Rooftop Run


 * For the hub world on the same continent, see Spagonia. For its remake in Sonic Generations, see Rooftop Run (Sonic Generations).

Rooftop Run (オレンジルーフス) is the third or fourth Action Stage in the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, and the second or third stage in the PlayStation 2/Nintendo Wii version of Sonic Unleashed (depending on the order of previous stages). During the events of the game, Sonic the Hedgehog and Chip look through this area in their search for the keys needed to unlock the local Gaia Temple.

Rooftop Run takes place in the city of Spagonia, the art capital on Earth, where the buildings and cultural structures of the city covers the entire stage.

Overview
Rooftop Run's setting, which includes the architecture and its appearance, appear to be based off of various locations in Western Europe. The entire stage takes place inside and around Spagonia, a large urban area encircled by a green mountainous region, with the urbanized areas stretching upside the mountainsides and the city limit marked by large walls.

Structures found in Rooftop Run include both small and large buildings, such as apartments and shops, and cathedrals, all of them with the common feature of having orange tiled roofs and reflecting Spagonia's status as an art capital. These structures are likely to be based off the real-life buildings seen in Italy, Spain, France, and most notably in the city of Siena. The buildings in Rooftop Run are built close to one another, making the stage tightly packed with structures and forming a field of orange roofs when seen from above.

The paths through Rooftop Run include narrow cobblestone-laid streets and alleys that run between the buildings in this stage, forming a network of paths. Along the public streets, various shops and restaurants can be seen at the foot of the regular buildings, while green bushes and threes can found planted on the sides of the roads, and hanging plants growing from the buildings. On the PS2/Wii version of Sonic Unleashed, Rooftop Run also features some water canals on the ground and a few park areas.

Noticeable outstanding structures that can be seen in Rooftop Run are the various enormous clock towers, which are presumably based off Big Ben, and colossal aqueducts, which are based on the real-life ones found in Europe, that towers over the town.

In the daytime acts, Rooftop Run is brightly lit up by the sun and has a partially clouded sky. In the nighttime acts, Rooftop Top run is overcast by a starry night sky and is lit by the lights from the buildings and the various streetlights.

Gameplay
In both the daytime acts and the nighttime acts for both the PS3/Xbox 360 version and PS2/Wii version of Sonic Unleashed, the player travels through the city of Spagonia in Rooftop Run, moving through the streets and alleys on the ground, and across the roof tops and aqueducts when ascending to higher elevations while avoiding bottomless pits.

In the Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, the daytime acts introduces the Balloons, which the player can pop on contact to propel Sonic upward. The nighttime act also features large rolling vine barrels that the player can release with switches in order to unlock new paths. Otherwise, Rooftop Run does not present any new gimmicks or features exclusive to itself.

Head for the Goal!
This act includes the majority of Rooftop Run. From the beginning, through the majority of the stage, the player runs through the alleys and streets of Spagonia, occasionally having to use the Sonic Drift to get through tight and sharp turns on the path. At the beginning, the player starts out by running through the main urbanized streets and alleys of the town. The player then starts to arrive in more open and varied sections of the town, passing down roads with trees on the sides, crossing over parks and running alongside canals, with each section separated by urbanized areas. After the water canals, the player reenters the closely packed part of town, before getting to the rooftops where the player has to scale two clock towers. Afterwards, the player arrives and runs across the top of an aqueduct while being confronted by an Aero Chaser, before arriving at the Goal Ring at the end of the aqueduct.

Gather Rings at Top Speed!
This mission takes place in the beginning of the "Head for the Goal" missions, around the initial town section of the stage. Here, the player has to collect 200 Rings within one minute and thirty seconds. Once that is done, the mission is completed, and the player is rewarded with a Moon Medal.

