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Favorite Sonic Stages

A

Arc Christelle

Member
While we wait for an announcement from Sega on how they're going to fuck up Sonic. I can't help but to think, Sonic's greatest asset is its stage design. Post your favorite Stages.

Sonic 1
Green Hill [I really didn't want to post any variation of Green Hill, but to be honest without Green Hill may not have gotten into Sonic. So kudos to the original. Even if Emerald Hills is better.]

Spring Yard

Sonic 2
Chemical Plant
Casino Night
Aquatic Ruin
Wing Fortress

Sonic 3
Angel Island Zone
Lava Reef Zone
Hydrocity Zone
Ice Cap Zone

&Knuckles
Lava Reef Zone
Mushroom Hills Zone
Flying Battery Zone
Sandopolis Zone
Hidden Palace
Sky Sanctuary

Knuckles Chaotix
Isolated Island [Door to Summer is the most amazing song ever.]
Speed Slider
Techno Tower
Botanic Base


Sonic 4
Splash Hill
Casino Street

Episode II
Sylvania Castle
Sky Fortress Zone

3D Blast
Rusty Ruins
Green Grove [I know I know but that song tho.]
Diamond Dust specifically the Genesis version. Because it's the only time the Genesis OST was better.
Panic Puppet
Volcano Valley

Sonic Adventure
Emerald Coast
Windy Valley
Speed Highway

Sonic Shuffle
4th Dimension
Emerald Coast
Riot Train

Sonic Adventure 2
City Escape
Radical Highway
Route whatever the fuck but I actually did like the Kart missions
Sky Rail
Green Forest
White Jungle
Metal Harbor
Final Rush [I enjoyed Chase too]
Wild Canyon
Dry Lagoon
Mad Space
Crazy Gadget

Sonic Heroes
Egg Fleet
......Ocean Palace - It's done to death but it was a great way of introducing the core gameplay and had the most variety.
Bingo Highway

Shadow The Hedgehog
The GameStop I bought it from because I was hype as hell.
My highschool campus when I let my friend have it because I didn't want that shit back.


Sonic 06
Kingdom Valley
Wave Ocean
Flame Core - Specifically that part with Knuckles where they play that chill jazz version.
Aquatic Base - It has my favorite Song.

I would include when I traded it in but Gamestop gave me little next to nothing so that stage was pretty trash.

Sonic Unleashed
Skyscraper Scramble Day
Apotos Act 2 Day
Apotos Night
Cool Edge Act 1 & 2 Day
Rooftop Run Day & Night
Jungle Joyride Day
Dragon Road Day
Mazuri Day and Night
Shamar Day and Night

Sonic Colors
Galactic Parade Starlight Carnival
Tropical Resort
Planet Wisp


Sonic Generations
Chemical Plant Modern
City Escape Modern
Sky Sanctuary
Speedy Highway
Ocean Palace
Crisis City [Even though I think it should have been Kingdom Valley]
Planet Wisp

Sonic Lost World
Windy Hill - I only played the demo. But I enjoyed the stage.

EDIT: I forgot to include Knuckles Chaotix
 
V

Vital Tundra

Member
Don't necessarily agree that stage design is its best, the music is amazing too.

Sonic 2

Chemical Plant Zone - The music is probably the best song found in any Sonic game.

Sonic Adventure 2

City Escape - What can you say? Sonic murders a bunch of soldiers, creates a makeshift board, and rides down a city, all while a radical song plays!
 
D

DorkyMohr

Banned
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Special Stage

Sonic_2_SpecialStage.gif
 
B

Bytes

Member
Speed Highway from Sonic Adventure. It was first time you got that sense of speed from a 3D Sonic game and it was an amazing feeling back then.
 
J

jackal27

Banned
All these Chemical Plant Zone lovers. I freaking hate that stage and its dead end drop offs and suddenly rising water. I'll never understand the appeal.

It sounds dumb, but I think that Jungle Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog Game Gear/Master System is my favorite.

https://youtu.be/fsrXuVFuFAw

I love all the vines that you can launch from and gain speed on. That music is dope too.
 
L

lazygecko

Member
Spring Yard in Sonic 1 was the stage that took the game concept to its true potential.

Other than that it's hard for me to pick favorites when I have to weigh both gameplay and aesthetics against eachother. The visual design of the stages in Sonic CD are my favorites by miles but quite often the gameplay doesn't hold up. Palmtree Panic plays just fine though and is my favorite out of all the Green Hill derivatives.
 
M

Mango The Magician

Banned
I really like the city levels like City Escape, Empire City, Speed Highway, Starlight Zone, Stardust Speedway and so on as I love that theme. I also really love a lot of the levels in SA2, like Radical Highway, Metal Harbor, and Green Forest.

And for good measure just throw in all the day levels from Unleash as they're beautiful.
 
