Guardian Rock

Guardian Rock (ガーディアンロック) is an upcoming stage in Sonic Forces. It is an Avatar-exclusive stage that takes place at a different location near Green Hill and the Arsenal Pyramid.

Overview
Guardian Rock is an industrialized area in the once prosperous, now-turned-desert Green Hill area. The Zone's ground is covered in green-striped grass that moves with the wind, and the soil itself is covered in checkerboard patterns in different shades of brown. However, the plants are shown to have dried out in various places, and the soil have in many locations assumed a sandy hue. Also, the area has been facilitated with semi-industrial platforms and Badniks all around.

A giant Death Crab lurks in this area, which be can be seen crawling around in the background at various points.

Story
While the Avatar makes their way through Guardian Rock, the Resistance are notified of the menacing Death Crab that protects the facility in the proximity, which the Resistance soldiers cannot handle at the moment. After Amy has conducted an analysis of the robot, Knuckles the Echidna advises the Avatar to divert the Death Crab's attention and just run rampant through Eggman's forces.

Completing their mission, the Avatar is told to head back, only for the Death Crab to arrive and chase after them. However, the Avatar is able to stop the gigantic robot and make their escape.

Gameplay
For the majority of this stage, the Avatar will traverse a 2D sidescrolling area. In terms of layout, the stage is pretty straight forward, as it consist of a fairly straight main path with few alternate paths along it. Lots of Rings and Wisp Capsules are abound to help protect the player during this stage. Clusters of Rings can also be found in midair, which serve as guides to upper paths or Red Star Rings.

Unique obstacles in Guardian Rock are the Death Crabs' legs, which are encountered at various points. These legs periodically stomp into the ground or platforms, crushing anyone that get caught underneath them.

Description
When the stage begins, the only direction the player can move is right. Keep moving in that direction on the main path to eventually arrived at the end of the stage. Along the way are areas both above and below the main path that the player can reach through the use of the Wispon, although most of them are short and ultimately rejoin the main path.

As the stage reaches the end, the Death Crab will appear, leading into a 3D chase section where the player squares off against the Death Crab. Upon completing the Real-Time Interaction that occurs at the end, the Avatar will swing around the Death Crab, using their grappling hook to wrap around the Death Crab's legs, proceeding to trip the gigantic Badnik and thus, eliminating it, completing the stage in the process.