Act I: Alleys of Spagonia
This act takes place in the residential and public areas of Spagonia. For the first half of the act, the player proceeds through various public alleys, while fighting off waves of Dark Gaia's Minions and unlocking doors. Around the middle of the act, the player will arrive at a cathedral, where he/she has to defeat a few waves of enemies. Once the player gets to the cathedral, however, the following path will be blocked by a Dark Energy Force Field. To unlock the force field, the player must collect three Dark Energy Keys around the cathedral. After unlocking the force field, the player will reenter the alleys for a while, before getting to the rooftops. The player then has to travel across a series of rooftops in order to get to the Goal Ring at the top of the final roof. Falling down from the roofs at this point will bring the player back to street level, meaning the player has to start over crossing the roofs.

Act II: Jet Black Back Streets
This act takes place deeper within Spagonia, in the close back streets of town. Throughout the act, the player moves through the narrow spaces of the alleys and has to fight off incoming waves of Dark Gaia's Minions in tight spaces in order to proceed, while avoiding protruding spikes and moving buzz saws on the ground. At the end of the act, the player then has to complete a puzzle to unlock the door to the Goal Ring. In this puzzle, the player has to activate a Switch, then backtrack a little through the path to a now up-moving Platform, and then climb across the alley to reach a Switch that will open the door to the Goal Ring.

Act III: The Great Aqueduct
The majority of this act takes place on top of a large aqueduct in Spagonia. Here, the player first start out by climbing up to the aqueduct. Once the player gets there, a Dark Energy Force Field will appear and block the path further down. To unlock the force field, the player must collect three Dark Energy Keys that are scattered across the aqueduct, which the majority of the act is spent on. After unlocking the Dark Energy Force Field, the player arrives at the stretch to the Goal Ring, where he/she must defeat a Fright Master and some Dark Frights to access the Goal Ring.

Act 1
This act is set within the Spagonia and takes place across the town. Here, the player starts out by racing through the city, alternating between running through the narrow streets and crossing the rooftops. After the player has crossed over the first aqueduct, he/she will enter a tower, where he/she has to skydive while avoiding spiked balls. After exiting the tower, the player will enter a racing section where he/she will face a group of Aero Chasers, before reentering the alleys and rooftops. There, the player will face a section with vine barrels rolling the player, some of them equipped with spikes that can harm the player. Afterwards, the player has to scale a large clock tower, before making it across the rooftops to the top of another aqueduct. There, the player will face another incoming trio of self-replacing Aero Chasers until the end of the aqueduct where the Goal is. It is in this act that Sonic and Chip are looking for one of the halves of Spagonia's Gaia Key.

Act 2
This act takes place far above the town of Spagonia, on a race course of platforms encircling a large tower in the middle of the act. Here, the player has to circle around the tower through various platforms and attacking enemies, with Sonic's various moves such as the Wall Jump, the Homing Attack and the Light Speed Dash being essential to the completion. The objective of this act is to complete three laps before arriving at the Goal Ring. For each completed circuit, the course changes and becomes more difficult, receiving a harder layout, more frequently occurring obstacles such as spiked balls, and additional gimmicks such as quick time event cannons and Rainbow Rings. The entire gameplay is played in 2.5D.

Act 3
This act takes place in the lower parts of town, going up from the streets to the rooftops. Here, the player's objective is to find and collect all the ten Chao that are scattered all over the stage within five minutes. Being a searching mission, this act focuses heavily on platforming. This act's entire gameplay is played in 2.5D

Act 1
This act takes takes place within the majority of Spagonia's alleys. Here, the player travels through the different alleys and streets of Spagonia, while fighting off waves of enemies at certain points. Towards the end of the act, the player arrives at a large clock tower that he/she has to access, by defeating the Big Mother guarding it. Once inside the clock tower, the player has to climb it on the inside through platforming, eventually arriving on the top of the clock tower on the outside. From there, the player has to adjust the hands on the clock tower's dial, so that he/she can walk across the hands and get around the clock tower. The player then has to use some Dark Bats to get to a nearby building, where the Goal will appear once the enemies on the building are defeated. It is in this act that Sonic and Chip are looking for one of the halves of Spagonia's Gaia Key.

