next (3/5) Red Star Ring. The fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring is on the leftmost rail when three laser bots are firing at you in turns. Just stay to the left side when you approach the end of the second rail and you'll get it without any problems. In the next interior area, you'll have to smash some crates after using a boost ring. Before using the set of boost rings to the far right of the hall to continue to the spaceship portion of the mission, use the springy piece of metal to jump up to the left, and smash the crates in the corner by an energy ball turret. The final (5/5) Red Star Ring is stuck inside the one in the corner.
Back at the start of the level, direct your homing attacks towards the rail on the right side now, as opposed to the one in the middle when collecting the first RSR. Doing this should send you through the first two Number Rings, with Ring 3 just up ahead. Check the lower area on the left past Ring 3 to find a well-hidden Ring 2, and then continue climbing up the blocks to find the last ring, Ring 1.
The Silver Moon Rings are in the area that the fifth RSR is in. Collect the first SMR and quickly scale the blocks to the spring towards the second one, then smash the crates below. Boost if you can straight through the third SMR to the left side of this next room and smash some more crates to get to the room where the fifth RSR usually is. Attack the single enemy in here to get the fourth SMR, and then head up to where the fifth RSR is to get the last of the Silver Moon Rings.
Green Hill - Arsenal Pyramid
After using the booster at the start of the level, use the grappling point and swing over to a single robot on a ledge. Instead of homing in on him, wait a little bit and drop down to a hidden set of flying enemies and attack them instead, leading to a (1/5) Red Star Ring. The second (2/5) Red Star Ring is in the middle of the downward descent into the Arsenal Pyramid itself. You can literally not touch your controller and you'll get it, as well as only take one hit from the lasers. When Sonic says "It'll be Eggman's turn to be pushed around when I get a hold of him", the third (3/5) Red Star Ring should be visible on a gear to the left in the area. Once you get to the only rising-and-falling thin platform in the pyramid, defeat the enemies on the gear that you land on afterwards and jump to the gear to the right once it falls. Take this path and jump across a few more gears to get to a long hallway with another (4/5) Red Star Ring near the end of. I recommend going slow when you see it so you don't accidentally speed past it. At the end of the hallway are some boosters; if you want to get all five RSR's in one go, don't use the boosters and jump over them instead. The last (5/5) Red Star Ring is hidden behind some breakable barriers to the left of the last spring.
The Number Rings are in the descent into the Arsenal Pyramid. Ring 5 is to the right side, and Ring 4 is to the left. The rest of the rings are placed somewhat in the same positions back and forth until you collect all five.
The Silver Moon Rings are also in the same area, as if there's no other good place to put them. They're placed, in order, right, middle, left, middle, and then kind of left-middle. Once you pick up the first one, dive down faster with Shift so you can get all five in time.
Mystic Jungle - Luminous Forest
For this level, you'll want to ride the high path for the entirety of the first 2D segment so that you can land on the top of the first giant corkscrew where the third (1/5) Red Star Ring is on. The first and second ones are down below, and are easy to grab in the same playthrough. Drop down below and jump over the boosters leading to the corkscrew, and then use a homing attack on the enemy underneath the first (2/5) Red Star Ring. The second (3/5) Red Star Ring is just a little to the right on a ledge below the boosters to the corkscrew, and you should easily be able to get to it from where you are after getting the previous RSR. On the second curved boosting area past the corkscrew, don't boost and instead look for a trail of flying enemies above the start of the curve leading to a tunnel in a wall straight ahead. Use these enemies to get inside, where you'll find the fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring tucked away. Try to jump over the boosters at the end of this path back into the curved path below; if you don't, that's perfectly fine. Both send you to the final stretch of the level, but the tunnel will skip over some rails leading to the last RSR. If you went with the curved path, jump from the rail you land on onto the middle rail if you have to, then jump through the boost ring to get the last (5/5) Red Star Ring. If you went with the tunnel on accident, simply run back towards the rail and jump onto it; you should automatically turn around once you hit the end of it, and you'll be able to grab this last RSR.
Start the level anew and use the lowest path possible in the beginning 2D portion the level. There are some rotating platforms that have all five Number Rings positioned for you to ride the platforms in circles to collect them. Just make sure you don't go out of order, or you'll have to restart the level or die to make them reappear.
The Silver Moon Rings are in the exact same place, only to the right on some other rotating platforms. They're arranged in a line, and are a bit less time-consuming to collect, but shouldn't be too difficult to collect.
