You may be looking for Time Over.

Game Over is a subject that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog video games where the player is unable to continue playing the game and an attempt of playing the level has ended. It is usually received negatively in a situation where continued play is disallowed, such as losing all lives. When this happens, it is common that the words "Game Over" will show on the screen.

Description[]

A Game Over usually occurs when the player loses all of their lives. In the earliest Sonic games, due to the lack of a save feature, getting a Game Over makes the player restart their progress from the very beginning, generally from the title screen or the menu section. To compensate, they can also use a Continue to continue playing. With the introduction of the save feature in Sonic the Hedgehog CD and Sonic 3 & Knuckles however, the player can simply continue their game progress via a save file, and from the first act of the Zone they have progressed to rather than from the first Zone. In the SegaSonic the Hedgehog arcade game, when the player gets a Game Over, they have to insert more coins into the cabinet within ten seconds to continue or get a Game Over. In several games, such as Sonic Adventure, Shadow the Hedgehog and Sonic Generations, if the player gets to the Game Over menu, the game asks to continue playing or return to the title screen or menu section of the game.

Sonic the Hedgehog CD features another unique method of obtaining a Game Over, where if the player waits three minutes while standing still, Sonic will completely lose his patience and say "I'm outta here!"^[2] and then jump off the screen, resulting in all lives instantly lost and consequently an immediate Game Over.

Sonic games are increasingly abandoning Game Over along with the life feature in more recent years, with the player being instead given infinite lives in those titles or the option to disable them. Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sonic Rush Adventure and Sonic Forces are some games in the series which do not feature a Game Over screen. Instead, the games will make the player start the level again from the beginning instead of at the last passed Star Post. Sonic Heroes and Shadow the Hedgehog returns the player back to the menu and if playing on Super Hard Mode or Expert Mode respectively, progress is lost. In games like Sonic Forces and Sonic Frontiers, the playable character is sent back to the last Star Post they passed regardless of how many lives they lose (though in the former, the player will be sent back to the World Map if 60 minutes have elapsed).

The Game Over screen of the Wii U/PC version of Sonic Lost World is heavily reminiscent of the Continue screen from the original Sonic the Hedgehog. Pressing here subsequently restores the player's life counter up to nine lives, and the player returns to the World Map (if the player has not finished Windy Hill Zone 1 yet, however, that Zone is replayed). If not, the game goes back to the Title Screen.

In the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Lost World, the words "Game Over" immediately appear and the screen slowly darkens. Pressing here gives the player the following messages:

"When the going gets tough, try creating Items and RCs in Tails' Lab."

"Tails' Lab is located to the far left of the World Map."

The player's life counter is subsequently restored to ten lives, and they are sent back to the World Map, though if the player has not finished the Tutorial Zone yet, that Zone is replayed. If not, the game sends the player back to the title screen.

Jingles[]

Trivia[]

• The Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia erroneously states that idling in Sonic the Hedgehog CD only causes one life to be lost, rather than an instant game over.^[3]
• Part of the Game Over theme also plays at the end of music played in the intro sequence of European versions of Sonic Spinball, which has been extended from the Japanese and American releases. However, it is cut off and serves as a transition to end the tune.^[4]
• The 8-bit version of Sonic 2 always ends at a Game Over after the ending, regardless of whether the good ending was obtained or not.
• The Game Over theme that first appeared in Sonic 3 & Knuckles has been reused and remixed for several games, including Sonic the Hedgehog Pocket Adventure, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I, Sonic Generations, Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II, and Sonic Mania.
  • This theme was also used as the death jingle for the Sonic Mystery Mushroom costume in Super Mario Maker.
• The Game Over music in the Japanese and European versions of Sonic the Hedgehog CD is a heavily distorted and slowed-down clip from the game's main theme, "Sonic - You Can Do Anything
• The Game Over theme that first appeared in Sonic Colors has been reused in all versions of Sonic Lost World.
• Sonic Adventure 2, Sonic Heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), Sonic Rush Adventure, Sonic Forces, Sonic Superstars, and Sonic X Shadow Generations are the only Sonic games to not include a Game Over screen.

References[]