Studiopolis Zone


 * Not to be confused with the real-world corporation Studiopolis, Inc.

Studiopolis Zone (スタジオポリスポ) is the third Zone in Sonic Mania.

Concept and creation
Studiopolis Zone Act was the first ZOne developed for Sonic Mania. The Zone was presented to Sega to showcase the developers' capabilities.

Overview
This Zone is set up in a high skyscraper city decorated with studio equipment, cinema elements and theater objects.

The first Act takes place in the color-filled city, whose tall skyscrapers and buildings can be spotted in the background. Along the paths are street lamps with spinning rings inside, shop windows filled with TV sets, giant popcorn machines, satellite dish-mounted vans, TVs, director chairs, and giant clapperboards. Dotted around the zone are LED marquees spelling out various phrases.

In the second Act, the action moves into a large television studio-like environment. This area is dominated by Dr. Eggman by images likeness. Features here include stacks of monitors with Eggman's face on them, unstable stage lights, electric cables, and giant glass spheres that are designed like lottery machines.

Story
In Studiopolis Zone, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles eventually bursted into the Zone from a manhole, whose utility vault was connected to a pipe the trio entered back in Chemical Plant Zone. In this incredible city, the trio continued their hunt for Dr. Eggman. Along the way, they defeated the Heavy Gunner, one of the Hard Boiled Heavies, when he and his battalion of Egg-Robos attacked them. When they found Eggman, the doctor escape when they defeated him. Still, Sonic and co. pursued Eggman by hitching a ride on the Flying Battery when it flew through the Studiopolis Zone.

Gameplay
Along the paths in Studiopolis Zone Act 1 are certain sections with TV shops in the background whose windows will shatter when the player passes by them at high enough speed. In terms of interactive gimmicks, Studiopolis Zone Act 1 features giant popcorn machines that can shoot the playable characters to higher areas when entered and interacted enough with, enterable vans that can transmit the player through satellite dishes across the Zone and out of TVs, director chairs that can take the playable characters to higher area when stood on, and giant clapperboards that shoot the player upwards like the Catapults. There are also panels with Eggman on them that, when flipped, will reward the player with a Monitor.

Studiopolis Zone Act 2 have a number of exclusive gimmicks. These include stage lights that can be used as platforms before they fall down from being stepped on, tiles that reveal different words and phrases when flipped, electrical cables that function like high-speed warp tubes, funnels that grant points the longer the playable characters take to pass through them, and flywheel-like giant film wheels that can be moved into different positions. There are also giant lottery machines that when entered, will dispense four lottery balls that make up a sum equating to how many rings the player will earn. If an Eggman ball is dispensed, the player will instead lose rings equal to the sum of the other three balls.

Across both Acts of Studiopolis Zone are floating red orbs with a white star on. These orbs can repel the playable characters like a Bobbin when they hit hem. However, they also move around like balloons when touched, so they may be difficult to bounce around with in controlled fashion. Both Acts also make heavy use of the Bobbin gimmicks, which often appears in different formations.

Act 1
Here, the player runs down a neon sparkling broadway that includes gimmicks unique to this Zone. In the second half of this Act, the gameplay changes to a chase battle between the player and a helicopter.

Act 2
In this act, the player is sent down a golden pathway filled with a variety of springs exclusive to this Zone, into a lottery machine, and from there is sent into a funnel leading into a blue checkered tube.

Act 1
The Heavy Gunner comes out flying with the Egg-Robos and his own Police Copter. The objective of this fight is simply to knock back the blue missiles that are shot at the playable characters. The Heavy Gunner will shoot three missiles, two which actually harm the player and one that can damage the Heavy Gunner himself when knocked back at him with a simple attack. Knocking back four missiles will defeat this boss.

Act 2
The battle against Dr. Eggman begins as the playable character arrives in front of a large television monitor that reads "Egg TV". Dr. Eggman descends into the arena as the image of a Cluckoid appears on the monitor. On the monitor, a small panel will spin and reveal one of three attacks that Eggman will conduct while he floats back and forth across the arena. Hit Eggman eight times to claim victory.

Trivia

 * Studiopolis Zone was the first new Zone revealed for Sonic Mania.
 * Coincidentally, Studiopolis is also the name of the post-production studio that records voices for the Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic Boom series. Christian Whitehead himself said that the developers had alternate names, such as Opening Night Zone and Fame Plaza Zone, if the studio would not like their use of the studio's name.
 * When Sonic Mania was being presented to Takashi Iizuka under the name "Sonic Discovery", Studiopolis Zone was the only Zone made at the time.
 * There are various references and Easter eggs found around this Zone:
 * After completing act 2, if the player listens carefully, a buzzing sound can be heard. This is the same buzzing sound that constantly played throughout the Sonic 25th anniversary party livestream. The livestream was quite infamous for having several technical issues that made it difficult to watch.
 * The popcorn machine gimmick is based on the SegaSonic Popcorn Shop, an arcade vending machine released in 1993.
 * The words "COPE" and "CPU" seen on a train in the background of the Zone are references to the similar neon-colored words originally seen in Spring Yard Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog (1991).
 * Television vans with the words "High-Class Hornet" and the lottery machines with the names "Gallop Lotto" are references to the NR2003 Hornet from Sega's arcade racing game Daytona USA.
 * The "High-Class Hornet" also makes the same noise heard in Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball.
 * Neon signs with the words "Pink Bot" refers to the similar "Pine Pot" signs featured in the first stage of Sega's side-scrolling beat'em up game Streets of Rage.
 * The advertising sign with the words "Club Spin AGES" seen in the background of the Zone (see the screenshot) is a callback to numerous Japanese arcade clubs under the title "Club Sega". The part "AGES" itself refers separately to the playable character with same name from Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed whose name is a reference to a past Sega motto.
 * Large vintage televisions are shown having red, green and blue marks on them. These marks resemble the ones featured in the official logo of Sega Game Gear. The small red switch light on the left side is identical to the power light seen on the previously mentioned handheld console.
 * There is a section with a board containing the time that has passed in the level, the SEGA Logo with the initials CW, HC and PWG, which stands for Christian Whitehead, Headcannon and PagodaWest Games respectively (the developers of Sonic Mania).
 * There is a screen saying "GOOD GREAT AWESOME OUTSTANDING AMAZING", a reference to the announcer from Sonic Colors.
 * DHSGEZlXkAIkjMs.jpg In Act 2, there are various panels that when touched will show one of three messages that reference previous SEGA material;
 * "Genesis Does", a throwback to the quote "Genesis Does What Nintendon't".
 * "Lock On", a throwback to the Lock-On feature for the Genesis cartridges for Sonic & Knuckles.
 * "Welcome To The Nex Level", a throwback to the tagline used in SEGA commercials between 1992-1994. Due to how the panels are set, the "t" in Next is absent.
 * On a side note, these panels are similar to the guessing game from the TV show, Wheel of Fortune, where a contestant has to guess a message.
 * The unused UFOs from Marble Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog (1991) are incorporated into the design of the street lamps.
 * The animation sequence at the end of Act 2 of Chemical Plant Zone has the character going through a tube that leads to this Zone, which could likely mean this Zone's location is possibly on West Side Island.
 * In the game files, it was discovered sprites that indicates that at some point in the development of Sonic Mania the Act 2 boss fight would be a Rock-Paper-Scissors battle, which references to Alex Kidd, another classic SEGA title.
 * In the game files, it was discovered sprites for a Love Meter featuring Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy and Dr. Eggman. The objective is gain more points.