Hourglass

For the power-up in Sonic Labyrinth, see Time Bonus.

Hourglass
An Hourglass, from Sonic Runners.
Appearances
First appearance	Sonic Adventure 2
Game appearances	Sonic Adventure 2 Sonic Adventure 2: Battle Sonic and the Secret Rings Sonic Unleashed (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3) Sonic Runners Sonic Frontiers
Appearances in other media	Sonic X Sonic Comic
Statistics and overview
Purpose	Opening hatches for a limited time Changing time Calculating the time limit for Challenges
Description	Large glass bulbs connected vertically with symbols inside or on top of them.

The Hourglass (砂時計, Sunadokei^?) is a gimmick that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Designed like actual hourglasses, they are similar to regular switches. Flipping it over will activate a reaction in the environment.

Description

Despite having a different look in each game, the design of the Hourglass is the same as their real-life counterparts. They are essentially glass bulbs without leg stands connected vertically, usually decorated with the bumper symbol or other significant markings on their top and bottom plates. They are larger than the playable characters.

When either jumping or using the playable characters' attacks on it, the Hourglass flips over and triggers an reaction in the environment, such as opening paths or altering the surroundings. In some cases, this reaction has a time limit which is measured by the sand trickling down from the top glass bulb to the lower in the Hourglass. After the time runs out, the reaction is deactivated until the Hourglass is flipped again.

Game appearances

Sonic Adventure 2

Knuckles beside an Hourglass in Death Chamber, from the 2012 remaster of Sonic Adventure 2.

Large hourglasses are first seen in Sonic Adventure 2, where it can be found at Dr. Eggman's pyramid base's stages, such as Pyramid Cave, Egg Quarters and Death Chamber. If the player jumps on or punches an hourglass, it will flip, and various doors will open for a certain amount of time. However, the doors slowly close as the sand in the hourglass runs out. The player is able to determine how much time is left by listening to a sound much like a clock ticking in the background, which steadily speeds up as the sand falls. The player can then travel back and activate the hourglass again in order to proceed on the stage.

When it comes to the fight against King Boom Boo, one of his minions conveniently carries an hourglass. Hitting the minion will flip the hourglass and let the sunlight in, which will weaken King Boom Boo.

Sonic and the Secret Rings

An hourglass, from Sonic and the Secret Rings.

In Sonic and the Secret Rings, the hourglasses are a lot larger than in other games, are filled with purple sand, and are held up by two pillars. In this game, they are only encountered in Night Palace.

During Night Palace's "Go For the Goal!" mission, the player has to flip an hourglass at different points. At that point, the player will be transported to a foreign area that is being filled with gas and whose structures are changing. Here, the player has to flip the hourglass at the end of this area before the player's Ring count depletes to zero to proceed. In other missions for the Night Palace, the Hourglass serves another purpose; if the player flips it, it will restore the broken structures in the environment.

Sonic Unleashed

Two time-altering Hourglasses, from the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 version of Sonic Unleashed.

In the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 version of Sonic Unleashed, hourglasses function differently from other games. Other than the option to change Day or Night in the pause menu when at Town Stages, there is a hourglass in each Entrance Stage (except Eggmanland) which has the same function of switching from day or night and from hedgehog to Werehog. Hourglasses are also set in numerous sections in Eggmanland, where the player has to transform between hedgehog and Werehog most of the time in order to progress through the large stage.

Sonic Frontiers

In Sonic Frontiers, Hourglasses appear as gimmicks in the Open Zone areas. In this game, their appearance is drastically altered to fit in the environment of Starfall Islands, as they are rusty bulbs with handles set on rocky pillars. Instead of sand, the duration of time in Hourglasses are measured with glowing green digital energy.

In gameplay, Hourglasses are implemented as part of different Challenges found in Open Zone fields. These Challenges involve the time limit, as the player activates the Hourglass by using the basic moves like Homing Attack to flip it around. Doing this will show the target the player has to reach or have to deal with under the time limit. The countdown HUD will then appear on top of the screen and the player begins the Challenge. Completing the Challenge under the time limit will reveal more of the Open Zone map and the player is rewarded with either a Blue Seed of Defense or Red Seed of Power. However, if the player does not complete the Challenge when the time runs out, the timer disappears and Sonic has to hit the Hourglass again to retry the Challenge.

Other game appearances

Sonic Runners

During the "Halloween Event" of Sonic Runners, Hourglasses appear in the event-exclusive storyline. While investigating a haunted lakeside castle, Team Sonic is taken to a dead end by a Boo where Tails notices an Hourglass. As a brainwashed Boo then appears, Tails flips the Hourglass and opens a hidden door in the stone wall for short time, which the heroes escape through. Later, Dr. Eggman uses another Hourglass to unleash King Boom Boo from behind a stone wall in the castle courtyard, just as Team Sonic locates him.

In other media

Animation

Sonic X

The talisman, from "Sonic's Scream Test".

In the Sonic X anime series, there was a stone figure of an hourglass called the "talisman" that looked similar to the ones in Sonic Adventure 2. It had a figure of a sun on one end and a crescent moon behind a star (the star was removed from the English dub) on the other end. In this continuity, it is a mystical object used for imprisoning Booms and King Boom Boo, instead of just weakening them like in the games.

Gallery

Screenshots

Sonic Adventure 2 (2012)

Sonic Frontiers

References

Sonic Adventure 2

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Main article · Scripts (Hero, Dark, Last) · Staff · Manuals · Glitches · Beta elements · Gallery · Pre-releases (The Trial, Preview, TRIAL Version) · Re-releases (Battle, 2012)

*Appears or is playable in only the 2P mode · ^Appears in only the original Dreamcast version
V·T·E · {{Adventure info}} · Category

Sonic and the Secret Rings

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Main article | Script | Staff | Beta elements | Gallery

Sonic Unleashed (Xbox 360/PlayStation 3)

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Main article · Script · Credits · Glitches · Beta elements · Gallery

V·T·E · {{Unleashed (mobile) info}} · {{Unleashed (Wii/PlayStation 2) info}} · Category

Sonic Runners

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Main article | Script | Events | Gallery

Sonic Frontiers

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Main article (The Final Horizon) · Script · Credits · Development · Beta elements · Glitches · Gallery

*Appears in The Final Horizon exclusively
V·T·E · Category