Green Hill - Green Hill
The first (1/5) Red Star Ring actually requires you to fall down to the lower path for once. After you automatically hit a spring that lets you use the high path, drop down below and go left over a set of spikes to find it on a collapsible platform. Then, continue ahead to the first checkpoint, which has a swinging platform to the left of it. Ride it over to the left, which is the end of the high path, and run all the way to the start of it. You'll have to jump over a booster near the start of the corkscrew, so get ready to do that. At the start, you should find a small rock on a ledge; jump onto it or next to it, and a hidden spring will reveal itself underneath. Take the even higher path up here across a few moving and a few collapsible platforms to get to the top of the corkscrew, where the second (2/5) Red Star Ring is. After you make your way through the vertically moving columns of rock past the first checkpoint, you'll reach another checkpoint. Use the yellow springs up and to the right of the checkpoint and jump onto the collapsible platform above, and quickly use the yellow spring on the solid ground to the right. If you've timed it right, you can move straight to some red springs that have just descended towards your position. If not, try to stay above the yellow spring so you can use it again until you can get to the red ones. After you're up there, keep running to the right to get to a springboard that sends you to the third (3/5) Red Star Ring. Next are some rows of collapsing platforms with a few enemies in-between. Near the bottom, jump from the second-lowest collapsible platform to the far right side above the ground. There's a booster there that you can use to get to the high path, which is what you'll want to do next. Keep running and jump to a small platform ahead, but make sure not to hit the well-placed yellow spring that sends you flying to the left. Bop the power-ups here if you want and then run/roll down the slope that follows, which will net you the fifth (4/5) Red Star Ring. Try to STOP as soon as you get it, and don't touch the wooden bridge that leads to the goalpost. The last RSR is a bit tricky to earn on the same run, so if you want to try to do that now instead of using the low path on another run, here's how. Stand on the ground facing left, away from the bridge, and charge up a spin dash in that direction. Jump before you touch the collapsible platform above the small set of spikes to the left, and then make your way back towards the spikes. The first set of spikes is reached by use of a hidden yellow spring in the ground. Charge up a spin dash just to the left of the spring and then jump at the ledge of the platform. This should toss you straight into the fourth (5/5) Red Star Ring and finish your collection. If this is too complicated or you can't pull it off, you can always come back and use the lower path later to reach the swinging platform this RSR naturally rests over.
The Number Rings are in the rising and falling columns area between the first and second checkpoints. They're really easy to collect in order.
The "floor"-y area behind the fifth RSR (the fourth one you collected) is where the Silver Moon Rings are. The first is in the middle of the first collapsible platform, but charge a drop dash to the left as you fall so you can easily surge into the second SMR. The third is on the collapsible platform to the far left, so jump up to it and make your way to the high path again. The last two SMR's are on the way there.
City - Park Avenue
Bring a Lightning Wispon if you have one, it'll be necessary for some of these RSR's. It's also important to note that the order of obtaining the RSR's here is a bit weird compared to normal. Early on in the mission, you'll be dropped into a circle of enemies after grappling into the plaza from a downward slope. Defeat them to reveal a Lightning Wisp, and use it to follow the ring trail leading to the first (1/5) Red Star Ring. Once you swing around an archway on the roof and drop to a checkpoint gate, run left and jump to a hidden platform with the third (2/5) Red Star Ring on it. The second (3/5) Red Star Ring is actually further ahead; use the Lightning Wisp just up ahead and follow it into the air to find it.Next, stick to the lowest path possible by avoiding a grappling point up ahead and using some boosters and rails leading downward. Pick up another Lightning Wisp and save it for later. Up above some flying enemies is a hidden ring trail; use the Wisp here and you'll be pushed through a loop with the fifth (4/5) Red Star Ring at the top of it. Running through here will automatically send you to a pulley and thus up in the air afterwards. You'll have a brief moment to use another grappling point that takes you to a rail leading to some boost rings. Jump through these to get the fourth (5/5) Red Star Ring.
The Number Rings are placed on the bottom path, a little further to the right of where the hidden ring trail was that led tot the fifth Red Star Ring (the one in a loop). Be careful about collecting them; Ring 3 is actually the highest one up instead of Ring 1, so get the first two NR's and be careful about reaching Ring 3.
The Silver Moon Rings are unfortunately way high up in the air in the first 2D section of the level, which is just after the circular plaza and after the location of the first RSR. Bring a Burst Wispon for this, because you'll have to use Burst Wisps as soon as you get one to continuously jump high in the air from Wisp to Wisp, and from SMR to SMR.
