Zone



A Zone is the name used in early games of the Sonic the Hedgehog series to refer to the distinct playable levels. Each Zone is broken down into a number of Acts, each with its own finishing point. Most Zones have either two or three Acts, although some have one or four.

The term was used in this context in Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic 3D, and others. (Sonic CD changed the terminology somewhat, using "Rounds" in place of Zones and using the word "Zone" to refer to what was usually called an Act.)

Each Zone usually has its own unique landscape, palette, and sprites, with its own set of enemies to defeat and obstacles to overcome. Each zone divided into 2 or 3 "Acts" and at the end of the first few Acts is a Bonus Plate which marks the end of the act as well as grant a bonus depending what the post sign displays. The final act is usually shorter and ends with a boss fight (usually against Doctor Eggman in a machine of sorts). However, some Zones will have different appearances across their separate acts (for example, Act 3 of the Scrap Brain Zone in Sonic 1 resembles the earlier Labyrinth Zone more than Scrap Brain's first two Acts).

It is not clear within the games whether the name of the Zone also relates to the location where the level is set (in some instances, such as the Doomsday Zone, which takes place in space, it is quite clear that this is not the case), but in many cases the name of the location is taken to be the same.

Action Stage
In later games since Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, Zones were replaced with Action Stages or just stages which were similar to Zones, but instead of divided into 3 acts, were single whole levels, most not ending with a boss fight (some were but as part of the story straight after the stage). While each stages were named they were not "zones" as in the locations names ended with "Zone", however like the previous Zones they all stages had double-word names, however not ending with "-Zone". Some Action Stages are in parts but not seperate acts, simply getting through the entire stage to the goal. Also the ending of the Action Stages do not have Bonus Plate at the end but giant Goal Ring. (In Sonic Adventure it was originally Egg Capsule or a Chaos Emerald if part of the story.)

Another variety of Action Stage is not about going towards the goal but looking for 3 parts of a treasure. These stages are for treasure hunters like Knuckles or Rouge in which they usually search for pieces of the Master Emerald, however other items have been searched for like keys in Death Chamber and Chaos Emeralds in Security Hall.

Sonic the Comic
In Sonic the Comic, the term "Zone" is used much as it is in the games themselves. In particular, a backup story in Sonic the Comic #25 specifies that the planet Mobius is broken down into continents, which are themselves broken down into Zones. Various stories also make it clear that many Zones operate independently of each other and that, with the exception of Doctor Robotnik's world-wide dictatorship that operates out of the Metropolis Zone, the Zones tend to govern themselves. (This makes them loosely comparable to real-world countries.)

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series by Archie Comics, the term Zone is used to refer to one of a number of parallel existences. These include Mobius Prime (the home of Sonic and friends), Moebius, and the No Zone.