Top Sonic level themes

[MrLevRocks]

Hello folks,

I've wanted to share an idea with you. Similar to the "Top 5 games" threat here I wanted to make a list of my personal top 5 of level themes in the Sonic the Hedgehog games. But without real rules! Please use "http://info.sonicretro.org/Level_themes" as a list of all level themes, but you may also tell others IF you can tell arguements why this level theme is not part of the info.sonicretro.org list.

 

Let's begin

 

#5: Green Hill theme/tropical island cliché

What would be a Sonic game without one of these, they are fun easy and always bring you into the spirit of Sonic games. Many people dislike their position as the first Zone of a game but I think this is great because you can easily stack up on lives and continiues. Notable Zones in this theme include: the ORIGINAL Green Hill, Palmtree Panic, Sunset Hill, Leaf Forest and Green HIll.

 

#4: Flying fortress theme

A great theme, sadly a rare one too. I love to call these level "Flying Fucks", just cause I can. These levels mostly appear late in the game and are rather difficult, but still fun. Just the idea of a giant flying military station is already interesting. Notable Zones in this theme include: F*ckin' Battery from S&K, Wing F*ckfest from S2 and Sky B*tch from S1(8-Bit). (yes I usually refer these Zone with these names, deal with it!)

 

#3: Urban theme

I always loved the city levels. They were huge, had so much going on and were, unlike other levels, mostly rational. Their speed and simple platforming made those levels extreme fun 'cause they really showcased what Sonic was about, speed and platfoming. Generally these levels were more easy than difficult, but fun was still havable. Notable Zones in this theme include: Route 99, Gigalopolis, Star Light and Stardust Speedway

 

#2: Casino/carnival theme

The music in the zones is great, the level design is god-like and the overall atmosphere is rather slow paced. But still this theme features lots and lots of gimmicks, most of them are fun and lots of ways to spend too much time in these Zones. Considering they are not that hard, it's still a good place to farm lives and continues. Notable Zones in this theme include: Casino Night, carnival Night, Cosmic Casino, Casino Paradise and Toy Kingdom.

 

#1: Industrial theme

Robotnik is evil, right? Robotnik builds robots, right? To build robots you need you nee da factory, right? Robotnik has HUGE factories and I love them! They are most of the time difficult, sometimes even cheap but still, seeing what the ol' Doc can build up, it is simply fascinating. Notable Zones in this theme include: Metropolis, Scrap Brain, Metalic Madness, Secret Base and Wacky Workbench.

 

This is my o(pi)nion, tell me yours by answering to this topic and have fun!

Edited May 2, 2014 by MrLevRocks

[Stardust Gear]

@MrLevRocks, did you write intentionally with spelling errors?

 

Spelling Errors (and fixes  ):

easyly -> easily.

interessting -> interesting.

thees -> these.

carneval -> carnival.

gimmics -> gimmicks.

spend ovely much time -> spend too much time.

Scrap Barin -> Scrap Brain.

anwering -> answering.

 

Nevertheless, your article is aewsome (->awesome) and funny!

 

EDIT: BTW, I SEE YOU HAVE FIXED THE SPELLING ERRORS!!!!!!!!!

Edited May 5, 2014 by Stardust Gear

[MrLevRocks]

Actually... NO!

I'm from Germany-land, now living in France. And I never really had a good English teacher, so, yeah, I'm bad *facepalms* Most of these mistake aren't even mistakes, they're just typos, gonna' fix 'em!

[DimensionWarped]

#1: Caverns - parts of Ice Cap Zone, Lava Reef, Mystic Caves, Quartz Quadrant, but not Marble Garden... which is more of a fire + ruins hybrid, also my own Madcap Grotto would be an example

Why: They tend to be fairly tight, but have lots of wide open chambers which make for good self-contained challenges. They lend themselves well to coasting, but tend to be somewhat harder than other stages that do so.

 

#2: Clean Technology (less industrial feeling) - Death Egg Zone (S&K), Wacky Workbench (granted bad future looks dirty and more industrial), Launch Base Zone, probably some others. Doesn't include Metropolis, Scrap Brain, or Metallic Madness which all fall under the more heavy industry theme

Why: They tend to indicate some sort of climax and they just look awesome.

 

#3: Heavy Industry - More mechanical, less pristine. Metropolis, Scrap Brain, Metallic Madness, does not include Chemical Plant or Oil Ocean which are a little harder to categorize

Why: They have lots of viscerally pleasing gimmicks and they tend to bring the highest amount of challenge.

 

#4: Sky and such - Wing Fortress Zone, Sky Sanctuary Zone, Flying Battery Zone, etc.

Why: These levels just tend to be balls to the wall crazy. They are the only places where bottomless pits seem justified and they tend to mix it up with other themes like mechanical or ruins.

 

#5: Mountains - Hill Top Zone, the other parts of Ice Cap Zone, Marble Garden (even though I dislike this stage because of how slow paced and huge it is), does not include any of the GHZ/EHZ/etc. types because those fit in their own special category of open basic stages.

Why: Lots of vertical scaling with a surprisingly small amount of coasting.

 

Honorable mention: City themed (Starlight Zone, Stardust Speedway, numerous levels from the 3D titles)

 

Now... if I were to do a top three most disliked themes list...

 

#1: Hills (GHZ and EHZ, parts of Aquatic Ruin [a stage I like], but not Mushroom Hill which fits more into the forest trope along with Angel Island Zone)

Why: I hate easy and I hate boring. These levels tend not to have a lot of activity going on.

 

#2: Aquatic (Labyrinth and Tidal Tempest are probably the only levels I legitimately dislike in this category, but it would also include Hydrocity just going by the theming)

Why: I hate dragging my ass through water.

 

#3: Casinos, Circuses, Carnivals, and other attraction type stages (Spring Yard, Casino Night, Carnival Night, Collision Chaos)

Why: I hate feeling like I'm not in control and these levels tend to make you bounce erratically and push you through things.