Mystic Jungle - Casino Forest
At the start of the level, you'll want to either take the low path, which sends you into the first (1/5) Red Star Ring naturally. You can also just take the high path and jump down into the RSR, then come back up. Whichever way you choose to go about it, return left on the high path and use the hidden yellow spring to hit the circular purple bumper; hitting this will place you on top of the green flipper to the left of it, and you can use it to jump to another high path where the second (2/5) Red Star Ring is placed. Progress through the level to what I would presume is the halfway point: a checkpoint with another spring that you have to charge up just ahead of it. You'll soon be greeted to another pinball type of setup. Drop down the "board" as well as the one below it, and follow this lowest path around. You should come across a booster that will send you around a curved wall with the next (3/5) Red Star Ring at the top of it. The fifth RSR is normally obtained by following the high path by scaling the first pinball board after the halfway point, but you can also mess with the game's physics to get it in the same run if you're patient enough. If you want to get it the normal way, just replay the level later and take the high path. But from where the third RSR is, you can use the pinball board up ahead to get right underneath the fifth (4/5) Red Star Ring by moving upwards and to the right. Avoid the boosters on the downward-angled slope and hold Space without letting go to charge a spin dash. Try to position yourself to be a little bit to the right from where the fourth RSR is above you, and when you let go, move right for a split second to redirect your momentum from forwards to upwards, and quickly move left and into the RSR so you don't end up moving to the right. The fourth (5/5) Red Star Ring is actually underneath this last pinball board and to the right in a vertical shaft. You have to be caught in a little point gimmicky object underneath a big green arrow to the right of a pink bumper. From here, just finish the level by going to the right and you'll secure whichever RSRs you picked up in this run.
Return to the same area that you end up in after collecting the second RSR; there will be a bunch of pink bumpers in a rounded pit and a pink flipper in the center on the floor. Use the bumper to get some momentum upwards and to the right, and then get to the booster on the lower of the two paths available to find the Number Rings. The only trick to these this time is that Ring 3 and Ring 2 are placed in the path of a moving spike ball, so you'll have to merely time your jumps carefully.
After reaching the halfway point, use the first pinball board you come across and get to the top of it. Instead of going upwards (the usual path to the fifth RSR), drop downwards while also holding D to drop onto the pink bumper on the right, avoiding an SMR so you can get it later. Falling to the right even more will put you into position to correctly get all five Silver Moon Rings in appropriate order to give you the correct amount of time for doing so. You just have to use the bumpers to ascend upwards and to the right to find them all.
Mystic Jungle - Aqua Road
Do a quick step to the right with E and use the high path at the start of the level. Using the ramps at the end gives you the first (1/5) Red Star Ring. Follow the water slide on its forward path and try to angle yourself into the second (2/5) Red Star Ring. The third (3/5) Red Star Ring is on the path that diverges to the right on this initial water slide, so you'll have to come back for it on another run. Use a Thunder Wispon on the consecutive ring trails after you finish the first water slide all the way up the cliffs, where you should earn the fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring between some boost rings. The last (5/5) Red Star Ring is on the center water slide of three different paths at the end of the level. All of the RSR's on the water slides are particularly annoying to get, especially the last one, so try to keep your cool and be patient if you're not getting it so easily.
The Number Rings are easily spotted and are somehow easier to get. All five show up on the first water slide and end before the path splits.
The Silver Moon Rings are on the forward path after the path splits, where the second RSR is. These will probably take a few attempts to get unless you're fairly lucky on your first time with those annoying robots bumping you around.
City - Sunset Heights
The first (1/5) Red Star Ring appears just before the ramp to the big downward slope towards the circular plaza. You're supposed to perform homing attacks on enemies before this point to reach a pulley that takes you to it, but you can also reach it by just standing underneath it and double jumping. In the plaza, destroy all five robots that appear between you and the spring ahead, and the second (2/5) Red Star Ring will appear above the spring as a reward. Upon entering the 2D half of the level, use the first Boost Wisp you see on the curved corner just to the right of it to go upwards onto a balcony. Jump along the blue platforms to the right and use the pulley to the right of the hghest of these platforms. On the roof that this pulley takes you to, there are three more platforms, but these ones collapse after a short while. Quickly jump up all three and nab the third (3/5) Red Star Ring floating above them. Next, take the long rail that leads downward as you're supposed to, but after landing, run left to find three more collapsible platforms. Assuming you have some boost left in you, you can freely jump across all three to get the (4/5) Red Star Ring at the end of these and just use boost while in the air to return to the main stage. Shortly after you make your return, you'll run along a curved semicircle-ish wall that takes you to a spring. Jump left over the spring and onto a blue platform further to the left. Even more to the left is a suspicious wooden box with a spring inside. Using this spring takes you to the last (5/5) Red Star Ring, and from here, the end of the level isn't too far away.
Return to the curved corner used to get the third RSR from earlier, but this time, take the low path. Make your way past this first area and continue to the right to get to a half-pipe looking area. Use the spring above it to the right, where you'll find the first of the Number Rings. To get Ring 4 from where Ring 5 is, just do a double jump at the peak of the height that the spring gives you. Be careful about Ring 2 and Ring 1; Ring 1 is sneakily placed above Ring 3, so if you jump for it before looking at which number it is, you'll have to either die to restart the checkpoint or replay the level for a chance to grab these again.
The Silver Moon Rings appear just before the half-pipe, which makes finding them pretty easy. You're going to have to jump from the first SMR to the one in the air and to the right, then slam down on the booster that takes you left, picking up the third SMR on your way towards the spring in the same "room". Using the spring will take you to the fourth SMR, and from there, just use a homing attack on the enemy in front of you and them slam down towards the ground once again to pick up the last SMR before it's too late.