A

Arc Christelle

Member
jackal27 said:
All these Chemical Plant Zone lovers. I freaking hate that stage and its dead end drop offs and suddenly rising water. I'll never understand the appeal.
Click to expand...
The thing about Chemical Plant Zone, is, it instills the heart of most good Sonic games and runs. If you're really good at the stage you can avoid even seeing the water.

Blackage said:
I know speedrunners hate Lava Reef Zone, but the track is so catchy!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wo_4R17gYSY
Click to expand...

That song is so damn good. No remix has given it justice.
 
R

Regiruler

Member
Sky Road Zone 2 (1 is also pretty good)
Tropical Coast Zone 3
Tropical Resort
Sky Babylon

Off the top of my head in no particular order
Edit: How can I forget Starlight Carnival? The GOAT
 
Yoshi

Yoshi

Headmaster of Console Warrior Jugendstrafanstalt
I particularly love City Escape (Sonic Adventure 2), Rooftop Run (Unleashed 360) and Chemical Plant (Sonic 2). City Escape in particular I could play countless times in a row without getting bored.
 
C

Crayolan

Member
Sonic 1
Star Light Zone.

Sonic 2
Chemical Plant Zone
Mystic Cave Zone

Sonic 3
Hydrocity Zone
Launch Base Zone

&Knuckles
Flying Battery Zone
Sky Sanctuary Zone

3D Blast
Panic Puppet

Sonic Adventure
Speed Highway
Sky Deck

Sonic Adventure 2
City Escape
Radical Highway
Green Forest
Metal Harbor
Crazy Gadget
Final Rush

Sonic Heroes
Egg Fleet

Shadow The Hedgehog
lol. I guess Sky Troops?

Sonic Unleashed
Rooftop Run Day
Jungle Joyride Day
Dragon Road Day
Eggmanland Day (Wii version)

Sonic Colors
Starlight Carnival
Planet Wisp
Asteroid Coaster


Sonic Generations
Sky Sanctuary
City Escape
Speed Highway Modern
Crisis City
 
R

Regiruler

Member
I just noticed OP used galactic parade for starlight carnival, so I thought it was a localization fuckup. It's actually its name from ASRT. Why did no one tell me it was made into a course?
 
A

Arc Christelle

Member
Regiruler said:
I just noticed OP used galactic parade for starlight carnival, so I thought it was a localization fuckup. It's actually its name from ASRT. Why did no one tell me it was made into a course?
Click to expand...

lmao I forgot the name and was like, "Yeah that about sounds right." But yeah it's Starlight Carnival and was one of the best stages on ASRT.
 
R

RGamer2009

Neo Member
Slightly off-topic dealing with stages, Sonic Generations made me angry a bit. The Sonic games have such nice level tropes, and they literally went with 4 city stages. Where is the ice level? The underground zone? The airship level? We didn't need 4 city levels in that game.

Now back on-topic for my favorite levels ever:

Green Hill Zone: Sonic 1
Aquatic Ruin: Sonic 2
Marble Garden: Sonic 3
Flying Battery: Sonic & Knuckles
Windy Valley: Sonic Adventure
Green Forest: Sonic Adventure 2
Frog Forest: Sonic Heroes
Empire City: Sonic Unleashed
Planet Wisp: Sonic Colors
Sky Sanctuary: Sonic Generations
Tropical Coast: Sonic Lost World

Didn't play Shadow or Sonic 06.
 
I

Industrialist

Member
Green Hill Zone, Casino Night Zone, done.

Casino Night Zone is probably my favourite level design/theme from any platformer ever, to be honest.
 
V

visiblemode

Member
Any stage where you are under water, running out of oxygen, and the music is going nuts -meanwhile your friends and family are all screaming at you to "Do something! He needs air!" Panic fills the room and everyone has a small taste of what actually watching a loved one drown must feel like.

Kidding, those levels are the actual worst thing ever.
 
N

NZerker12

Member
Sonic 1
Green Hill Zone
Star Light Zone.

Sonic 2
Emerald Hill Zone
Chemical Plant Zone
Casino Night Zone
Mystic Cave Zone

Sonic 3 & Knuckles
Hydrocity Zone
Ice Cap Zone
Launch Base Zone
Mushroom Hill Zone
Flying Battery Zone
Sky Sanctuary Zone

Sonic CD
Stardust Speedway
Metalic Madness

Sonic Adventure
Emerald Coast
Windy Valley
Speed Highway
Ice Cap

Sonic Adventure 2
City Escape
Radical Highway
Green Forest
White Forest
Metal Harbor

Sonic Unleashed
Windmill Isle
Skyscraper Scamper
Rooftop Run Day
Dragon Road Day
Eggmanland Day (Wii version)

Sonic Colors
Tropical Resort
Starlight Carnival
Aquarium Park
Planet Wisp

Sonic Generations
Green Hill Both
Chemical Plant Both
Sky Sanctuary Both
Speed Highway Modern
City Escape Both
Seaside Hill Modern
Crisis City Modern
Rooftop Run Both
 
A

Arc Christelle

Member
Vorg

Vorg

Banned
Ice cap in sonic 3 blows every other stage out of the water for me. It's just a great combination of graphics, music and gameplay.
 
