Ares Island, the second world of Sonic Frontiers, introduces new Challenges scattered throughout its deserts, canyons, and plateaus. Combined with familiar puzzles you'll recognize from Kronos Island, these Challenges will keep you guessing as you explore the new environment.
We tracked down and solved all twenty-eight of the Challenges on Ares Island. This guide contains all their locations, rewards, and tips for completing them. Once you've solved all of them, you'll be able to fast-travel to all the island's Portals – from there, finishing Ares Island and defeating Wyvern should be a snap!
M-026
- Location: In the southwestern corner of the map, near Elder Koco’s oasis.
- Reward: Red Seed.
Attack the red punching bag to begin the challenge. You need to deal fifty damage within ten seconds, which you can easily do by simply hammering the attack button.
M-027
- Location: Southwest of the Eggman crash site near the first Strider.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Clear away the small piles of sand nearby using Cyloop, then press the buttons underneath. The third one is on a rocky outcropping next to the Challenge Marker, so don’t forget to check up there!
M-028
- Location: East of the Eggman crash site near the first Strider.
- Reward: Red Seed.
Stand on the triangular pedestal to start the Challenge. Once the timer starts, hold both Dodge buttons to prepare a parry and wait for a yellow projectile to hit you. Sonic will parry the shot and complete the challenge.
M-029
- Location: On a small island in the southeast corner of the map.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Hit the hourglass then race to the top of the nearby plateau. Beware of the grind rails on the way up, as they have boosters at the end that will shoot you off the plateau; jump off before you hit them!
M-030
- Location: West and slightly north of the Stage 2-1 Portal
- Reward: Red Seed.
Step on the two regular buttons to activate them. The third button requires more force; use Stomp repeatedly on top of it until it lights up. It should take three attacks.
M-031
- Location: In the canyon west of the Blue Emerald Vault.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Use Homing Attack on the hourglass to start the timer, then run along the canyon floor hitting all the targets as you go. You’ll need to strike a balance between boosting for speed and slowing down for accuracy.
M-032
- Location: In the northwest section of the canyon leading to the northern half of the island.
- Reward: Red Seed.
Attack the hourglass to make three platforms appear. Use Homing Attack to reach the springboard attached to the nearest one, then use Cyloop to activate the glowing orb when you land. Use the springboard to reach the next platform, then do the same thing once more. When all three orbs have been activated within thirty seconds, the Challenge is completed.
Avoid using Boost, as you’ll overshoot the platforms!
M-033
- Location: East of the Strider on the western side of the island.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Follow the diagram above to step on the lit tiles once each without stepping off.
M-034
- Location: North of the Stage 2-5 Portal, on the western edge of the island.
- Reward: Red Seed, plus several lost Koco along the way. There are some Purple Coins in the ruins near the goal as well!
Hit the hourglass with a Homing Attack to start the Challenge. Use the spring in front of you to get a fast start, and use every booster, rail, and platform you see to follow the path to the top of the plateau. There’s enough time that you can afford to make mistakes, but you’ll be in much better shape if you take your time and don’t overshoot.
M-035
- Location: Northeast of the Stage 2-4 Portal.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Hit the punching bag for a total of one hundred damage within the time limit. A Stomp at the very end of the timer should put you well over the necessary threshold.
M-036
- Location: South and slightly east of the Yellow Emerald Vault.
- Reward: Red Seed.
Use Cyloop to activate the pedestal near the cliffside. When the blue ball appears, use Homing Attack to hit it through one of the hoops off the cliff. When you’ve gotten the ball through both hoops, the Challenge is completed.
M-037
- Location: East of the Yellow Emerald Shrine.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Walk on the grid so that you only step on each lit panel once. Follow the diagram above for a winning path.
M-038
- Location: Midway between the White and Yellow Emerald Vaults. Watch out for the Tank nearby!
- Reward: Red Seed.
Look for a glowing orb moving around the area. Approach it and hold the attack button while you’re within arm’s reach of it. If you stay near it long enough for the attack to fully charge, you’ll catch the orb and solve the Challenge.
M-039
- Location: On a rocky outcropping northeast of the Red Emerald Vault.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Stand on the triangular pedestal to start the Challenge. A cannon will fire projectiles at you: parry by holding both dodge buttons simultaneously. When you’ve parried three shots, you’ll receive your reward.