Metropolis - Capital City
The level starts off with two grappling points in the air; using both of them gives you the first (1/5) Red Star Ring. Not too far into the level, Infinite will flip things upside down. Entering the first 2D portion of the level and reaching the end of it will put you right in front of the second (2/5) Red Star Ring. The next (3/5) Red Star Ring is on the far left side of the upwards run on the side of a building. Once you're on the rails after this run, use the rail on the left side. On this path, you'll get a chance to snag the fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring if you stay on one of the rails long enough. The timing for this is really tricky because it's right at the end of that rail, but you'll get it with enough practice. Unfortunately, if you die here, you'll be set back to a checkpoint before the third RSR, so you're going to have to collect it again. The last (5/5) Red Star Ring is at the end of the rail sequence, just use a Lightning Wispon to follow the ring trails all the way to the end, and you should get it.
The Number Rings appear in the 2D area of the stage, after you're turned right-side-up. You'll naturally swing into Ring 5, but don't go too far yet, because Ring 3 tends to pick itself up if you get to close, forcing you to have to restart the checkpoint or the level. Instead, run to the left as soon as you can, dodge the first laser beam, and then jump as far to the right as you can over Ring 3, so you can stomp down between it and Ring 4. Grab Ring 4 and then Ring 3, and the other two NR's will appear in order up ahead.
The Silver Moon Rings are on the section after where the Number Rings are, the upwards run up the building. As you run up it, stay in the middle line and run back and forth between it and the line next to it as you pick up all five SMR's. They might be hard to see, so try to listen to the sound that plays when you pick them up.
Chemical Plant - Chemical Plant
To start, take the low path, which is likely what you'll always be doing due to how hard it is to skip the low path with that big jump in that ring-filled corridor. Ride the first moving platforms you come across to the right, where you'll find the first (1/5) Red Star Ring. Keep going with the level to a checkpoint before a red corkscrew, where Tails will say "Too much quiet is usually a sign of danger." Keep this place in mind, as it's going to be pretty important later. It'll be referred to as the halfway point for finding these RSR's. Past this corkscrew is a curved corner that you can use to take the high path above or the low path below; this time, you'll want to take the low path, so drop down if you've landed up top. There's a set of four moving blocks very early on in this low path, and the second (2/5) Red Star Ring is within reach of a jump if you're standing on the tallest block when it's in the correct formation. Not too long after this, the chemical levels will rise, and you'll find yourself jumping along more moving blocks to get back to fresh air. The third (3/5) Red Star Ring is at the top right of this column, and you can safely get to it once you're out of the Mega Mack (the pink stuff) with a jump back down into the goop. When you cross a gap, you should find two yellow rotating platforms. Use them to take the lowest path available, which leads to another pool of Mega Mack. The fifth (4/5) Red Star Ring is underneath a collapsible platform at the bottom of the area, far to the right. Grab an air bubble as you swim over to that side and keep an eye out for it near the bottom of the screen. Once you find it, stand on the platform until it collapses and you grab this RSR, then quickly escape back to the surface.
The fourth (5/5) Red Star Ring requires another playthrough. Return to the halfway point explained earlier and use the curved area past it to get to the high path. Stand at the edge of the high path and watch for a rising and falling platform far to the left. You'll want to charge up a spin dash and use it to land on top of that platform when it's far enough below you so that you'd land on it. Ride it up to the peak of its path and enter the small pipe hidden in the wall. This will take you to a small Mega Mack-filled area. Get out of there and move on ahead to another one, which is where you'll find the RSR. Move carefully and keep your eye out for the first set of spikes in there that you see. The RSR will be just to the right of it past a fan's current. To get this one, stand on the right side of the spikes, getting as close to the spikes as you can, and then face the RSR. Charge up a spin dash and immediately jump when you start to move. This should give you enough momentum and height required to get to the Red Star Ring with the fan blowing. If you mess this up, dying is easy when in Mega Mack, and since dying has no real penalty when collecting RSR's, you may as well restart from a checkpoint instead of the entire level.
Make your way back to the halfway point, and you'll find the Number Rings in the Mega Mack pool behind it. Ring 3 appears first, so just jump over it to get to Ring 5 and Ring 4 first. Make your way back to Ring 3, and the last two NR's will show up in order as you move to the right.
The Silver Moon Rings are also in a pool of Mega Mack, but this one is at the very end of the level. Make your way through the chemicals from left to right, collecting the SMR's as you go. You should have no problems spotting the next one in the chain as you get them.
