Eggmanland (stage)


 * For the Town Stage on the same continent, see Eggmanland.

Eggmanland is the ninth Action Stage in the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed and the eighth stage on the PlayStation 2/Wii version of Sonic Unleashed. During the events of the game, Sonic the Hedgehog and Chip come here in order to restore the final Chaos Emerald inside the final Gaia Temple and to stop Dr. Eggman from preventing another Time of Awakening.

Overview
The outward setting for Eggmanland is based on Disneyland and Universal Studios Hollywood. As the dream capital for Dr. Eggman's global Eggman Empire, Eggmanland is a dark and twisted high tech cyberpunk city, which is suspended above and extends into a magma pit that leads straight into the Earth's core.

Above Eggmanland, the entire sky is completely overcast by red-violet clouds, making it impossible to tell whether it is day or night. On the surface, Eggmanland resembles a highly technological and industrial metropolis crossed with an amusement park. In line with the artificial environment, Eggmanland lacks any type of natural environments. Additionally, Eggmanland's structures on the surface stand risen above a seemingly bottomless black abyss.

On the surface section of Eggmanland, cold and curved metal skyscrapers and factories make up the majority of the buildings, while prominent structures in the form of various amusement park attractions, such as ferris wheels, carousels, and roller coasters, lie scattered around. Amongst the buildings, there are also sphere-like containers resembling Dr. Eggman, grind rails with moving pots of lava on them, and enormous cauldrons filled with lava. The buildings of Eggmanland have a red and purple hue, and are lit up by neon lights, such as yellow, blue, green and purple, which are coming from the buildings' lights and windows.

On the inside and below Eggmanland, this stage resembles the interior of high-tech factories, with the areas completely enclosed by metallic walls and are lit up by neon lights and the glow from lava. Here, there are countless different rooms that each differ in appearance as the player descends into the depths of Eggmanland. This include colossal cauldron-like rooms with lava pits at the bottom, indoor assembly factories and storage facilities for robots, engine rooms with giant fans, elevators, pipes and pistons, and just simply bottomless rooms where pipes and catwalks run through. All of these rooms are interconnected by narrow metal corridors.

At the bottom of Eggmanland lies the local Gaia Temple that Eggmanland was build on top of. This place resembles an ancient temple made of stone.

History
Upon arriving in Eggmanland to find the last Gaia Temple, Sonic the Werehog and Chip tore their way to the bottom of Eggmanland to reach the Temple. Here, Chip activated the Gaia Temple and Sonic placed the powerless white Chaos Emerald into the Temple's pedestal, restoring the Emerald's power and initiating the restoration process of the final continent. Sure that Dark Gaia would now be sealed harmlessly away in the planet's core, Chip believed it to be over and thanked Sonic for all his help. The victory was short-lived, however, as Dr. Eggman ambushed Sonic and Chip with his Egg Dragoon and dropped them into a hole leading to the planet's core. After finding a stable footing during their fall, Sonic the Werehog fought Eggman and his Egg Dragoon, and successfully destroyed the contraption in the planet's core.

As Eggman cursed his defeat, Dark Gaia appeared from the core. Eggman tried to assume control over the beast, but Dark Gaia knocked the doctor into the distance before turning its attention to Sonic and Chip. Sensing its last fragments inside Sonic, Sonic was forced to have Dark Gaia painfully suck its energies out of him, returning Sonic permanently to normal, but also making Dark Gaia whole. Weakened, Sonic told Chip to run, but Chip protected Sonic from Dark Gaia and called the Gaia Temples to him, forming the Gaia Colossus.

