All the S@nics - the end

[kurt91]

At least with S&K, my first wall was Marble Garden Zone,

which is impressive considering that's a Sonic 3 level

Ah, got the level order confused between the two. Let's see, my first major wall in S&K was... Sandopolis Zone, Act 2. Damn ghosts. Funny how the next two Zones (3 if we count Hidden Palace) were my absolute favorite in the series. Lava Reef for music, Hidden Palace & Sky Sanctuary for doing essentially a plot dump with zero dialogue, and the setting for what's going on at SSZ is pretty badass.

[raekuul]

Tails, why'd you get in front? You know Sonic has top billing!

I'm not sure if I'm sad or relieved that I can't attach MIDI or MP3 to my post. Probably both.

[Heavy Sigh]

Fun Sonic Facts!

As the plans for Sonic 3 were laid out, Yasuhara and Naka wanted to create a large, sprawling game, with more content than any Sonic title to date, essentially accomplishing what they had first hoped to do in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Roger Hector, a director at STI and Executive Coordinator for Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles, knew almost from the start that such an ambitious project might be impossible in the form of a single game...but two games? That was possible.

However, not much more than this was decided so early on. Even as it was hammered down that there would be two games, no one actually knew what would go where, so everything was still developed like it was one game.

Level Facts!

Hydrocity's mix of land action and more purposeful underwater sections was made from the template of Chemical Plant Zone and was the first zone in the game to be so huge it butted up against the RAM limits of the Mega Drive. However, clever programmers circumvented this limit, and so the maps were able to be even bigger than what Sonic 2 had enjoyed.

[Grounder]

up+ plus jump with tails around and tails can give sonic a lift with some finagling

controls pretty much the same as tails' normal flight would, but if sonic would have an excuse to lose his grip he will

[Piesonscreations]

The parallax on the water is such a cool effect.

[thatguyif]

At this rate raocow will never do the cool thing

Also, you may want to stop screwing up them Blue Spheres

[Leet]

[KobaBeach]

i was about to post that you charlatan. you wench. you evildoer. you demon. you rascal.

[Reecer7]

ice cap zone theme is a massive bop, and so is the original hard times. easily my favorite new wave song named hard times, apologies to paramore.

[Heavy Sigh]

Fun KNUCKLES Facts!

Just like in Sonic 2, it was decided that a new character should be added to the world of Sonic the Hedgehog. To find this new character, the development team held an internal competition similar to the one that had yielded Sonic's adorable sidekick Tails. Of the many designs entered, it was Takashi "Thomas" Yuda's design of a spiny echidna which proved to be the most popular among the group.

While Yuda originally designed the character to be another friend to Sonic the Hedgehog, the team decided that, with how rough and tumble the character looked, he'd be better suited as a rival to Sonic, someone he would have to overcome during the course of the game in addition to Dr. Eggman.

When the design was presented to a focus group composed of children, they seemed quite taken with the Echidna, except for one thing.

He was green. This sole factor was almost universally disliked by the children. However, when one bright spark at SEGA showed the same design to the children, but with a red tint hastily added, it was met with much greater enthusiasm.

While these design kinks were being worked out (and the game's programmers discovering just how annoying certain colors of sock could be), Sega, not one to miss out on a chance to plaster Sonic's face all over everything ever, was in the process of working out a merchandising deal with Nike. Hoping to sweeten relations, a white swoosh was added to Knuckles, resembling both the Nike logo and the crescent markings of Moon Bears, an animal widely used as a symbol of strength and power. While the deal ultimately fell through, the markings on Knuckles remained, giving him the look that would make him stand out from the rest of the cast.

[Grounder]

well, you're gonna fly on sunday whether you like it or not, buddy

[Arctangent]

don't worry about those buns, they're swamp rabbits that eggman dyed gray because he's actually a huge bugs bunny fan

[Piesonscreations]

I'm surprised no one has brought up the whole hidrocity hidro-city pronounciation thing. I'm team hidro-city.

[Leet]

When the design was presented to a focus group composed of children, they seemed quite taken with the Echidna, except for one thing.

He was green. This sole factor was almost universally disliked by the children. However, when one bright spark at SEGA showed the same design to the children, but with a red tint hastily added, it was met with much greater enthusiasm.

this is hilarious if you know about some stuff from the comics

[Crow]

I'm surprised no one has brought up the whole hidrocity hidro-city pronounciation thing. I'm team hidro-city.

hi, drocy tie

[Matt is me]

I'm surprised no one has brought up the whole hidrocity hidro-city pronounciation thing. I'm team hidro-city.

I've always gone the other way, but only because I think it's wrong and when I was a kid it was funny to be intentionally wrong sometimes, and it became a bit of a habit. So while I'd disagree with you out loud, in my heart of hearts I know it's "hydro city".

[Leet]

"Hydrocity" as one word is waaay more fun to say and isn't that all that matters

[Super Maks 64]

I've only ever understood the name as Water City

[LunarRainbowShyGuy]

Back when I was a lot younger I would always be afraid of drowning in sonic water levels. Although in Hydrocity Zone you can get by without spending too much time in the water, which was definitely nice for my younger self.

On the topic of this place's name, I'll pronounce it either way depending on how I'm feeling at the time.

[moogy]

As much as I love the soundtrack of SA2 I feel like Hydrocity Act 2 is the best song in the entire Sonic franchise.

[Blivsey]

[Grounder]

[Heavy Sigh]

Fun Sonic Facts!

As development on Sonic 3 got underway, rather than brainstorming behind locked doors, the dev team decided to take more inspiration from the world around them, designing entire Zones from the names of places the group visited on field trips to get away from production for a scant few hours.

Angel Island, for example, was named after an island off the coast of San Francisco where STI was based, which was once a hub for immigrants coming to America. Carnival Night Zone was inspired by the many local carnivals that the group would see around the area, and IceCap Zone was derived from an often-visited snowboarding course that the team ostensibly went to for fun but mostly just got hurt by.

Fun Level Facts!

Marble Garden is both the largest Zone in any Classic Sonic game, and also enjoys the largest amount of Giant Rings in the game, clocking in at eight.

[Blivsey]

Hey look, it's Bubbles! This badnik is super cute. Poor guy gets overworked later in the franchise, though.

[KobaBeach]

When the design was presented to a focus group composed of children, they seemed quite taken with the Echidna, except for one thing.

He was green. This sole factor was almost universally disliked by the children. However, when one bright spark at SEGA showed the same design to the children, but with a red tint hastily added, it was met with much greater enthusiasm.

this is hilarious if you know about some stuff from the comics

Also