City - Red Gate Bridge
The collectibles for this level are easy to explain, although they're much easier to talk about than they are to get. Every time Metal Sonic creates those electric fields on the bridge ahead of you is when a set of collectibles appears. All five (5/5) Red Star Rings appear between these electric fences the first time he does the attack, and when you replay the level, the Number Rings show up the second time he does it. Since you can probably beat him before he uses it a third time, try to take it easy on him when you go for the Silver Moon Rings; as you would expect, they show up when he does this attack for the third time, so you need to keep him alive until he does so. Maneuvering between these fences to collect the first two sets of collectibles is made easier by simply slowing down, but you won't have that luxury when gong for the SMR's, so keep that in mind when getting these rings.
Green Hill - Guardian Rock
You're going to want to bring a Burst Wispon with you for the RSR's. Take the Burst Wisp past the first portion of the level and hold onto it; saving it for later will allow you to get all five RSR's in one go. From where the Burst Wisp is, use the booster hidden in the wall to the lower right, which shoots you upwards into the first (1/5) Red Star Ring. From here, go right and back up to the surface, and then run back all the way to the left without jumping over any grassy slopes. Stand so that you're underneath the left edge of the metal platform above and to the right of you and use the Burst Wisp to fly straight up into the second (2/5) Red Star Ring. Continue with the level, using the high path provided by the three metal platforms that appear, and keep going until you see a wooden box to the left of spring. Break open the box however you like and collect the (3/5) Red Star Ring inside, then keep going. The fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring should be visible no matter which of the two paths you took, because at this point the paths have converged back into one. To get this one without dying, jump to the other side of the pit so that you're on the right side of the RSR, and then jump to the first of the two metal platforms above it when it's safe to do so. Make your way back to the left of the two platforms and then jump back across when the coast is clear again. Immediately after this pit is another Burst Wisp, which you should use to fly up to the top of a sandy area (not the metal platform jetting out underneath it). Use the ramp at the other end of the sand to get the last (5/5) Red Star Ring on top of the final corkscrew in the level.
To get the Number Rings, you'll need the Hover Wispon, which is unlocked by completing Secret Stage 6, which is in turn unlocked by completing Stage 24 of the main story. Or, if you can find one, you can use a Rental Avatar with a Hover Wispon if there's one available to you when you look for one. To the left of the first Burst Wisp in the level should be a Hover Wisp. Use it to fly straight up to collect Ring 5, and then keep going upwards to find Ring 4 and another Hover Wisp. From there, go more to the right than upwards to find Ring 3. Be careful about the last two rings; Ring 2 is actually by the Hover Wisp past Ring 1, so collect that one first.
Use the high path again by using the three metal platforms, and you should find the Silver Moon Rings in the area just before the third RSR. The first three are easily visible, but the other two are in the area occasionally blocked by giant legs to the right. The fourth SMR is on the ground, so you should just run into that one accidentally if you can't see it. The last one is up in the air. Be quick about grabbing these last two, especially since the giant legs won't be up in the air for too much longer.
Chemical Plant - Network Terminal
Use the rail on the right at the start of the level, and then attack the two robots at the other end of it; you'll need the boost only if you want to pull off a neat stunt that lets you get both RSR's on two of the paths available in this first half of the level. Use the large pulley-thing ahead and quickly switch to the right-most rail ahead as soon as you can. Taking this rail pushes you to a higher rail with the first (1/5) Red Star Ring at the end of it, just make sure you switch to the other rail after you get it. If you want to go for the second RSR now instead of using a lower path later, immediately hold S on the rail to the right of the one with the first RSR and jump over and over again until you're facing backwards. Jump down onto the rail below you to the right, using a double jump if necessary to make better determination of your position. Use the boost that you have to ride the rail backwards faster until it pushes you forwards again, then jump at the end to get the second (2/5) Red Star Ring. This move is pretty difficult for some people, so if this isn't your thing you can always just replay the level later. The end of the rails here take you to another set of rails after a few seconds. Ride the one on the left all the way to the end to find the third (3/5) Red Star Ring sitting at the end in the same way the first one was. Swap over to the neighboring rail as soon as you have this one, and then enter the Chemical Plant's interior. Inside the plant, use the first set of rotating platforms and take a good trip around until you're in the top right corner of this room, which will be the perfect position to grab the fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring. Finally, as you move through the level, you should find two sets of springs leading upwards. Past these are some sets of springs leading downwards instead, and there are two more sets of platforms in circles below it. Drop down to the lower one and wait for the Mega Mack to pour down so you can drop down to a hidden (5/5) Red Star Ring below the right side of these platforms.
Make your way back into the plant and use the two sets of vertical springs to get the first two Number Rings, and then look a little to the left under the Mega Mack that spills up and to the right of these springs. Ring 3 should be visible down there, and you can get to it by sliding underneath the platform. Slide underneath the next one to get out, and then the one under this one to find Ring 2 and a tube that you can use to reach the last ring, Ring 1.
