Oil Ocean Zone (Sonic Mania)

Oil Ocean Zone is the ninth Zone for Sonic Mania. This Zone is a re-imagination of the Oil Ocean Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Mega Drive.

Overview
Like the original, the Oil Ocean Zone is an industrial area for extracting and processing oil. The entire region is a sea that has been blanketed by oil and is overcast by an orange sky with a lit horizon. Only some could and the obscured sun can be seen in it. The areas with solid footing consists exclusively of a network of metallic oil platforms and factories emblazoned with the Eggman Empire's decal, most of which are disposing oil into the sea. Along the roads are sections in purple and green with strange-looking ornaments.

As the player gets further into the Zone, the region becomes darker: the sky turns dark red, the oil pools become more frequent and the oil platforms' structures become more like buildings.

Gameplay
The oil pools in this Zone that the player can make contact with can be set ablaze by fire-based objects, like the Flame Shield or a Gohla's fireballs. This will create a field of fire that can damage the player should they touch it without protection, although it will eventually go out after a few seconds. Some edges also have yellow outcrops that crumble a second after the player touches them. There are also oil falls in the foreground that the player can climb by entering them and continuing to jump inside them.

Among the gimmicks in this Zone are elevators that can take the player up or down and oil slides that the player will ride automatically once they touch them. There are also green flame-propelled gas-burn platforms that get catapulted into the air in intervals, which the player can hitch a ride on. Some green pipes have as well spikes that slide along them.

A recurring effect in the second Act of this Zone is that the screen will gradually turn more and more smoky as time passes, making hit harder to see enemies or obstacles, and navigate the surroundings. To clear up the air, the player must grab and pull chain switches that hang from the ceiling. However, this effect is only temporary. The second Act also features springs that must be pushed back by the payable characters before they can launch them forward.

Like in the original Oil Ocean Zone, this Zone features Cannons which throw the player back and forth around the Zone, and fans that can blow the playable characters away or take them through the air.