Crisis City


 * For its remake in Sonic Generations, see Crisis City (Sonic Generations).

"Before the coming of Iblis, Crisis City was a booming metropolitan area teeming with life. But now the city is in pure ruin, charred by the ﬂames of Iblis. Fire ravages the infernal metropolis, searing the sky and belching voluminous smoke into the night air."

- Sonic the Hedgehog: Official Game Guide

Crisis City (クライシスシティ) is an Action Stage in Sonic the Hedgehog which, as stated in the game, is at least 200 years in the future. It was destroyed by a monster named Iblis and all that is left are ruins of buildings and streets. The only known living people there are Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat, although, there have been mention of others by Silver. Judging by what Silver says, it seems that the other inhabitants of the future seem to have evolved psychic powers similar to Silver's to survive, but none are seen to confirm this. Other inhabitants are monsters spawned from Iblis. The origin of the city seems to be Soleanna, given that Rouge states that the location of the computer room is the same as Eggman's base in the modern day counterpart.

Sonic
After he inﬁltrates Dr. Eggman’s base, Sonic sacriﬁces his Chaos Emerald to the madman in exchange for Elise’s safety. Unfortunately, it’s a trap. Dr. Eggman has a time machine that catapults Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles into the future, giving them a taste of Silver’s ruined fate. The sight of the infernal metropolis comes as a shock to Sonic, but he doesn’t have much time to sit and stare at the handiwork of the Iblis Trigger. The minions of Iblis close in on this hedgehog intruder from the past. Sonic must sprint, grind, and glide through wave after wave of ﬁery monsters if he wants to reconnect with Tails and Knuckles. Perhaps together they can ﬁnd a way back to their own time before they become permanent ﬁxtures in this terrible apocalypse. As Sonic the Hedgehog, the player starts off using a board to get through part one. Then, Sonic runs through the level after that. Upon this, the player experiences a jumping section through debris and a super-speed area, eventually locating a database stating the destruction of the Egg Carrier and Elise's death. Flame Core is the next level at this point.

Shadow
Vaulted into the Silver’s terrible future, Shadow the Hedgehog must somehow navigate the charred metropolis. Crumbling buildings and twisted infrastructure provide Iblis’s gigantic army with many attack positions, but Shadow can make use of the fractured highways and exposed steel re bar to skate past danger. The ﬁght for the future leads to the top of skyscrapers, and unlike Silver who can use his psychic talents to levitate in the air Shadow must be mindful of gravity, otherwise he’ll plummet straight down into the inferno.

As Shadow the Hedgehog, the player starts off in an optional armored buggy. After this, Shadow grinds and runs through the level, eventually encountering an air glider, where Shadow can fly through the debris of the city. After locating the green Chaos Emerald and finding an inoperable Omega, the player proceeds to Flame Core.

Silver
As Silver the Hedgehog, the player starts off by approaching and fighting Iblis. Then, Blaze the Cat is used to attack the monsters and pursue Iblis, along with Silver. At the end, Iblis is fought for the first time.

This is the first level in Silver's Story.

Tails
This is the first section of the End of the World, and Tails has to find the yellow Chaos Emerald.

Overview
While Crisis City's origins are not explained, it is presumed that the city was destroyed in the release of Iblis in an alternate timeline with the death of Princess Elise, caused by the Iblis Trigger. The city is in ruins, and mostly on fire due to Iblis' never-ending destructive flames, although a lot of buildings are still standing (although many are damaged). The ground must have been destroyed and a sea of molten lava covers nearly all of the remains, The reason for this could be the lava had rose from under the ground and Iblis rises from it as his body is composed of magma.

In one of the several alternate timelines of Sonic the Hedgehog, Princess Elise was captured by Dr. Eggman to obtain the power of Iblis, but in the process, the aircraft the two were in lost power and crashed, killing them both and presumably releasing Iblis, although it is possible that the Iblis Trigger caused the release of Iblis, due to Sonic attempting to rescue her.

Following Iblis' release, the world was thrown into an apocalyptic state, Iblis destroying most places including Crisis City. Mankind blamed Shadow the Hedgehog for the destruction and imprisoned him with assistance from E-123 Omega who later shutdown and went into emergency stasis. Silver, determined to discover who or what caused the world's destruction and Iblis' release, is visited by Mephiles the Dark who informs him and Blaze that it was Sonic who released Iblis and is the Iblis Trigger. He then proceeds to send the two into the past to stop Sonic, but Mephiles himself is in fact the Iblis Trigger.

At the same time that Silver and Blaze meet Mephiles, Sonic, Miles "Tails" Prower and Knuckles the Echidna arrive in the city, along with Shadow and Rouge the Bat who meet up and then separate to search for the Chaos Emeralds in order to return to the past using Chaos Control. Sonic, Tails and Knuckles witness the talk between Silver, Blaze and Mephiles and access an old computer, revealing Elise's death and Iblis' release, prompting them to return to the past. Shadow sends them and Rouge back to the past before facing Mephiles, who revealed what happened to the Ultimate Life-form. Omega is sent in by Rouge to help Shadow defeat Mephiles and return to the past.

Later, Shadow, Rouge and Omega return to the future to battle and destroy Mephiles for good, defeating him but reducing him to a liquid state. Silver and Blaze return to Crisis City, and battle Iblis. Iblis is defeated, and Blaze becomes Iblis' new host, seemingly sacrificing herself to bring peace and sunlight to Crisis City, extinguishing Iblis' flames.

Trivia

 * Like Station Square, this stage's locations are based on New York City. In some areas of Crisis City, there are ruined road signs with directions to Central Park on them, suggesting that Crisis City could be New York City in the future or even Station Square. Some of the buildings also match buildings in the New City of Soleanna.
 * In Silver's stage, a few signs have faded writing with the writing "Chao Garden" on them. This could be a reference to the Sonic Adventure games.
 * In Sonic's stage, when jumping on debris in the third section, if one looks closely, you can see a Chao in Space 3 billboard.
 * If this was Soleanna, the Chao Garden Signs might imply that Soleanna may had a Chao Garden at some point.
 * Sonic Rivals 2 has a stage that bears a great resemblance to Crisis City called Chaotic Inferno Zone.
 * This is only level where Mephiles' minions do not appear alongside Iblis' minions
 * There are some of unused quotes said by both Sonic and Shadow in the game data, which states that Sonic/Shadow gets sucked into the tornado, and both of them nearly thank each other for helping. This implies that this Action Stage was going to have both Sonic and Shadow playable in its sections.
 * Strangely, before the player proceeds to the second section of Shadow's version, there is a huge Shuttle loops where the player will home directly to the ground when using the Homing Attack just before the loop begins, as if there was a target there.