After parrying any attack, you need to release the buttons and press them again to set up a new parry.
M-040
- Location: At the edge of the island, far to the east of the Red Emerald Vault.
- Reward: Red Seed
Hit the Hourglass to start the timer, then run through all the blue targets along the course in front of you. Avoid Boosting, as this can cause you to overshoot and send you over the edge of the cliffs. Even without Boosts, you can finish the Challenge with a good thirty seconds left over.
M-041
- Location: At the eastern edge of the island. Go east from the Red Emerald Vault then south along the edge of the map until you reach the Challenge Marker.
- Reward: Red Seed
Stomp on each of the buttons near the ruined house three times; when all three are lit up, you’ll receive your reward.
M-042
- Location: In a canyon far to the east of the Stage 2-1 Portal, near the entrance to the ruins that lead to the Purple Portal. You can’t access it from the southern half of the island, so you’ll need to go east from the Red Emerald Vault and then work your way south through the ruins. Be sure to visit Big along the way to get some extra items!
- Reward: Red Seed
Note the lights on the pillars next to the torches. Use Cyloop to extinguish the torches in the order indicated by the number of lights on each pillar. In the image above, the center pillar has one light, the left has two, and the right has three, indicating that the torches should be extinguished in that order.
M-043
- Location: Southeast of the Red Emerald Vault.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
This Challenge is identical to M-042, except that it has more torches. Extinguish them with Cyloop in the order indicated by the nearby pillars.
M-044
- Location: South of the Blue Emerald Shrine, near Hermit Koco. Only available at night.
- Reward: Red Seed.
Use Cyloop to activate all the glowing lights in the oasis. There are five in total, and most appear near the water around Hermit Koco. They only appear one at a time, so after activating one stand still and rotate the camera until you see the next one.
As an added bonus, there’s a Vault Key buried nearby – look for a treasure icon!
M-045
- Location: On a plateau northwest of the Stage 2-1 Portal.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Hit the hourglass to begin the Challenge, then use Homing Attack on the nearby flower to launch into the air. On the way down, hit all the square targets to finish the Challenge.
M-046
- Location: East of the Stage 2-4 Portal.
- Reward: Red Seed.
Step on the tiles following the diagram above so that you hit each lit tile exactly once.
M-047
- Location: In a canyon between the Blue and Red Emerald Vaults.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Use Cyloop to activate the pedestal, then use Homing Attack to knock the ball through each of the hoops that appear. The higher hoop requires that Sonic hit the ball from below to get extra altitude, so don’t jump before using Homing Attack when trying to hit it. If you still can’t get the angle right, try moving closer to the ball before attacking.
M-048
- Location: Next to the flooded oasis.
- Reward: Red Seed.
Stand on the green tile to begin, then dodge left and right as necessary to hit each tile as it lights up. The Challenge will complete after nine correct inputs.
M-049
- Location: The bottom of a cliff west of Stage 2-3.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Attack the hourglass to start the timer. Follow the targets to the pile of rubble, then use Cyloop to repair the pile. Run up the pillar that’s built to hit the remaining targets.
M-050
- Location: Northwest of the Red Emerald Vault.
- Reward: Red Seed.
Hit the hourglass with a Homing Attack to start the timer, then do the same to the nearby flower to fly into the air. Hit all three targets on the way back down to complete the Challenge.
M-051
- Location: On a plateau southwest of the Portal to Stage 2-6.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Walk on the lit tiles according to the diagram above to touch them all once without stepping on a dark tile.
M-052
- Location: At the bottom of the canyon east of the Red Emerald Vault.
- Reward: Red Seed.
Stand on the green tile to begin the Challenge. Dodge left and right to hit the tiles as they light up. You’ll complete the challenge after twelve correct inputs.
M-053
- Location: In the cliffs east of Stage 2-5. You can reach it easily by climbing the ruins near the goal from Challenge M-034.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Use the spring at the bottom of the cliff to get started. Follow the boosters and rails, and they’ll take you straight to the goal at the top of the cliff!
M-054
- Location: On a plateau in the southeast corner of the map.
- Reward: Blue Seed.
Start the Challenge by attacking the hourglass, then run toward the springboard that it points you to. Follow the course, hitting every target along the way, to complete the Challenge.
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