Wave Ocean

Wave Ocean is the first action stage in Sonic the Hedgehog which is a beach. A whale is seen while playing as Sonic. Wave Ocean is located in Soleanna. It seems to be based off Emerald Coast from Sonic Adventure.

Sonic
Sonic is the first character played as here in the first stage of the game. The area is overrun by Doctor Eggman's "mechs." Sonic runs through the first leg of the stage on foot. However, at one point, he runs from an Orca (similar to the orca chase scene at Emerald Coast in Sonic Adventure) and latches onto its fin. The next leg of the stage has the player using Tails to flip a switch and close the gate so that the Orca doesn't escape. The Orca then sends Sonic flying over the gate and he lands onto the next beach and into his first mach-speed zone. Here, he runs at an incredible fast pace and manages to catch up to the Egg Carrier at quick the close range. Eventually the stage ends with Sonic jumping by on large rocks to reach the beach and the goal ring.

Tails


Tails is used in the second leg of Sonic's first stage. He is considerably slower than Sonic and only moves faster when he flies. He has the ability to drop and throw ring bombs at his enemies as he goes through the stage. His leg ends when he reaches the switch and closes the gate.

Tails also gets his own extra stage in Wave Ocean during another part of Sonic's story. It isn't as long as Sonic's first stage here. Tails goes from the beginning of Sonic's first portion of the stage all the way to the goal ring located in the same place the switch for the gate was on Sonic's first stage.

Shadow
In Shadow's story in Sonic the Hedgehog, he goes to Wave Ocean looking for E-123 Omega and Mephiles the Dark. Shadow's stage starts off with him flying through the stage on a glider and shooting down numerous Iblis and Mephiles spawn as he goes by. Eventually the glider takes him to another part of the stage where the player uses Omega before playing as Shadow again in the third and final leg of the stage. In the final leg, Shadow runs through it on foot and has the ability to use the homing attack on the creatures he comes across. He's also given the option to drive through a section of the area on a large G.U.N beetle. Near the end of the stage Shadow must ride on a G.U.N vehicle that hovers over water in order to reach the end of his stage.

E-123 Omega
E-123 Omega is used through the second leg of Shadow's Wave Ocean stage. He goes through and fights off numerous Iblis and Mephiles spawn creatures with his blasters. He can charge up his arm blasters and fire multiple shots at more than one enemy. He can also jump and hover in the air for a short period of time. Once in the air he's capable of launching blasts downward at the enemies in front of him in order to destroy them. His leg ends when he hears Mephiles' voice by a closed gate in the level. He can explore more of Wave Ocean by using his hovering glitch from a high part of the level. This can be used for him to fight Shadow's enemies and can even result in him reaching the Goal Ring.

Blaze the Cat
Silver the Hedgehog doesn't play through Wave Ocean, but Blaze the Cat does. Blaze goes through the stage on a mission to locate Silver. She fights off Eggman's robots by using her spinning homing attacks and her flame powers. She's able to twist and create mini fire tornadoes that destroy enemies when she passes through them. The stage is considerably shorter than any other stage in Silver's story.

Rouge
Rouge comes here to find the purple Emerald in the End of the World.

Sonic's story
In Sonic's story, Wave Ocean is the 1st stage. The player runs through the stage as both Sonic and Tails. They manage to spot Eggman's Egg Carrier (despite capturing Elise at night) having not managed to reach Eggman's base in White Acropolis. Sonic and Tails take this opportunity to follow and try to catch up with it in order to rescue Princess Elise. They eventually reach a point in the area where they can no longer follow the base and decide to head back to the city.

At a point further on in Sonic's story, Tails goes on a self-appointed mission to rescue Elise once again when he spots the Egg Carrier flying over Wave Ocean with Elise on board. He doesn't manage to catch up to it however and once again fails to rescue Elise at the same place.

Shadow's story
In Shadow's story, Wave Ocean is the 7th stage (not counting Rouge's Tropical Jungle level) played through. Shadow goes to Wave Ocean to meet up with Omega and help him take care of Mephiles. Shadow goes through the stage in the air, on the land, and over the water in order to reach him. When Shadow reaches Omega he is gunning Mephiles down with his blasters. After Mephiles disappears, Omega confesses to Shadow that he is the one who captures and seals him away in the future. Rouge says that the situation isn't fair and that she'll always be beside him no matter what happens. Shadow says he'll remember that and the three of them head off to put a stop to Mephiles once and for all.

Silver's story
In Silver's story, Wave Ocean doesn't play a very important part. Silver doesn't even get a full scale view at the level. Blaze the Cat plays through this level instead. Her objective is to locate and catch up to Silver after having been separated from him during their passage to the past due to Mephiles' powers. She eventually finds Silver at the pier. He asks Blaze if what they're doing to save their future is right. Blaze replies that she doesn't know if it's right or wrong but she does know that they've got only one chance to save their future and they need to take it. Silver gets inspired by her words and decides that their next stop should be White Acropolis where they might find something new at Eggman's base.

Trivia

 * In Sonic's version, the portion where he runs away from the Orca is a reference to the iconic "orca chase" section of Emerald Coast in Sonic Adventure.
 * In both Sonic and Tails' run-through of this stage, their objectives are the same: to rescue the Princess trapped inside Eggman's Egg Carrier. In the end, neither were able to do so.
 * This is the only stage in the game that Silver doesn't play through.
 * However, Silver's partner, Blaze, does go through the stage.
 * This is the fourth Sonic game in which the first stage is a beach stage, the first being Sonic Adventure, the second being Sonic Advance and the third being Sonic Heroes.
 * In Sonic's story, you are able to skip over Tails's part of Wave Ocean and finish the level without him by using the Purple Gem.