The Silver Moon Rings show up before the springs leading to the Number Rings are. You have to use homing attacks on the enemies to get to the SMR's as fast as you can, and then scale the first platform circle you come across to get the fourth SMR. The last one should be a lot more visible above the springs above the platforms you rode to get up to it.
Death Egg - Death Egg
After the few conveyors at the start of the level, you'll find the first little beam path that switches between two patterns. Wait until it's horizontal and quickly make your way across. There are some yellow springs up ahead which you can use to get to a set of rising platforms above them. On your way up, there will be two platforms right next to each other, and you'll want to take the higher one on the left, so quickly jump from the one you're on to the higher one consecutively. This last platform will lead to a path leading left, where the first (1/5) Red Star Ring will be waiting for you at the end above a hidden spring. Continue through the level until you get to the next beam path and take the lower one first. Stand underneath the first platform past the red-hot metal that you come across, and then walk to the right side of it so that the stage flips you upside down. From here, jump to the second (2/5) Red Star Ring and then make your way back to the beam path. Make sure you wait for the beam path to return before using a spin dash to make it back across in time. Use the higher beam path this time, and by simply progressing through the path, you should get the third (3/5) Red Star Ring. As soon as you have it, make your way back and stand on the very edge of the beam path you used to get here so that you fall down onto the lower one, then fall again to get to the lowest path possible. This should send you through an upside-down area with a bunch of conveyor belts. You'll eventually have to use yellow springs to jump to the next conveyor, and there's a third spring sneakily placed to the left of the screen after the second one that, when used, takes you up to a hidden conveyor with the fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring on top of it. Continue with the level as you normally would so that you reach the conveyor belts that move down on a projected path along a tunnel with more red-hot metal below you. The last (5/5) Red Star Ring is underneath where the second of the two conveyors ends up going, so you'll have to stand on the conveyor long enough so that you get the RSR, but not too long so you can make a jump back to solid ground to the right.
The Number Rings appear on the aforementioned second conveyor's path, the one used to get to the fifth RSR. They all show up in order, so the real challenge is getting to them. Ring 4 can be fairly tricky since it shows up on the far left side of the second conveyor belt, as well as up in the air, so make a big leap left as you move from the first conveyor to the second.
The Silver Moon Rings also appear near an RSR, this time by the fourth one. The first four are easy to spot and easy to get to, but you're going to want to jump as far to the right of your screen as you can to get the last one, which is floating in the air above a big drop downward (upwards on the screen).
Metropolis - Metropolitan Highway
Starting with the initial 2D platforming area that the level begins with, use the lowest paths possible at all times until you find the first (1/5) Red Star Ring up in the corner of one of the hallways. As you continue from this RSR out to the right, you should naturally hit a spring that shoots you up to a platform that automatically moves to the right when you land on it. Pick up the (2/5) Red Star Ring just to the right of where the platform takes you, and then continue the level as usual to get outside. When the missiles start to launch out of the ground, hold 
the entire way down. The third (3/5) Red Star Ring is cleverly placed above that inactive launcher on your way down. After running along the curved paths leading up to the swarm of hovering robots, attack the first robot when you can, and then wait for the reticle to appear over the robot underneath the fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring. Attack that one when you can, of course, and keep moving with the level from there. The last (5/5) Red Star Ring is fairly hard to get to. You should easily see it when you get to it, stuck in a little crevice that only a hard-to-reach shifting platform can get to. If you're fast enough with your reflexes, you can jump to that platform from the one that scoots under it, but you can also just drop off the side of the platforms above the RSR and use boost when you're sure you won't hit the spikes on the side of some nearby blocks.
Make your way back to the second half of the level and you should easily spot Ring 5 on top of the first of a few moving platforms. As soon as you land on that platform, jump up in the air so you land on Ring 4 below it, and do so again to get Ring 3. Stay on the Ring 3 platform and ride it to the right, where you'll pick up Ring 2 with a simple jump upwards. The last of the Number Rings is a bit further into the area, so just continue with the level to find it.
Prepare to find the Silver Moon Rings after you pass the hovering robots guarding the fourth RSR. Riding the first moving platform past a few standard enemies shoots you into the first SMR, so you're going to have to collect the rest of them pretty quickly. They're easy to get, so you shouldn't have to keep anything in mind for this set.