This act features many hidden rooms on the streets with collectables and Medals inside, which can be accessed by smashing the wooden doors leading into the buildings. It also features levers that, once pushed, will release giant rolling vine barrels that will break open new paths and allow the player to proceed.

Spagonia Adventure Pack DLC
The downloadable content pack for the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, the "Spagonia Adventure Pack DLC", introduced four additional daytime acts and two additional nighttime acts for Rooftop Run 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 for 250 MS Points on 19 March, 2009 and on the PlayStation Network for $3.00 on 16 April, 2009.

Act 1-2
This act is basically the same as the daytime Act 1 in the game, expect the act has been modified, having been given more enemies and more hazardous and abundant obstacles, such as spikes and bombs.

Act 2-2
This act is basically the same as the daytime Act 1 in the game, expect the course has been modified to encompass a large area, including the aqueducts at the perimeter of the act. The act has also been given a generally harder layout, with entirely new platforms, many more tougher enemies, and more hazardous obstacles complicating the path, especially at critical points. Like in the daytime Act 2 in the game, the player has to make three laps around the tower in the middle of the act before arriving at the Goal Ring, and for each completed circuit, the course changes entirely and becomes more difficult.

Act 4
This act mostly includes the aqueduct section in the at the end of the daytime Act 1 in the game, but also includes new sections of the area not presented in the game. Here, the player travels down on top of the aqueducts and has to reach the Goal Ring at the end of the series of aqueducts, while avoiding and/or fighting incoming groups of Aero Chasers. During the course of the act, the player also has to watch out for obstacles such from trip steps, bombs and incoming Egg Fighters on the ground

Act 5
This act takes place high up in the skies above Spagonia. Here, the player has to make it to the Goal Ring on the clock tower that is visible in the horizon. However, this act has nearly no platforms for the player to stand on, leaving the player with nothing but a bottomless pit covering the entire act. In order to complete the act, the player has to use the Homing Attack on lines of Spinners and Balloons before falling out of the attack's range, and the Light Speed Dash on trails of Rings to get across the abyss below to the few platforms present in this act, and eventually reach the Goal Ring.

Act 1-2
This act takes place in the middle of the nighttime Act 1, from just before the second giant barrel to the first giant barrel presented in the act. Here, the player moves through sections of the alleys sequentially, with each section being open up and closed one after another. Throughout this act, the player has to find all and activate all the hidden ball switches in each alley section. For each switch activated, however, a number of enemies will appear, which the player then has to defeat. Once all enemies that have appeared are defeated, the gates to the next section will open, allowing the player to proceed. Near the beginning and the end of the act, the player has to defeat a Big Mother. Also at the end of the act, the player then has to find and activate all switches in order to make the Goal Ring appear.

Act 2
This act takes place in a sever-like area called the Catacombs beneath Spagonia. Here, the player has to use Sonic the Werehog's climbing abilities to climb along the stone walls in order to pass between the sections of the act.

In the beginning of the act, the player has to climb through a passage filled with obstacles, before arriving at a section where the player has to defeat a Big Mother. After defeating the Big Mother, the player has to activate a moving platform that will take him/her to another climbing section with ledges moving through spiked balls. After this, the player arrives at a section where he/she has to defeat two Big Mother. After defeating them, the player has to activate a switch from a distance to make swinging poles that will take the player to another climbing area. After that, the player will arrive at a new section where he/she has to defeat the enemies in order to access the Goal Ring.

Trivia

 * Sega composer Tomoya Ohtani, responsible for compositions in multiple Sonic games, stated that his favorite song he composed was Rooftop run (day).
 * Act 3 in the 360/PS3 version of the game involves Sonic finding Chao, marking their only appearance in the game aside from Wentos' hand puppet and a downloadable content (DLC) level.
 * The background music of Spagonia's daytime levels appears in the Shopping mode of the Wii version of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games.
 * The nightime song for this stage is actually remixed from the theme of Mystic Mansion stage from Sonic Heroes.