Station Square

Station Square (ステーションスクエア) is one of the three "Adventure Fields" in the game Sonic Adventure and its remake, Sonic Adventure DX.

Station Square is a heavily populated city famous for its many attractions, including an amusement park (the Twinkle Park level), a hotel/restaurant, and a casino (the Casinopolis level). An elevator also leads to the Speed Highway level, located above the city. A train station in the city allows the player to take a train to the Mystic Ruins, while a boat allows them to reach Eggman's crashed Egg Carrier. It has a human population of 2,856,427 and a near-resemblance to New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston.

Story
In the beginning of Sonic Adventure, Sonic goes to Station Square for fun, and stumbles across Chaos, a strange creature that is wreaking havoc on the city. Sonic defeats it, and later learns that Doctor Eggman had released Chaos and is planning on collecting the seven Chaos Emeralds to transform Chaos into an incredibly powerful beast that can destroy Station Square, so that Eggman can build his Eggmanland on its ruins.

Sonic and Tails go after the Chaos Emeralds in order to stop Chaos from obtaining them, and one was found in Station Square (in Casinopolis, to be precise). Station Square also plays a role in the other characters' stories: Knuckles finds three pieces of the Master Emerald there, Amy lives there, and Big and Gamma both go there looking for Froggy.

Eventually the heroes face off against Eggman in his Egg Carrier, defeating him and Chaos. In a fit of rage, Eggman fires a gigantic missile into the heart of the city. However, the rocket misfires and turns out to be a dud. Tails races Dr. Eggman to the missile and manages to deactivate it completely before the Doctor gets a chance to set it off manually.

However, Chaos eventually obtains all seven Chaos Emeralds, and transforms into Perfect Chaos. Perfect Chaos easily destroys Station Square by flooding the city in an enormous tsunami, and proceeds to roam around the rubble of buildings submerged in the water. Super Sonic ultimately defeats the beast and leaves the destroyed city in pursuit of a fleeing Eggman.

Its current state is unknown, and it has never been revisited in later games. However, Rouge the Bat references it in Sonic Adventure 2 when Eggman asks her where the last Chaos Emerald is. Rouge takes out a newspaper article that states that Tails was rewarded with a Chaos Emerald at Station Square's city hall for saving the city from the missile. This may suggest that the city was rebuilt, or at least not completely destroyed. Also, there are several stages set in a city, and whether or not this city was indeed Station Square remains a mystery.

Casinopolis reappeared as the location where Sonic Pinball Party's Story Mode was set.

Station Square reappears in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood as part of Blue Ridge Zone. However, it bears no resemblance to the one seen in Sonic Adventure, meaning it may be a different place, a new part of the city, or the city rebuilt after its destruction at the hands of Perfect Chaos (however, considering Tails remarks to the team that they should be careful as they don't know much about this place, this would suggest that this Station Square is an entirely different location).

Citizens
The residents of Station Square are a diverse bunch, although their names are generally not revealed in their Sonic Adventure debut. Station Square's status as a booming city and a major tourist attraction has kept the residents happy for the most part, though just like other places it is not without problems.

Sonic Adventure

 * Mayor of Station Square – The Mayor of Station Square finds running the city from City Hall to be a tough job. But the Mayor does listen to its citizens, only to complain about all the hard work he has to do later.


 * Station Square Police Department (S.S.P.D.) – The Station Square Police Department patrols the city quite diligently. However the police are ill-equipped to handle a monstrous threat such as Chaos or Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik.


 * Station Square Central Railroad Workers – The Railroad Workers are responsible for the train operation at Station Square Central Station. They used to work long hours for not enough pay until they went on strike. Thought the strike made it difficult for Sonic the Hedgehog and friends to stop Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik’s evil plans for Chaos, it did get the Railroad Workers the fairness they wanted.


 * Mr. Know-It-All – “Mr. Know-It-All” is an annoying kid who “knows it all.” After giving tips, Mr. Know-It-All often says something smug.


 * Newsstand Saleswoman – The Newsstand Saleswoman is always the first to get the news in Station Square. She also commutes on the train, so when the Railroad Workers go on strike, the Newsstand Saleswoman is stuck in the city.


