Green Hill Zone (Sonic Mania)

Green Hill Zone (グリーンヒル) is the first Zone in Sonic Mania. This Zone is a re-imagination of Green Hill Zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Mega Drive.

Overview
Green Hill Zone is much like in the original Sonic the Hedgehog, being an island paradise. Act 1 includes palm trees, jagged mountains, and a beautiful bright blue lake in the background. The foreground also includes the standard Green Hill flowers and one wooden bridge after another that resemble those in Emerald Hill Zone. Also worth of notice is that the last section of the Act 1 ends in a cave with a beautiful subterranean lake in the background and small rock formations.

Act 2 follows an art style different from Act 1. While the foreground is pretty much the same, the mountains in the background are now much closer and smoother, with numerous visible waterfalls and caves underneath them. The lower areas of the Act have rocky floors with smaller vegetation and rock formations. There are as new models of totems in these depths, albeit larger, but otherwise following them same patterns as the smaller ones. Also, at the bottom of this Act, the subterranean lakes from before reappears.

Story
Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echidna are all transported to Green Hill Zone by the Hard Boiled Heavies after an attempt to stop them from using the Phantom Ruby the robots excavated on Angel Island. After racing through the Zone, they are eventually met by Dr. Eggman in his all new Death Egg Robot mech. They manage to defeat him though, and follow him into the hole he fell into upon his defeat. There, they see Eggman take the Phantom Ruby from the Hard Boiled Heavies. The evil doctor then uses the ruby to transport the trio to Chemical Plant Zone.

Gameplay
If the player steps onto the Spike Logs in Green Hill Zone while equipped with a Flame Shield, they will catch on fire and be destroyed almost immediately after (without getting damaged even if the player lands on the spikes of the log). This may open up for new areas in the Zone.

Act 1
The first Zone is identical to the first Act of the original Green Hill Zone until near what would have been the end. At that point, the Zone presents a couple of areas taken from Act 2 and then some new setups. Eventually, the player finds themselves inside a cave where a mini-boss battle begins. If the player has chosen Knuckles, however, the level begins underground.

Act 2
The second Act is a completely new one. The player begins in the cave at the end of the first act.

The Act follows with a series of gimmicks and other new things compared to its original version. Among them is the use of Zip Lines and small underwater areas like in the 8-bit version of Green Hill Zone.

Act 1
The boss of Green Hill Zone Act 1 is the DD Wrecker, a robot consisting of two mini Death Egg satellites linked by a chain. This boss attacks by swinging around its satellites. During its attack pattern, either one of the satellites will heat up and become immune to damage. To defeat it, the player must attack its satellites. After destroying one satellite, the remaining one will bounce around until the player destroys it too.

Act 2
The boss of Green Hill Zone Act 2 is the Death Egg Robot itself. When the boss fight begins, it will slam down into the ground, and then it starts chasing the player across the plains of Green Hill, occasionally launching out its claw or launching bomb. It takes eight hits to defeat, and it speeds up after the sixth hit. If the player takes too long to beat this boss, they will arrive at a cliff that ends with a bottomless pit.

Trivia

 * This is the only Zone in Sonic Mania to originate from Sonic the Hedgehog (1991).
 * The Green Hill Zone features several references and Easter eggs:
 * The level layout of Green Hill Zone Act 1 is heavily reminiscent of the original first two Acts of the Green Hill Zone from the original Sonic the Hedgehog, differing with slightly different objects, Badnik placements, and alternative pathways.
 * Green Hill Zone Act 1 make use of pushable rocks like Angel Island Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
 * The boss of Green Hill Zone Act 1 is seemingly based on the Egg Mobile-H from the original Sonic the Hedgehog.
 * Green Hill Zone Act 1 and 2 features higher pathways with corkscrew loops like those in Emerald Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
 * Green Hill Zone Act 1 and 2 has hidden paths with rectangular windows those in Emerald Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
 * The inclusion of cavern sections on the lower paths in Green Hill Zone Act 1 and 2 is very similar to the previous version of the Zone seen in the console/PC version of Sonic Generations.
 * The moving platforms with spring(s) on top of them are similar to those from Quartz Quadrant in Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
 * Green Hill Zone Act 2's background is heavily inspired by the shown at the Sonic the Hedgehog Tokyo Toy Show 1990 Demo.
 * The area in which Sonic can find a 1-Up Monitor around the start of Act 2 is similar in layout to the beginning of Act 3 from the original game. The monitor is even placed where Sonic would have stood in the original.
 * Green Hill Zone Act 2's usage of the Zip Line gimmick is similar to the same level layout seen in Angel Island Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
 * The shallow pools of water on the lower pathways in Green Hill Zone Act 2 are similar to those seen in Angel Island Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
 * The breakable floor at the bottom of some of the loop-de-loops in Green Hill Zone Act 2 appear to be based on the same ones from Hill Top Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
 * The linked bridges in Green Hill Zone Act 2 may be a nod to the level layout of Bridge Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit).
 * The cavern areas filled with shallow water pools are similar to those seen in Green Hill Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog (8-bit).
 * The boss of Green Hill Zone Act 2 (the Death Egg Robot) is the same as the final boss in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
 * At the beginning of Sonic and/or Tails' Green Hill Zone Act 1, a glitch allows the player to travel into Knuckles' beginning segment of the said Act if they fall into pit at a certain spot next to a row of spikes. This has been fixed in the 1.03 update and falling into the pit now results into losing a life.