Mirage Saloon Zone

Mirage Saloon Zone (ミラージュサルーン) is the eighth Zone in Sonic Mania.

Overview
This Zone takes place in a vast desert based on those in American during the old west. The landscape features canyons, mesas and other rock formations, along with cactus vegetation in various forms. Huge mountains can also be spotted in the distance.

Act 2 of the Zone features multiple indoors areas modelled after wild west saloon bars. These include swivel stools and giant piano key-like platforms. Alongside them are also elements from casino/pinball stages. Posted on the walls indoors are also numerous wanted posters of Fang the Sniper, Bean the Dynamite and Bark the Polar Bear.

Story
Continuing their hunt for Dr. Eggman and the Phantom Ruby, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles arrive in the Mirage Saloon Zone onboard the Tornado. While in the air however, the Heavy Magician, one of the Hard Boiled Heavies, ambushes them, knocking Knuckles off the Tornado in the process. As such, while Sonic and Tails ward off Eggman and the Heavy Magician's tricks from midair, Knuckles is left to catch up to his friends from the ground. Eventually though, Sonic and Tails are forced down to the ground too when a familiar face causes the Tornado to crash.

Reunited, Sonic and his gang continue their trek through the Zone. At the end, they are attacked by the Heavy Magician, who is revealed to be the one who shot down the Tornado as she is able to disguise herself. After defeating the Hard Boiled Heavy, Sonic and co. use one of Mirage Saloon Zone's contraptions to shoot themselves to the Oil Ocean Zone in the horizon.

Gameplay
The Mirage Saloon Zone features gimmick mechanics reminiscent of western play. These include giant revolvers that (depending on the player's aim) shoots the playable characters certain distances, giant seltzer bottles that creates a guided path for the characters to run on, and piano keys that the player can bounce on. The Zone also features the return of many pinball-themed gimmicks, such as Flippers, Bumpers, and Breakaway Bumpers type items.

When this Zone is played as Knuckles, the Mirage Saloon Zone takes on a different Zone configuration compared to that of Sonic and Tails'.

Sonic and Tails
In Sonic and Tails' playthrough of this Act, the player must use the Tornado to fly across the zone. This is similar to Sky Chase Zone, avoiding enemies to progress. Soon, the player has to get of the Tornado and progress on a train until the player can jump into the train's pistol.

After defeating the Act 1 boss, the player is encountered by by what appears to be either Fang the Sniper, Bean the Dynamite, or Bark the Polar Bear riding on one of the Armadiloid Badniks. They will then attack the Tornado, causing it to crash and transition into Act 2.

Knuckles
Knuckles takes a different route in this Act after being knocked down into a canyon. In this version of the Act, the player travels through various tunnels and cave-like areas. Several Seesaw gimmicks are present throughout as well as sections that force the player to utilize Knuckles' gliding and wall climbing abilities in order to progress.

Sonic and Tails
This battle is fought aboard the Tornado. At the beginning of the battle, the Heavy Magician will reappear and make a RattleKiller Badnik appear out of her hat. The caterpillar transforms into the Uber Caterkiller. The Uber Caterkiller will leap out of the sand at the Tornado from various angles and it must be hit in the head to do damage. To defeat it, the player must hit it six times.

Knuckles
Knuckles' boss battle is heavily inspired by the battle against the Bead Worm Boss from Gigalopolis Zone in Sonic Chaos, albeit against the Uber Caterkiller. The Uber Caterkiller will launch its segments at Knuckles either by rolling them or bouncing them along the ground and Knuckles must avoid these and hit it in the head to do damage. When the Uber Caterkiller runs out of segments, it respawns three new segments and the fight continues. Land six hits on this boss in order to defeat it.

Trivia

 * The overall aesthetic of Mirage Saloon Zone is identical to the scrapped Desert Dazzle that was intended to be featured in the 2011 re-release of Sonic CD. Christian Whitehead later confirmed that Desert Dazzle was the inspiration for the Zone. Both levels also seem to bear similarities to Dust Hill Zone, another scrapped Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
 * This Zone contains multiple references to the rest of the Sonic series:
 * Multiple wanted posters of Fang the Sniper, Bark the Polar Bear, and Bean the Dynamite can be seen in the background. This trio of characters originally appeared on wanted posters at City Escape in Sonic Generations.
 * The "EG" Eggman symbol previously seen in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 appears on multiple objects in the Zone, much like it did on the popcorn machine gimmicks at Studiopolis Zone.
 * The gun-like launchers use the same design as the guns wielded by the Eggrobos in Sonic & Knuckles.
 * The piano key gimmicks that can launch the player like springs were similar to those featured at Music Plant in Sonic Advance 2.
 * The Roller mk.II Badniks that appear throughout the level have a color scheme similar to Mighty the Armadillo.
 * Act 1 for Sonic and Tails is based on Sky Chase Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2. Both Zones feature the player riding the Tornado and feature similar Badnik designs. The music for this Act also incorporates elements of Sky Chase Zone's music.
 * The Act 1 boss for Knuckles is based on the Bead Worm Boss of Gigalopolis Zone in Sonic Chaos.
 * The animation sequence at the end of Act 2 of this Zone has the character jumping into a gun-like launcher that launches him towards Oil Ocean Zone. This could lead to the likely conclusion that this Zone's location is on West Side Island.
 * During Act 1, the train includes oil tanks with "OOZ" on the side and the Oil Ocean color scheme, hinting at the zone that follows Mirage Saloon.
 * Being located in West Side Island also references the scrapped desert Zone from Sonic 2.
 * The label on the seltzer bottles reads "Egg•seltz•ior" a pun on the word "excelsior."

Videos
Sonic & Tails= Knuckles=