 * Hotel Manager – The Hotel Manager takes care of the hotel with the penthouse restaurant next to the Station Square Central Station. The manager likes chao.


 * Cyber Net Inc. Building Owner – The owner of Cyber Net Inc., the nicest skyscraper in Station Square. He freaks out when Dr. Ivo “Eggman” Robotnik damages his building.


 * Burger Shop Guy – The Burger Shop Guy is a guy who works in the Burger Shop in Station Square. He has a strange feeling that he is being watched but can never figure out why, the Burger Shop Guy also gets the creeps from some girl (the Girl with Crush on Burger Shop Guy) who always hangs around his shop.


 * Girl with Crush on Burger Shop Guy – A shy girl with a crush on the Burger Shop Guy. She cannot muster the courage to confess her feelings to him so she just hangs around the shop staring at him. Sometimes she gets the strength to actually go into the shop, but winds up standing around for a while before just ordering a burger. In the end, the Girl with Crush on Burger Shop Guy actually gets a job next to him.


 * Girl waiting for her Father – A little girl who stands in front of the Station Square Central train station everyday waiting for her father to return from a Mystic Ruins excavation.


 * Cheating Boyfriend – A guy who is high on his dates and always thinks he is in love. He often says stupid things in his proclamations of love and cannot understand why it is wrong to love more than 1 woman.


 * Cheated On Girlfriend 1 – The Cheating Boyfriend’s first girlfriend. When she found out about his dating another woman (Cheated On Girlfriend 2), she got very angry with him.


 * Cheated On Girlfriend 2 – The Cheating Boyfriend’s second girlfriend. When she found out about his dating another woman (Cheated On Girlfriend 1), she also got very angry with him.


 * Compulsive Gambler – A mother who goes out gambling at Station Square’s Casinopolis every night and cannot stop herself. The Compulsive Gambler eventually realizes she does not spend enough time with her son.


 * Compulsive Gambler’s Son – The son of the Compulsive Gambler. He is deeply bothered by how his mother abandons him every night to go to the Station Square’s Casinopolis and sometimes cries. She eventually realizes the harm she causes to him.


 * Vanity Shop Owner – The owner of a vanity shop near City Hall, he hates when people use the back door to enter his store.


 * The Twins - A pair of blonde girls on vacation in Station Square. They claim that despite their similar appearance they have two totally differant personalities. During the daytime, the girls can usually found at the pool, and at night they will be at the Casino or Twinkle Park. They leave Station Square once the Egg Carrier crashes.


 * Mystic Ruins Excavation Party – Upon hearing that the ruins of an ancient civilization were in the Mystic Ruins jungle, the Excavation Party set out to search for them. The new guy in the group does not get to go very far but the group winds up losing 2 parties in the jungle for a while and still never finds the ruins.

Areas

 * Coastal area, a large outside area with the entrances to the train station, hotel, the office building, the City Hall area and Twinkle Park. Later in the game, there is also a boat that takes the player to the crashed Egg Carrier.
 * Train station (SS Central Station), the building where the train to Mystic Ruins is stationed. It also has a path to the casino area.
 * Hotel, a large hotel that contains a pool, a Chao Garden, and a penthouse restaurant. The entrance to Emerald Coast and Sonic's Crystal Ring can be found there.
 * Office building (Cyber-Net Inc.), a skyscraper with an extremely proud owner. It is the entrance to Speed Highway, and Tails' Jet Anklets can be found in its sewage system.
 * Twinkle Park area, a small room with doors that lead to Twinkle Park (Action Stage) and Twinkle Kart (minigame). In Twinkle Circuit E-102, Tails and Knuckles are able to play after finding their Twinkle Circuit pass (Found in the same place as where Sonic finds his security card).On top the building is what appears to be a Dragon Ball from the Dragon Ball franchise.
 * Casino area, an area that only contains the entrance to Casinopolis and a small alley. Tails fights the Egg Walker there.
 * City Hall area, a downtown area with a small park, a burger shop, a variety shop and City Hall itself. There is also a manhole that leads to the sewer.
 * City Hall, a large government building which is the entrance to Knuckles' Speed Highway, and the area where Sonic fights Chaos 0.
 * Sewer, a dirty underground tunnel that leads to Twinkle Park and the variety shop. Sonic finds his Light Speed Shoes there.

