With the return of Sonic Generations in the newly packaged Sonic X Shadow Generations, Shadow gets the highlight. While he doesn't have quite as many levels as Sonic does, he has a much more involved hub area to explore.

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That hub world requires some exploration in each of the levels as well to find keys. Chaos Island, returning from Sonic Frontiers, comes with plenty of goodies to find, and will put you to the test to get that S Rank. Let's dive right in.

How To Get An S Rank In Chaos Island

Getting an S Rank is always a badge of honour in a Sonic game, and it's no different for Shadow. Chaos Island can prove a bit harder in that regard because falling off the map even once will disqualify you from an S Rank. So let's find the best way of getting one in both Acts.

Chaos Island Act 1 S Rank

Chaos Island Act 1 is a fully 3D experience, and has a myriad of optional routes to cut down your best time dramatically. Doom Morph is the name of the game here, so you better practice your precision releases.

While in Doom Morph, the Morph Balls in the air allow you to grapple onto them. If you hold this until the end, Shadow will swing off them with a small amount of momentum. If you release it earlier though, he will launch himself in the direction of the tentacle. Use this to your advantage to reach higher areas by releasing when handing below the Morph Ball.

There are many sections with Doom Morph where you have to swim through corruption. If you touch solid ground while in this form, you will revert, so stay in the corruption at all times. You can boost while in Doom Morph to give yourself some extra momentum, so use this to propel yourself between bodies of corruption.

When swimming in the downward slope of corruption, save a boost for near the end as this will give you enough momentum to reach the Morph Balls in the air, leading to walls of corruption. This will let you skip the lower area entirely.

When hitting the interior section, charge your Doom Spears as soon as you get on the grind rail. Hit the two switches at the end to summon a handle you can use a Homing Attack to reach, skipping to the highest area and saving you precious time. Feel free to use Chaos Control to stop the moving platforms from shifting beneath you.

At the very end as you approach the goal, time your launches from the Morph Balls well to fling yourself right towards the goal rather than running towards you.

With that, you have Act 1 complete. A time under 3:10 seconds and a score or 40,000 or more will get you the A Rank, with the Perfect Clear bumping it up to an S Rank.

Chaos Island Act 2 S Rank

Act 2 of Chaos Island is entirely side-scrolling, but Doom Morph is just as important here as well.

As before, always keep yourself in the Doom Morph where possible as the speed given by them is immensely faster than Shadow's own running, as well as typically leading towards shorter routes.

Unlike in Act 1, there are no scenarios in which you'll want to hold to grapple Morph Balls in Act 2, Instead, simply tap the button on them instead to instantly dash towards them.

In the section with the moving platforms that changes direction based on your jumping, you can use Chaos Control to freeze the moving spike balls. While this won't stop them hurting you, it should make navigating around them simpler.

Plenty of tunnels exist in this mission that can only be accessed by Doom Morph, so use them wherever you see them.

Act 2 is pretty short, and finishing with a time under 2:30 seconds and a score of 40,000 will guarantee you an A rank, with it becoming an S Rank with a Perfect Clear

Where To Find Every Collection Box Key In Chaos Island

There are three keys to be found in each Act of Shadow Generations, giving six keys total to be found per location. These are used to open Collection Boxes in White Space, Shadow's hub space. Here's where to find them all in Chaos Island.

Chaos Island Act 1 Keys

There are three Collection Box Keys to be found in Act 1 of Chaos Island, Music, Shadow's History, and Artwork. They're in tricky locations, so here are their exact locations.

  • The first Key can be found by the beginning. After taking the spring up in the ruins on the right, launch yourself with the Morph Balls until you land on lower platforms where the key is waiting.
  • The second Key can be found after launching yourself from the downward slope of corruption. Grapple onto the Morph Ball and shoot yourself vertically through it to get the Key.
  • The final Key can be found in the interior after pulling yourself up with a handle activated by hitting the switches with Doom Spear. This leads to moving platforms with the Key.

Chaos Island Act 2 Keys

As with the previous, Act 2 also has three Keys to acquire, and they are also Music, Shadow's History, and Artwork. Here's where they're all hidden.

  • The first Key is found by the beginning. After being shot over to the second side-scrolling section, grapple to the Morph Wall on the ceiling and follow the corruption to get the Key.
  • The second Key is found in an isolated corner. After entering Doom Morph and learning to jump across adjacent walls, follow the corruption left to find the Key.
  • The final Key is found after launching off a grind rail and grappling to the Morph Ball higher up. Jump to the ceiling and follow it right and upwards to grab the Key.

And with the final key in your possession, you have completed everything that can be done in Chaos Island.