While many of us love this game, most would agree that the Time Eater fight is probably one of the worst bosses in the franchise. Its slow, it’s tedious, it’s annoying and it’s just poorly designed.
This can make getting the achievement for winning the fight without getting hit quite frustrating.

However there are some tips and tricks you can use that make this fight significantly easier. Once I found out about them I was able to get this achievement on my first try and defeat the boss in record time. They helped me, hopefully they help you too. Good Luck.

This is the biggest piece of advice I can give you.
Rather then holding the button down, Press the button for about 2 seconds then press it again. Keep doing this and you will quickly notice that you catch up to the boss much faster. This will save you a huge amount of time and allowed me to land my first hit in under 27 seconds.

Once you catch up to the boss don’t go straight for the core. Instead hang around its head to dodge its clapping arm attack, then move downwards to its core to land an easy hit against the boss. Do this 3 times and the fight is yours.

While it is possible to hit the boss while in 2D, it is hard to catch up and you’re better of just waiting it out. Just stay in 3D to make your life easier and wait for the boss to switch back.
That being said it is much easier to gather rings while in 2D so keep an eye on the right for groups of rings passing by in the 2D area and switch over if you need to raise your ring count.

Some of the boss’s attacks like the Warping Arm and the Laser can be annoying to dodge and sometimes seem to hit you out of nowhere. Remember that you can always switch to 2D to quickly get out of the way, but keep in mind that that Homing Shots will still track you even if you switch.
Remember its better to switch and lose a few seconds then to take a hit and have to start all over.

Its important to note that while it will slow you down, hitting debris does not count as taking damage in this fight. So if you hit some rubble or a chunk of rock, don’t panic and just keep going. Also remember you can press the button to launch classic sonic and destroy these obstacles to save yourself some time time.

It can be hard to gather rings and dodge incoming attacks while you are boosting as it significantly limits how well you can manoeuvre. Simply stop boosting and you will find you have much more control over your movement. This makes it much easier to gather rings and dodge incoming attacks.
Remember that its better to slow down and lose a few seconds then to take a hit and be forced to start over.

While they are not typically that hard to avoid, homing shots can catch you off guard once you start to close the distance and if you are not boosting properly they may even hit you from behind or just off-screen once you get close. Keep an eye on when the boss fires and give the shots a wide berth. Don't let these things catch you by surprise and force you to start over.

bE CaReFUl sOnIC
KeEP DodGING oR YoULL gET CRusHED!
wATch OUt fOR ThE lAzER!

It'Ll TaKe MoRe ThAn ThAt
To DeFeAt Us!

While I love these characters the dialogue in this fight is just the worst.
Do yourself a favour and go into settings and turn the dialogue volume to 0. Your ears will thank you.
Also change the music to something that’s actually good to listen to. I found Kingdom Valley to be a surprisingly good fit. This tip wont help you in the fight, but it will save your sanity.

This was my first attempt at making a guide on steam. If you found it helpful I would appreciate it if you let me know and hopefully it helped you get this achievement without too much trouble. Thanks for reading and good luck Obliterating Time Eater.