Action Stages

 * Emerald Coast, a beautiful beach where orca whales and dolphins live. Playable as Sonic, E-102 and Big. Tails, Knuckles, and Amy are also allowed to play half of this level using a glitch.
 * Casinopolis, a casino with a gigantic lobby, and an equally gigantic garbage-containment area. Playable as Sonic, Tails and Knuckles.
 * Twinkle Park, an amusement park with bumper cars, a rollercoaster and a castle with a hall of mirrors. Playable as Sonic, Amy and Big. Knuckles, Tails, and Gamma can also enter the stage using a card next to the entrance of Speed Highway.
 * Speed Highway, the first part of the stage is set on high roads and skyscraper rooftops, and the second part is set on the downtown streets. Playable as Sonic, Tails and Knuckles.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie comic)
In the Archie-published Sonic the Hedgehog comic book, Station Square first appeared in the Sonic Adventure adaptation, where it was previously known as the "Hidden City of the Ancients". The city is hidden in a mountain with a plane sticking out of it, located in a region of Mobius called the "Mysterious Cat Country". It is one of the places on Mobius that humans (not "Overlanders", special four-fingered humans) inhabit. The only visitor prior to the arrival of the Knothole Freedom Fighters and Dr. Robotnik was Nate Morgan.

In issue #162, Snively stated that Station Square had expanded and formed the "United Federation", which was made up of all the human/Overlander cities and inhabited areas on Mobius. The United Federation's capital is Station Square, and their large military is known as G.U.N. Recently, in issue #165, Casinopolis opened in Station Square. It was operated by Renfield T. Rodent, who was working for Robotnik. The casino was nothing more than a way to scan the minds of the citizens in order to replace them with Infiltrators, but the plot was foiled by Knuckles, Rouge, and the Chaotix.

In issue #110, it is revealed that Station Square has a defense system known as OTIS (the Outer Threat Immobilization System), but when the Station Square government input the tactical data on Robotnik given to them by Princess Sally (Sonic #106), the system switched its command protocols from defense to offense and launched a nuclear strike against Robotropolis, destroying the city.

Sonic X
In the anime series Sonic X, Station Square is the home of main human character Christopher Thorndyke. This was the location that Sonic X took place in for Season 1 (in the Japanese version; in the English dub it was for Seasons 1 and 2) where Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and the other characters were sent to. Instead of being completely destroyed and never seen again after the Sonic Adventure adaption, the President of the country signed bills for the whole city, mumbling about why he couldn't be a hero as well as Sonic.

Trivia

 * The city and buildings in Station Square have similarities to real-life locations, such as New York City, Tokyo, Miami, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Vancouver.
 * Station Square is, in fact, an actual location: a large portion of downtown Pittsburgh.
 * In Sonic Adventure DX, the city plays host to a cameo appearance of Cream. She is seen flying around various areas at an unreachable height in Sonic's story. She also appears in other characters' stories such as Tails and Amy (in Amy's story she flies close to the ground and one could make contact with her, however it will not impact the game or Cream herself as she will keep on flying.).
 * The statue that can be moved outside the Burger Shop is possibly a reference on statues of Colonel Sanders, the founder of KFC. This statue has various glitches like falling through floors or teleporting. A little girl in Station Square is familiar with the statue and tells you never to throw it in the reservoir. This is a reference to the Curse of the Colonel, a Japanese urban legend.
 * In the scene of Sonic X where Sonic first meets Shadow, the two race into a part of the city. This scene was based off of the junction of Broadway and 7th Avenue in New York City.
 * This city is similar to Empire City featured in Sonic Unleashed.
 * Station Square reappears in Sonic Generations as the location that Sonic fights Perfect Chaos.
 * A ruined Station Square appears in a Dream event in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.