A

Arc Christelle

Member
Vorg said:
Ice cap in sonic 3 blows every other stage out of the water for me. It's just a great combination of graphics, music and gameplay.
Click to expand...

I don't know, while the intro and the song is fire, there's a lot of repeats and the slingshot platform kinda gets stale/annoying both with the fact that its repetitive and that it breaks pace. It's a good stage, but I disagree in blowing every other stage out of the water, but I feel you.
 
E

Elfforkusu

Member
Lava Reef from S&K is the GOAT. In retrospect it's understandable why the franchise declined afterwards: there was nothing left to do.
 
woopWOOP

woopWOOP

Member
There's a new Sonic announcement coming?
I was going to name one per game, but since that's hard and people are posting big lists anyway:

Marble Zone - Actually a pain to play through, but love the mood and music.
Chemical Plant - Hated the rising water, but again the setting's great.
Casino Night - Love the cheerful late night setting.
Aquatic Ruin - Mostly thanks to the BGM.
Hydrocity Zone - Two acts having very different tunes is a great touch. Really like the 'giant submerged tomb/sewer' setting too.
Ice Cap Zone - Great track.
Carnival Night Zone - Same as Casino Night.
Hidden Palace Zone - They nail the mysterious mood of this enemy-less zone.
Metal Harbor - One weirdass harbor, but fun jumping around on.
Pumpkin Hill - I love that stupid song.

While I never played through Sonic Unleashed myself, I seen some speedruns not too long ago and visual-wise I really liked the atmosphere of every stage.
 
A

Arc Christelle

Member
Elfforkusu said:
Lava Reef from S&K is the GOAT. In retrospect it's understandable why the franchise declined afterwards: there was nothing left to do.
Click to expand...

I disagree. Even though I'm not a fan of Sonic Adventure 1, I think it and 2 Showcased brilliant new directions of gameplay and design that wasn't in Sonic games before.
 
A

A Huge Battleship

Member
One of my favourite things about the Genesis 2D Sonics is that despite having played through them a ton of times, you can count the number of Acts I could fully map out on the fingers of one hand. It preserves some of the games' freshness, even when revisiting them for the nth time.

If I had to pick a top 5, then ordered from 5th to 1st it'd probably be: Wing Fortress, Angel Island, Flying Battery, Death Egg (S&K) and Lava Reef. With the 3D games included, City Escape would probably be 3rd instead.
 
B

Babymario26

Member
Sonic Adventure's Lost World, Speedhighway
(up down and all around)
, and red mountain

Those are my favorites, but i enjoy almost all sonic levels.
 
A

Arc Christelle

Member
Ty4on said:
Chilling with the music there might have been the best part of the game.

Kingdom Valley is also the stage I keep replaying. White Acropolis for the music.
Click to expand...

White Acropolis was actually a pretty good stage, and I think was slight redemption for the entire Shadow The Hedgehog game, when reintroducing Shadow, he seemed functional, fluent, and even controlling his vehicles didn't feel like a total pain. Sadly the Rouge part like having to play with every other side character with the exception of Blaze who even played better than Silver - was terrible.

It's crazy how even in trash you can find something you enjoy.
 
Z

ZangBa

Member
Sonic Heroes may not be great, but the casino stage in that game was soooo fun. Probably my favorite stage in the series.
 
C

Cody_D165

Banned
just rattling a few off my head from the 2D games, but Ice Cap, Hill Top, Flying Battery, Chemical Plant, Casino Night, Mystic Cave, Metropolis, Sky Sanctuary... I could probably go on.

DorkyMohr said:
Sonic The Hedgehog 2
Special Stage

Sonic_2_SpecialStage.gif
Click to expand...

I really can't fucking wait to play these in 3D when the Sonic 2 3D Classic hits
 
J

Jimnymebob

Member
OK, I'll do my favourite from each game from the main series I've played properly to keep the list short:

Sonic 1: Starlight Zone
Sonic 2: Metropolis Zone
Sonic 3: Ice Cap Zone
Sonic & Knuckles: Sky Sanctuary
Sonic CD: Stardust Speedway
Sonic Adventure: Speed Highway
Sonic Adventure 2: City Escape
Sonic Heroes: Final Fortress
Sonic 06: Crisis City
Sonic Unleashed (Wii and PS3): Rooftop Run
Sonic Colours: Starlight Carnival
Sonic Generations: Classic Speed Highway

I've only played Sonic 06 recently, like I got it in March this year, and after playing through it as Sonic I now finally realise why they chose Crisis City instead of Kingdom Valley for the 06 Generations level; it was the only level that actually worked with some semblance of reliability.
 
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