Bottomless pit

"Be careful not fall!"

- Tikal

Bottomless Pit (or pit) is a hole in video games, that generally lead to death of the playable character and the player will lose a life. Due having no ground or land to walk on the pit, bottomless pits can be found from lower sections of the level. In Sonic the Hedgehog games, bottomless pits are also seen as well and the method has been mostly the same. The player has to avoid these pits by crossing them with jumping, using gimmicks or other abilities. There are also different forms of pits as well, which the player is recommended to avoid.

Description
Bottomless Pits can be found almost every platforming title in Sonic series and are always be found at lower sections of the zones, action stages, adventure fields, boss stages or special stages. These pits are not always featured at every level, but become more general from level to level as the player progress during the game. When after falling to the pit, the player will lose a life and start from the beginning or the latest check point or is able to get Game Over, if rest of lives are used. Bottomless pits can be found normally underwater sections of the level as well. There are also been complete acts or zones, that have balancing platforming, while the bottomless pit has been below as a threat to the player.

There have been different forms of pits and some of have different methods as well. In most levels that featured anti-gravity as gimmick, the player would be able to fall to the empty area at the highest point of level, as it identifies as bottomless pit. One of the most well known pits are also ones with full of spikes, where the player is able to get out without losing life but rings or shield. Similar way lava pits work as well and the lava lakes can sometimes rise and increase (for example in Hill Top Zone and Lava Reef Zone). Also oil at Oil Ocean Zone is endless at the lowest part of the zone and sink to the death. Similar way small mud pits at Marble Garden Zone sink to the death as well, although the player can still jump out of oil and mud pits easily. Several quicksand sections at Sandopolis Zone in Sonic & Knuckles will cause to fall to the pit, even through some of quicksand sections lead to the secret passages of the zone.

Bottomless pits in 3D games have become even more common, as the player can mostly fall to the normal ones, ocean / lake or quicksand sections of the level and thus losing the life. In recent games, the player have been warned before entering section with bottomless pits with signs of exclamation mark, as it is first seen in Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors. Since Sonic Generations, there can be seen orange and black, floating warning signs, featuring render of Sonic with death pose from earlier games.