Metropolis - Null Space
Bring a Burst Wispon; these RSR's are pretty tricky, and you'll have to use the Burst Wisps to get to them. Get through Null Space (or just leave your controller on a table for half a minute) and get through to the first circle of enemies that appear around you. Defeating all of them reveals a Burst Wisp by the spring to the northeast that you can use to bounce to the area in the distance, also to the northeast. The first (1/5) Red Star Ring is on the highest of the three platforms here, so make sure you bounce as high as you can instead of just trying to land. From the first RSR, drop down to the southwest to the middle-height platform and stand to the right end of the fencing surrounding the border. You're going to want to jump off and land on the rail on the right below here, and you can use a double jump to position yourself better if necessary. Once on the rail, make sure that you switch to the new rail that appears on the left, because it's got a spring at the end of it that takes you to the next (2/5) Red Star Ring. Make sure you pick up the Burst Wisp nearby as well, and then use the enemies to get to the next platform. Instead of taking the spring, use the Burst Wisp to get to the platforms way off in the distance to the right, or at least the boost rings in the air that lead to those platforms. The rail below them won't take you to there, so don't try to land on it. The third (3/5) Red Star Ring should be on the highest of the platforms here, but you'll be able to get to it easy regardless of where you land. Use the ramp to continue with the level, and after a small break from rails with a checkpoint, you'll be grinding again towards the next destination. The fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring is near the end of another rail, much like in Chemical Plant - Network Terminal and Metropolis - Capital City. Immediately ahead of this is a circular area with some enemies trailing to the right with a spring at the end. Instead of running to the right, head left and perform homing attacks on the flying enemies in the air to gain height towards the last (5/5) Red Star Ring. Just make sure that you hold A when you're in the air so you can actually get to the RSR.
The Number Rings appear on the rails after the circular section with the fifth RSR. Ring 5 will come naturally on the first rail you come across, and you should ride this same rail until you pick up both Ring 4 and Ring 3. Then switch rails and grab Ring 2, and make a jump to Ring 1 without moving in any direction so that you can actually land on the rail ahead of you at the end of your jump.
The Silver Moon Rings show up on the rails right after the Number Rings. Use the boost given to you immediately, because you're going to have to grab these things fast and the first one isn't too far into this initial rail. Once you can, switch over to the next rail on the left and grab the second SMR, and do so two more times to get the third and fourth SMR's. The last of them is given by using the spring on the last rail, so boost even more to progress through the level just a bit more and grab that last SMR before it's too late.
Eggman Empire Fortress - Imperial Tower
Take a Burst Wispon with you and use the Burst Wisp when you get to it, following a trail of rings and more Wisps up and to the right, where the first (1/5) Red Star Ring is. Keep going through the level and grab another Burst Wisp. You're going to be saving this one past the point where Knuckles tells your Avatar to fall back. Keep your eyes on the top of your screen for a (2/5) Red Star Ring surrounded by 10-rings above a few standard enemies. Try to stand directly underneath it to make getting it easier. If you can, try to reach the Burst Wisp to the left and grab the (3/5) Red Star Ring very close to the previous one. If you can't get to it this time, you can always get it on another run. Scale the area up to where the massive blue laser first appears to chase you down and grab the next Burst Wisp on a small platform. You're going to have to follow another trail of rings and Burst Wisps to the upper right again to get to the next RSR. This time, watch out below for two wall-jumping areas, because after you pass the second one, there won't be any more Wisps, and you're going to want to go as high as you can so you can reach the fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring in time. The last (5/5) Red Star Ring is unsurprisingly obtained in the same way in the final tower climb. Take the first Burst Wisp you see and stay near the top of the area to do the same thing as before until you get to it.
You won't have to go far to find the Number Rings, as they're right at the start of the level between the first Burst Wisp and the first RSR. Do what you did earlier with the Burst Wisp and collect all five NR's, but make sure you get Ring 2 before Ring 1, as Ring 1 is placed earlier before Ring 2.
You can find the Silver Moon Rings on the platforms with little electric sparks that appear before the second and third RSR's. All of them are super easy to get to, with the last being near the very end to the left. You have a surprisingly long time to get these SMR's for whatever reason; I got hit with those spark balls twice and still had a lot of time left before they disappeared.
Eggman Empire Fortress - Mortar Canyon
By natural progression, you should get to a bunch of flying enemies in the air pretty early into the stage. The first (1/5) Red Star Ring should be visible to the right, and you can get to it by just attacking the enemies leading up to it, like you've had to do in several other situations already. Keep going and you should easily spot the second (2/5) Red Star Ring on a high platform below you as you continue to attack enemies. To get to it, just move to the right as you fall after you attack the nearest enemy to it. Keep going and you'll get to a very large room, which will be important later for the Number and Silver Moon Rings. To get the third (3/5) Red Star Ring, you need to use the ramp in the first half of the room, but you have to enter it from the very center. After moving out of this large room, you'll meet some more flying enemies. The fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring is to the right, but instead of being above an enemy, it's in front of it. The trick to this one is probably to wait a little bit between homing attacks after hitting the enemy right in front of it, but you can also just direct yourself into it after hitting the enemy next to the RSR. You can find the last (5/5) Red Star Ring in the same fashion a bit later, except it'll be above an enemy to the left instead of in front of it in a weird position.
