For the Item Box power-up, see Power Core (power-up).

The Power Core^[1] (パワーコア^[2], Pawā Koa^?) is an object that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a form of energy cores for machines that can be used to upgrade the skills of the playable characters.

Power Cores have been used as a source of power for Badniks as an alternative to living animals.^[3]

Description

Appearance

Power Cores take the form of solid orbs that have some form of transparent casing around them. They come in three different colors: blue, yellow and red.

Powers and traits

The Power Cores serve as a form of energizing core for Badniks. However, they can also be harnessed by other robots and organic beings. When absorbed by those with an affinity for them, the Power Cores can amplify the physical attributes of the being in question, resulting in stronger attacks and abilities.

Game appearances

Sonic Heroes

The Power Cores made their debut in Sonic Heroes. In gameplay, Power Cores are used to upgrade the skills of the player's playable characters. A core's color indicates which team member it enhances: blue Power Cores level up Speed Type members, yellow Power Cores level up Fly Type members, and red Power Cores level up Power Type members. The maximum number of Power Cores a playable character can level up with is three. Whenever a playable character obtains a Power Core, they will say "Level up!" Regardless of which character collects it, it will go to its assigned character (e.g. if a Speed Type character collects a red Power Core, it will be given to the Power Type character).

There are a multitude of ways for the player to obtain Power Cores:

• Opening Floating Item Boxes and certain Item Boxes containing the Power Core power-up. While Item Boxes usually give one Power Core each, some Item Boxes and Floating Item Boxes (particularly those in some 2P Play stages) may give two or three Power Cores each instead.
• For every fifth enemy the player destroys, a random Power Core that is not of the formation leader's type will be dropped by the destroyed enemy. However, enemies like the Egg Hammer, Heavy-Egg Hammer, and the E-2000R will always drop one random Power that does not match the formation leader's type when destroyed.
• From Check Points^[4] or completing Bobsled/Trolley sections successfully. In these instances, depending on which character is the leader, the appropriate Power Core will be given to that leader.
• When playing as Team Rose, performing the Flower Festival Team Blast will grant each member a Power Core.
• When using the three-reel slot machines, if the player matches three of the same character icons or a single character and the game's logo icon while having all three characters inside, the player will receive the character icon's corresponding Power Core (Sonic, Tails and Knuckles gives Speed, Fly and Power respectively) in addition to Rings.

Obtaining Power Cores will alter and empower the playable character's attribute. These include the following parameters and attacks:

• Speed Type: Homing Attack, Rocket Accel, Kick/Swinging Hammer Attack/Shuriken, and increased acceleration and top speed
• Fly Type: Thunder Shoot and extended Flight Gauge duration
• Power Type: Wide Power Attack and increased attack damage

The Power Cores abilities are not permanent and will reset with each new stage the player plays through. Also, if the player loses a try during a stage, the playable characters' Power Core levels will all be reset as well.

Other game appearances

Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games

In the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, only red Power Cores appear.^[5] In this game, they are featured exclusively in the Dream Fencing event.

In gameplay, destroying the Egg Pawns and Flappers that appear in the arena will occasionally drop a Power Core when destroyed. Alternatively, the playable characters will automatically receive a Power Core upon returning to the arena after being knocked off it. When obtaining a Power Core, the playable character can perform an extra powerful Special Thrust once by pressing + / + at the same time.

Variants

Tricore

Main article: Tricore

The Tricore is a newly-developed Power Core created by Dr. Starline. It combines the three different Power Cores, thereby allowing the user to amplify their speed, agility, and strength with just one core. In addition, it can be used repeatedly hundreds of times, unlike the Power Cores, which can only be used once. However, the user can only access one power at a time, which can be exploited by their opponents. Additionally, while capable of frequent use, the Tricore’s power will be completely depleted if the user utilizes a powerful attack called the Tricore Blast.

In other media

Books and comics

IDW Publishing

In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by IDW Publishing, the Power Cores are objects used by the Eggman Empire. After several being hijacked by Dr. Starline, the latter convinced Zavok, Mimic, Rough, and Tumble that they would need Power Cores in order to carry out the next phase of Starline's grand plan, which was invading an Eggnet hub. To keep his allies from getting too powerful with the Power Cores, however, Starline lied that they would need special adapters to harness the Power Cores. To this end, the villains attacked one of Dr. Eggman's bases and stole crates full of Power Cores. In the meantime, Zavok acquired a red Power Core for himself, realizing Starline’s deceit. Upon returning to Dr. Starline's Repository, Starline combined three different Power Cores to create a Tricore for himself.^[6] Later, on the day of the crew's invasion of the Eggnet hub, Starline gave everyone their Core Gear with a Power Core attached; Rough got a blue one, Mimic a yellow one, and Zavok and Tumble a red one each. Using the Power Cores, the villains defeated the hub's Badnik guards and made their way to the hub's central computer.^[7]

After Starline's allies turned on him, Tumble failed to use his Power Core to attack Starline. Rough then used his Power Core to catch up to Starline, but Starline ambushed him and Tumble and poisoned them both with his Multi-Tool Heel Spurs. Soon after, Rough and Tumble exhausted their Power Cores. Later, Zavok used his Power Core to protect himself from the collapse of the building he was in as Dr. Eggman bombarded it, although the effort exhausted his Power Core.^[8]

Much later, Mimic used his Power Core again during his battle with Whisper to free himself from Silver's psychokinesis and hide in the crowd. When Silver caught him again, he flew away and tried to hide again, but Tangle stopped him. Eventually, he detonated his Power Core before Whisper could shoot him, killing himself and nearly Whisper as well.

Trivia

• In Shadow the Hedgehog: Prima Official Game Guide, artwork of Power Cores is repurposed to illustrate the color-changing sequence of the Color panels found in Mad Matrix. This results in a recolored "green" power core being shown, despite no such object existing in Sonic Heroes.
• In IDW Publishing, Eggman's containers for storing the Power Cores resemble gumball machines.^[6]

References