Elite Mode

Elite Mode, released on December 18, 2014, is a gameplay feature in Criminal Case.

Description
In Elite Mode the player is able to replay (previously solved) cases and earn Bronze, Silver and Gold Rings as rewards.

Unlocking Elite Mode
The player must do the following before unlocking the Elite Mode of a case: Once the player satisfies the aforementioned prerequisites, they can can simply unlock the (completed) case in Elite Mode. When they do so, any unused stars will be converted into snacks at the highest energy value; in this instance, if the player had nine stars, all of those stars will be converted to a total of three burgers given that one burger equals three stars.
 * Unlock the succeeding case.
 * Earn five stars in all crime scenes of the completed case.

All cases, with the exception of The Death of Rosa Wolf, can be played in Elite Mode after the unlock conditions are met. On a side note, the player cannot go back to the "normal mode" of a case once that case is entered in Elite Mode.

CAUTION! It's imperative that you play only the cases you intend to re-play in Elite Mode, as unlocking Elite Mode in one too many cases will result in other cases being locked for Elite Mode play unless you earn bronze rings for those cases you activated Elite Mode previously. Be thrifty in what cases you want to play in Elite Mode, and keep that in mind.

Rings
Elite Mode introduces a new set of collectibles based on Medals, called Rings. The conditions on earning Rings remain unchanged from how Medals are earned: the player will earn a Bronze Ring for arresting the killer, a Silver Ring for completing the Additional Investigation, and a Gold Ring for mastering all crime scenes in a case. However, no new features are unlocked by getting Rings – it is merely a decorative notation. As with Medals, Rings cannot be pre-earned by earning 45 stars before the Additional Investigation is finished – the player must earn the Rings in order: Bronze, Silver, and Gold.

Difficulty
The difficulty is interestingly more challenging in Elite Mode; for example, the crime scenes and mini-games are tougher, the points required to accumulate stars are significantly increased, and the analyses take twice as long as in the original mode to complete – allowing the player to put their "expert detective skills to the test". This, in turn, enables the player to earn even higher scores and show off their Elite Mode status as a type of achievement.

Extras
Additionally – once the player enters a case in Elite Mode – the background (around the case window and tablet), parts of the dialogue box, the case's marker on the map screen, etc., change to gold in color, not to mention a logo symbolizing the Elite Mode that generally appears on top, to represent this mode.