Think you’re fast? Show your speed in Sonic Forces, where you play as the Blue Blur (and his friends) in quick-fire multiplayer races. Scoring a first-place finish isn’t easy, so keep the lead with these five handy tactics:

Sonic loves gold rings—and so should you. Collecting them increases your overall pace; try to nab as many as possible, especially in the early going. And don’t forget—enemies hold rings too. See a bad guy? Smash it for more speed!

Nabbed a shield power-up? Don’t deploy it right away! Save it for a particularly tough stretch of trap-filled track or to block opponent attacks—like a pesky lightning bolt in the back—as you near the finish line.

Rings and items are incredibly useful, but always prioritize dash pads and green turbo trails. These give you a huge speed boost. Don’t skip ’em!

It takes a moment for item boxes to refresh after a racer picks them up. If you’re ahead of the pack, try to grab an item box right before you opponent reaches it—effectively blocking them from power-ups.

Don’t sleep on leveling up your racers! A supercharged Level 12 Sonic gets three fireballs from item boxes instead of just one. And his Power Sneakers’ boost lasts much longer if he’s at Level 14 or higher.