Chemical Plant Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog 2)


 * This is about the stage in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. For its remake in Sonic Generations, see Chemical Plant (Sonic Generations).

Chemical Plant Zone is the second zone of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Sega Mega Drive, coming after Emerald Hill and before Aquatic Ruin Zone. As with most other stages in this game, Chemical Plant consists of two standard Acts with a boss fight at the end of Act 2, Water Eggman.

Description
Chemical Plant Zone takes place in an industrial cityscape, filled with toxic gloop, mechanical creatures, and twisting chemical pipes. Some players consider this level disproportionately difficult, given that it's only the second stage; it has many difficult obstacles, often requiring fast reflexes, such as you having to jump very quickly over the gloop. There are still some loops, and other places where you can gain lots of speed. It's actually possible to outrun the screen sometimes.

Suction tubes, miscellaneous terrain features that suck you in and deposit you at the other side of the tunnel, wind across the level. These cause no damage nor have any effects other than transportation. Yellow-clad pipes filled with blue chemicals spiral through almost the whole map. They can have very steep drops and may climb after a drop. These can sometimes end badly, such as if one throws you onto a cliff into the water. To avoid dangers from these, stay alert while moving.

Blocky collections of yellow/purple squares move back and forth periodically. You must jump onto them and then jump onto either the other square next to it or solid ground. These require a knowledge of the game physics and quick reflexes. For people who do not have these, the moving squares can be the hardest part of the level.

The rising pink chemical waters (a substance unnamed in the game but known as Mega Mack in Sonic the Comic and in the manual for the original game) during act two sees the water level rising and the only way to escape to land is by climbing up shifting blocks, as explained above. This is a very dangerous segment, as you are not only at risk of drowning, but also at risk of being crushed by the rotating blocks. However, it is easily evadable and completely skippable if the right path is taken.

There's also the ever-delightful blue chemical jets; these require very quick reflexes, as they are incredibly deadly. They are a jet of sludge that shoots from one end to the other and back, or in a loop form. These cannot be killed, so just run past them and hope that you survive.

Badniks

 * Grabber: These are suicidal spiders that will lower themselves to your height and attempt to grab the player. The player should jump before they grab him to kill them. Tails can be very useful with these, because if the player is caught, he can control him to jump at the Grabber and free Sonic before he takes damage. These spiders explode after a successful attack, so the player can use Tails to his advantage.


 * Spiny: These are very deadly. They have a mechanical "mouth" that opens to fire bolts at the player. They can be found on any surface, including the walls. They have a knack for being at the end of high speed areas. This makes them extremely dangerous. The player will also find them hard to kill, as they can sometimes seem invincible.

Boss
The boss is Doctor Robotnik in a floating vehicle that can create sludge "bombs." He will hover over the pink water as his overhead canister fills, then and will drop them on you once done. If that weren't hazardous enough, you fight on a solid platform surrounded by considerably less solid edge segments. Many people have killed the boss only to die by falling off the bottom of the level on the dropping squares.

Sonic the Comic
The Chemical Plant Zone also made several appearances in the UK publication Sonic the Comic.

In its first appearance, the Chemical Plant was a forced labor camp for the Emerald Hill Folk. Lazy workers were struck by Trooper badniks with electric whips, or made into organic batteries for badniks. Sonic infiltrates the Zone disguised as the penguin Bob Beaky and managed to free the captives, although they were ambushed on the way out by Megatox, a villain made entirely of the pink substance called Mega Mack. Sonic managed to defeat him by spraying him over the countryside.

The Chemical Plant reappeared in "Zonerunner" stories featuring Tails, in which it was controlled by the robot Nutzan Bolt (one of Robotnik's lieutenants). Nutzan Bolt was opposed by Sab and a resistance group known as the Flock.

Following Robotnik's fall from power, the Chemical Plant Zone was abandoned and shut down. However, it was not cleaned up, and toxic waste seeped into a nearby river and led to the creation of the mutant Veg-Heads in the Plowright Zone. A clean up operation of the Zone and the nearby coastline (including the new holiday resort Skegpool) was eventually implemented, but shortly afterwards the factory was purchased by the Marxio Brothers and re-opened, with a promise to make it more environmentally friendly. The plant was nearly destroyed by Megatox, who had managed to reform, but he was defeated again by Sonic.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
The Chemical Plant Zone appears in the episode "The Mobius 5000" of Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Trivia

 * This Zone was actually supposed to be Death Egg Zone Act 1&2, but was put as the second zone due to the programmers thinking it was too easy to be the final zone. If one would actually look close enough, they would see that Death Egg and Chemical Plant actually uses the same tilesets.
 * The same rhythm of the background-drums in Splash Hill Zone (Act 1) was reused from this stage.
 * During the credits of Wreck-It Ralph, Sonic can be seen running through Chemical Plant Zone.