In that large room with the third RSR, slow yourself down or just stop using boost when you get close, and then hop on the platforms to the left. You should find the Number Rings over here, with Ring 5 appearing in front of some springs. Ring 4 is above the springs, and the rest of the NR's should be easy to get to. Ring 1 is on a much lower platform in front of the platform with Ring 2.
The Silver Moon Rings are on the right side of the room, starting on the far right side. The first four SMR's are in a straight line, with enemies and springs separating the platforms they're on; dodge these with as much effort as you can, because attacking the enemies or using the springs will slow you down, and you don't have a whole lot of time for this set. The last SMR is to the left past the fourth one. Stomping down on it from above will get you to the ground faster, so you might want to do that if you think your time is almost up.
Eggman Empire Fortress - Iron Fortress
By starting the level, you'll be forced to go up a steep slope by use of a booster. The first (1/5) Red Star Ring will be easily visible to the left above one of those missile launching boxes. Land to the right as you normally do and jump to the RSR and down to the ground below; trying to take out the box in the same jump will likely result in getting hit by a missile as it comes back down from the air. Once you get to the first area with spinning wheel pieces, try to spin yourself to the upper left, and then directly up from there. You can find the second (2/5) Red Star Ring up on a high platform as you make your way up there.The third (3/5) Red Star Ring appears much later in the side-scrolling portion of the stage. You should be able to see it on a high ledge with a spinning wheel below it to the left, which you can use to get up to it. Once you're out of the side-scrolling area, look for a glowing red platform and stand on it until it collapses. There are three small purple platforms to the right in the lower path created by letting this platform fall, but there's a moving spike ball that you have to watch out for as you jump across them to the fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring. Climb the area as usual, and you'll meet one of those metal laser robots with two collapsible platforms to the right of it. If you can help it, don't spin dash or drop dash off of the second one and just make a normal jump onto a safe part of the ground below. From here, start a spin dash, but jump at the end of the flat part of the ground so you can launch yourself onto a ledge halfway down the slope where the last (5/5) Red Star Ring is. If you didn't stop yourself, you can use the same trick mentioned for Mystic Jungle - Casino Forest: Charge up a spin dash at the bottom of the slope and jump while moving D to redirect all your momentum upwards instead of forwards. Doing this at the right time will also put you on the ledge with the last RSR, so you can go with the second method if the first doesn't work out.
You can find the Number Rings around the first spinning wheel area. Ring 5 and Ring 4 are between the first two wheels you come across, Ring 3 is between some electrical equipment to the left of the wheels, Ring 2 is to the upper left of the original two wheels (go in the path suggested to get the 2nd RSR and you'll find it on a platform), and the last NR is high up at the end of the area. You can use the last wheel to get to it, so don't worry about having to get to it from where Ring 2 was.
Surprisingly, the Silver Moon Rings here are in the side-scrolling section; on the bright side, you have a ton of time to get them. They show up near the end and they're all pretty easy to spot, so getting them shouldn't be too much trouble either. The last SMR is up at the top by the very end of area.
Eggman Empire Fortress - Final Judgment
As you know, this level is incredibly short, with the first half composed of two forward-facing areas separated by a small set of rails. There are five "lanes", or alleys, or paths, or some similar concept that you can think of the initial segment of the level of. You start off in the middle, and you should quickly quick step over to the middle-left lane so you can pick up the first (1/5) Red Star Ring there before you have to deal with the giant spike wheels. The second (2/5) Red Star Ring is a lot harder to get to, especially if your controller doesn't respond well to the bumper buttons. It's on the far right lane past the third set of spike wheels that roll by (five total), so you have to get in that lane, pick it up, and then quickly scoot back over to safety so you don't die. Since there are no checkpoints, dying will always send you to the start of the level, and you'll have to pick up any RSR's that you collected all over again. Once all of the spike wheels pass, stay in the middle-right lane and you'll pick up the third (3/5) Red Star Ring as easily as you got the first one. The fourth (4/5) Red Star Ring is openly sitting on the middle rail in the middle of the two forward-facing areas, and getting it shouldn't pose any problems. On the second runway, the last (5/5) Red Star Ring appears in the center lane after three spike wheels have passed in that same lane. I recommend not boosting as much here so you don't miss it.
The Number Rings are on the second runway. They appear in these lanes in order: Middle -- Far Left -- Far Right -- Middle Right -- Middle.
Like the Number Rings, the Silver Moon Rings also appear on a runway, which shouldn't be taken for granted. Imagine if they were in the final stretch of the level. They show up on the first runway, and all of them are in the middle lane. To get them all in time, you need to boost as well as weave between the two spike wheels that roll through this lane.
Find anything you think is wrong with this walkthrough? Help us fix it by posting in its
Walkthrough Thread.
This walkthrough is the property of TrueSteamAchievements.com. This walkthrough and any content included may not be reproduced without written permission. TrueSteamAchievements.com and its users have no affiliation with any of this game's creators or copyright holders and any trademarks used herein belong to their respective owners.