Press Garden Zone

Press Garden Zone is the fifth Zone in Sonic Mania. It is an industrialized ancient ruin repurposed as a printing house by Dr. Eggman to print the doctor's propaganda.

Concept and creation
The industrialization under the Meiji Shrine in Shibuya, Tokyo served as an influence for this Zone.

Overview
Act 1 takes place in an old printing press factory inside an ancient castle, all of which is used by Dr. Eggman to produce propaganda. Possessing a factory-like environment, wooden crate and metal crate frames can be seen throughout the Act. In the background, rolls of newspapers are seen zooming by, having Sonic's face and the Phantom Ruby on them included. Snow-covered windows are also seen and pink vines grow everywhere.

Act 2 takes place in a surreal winter wonderscape within a Japanese garden, which has been described as "Press Garden's true beauty." This area is filled with cherry blossoms and ancient architecture, while snow and sakura leaves fall from the sky. Snow covers as well the ground and glowing and lanterns can seen far off.

Story
Still on the hunt for Dr. Eggman and the Phantom Ruby, Sonic, Tails and Knuckles arrive in the Press Garden Zone. Along the way, they manage to destroy Eggman's local propaganda factory after making its guardian robot, Shiversaw, blow up.

At the of the Zone, Sonic and co. come under attack by the Heavy Shinobi, another one of the Hard Boiled Heavies, but are able to defeat him. Shortly thereafter, they find Eggman who is working hard on locating, or perhaps contacting, Metal Sonic on Little Planet, which is once again mechanized and chained to the planet's surface. Upon noticing Sonic, Tails and Knuckles however, Eggman uses the Phantom Ruby's power to warp the heroes to Stardust Speedway Zone.

Gameplay
Press Garden Zone Act 1 features gimmicks for reaching jumping height through the use of Launch Base Zone's rotating tubes. Local Conveyor Belts can also be used for achieving elevated jumps, having been modified so the player can bounce off of them, and by holding down a button the player can increase their bounce's height. Also, touching the wheels of the Conveyor Belts will catapult the player in the direction they are spinning. Act 1 also has lights on the walls and ceiling that, when broken, will cause doors to open and platforms to protrude, thus creating new routes. There are also typewriter blocks in Act 1's background that serve as additional platforms.

Littering Press Garden Zone Act 1 are several fragile-looking crates, which can be destroyed with the Bubble Shield's Bound Jump or the Fire Shield's Fireball Spin Dash. These crates sometimes hold Item Boxes, so destroying them might be beneficial. There are also giant presses in Act 1 that can take the player to higher areas (like elevators) when stepped on. These presses are kept from crushing the player against the ceiling by crates stacked on them, although the press will gradually break through them, and ultimately crush the player if they do not get off it quickly enough.

Press Garden Zone Act 2 features snowblowers that can freeze the playable characters. When frozen, the player can slide around as an ice block to reach non-accessible areas, barge through obstacles and enemies, or shred tree trunks to access areas blocked off by the aforementioned trunks. This Act also has Spin Jump-breakable ice blocks everywhere with different objects inside them (like Rings, Springs, Item Box and spikes).

In terms of unique objects, Act 2 has turrets that shoot horizontal-moving Asterons that both cause damage upon touch and act as temporary platforms when they get embedded in walls. There are also wood-cutting machines that grind up tree logs into wood chippings when the characters stand on their trunk, although the characters can get damaged by the machines too if the logs get shredded down completely. Act 2 also has Springs that can be used only once and ice spikes that can be destroyed with a Fire Shield.

Act 1
Act 1 features a lot of Conveyor Belts that can be used to get through many obstacles in the act.

Act 2
In Act 2, snowblowers are scattered all around, which can sent the player sliding across the floor in an ice block. This allows the player to destroy ice blocks that are littered throughout the Act.

Act 1
The boss of Press Garden Zone Act 1 is Shiversaw, a floating robot armed with saws. At the start of the battle, the characters fall into a room full of crates, followed by Shiversaw descending into the arena, who will immediately shatter one of its blades. Shiversaw's method of attack is launching its sawblades towards the characters. These sawblades follow as well the characters' movements around the room. To beat this robot, the character must lure it shattering its sawblades against hard objects, stunning it and leaving it vulnerable to attack. Hit it six times to defeat it.

Act 2
The boss of Press Garden Zone Act 2 is the Heavy Shinobi, one of the Hard-Boiled Heavies. The Heavy Shinobi will arrive into the boss arena with a wide slash and attempt to catch the player off guard. It attacks by using its sword to freeze the characters or by throwing Asterons as exploding throwing stars. To defeat the Heavy Shinobi, he must be interrupted during his jumps, which stuns him and allows him to be hit. Eight hits will dispatch the Heavy Shinobi.

Trivia

 * According to Aaron Webber, several fake Zone names were created for the levels in case information was leaked. One of the names was for Press Garden was "Backyard Dad Zone." Another Zone name was found in Sonic Mania ' s music files which was titled "Pulp Solstice".
 * This is the only Zone in Sonic Mania to not have its location confirmed or hinted.
 * The Press Garden Zone features several references and Easter eggs:
 * There are several Badniks in this Zone that have appeared in earlier games in the Sonic series:
 * Dragonfly - from Mushroom Hill Zone in Sonic & Knuckles
 * Splats - from Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)
 * Bombbearer - from Techno Tower in Knuckles' Chaotix
 * Asteron- from Metropolis Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2
 * The horizontal rotating cylinders in Press Garden Zone Act 1 are similar to those from Launch Base Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
 * The lightbulbs in Press Garden Zone Act 1 that make doors and platforms move when broken are similar to the red switch boxes from Launch Base Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
 * The spinning platforms in Press Garden Zone Act 1 that the playable characters can revolve around on are similar to those from Sky Sanctuary Zone in Sonic & Knuckles.
 * The structures in Press Garden Zone Act 1 which shoot the player upwards are similar to those from Launch Base Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
 * The snowblowers in Press Garden Zone Act 2 are used in the same way as in IceCap Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
 * The idea of the player getting around in Press Garden Zone Act 2 by sliding around as a block of ice seems to be based on the same concept utilized in Diamond Dust Zone from Sonic 3D Blast.
 * The breakable ice cubes in Press Garden Zone Act 2 are the same as those from IceCap Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
 * The hollow tree trunks that the player can pass through in Press Garden Zone Act 2 are similar to those from Aquatic Ruin Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
 * In Press Garden Zone Act 2, there are projectiles shot from turrets that can get stuck on the walls and work as platforms. These projectiles behave similarly to the arrows fired during the Tonkachi Eggman boss fight in Sonic the Hedgehog 2.