overbound
commented
7 months ago I was thinking about this a bit myself, but keeping it a bit simpler. One bonus stage with a slot machine in the center that gives away powerups repurposed from Attraction Attack. It could be centered in a playfield similar to Sonic & Knuckles slot machine bonus.
DrEggyniks91
I know it may be unnescary, but I feel like Bonus Stages can give you more opportunities to get shields and lives, which the game is built for.
30-50 rings will show you a Collision Chaos Act 2-esque brick breaker stage, except there's orbs with icons on them, either shields, rings with a 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100, lives. It will be filled with pinball levers(?) and a bouncy platform, which moves as you move, but will get smaller each time you bounce on it.
50 - more than 50 will teleport you to a stage with a Ball catcher that's either random or with a shield or 1up icon. All ball placement are random, so you'll never know what's the next. You'll have 1 min. and you'll have 10 tries to use the catcher machine. Every catch will increase the speed of the grabber, so you better time it right or you'll never get what you want.