Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
Corneo Colosseum and the Shinra Combat Simulator
Updated 2026-10-09
Full spoilers.
The game has two arenas. The Corneo Colosseum under Wall Market is open in Chapters 9 and 14. The Shinra Combat Simulator in Shinra HQ is open in Chapter 16, and in Chapter 17 on Hard it grows a second, much harder set of courses. INTERmission has its own simulator for Yuffie and Sonon.
Every course works the same way: a short gauntlet of rounds, usually five, with items disabled. The reward listed for each course is paid on the first clear only; repeat clears pay a Grab Bag. Rewards do not change with difficulty, so there is no reason to do the any-difficulty courses on anything but the easiest setting you are comfortable with.
Corneo Colosseum
The story gets there first. In Chapter 9 Cloud fights through the Corneo Cup — Beastmaster & Bloodhounds, then Beck’s Badasses, then Cutty & Sweepy — and the night ends with Hell House. The optional challenges open after that.
Your first win in any of them pays the Returning Champion trophy.
| Course | Party | Ch | First clear |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloud vs. Wild Animals | Cloud alone | 9 (and 14) | Legacy: Ascension |
| Aerith vs. Wild Animals | Aerith alone | 9 only | Legacy: Planet’s Protection |
| Barret vs. Wild Animals | Barret alone | 14 only | Legacy: Catastrophe |
| Tifa vs. Wild Animals | Tifa alone | 14 only | Legacy: Dolphin Flurry |
| Two-Person Team vs. Slum Outlaws | Any two | 9 (and 14) | Clarity Pendant |
| Cloud vs. Shinra Thugs | Cloud alone | 9 (and 14) | The Art of Swordplay Vol. II |
| Aerith vs. Shinra Thugs | Aerith alone | 9 only | Telluric Scriptures Vol. II |
| Barret vs. Shinra Thugs | Barret alone | 14 only | Sharpshooter’s Companion Vol. II |
| Tifa vs. Shinra Thugs | Tifa alone | 14 only | Way of the Fist Vol. II |
| Three-Person Team vs. Shinra Warriors | Any three | 14 | Tarot Cards |
| Two-Person Team vs. Team Payback | Any two | 14 | Moogle’s Amulet |
The split follows the party. Aerith is only at the Colosseum in Chapter 9; Barret and Tifa only in Chapter 14. Cloud is in both.
What you fight:
- Wild Animals: Wererats; Gorgers with a Blugu; Guard Dogs; a Hedgehog Pie and a Grashtrike; a Lesser Drake.
- Slum Outlaws: Corneo’s lackeys and bandits, ending with The Huntsman and his men.
- Shinra Thugs: troopers and turrets — Security Officers, Grenadiers and a Sentry Gun Prototype; Flametroopers; Sentry Rays with a Shock Trooper; Slug-Rays with a Riot Trooper; a Sweeper and a Sentry Launcher.
- Shinra Warriors: a mixed bag of Shinra forces and monsters, ending with a Queen Grashtrike and two Venomantis.
- Team Payback: a reunion of the side-quest bosses — Hedgehog Pie King, Wrath Hound, Doomrat with a Chromogger, a Bomb with a Cerulean Drake, a Mark II Monodrive with a Jury-Rigged Cutter.
The Legacy books teach each character a second Limit Break. Cloud’s and Aerith’s are Chapter 9 business; do not leave Wall Market without them.
After the credits, the Chapter 14 Colosseum becomes the game’s standard grinding spot for EXP and AP.
Shinra Combat Simulator — Chapter 16
Open on any difficulty once you reach Shinra HQ.
| Course | Party | First clear |
|---|---|---|
| Three-Person Team vs. Mayor Is Best | Any three | Mega-Potion |
| Cloud vs. SOLDIER Trainees | Cloud alone | Cog Bangle |
| Barret vs. SOLDIER Trainees | Barret alone | Supreme Bracer |
| Tifa vs. SOLDIER Trainees | Tifa alone | Rune Armlet |
| Aerith vs. SOLDIER Trainees | Aerith alone | Geometric Bracelet |
| Two-Person Team vs. High Flyers | Any two | Gil Up Materia |
| Three-Person Team vs. Team Ragbag | Any three | EXP Up Materia |
Mayor Is Best is tied to Mayor Domino’s challenge in the story.
