Windmill Isle


 * For the Town Stage/Village on the same continent, see Apotos. For the technique that appears in Sonic Battle, see Windmill. For the object in Sonic Lost World, see Windmill (Sonic Lost World).

Windmill Isle (ホワイト アイランド) is the first stage in Sonic Unleashed. Windmill Isle is the stage that Sonic the Hedgehog first explores during the events of Sonic Unleashed, and serves as the tutorial level for the game. It is located in Apotos.

Windmill Isle takes place at a lush coast region, with various windmills and small towns that lie by the bay.

Overview
Windmill Isle is based on Greece and the Greek island of Mykonos. The main setting for this stage is that of a coastal region bordering the sea, which can almost always be seen in the background. The land that makes up the coast is mostly a highland, with steep cliffs bordering the sea, and high islands, both inhabited and uninhabited, adorning the sea nearby. Everywhere in the landscape, there can be found old-fashion windmills with jib sails.

In the outskirts of the urbanized areas, Windmill Isle is mainly composed of seaside fields, with hill-like rock formations that are covered in green grass and dirt pathways, which winds their way between the hills and along the edges of the cliffs bordering the ocean. The only kind of buildings that are located out here are the areas' trademark windmills.

In the populated areas of Windmill Isle, the landscape is dominated by the town of Apotos. These areas are filled with simple, but beautiful, whitewashed buildings and houses, complete with red and blue railings and balconies, that are build closely together, making the town resemble a suburb. Existing close by the buildings, several lone threes, potted plants and small grass fields can also be found adorning the town, with flowers and threes planted alongside the roads, and road-enclosing plant racks forming small tunnels and walls of flowers. The paths through the town in Windmill Isle are white stone streets raised above ground level. For paths over the water where grind rails are not required, long white bridges similar to the town streets stretch over the water.

In the daytime acts, Windmill Isle is brightly light up by the sun, with a light clouded sky. In the nighttime acts, the moon and street lights provides the only light for Windmill Isle.

Gameplay
In the daytime stages, the player mainly travels through the town of Apotos and the outskirts of the town, where the player has to make his way through dirt paths outside the towns and narrow alleys when passing through the town, without many environmental hazards besides bottomless pits. On the PS2/Wii version of Sonic Unleashed, the player stays on the mainland, while on the PS3/Xbox 360, the player mainly moves along the coast and across islands through grind rails and bridges.

In the nighttime acts on both versions of the game, the player travels through alleys, streets and sometimes garden areas, with the only real obstacles being the enemies and a few basic gimmicks, such as ledge climbing and lock puzzles.

Head for the Goal Ring 1
The first main act of Windmill Isle takes place on the outskirts of Apotos. Here, the player has to travel through the green landscapes with some sharp turns encountered occasionally while fighting some Egg Fighters and Spinners. Towards the end of the act, they player will enter the town, with the Goal Ring at the end of it.

Head for the Goal Ring 2
The second main act of Windmill Isle mostly takes place inside the town of Apotos, with the player passing through the main streets of the town. When having passed through a section of Apotos, the player will arrive at a stone path that will take the player along shore, before arriving in a new section of Apotos. Towards the end of the act, the player will arrive at long stone bridge across the water where he/she will be chased by the Interceptor, which the player has to destroy in order to proceed. After defeating the Interceptor, the player can proceed straight to the Goal Ring.

Act I: Moonlit Town
This act takes place inside the town of Apotos, where the player must proceed through the streets of quiet, nighttime town. Halfway through the act, a Dark Energy Force Field will appear and block the path. To unlock the force field, the player must collecting three Dark Energy Keys that can found in the act. After unlocking the Force Field, and defeating the incoming Dark Gaia Minions, the player can proceed to the Goal Ring.

Act II: Moonsoaked Alleys
This act still takes place in Apotos, through it is in the coastal region of the town. Near the middle of the act, the player come across some building that he/she must climb, using ledges and poles. Near the end of the act at the top of some ruins, is a wooden elevator shaft leading to the cliffs and the climax of the act where the player has to face Dark Gaia's Minions. Afterwards, the player can climb down to the Goal Ring.

