Metallic Madness


 * For the final boss battle in Sonic Heroes, see Metal Madness

Metallic Madness is the final round in Sonic the Hedgehog CD. The boss of Metallic Madness is Dr. Robotnik in a floating machine protected by large rotating blades.

Present
Practically everything is metal in this green-tinted, technologically-ruled base owned by Dr. Robotnik. The floor has built-in turbines, so Sonic must watch out for death traps such as moving buzz-saws, cages with spinning bars, and spinning blades on wheels. There are also springs on moving wheels, which can make it tricky to reach higher places. Towards the end of Act 2, Sonic gets shrunk down to 25% of his original size when passing through a laser, allowing him to fit into smaller passages and jump higher. At the end of the shrinking mini-maze, Sonic returns to his normal size.

Past
The Past shows the base in semi-construction, though many of the machines and computers appear intact and functional with a lavender hue. Building girders are strewn about the ceilings and floors in many areas, construction cones can be seen on the ground and the metal shines with a soft, light purple hue.

Bad Future
The Bad Future shows the complex dark, foreboding and in a state of great decay, as if abandoned for years. The machinery and surrounding walls and flooring have a rusted brownish-green hue to them, with a pitch black background illuminated with multicolored mechanical pillars and countless computer consoles. Though functional, many of the surrounding mechanisms, if not the entire place itself, appears cracked, broken, and desperately holding on to whatever electrical power it can get, as if in danger of shutting down.

Good Future
The Good Future shows the complex in a brighter light, with the metal walls and floors looking sleek and clean and with a bright blue hue. Mechanical plants and fountains adorn specific areas. Miles of forestry have sprung up all around it, as if nature is successfully reclaiming this particular area from its earlier metallic rule, and mechanized, palace-like structures sit in the far distance. The place looks almost like a sprightly, futuristic shopping mall where animals dance freely and victoriously amidst the corridors. Despite the lighter feel, though, many dangerous traps are still present.

Sonic the Comic
The cyber-formed appearance of the Miracle Planet from "The Sonic Terminator" story arc (Sonic the Comic #24 to #28) was based on Metallic Madness, as revealed in the script for issue #26 (here). In particular, the concept of Sonic being shrunk in size to fit through a small hole is based on an obstacle from Zone 2 of this level. Writer Nigel Kitching provided a video reference of the level for artist Richard Elson to work on.

Trivia

 * In Man of the Year, the Present theme of this level from the Japanese version of Sonic CD is used for when Robotnik wreaks havoc.
 * The same theme is also the theme of Metal Sonic's All-Star move; Maximum Overdrive.
 * In the Japanese version of the Bad Future theme, phrases like "Sonic, dead or alive, is mine," "You can't do anything, so don't even try it. Get some help," and "Don't do what Sonic does," can be heard in speech synthesis, which sounds like the "speech" synthesis program included in the OS for Amiga computers which were common to develop Genesis/Mega Drive games.
 * "You can't do anything, so don't even try" is presumably a twisted version of the lyrics of "Sonic - You Can Do Anything", the Japanese theme song.
 * The theme of Metallic Madness is a remix of the boss theme from the Game Gear version of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. This music was also arranged for the final boss theme of Sonic Chaos.
 * Metallic Madness Zone 2's past is apparently almost but not impossible to complete, as a pathway later in the act seems barricaded to the actual/reachable exit. However, the start of Zone 2 is topless, making passing it easy.
 * All of the three Zones have different backgrounds, Zone 3 is a zoomed version of Zone 2.
 * Stardust Speedway Zone 1 (Present) and Metallic Madness Zone 3 are the only Zones in Sonic the Hedgehog CD that have bottomless pits.
 * A slowed-down remix of the music for this round (Present) is remixed for Zoah Colony in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood.
 * It's impossible to see Mini Sonic traveling in time, if one turns debug on and travels in time, the screen will show the normal Sonic traveling.
 * In the 2011 re-release of Sonic CD, there's a glitch where the player can still end up in the Bad Future version of Zone 3, even after collecting all of the Time Stones.
 * The music for Metallic Madness was sampled in the music for Act 2 of the Chemical Plant Zone in Sonic Mania.