The four SOLDIER Trainees courses pay accessories, and the Supreme Bracer earns a place in the Pride and Joy setup most guides recommend for Top Secrets.
A shortcut for the post-game: pick Chapter 17 in Chapter Select and the simulator is reachable for a short stretch before you take the elevator to the Drum. That is much quicker than replaying Chapter 16 to reach it.
Shinra Combat Simulator — Chapter 17, Hard only
After the credits, play Chapter 17 on Hard and the simulator offers a new set.
| Course | Party | First clear |
|---|---|---|
| Cloud vs. 3-C SOLDIER Candidates | Cloud alone | The Art of Swordplay Vol. XIII |
| Barret vs. 3-C SOLDIER Candidates | Barret alone | Sharpshooter’s Companion Vol. XIII |
| Tifa vs. 3-C SOLDIER Candidates | Tifa alone | Way of the Fist Vol. XIII |
| Aerith vs. 3-C SOLDIER Candidates | Aerith alone | Telluric Scriptures Vol. XI |
| Two-Person Team vs. Dynamic Duos | Any two | Refocus Materia |
| Three-Person Team vs. Monsters of Legend | Any three | Refocus Materia |
| Three-Person Team vs. Top Secrets | Any three | Götterdämmerung |
| Three-Person Team vs. The Immaculate One | Any three | Götterdämmerung x2 |
Four of the eight are manuscripts, and Aerith’s is numbered differently from the other three. See the manuscripts guide.
Monsters of Legend runs Bomb, Tonberry, Type-0 Behemoth, Bomb and Tonberry together, then a Malboro. It is the only Malboro in the game, so it is the only way to the That’s the Smell trophy and to Bad Breath, the enemy skill Master of Mimicry needs. Bring Enemy Skill Materia equipped.
Top Secrets is Shiva, Fat Chocobo, Leviathan and Bahamut in a row, then the Pride and Joy Prototype. It shows as ??? until you have cleared every Corneo Colosseum course, every other simulator course and all 20 Battle Intel reports. First clear pays the Gold trophy Ultimate Weapon.
The Immaculate One is the Intergrade addition: Weiss the Immaculate. It appears in this Chapter 17 simulator once you have cleared INTERmission, and beating it pays Corrupter of the Immaculate.
A sensible order
- The four 3-C SOLDIER Candidates solo courses. Each pays a manuscript, and they are one character at a time.
- Dynamic Duos.
- Monsters of Legend — with Enemy Skill equipped for Bad Breath.
- Top Secrets, once the ??? lifts.
- The Immaculate One, after INTERmission.
INTERmission simulator
After you clear INTERmission, its simulator offers three courses for Yuffie and Sonon together.
| Course | First clear |
|---|---|
| Yuffie & Sonon vs. Shinra’s Dark Secrets | Enfeeblement Ring |
| Yuffie & Sonon vs. Midgarian Monsters | Enfeeblement Ring |
| Yuffie & Sonon vs. Top Secrets | Götterdämmerung x2 |
The last one is summons and the Pride and Joy Mk 0.5, and needs the two before it. It pays Ultimate Weapon 2.0.
What closes and what doesn’t
Inside a single run, the Colosseum is missable in a narrow way: Aerith’s two courses are Chapter 9 only, and Barret’s and Tifa’s are Chapter 14 only. Skip them and they are gone until the credits. After the credits, Chapter Select reopens both visits, the Chapter 16 simulator and the Chapter 17 Hard set. Nothing on this page is permanently lost.
Game Notes
The Colosseum is the best-designed side activity in the game because it is quietly a party-building tutorial. The solo courses take away your AI partners and your items and leave you with one character’s kit — the first time many players learn what Aerith actually does on her own. The rewards follow suit: Limit Breaks and manuscripts, both of which only make sense once you understand the character.
The simulator is the opposite: an exam, not a lesson. The Chapter 16 set is fair and pays very well. The Chapter 17 Hard set is the hardest content in the main game, and Top Secrets is the actual final boss for completionists — five fights in a row, no items, and a prototype weapon at the end that will undo a careless party in seconds.
The gate on Top Secrets is the part worth planning around. It wants every Colosseum course from two separate chapter visits, every simulator course and every Battle Intel report. Tick them off as you go, so that when the ??? is still there you know where to look.