Act III: Hill Beneath Starry Skies
This act takes place in some open garden areas in Apotos near the coast, which is littered with old ruins. After clearing out the first wave of Dark Gaia's Minions, a Dark Energy Force Field will block the player's path, which will only open after the player has found three Dark Energy Keys. After unlocking the Dark Energy Force Field and clearing out the following wave of Dark Gaia's Minions, the player can proceed to the Goal Ring.

Act 1
This act mostly takes place on the outskirts of Apotos from the place where Sonic crash-landed after being rejected from the Chaos Energy Cannon. This act serves as the tutorial act for the game's daytime acts, meaning the game's basic daytime controls are explained during the course of the act and that little resistance is met by the player. Here, the player has to make it through the rocky hills and over a precipice, before arriving at a bridge near the end of the act that will lead the player to Apotos and the Goal RIng.

Act 2
This act takes place across the town of Apotos. Here, the player travels through the streets and alleys of the parts of Apotos that exist alongside the coastline, moving from island to island through bridges, grind rails, platforms and/or ramps. Supposedly, this is the section where Sonic and Chip are exploring the town in serach for clues to Chip's identity.

Act 3
This act takes place on an encirculing course composed solely of grind railss over the sea. Here, the player has to make a full lap on the course by grinding, while avoiding obstacles, before making it to the Goal Ring.

Act 1
This act soley takes place within the town of Apotos. This act serves as the tutorial act for the game's nighttime acts, meaning the game's basic nighttime controls and gimmicks are explained during the course of the act and that the enemies are rather weak by comparison. Here, the player passes through the town's closely build streets, alleys and a garden area. At the end of the act, the player then has to defeat a Titan to make the Goal Ring appear.

Act 2
This act takes place in a large, enclosed, circular plaza, with twelve lift-able doors on the walls. Here, the player has to find three Key Stones and place them on their appropriate pedestals to unlock the path to the Goal Ring while fighting incoming waves of enemies. After unlocking the path, the player then has to defeat a Titan to make the Goal Ring appear.

Apotos and Shamar Adventure Pack DLC
The downloadable content pack for the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, the "Apotos and Shamar Adventure Pack", introduced two additional daytime and nighttime acts for Windmill Isle to the game. These acts are basically extensions of the original acts in the game, but are much more difficult to complete. The pack was released on Xbox Live for 250 MS Points on 21 May 2009 and on the PlayStation Network for $3.00 on 4 June 2009.

Act 1-2
This act takes place in the same area as the daytime Act 1 in the game. Here, the player has to first play the daytime Act 1 backwards, but with new and harder obstacles and enemies in the way, before proceeding to platforms existing outside the act's normal boundaries. The player then has to go through a modified version of the daytime Act 1's porper, before arriving at the Goal Ring.

Act 2-2
This act is basically the same as the daytime Act 2 in the game, expect the act has been modified, having been given more dangerous enemies and hazardous obstacles.

Act 4
This act mainly takes place in the town of Apotos and across the sea. Here, the player travels through the streets and alleys of the parts of Apotos that exist alongside the coastline, moving from island to island through bridges, while trying to avoid the countless obstacles in the narrow spaces, such as spikes, flamethrowers, enemies, bottomless pits and more.

Act 1-2
This act takes place in the same area as the last sections of the nighttime Act 1 in the game. Here, the player has to play the nighttime Act 1 backwards through a small platforming segment, but with more obstacles, such as saws and flawethrower, before having to solve a Key Stone puzzle with more powerful enemies nearby, to access the Goal Ring.

Act 1-3
This act mainly takes place in the small circular plaza area at the end of the nighttime Act 1 in the game. Here, the player has to defeat several waves of enemies, all of which are stronger, have more health and are harder to defeat with a Critical Hit maneuver than normal, before gaining access to the Goal Ring.

Trivia

 * Apotos is very similar to Water Palace from Sonic Rush and Blue Coast Zone from Sonic Rivals 2, in that they are all white seaside towns with a Greek theme.
 * It could be possibly that all three of the levels are located next or right-by each other.
 * In a trailer showing off the 3DS version of Sonic Generations, many thought that Apotos would return as a stage for this version. However, it later turned out to be Water Palace from Sonic Rush.
 * In the mobile version of Sonic Unleashed, Apotos heavily resembles Water Palace, and even borrows some elements from that zone. In addition, Apotos is the only zone in the game with water.