If a ( unshielded or non- invulnerable) character takes damage while holding Rings, they drop their Rings which are then scattered in a circular pattern and bounce around the environment, while the player gets stunned and pushed backwards. However, there are certain dangers Rings cannot protect against, such as being crushed, falling into bottomless pits, failing missions with a time limit and drowning. In the pre-mentioned cases, the player's Ring count will reset to zero should they restart the level. Taking damage without a Ring will result in the character's aforementioned defeat.ĭuring the brief period where the players drop their Rings after taking damage, there is a chance to collect the scattered Rings, but they will eventually all disappear after a while. Also, upon taking damage and dropping the Rings, the player is given a momentary period of invulnerability (which is represented by the playable character rapidly flashing between visible and invisible). The amount of Rings the player drops when taking damage varies between games. In most cases, the player will drop all of them when taking damage, while in other games, only a portion of them will be dropped. The Rings' scattering pattern also varies in many later games, like in Sonic Rush where they bounce farther away the more hits the player takes. However, the player will not usually lose Rings if the playable character possesses any type of Shield and/or invincibility.

In several games, fewer 'recoverable' Rings are displayed on-screen when they are dropped than the number actually lost.

Sonic 1 sprite rings