Quote Originally Posted by Fynlar View Post
How does any of this explain why it apparently makes perfect sense for one stage to give a boost to the people who are doing well and for another stage to give a boost to the people who aren't?

Not sure what you are missing here.

These two rounds also aren't that drastically different; crystals is ultimately just 3 smaller "races" in a single stage.
Because its the concept of how the race works. Lets take your Hit parade example. When you complete hit parade, you are immediately in place for the next obstacle being the purple goo with snowballs. Now take the crystals. Once you complete a path, you have to run all the way back to the middle to grab your next orb for your path, just like you would if you failed since you need to go re-grab your orb.

Essentially the sprint in the crystal course is their way of getting you to the next objective as soon as possible.