With the time of awakening having now truly arrived, Sonic and the Gaia Colossus fought Dark Gaia and seemingly defeating it. However, it merely turned out to be a ruse; instead, Dark Gaia finally reached full maturity, transforming into Perfect Dark Gaia, and began covering the Earth in darkness to enact its destruction. Determined to stop this apocalypse, Sonic harnessed the seven Chaos Emeralds' power and transformed into Super Sonic to even the odds. After an intense struggle, Super Sonic finished off Perfect Dark Gaia, saving the world and returning Dark Gaia to dormancy. However, Sonic fainted from exhaustion as he returned to normal, but the Gaia Colossus saved him before he fell into the planet's core. With the final continent coming down on top of them, Chip said his goodbyes to an unconscious Sonic before sending him back to the surface while he himself returned to sleep in the planet's core.

Gameplay
In both the daytime act and nighttime acts of this stage, the player travels straight down into the depths Eggmanland. At the beginning, the player moves through the city section of Eggmanland, before slowly descending into the lower levels of this massive complex, until the player eventually reaches the Gaia Temple at the bottom.

In the PS2/Wii version of Eggmanland, there is one main daytime act and five main nighttime acts. In the PS3/Xbox 360 version of Eggmanland, there are no different acts for daytime and nightime; instead, the stage contains only one large act that is broken up between daytime and nighttime segments, which can be switched between by using the hourglasses found within the act. This act is known for being notoriously long, taking the average player about twenty-to-thirty minutes to finish it.

As the final stage in Sonic Unleashed, Eggmanland contain nearly all of the gimmicks and obstacles featured in game, such as bobsled segments from Cool Edge, spikes and Quick Time Events, but with all of them coming in greater numbers and having a generally harder layout, thus testing the player in all the skills he/she has accumulated over the course of the game to the fullest. Bottomless pits are a prominent danger in this stage, there are overwhelmingly large numbers of enemies in quite inconvenient places, hazardous obstacles litter the environment and there are often times where the player has to execute a performance absolutely correctly or risk losing a Life. Reckless actions leads to instant death.

Besides using previous gimmicks, Eggmanland also features some gimmicks unique to itself. In both versions of Sonic Unleashed, Eggmanland features large moving blocks that can either push the player off the platform and into a bottomless pit, or crush the player by coming down on Sonic. In the PS3/Xbox 360 version, Eggmanland also features levitating buzz saws that moves in a consistent pattern and yellow energy platforms that will disappear a short while after they have been stepped on by the player.

In the nighttime segments in the PS3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, there are segments where the player can slide down large pipes. These pipes contain moving fans that will damage the player if touched.

Head for the Goal Ring
This act includes the majority of Eggmanland, with the stage being split up into different segments. At the beginning of the act, the player goes through the entrance to Eggmanland, and then proceeds through amusement park-like environment, crossing narrow pathways with obstacles and even climbing a ferris wheel. From there, the player enters a bobsled segment that will take the player into the depths below Eggmanland. After that, the player will then be chased by an Interceptor robot, where the player must run on walls and along the ground to avoid both overflowing lava pools and the robot. Afterwards, the player will proceed through a storage area, which features much platforming and traversing over gabs. At the end of this area, the player rides a rocket into a series of corridors with sharp turns and topsy-turvy platforms, before arriving at the final section of the act. From there, the player has to cross platforms with Ramps and springs, and run down straight paths featuring several Egg Fighters and tricky obstacles, before arriving at the Goal Ring.

Gather Rings at Top Speed!
This mission takes place in the first quarter of the "Head for the Goal Ring!" mission act. Here, the player has to collect 280 Rings within two minutes. Once that is done, the mission is completed, and the player is rewarded with a Moon Medal.

Time Attack! Race for the Goal!
This mission includes the entire same course as in the "Head for the Goal Ring!" mission act. Here, the player has to make it to the Goal Ring within two minutes. However, for each checkpoint the player comes across, he/she is given more time to complete the mission. Upon completing the mission, the player is rewarded with a Moon Medal.

Act I: Infiltration
This act mainly takes place at the entrance to Eggmanland and continues further into the complex. At the beginning of the act, the player passes through the entrance gate to Eggmanland and proceeds through a long series of corridors, where the player must destroy some steel gates blocking the paths. After the getting through the first pair of steel gates, the player enters a room in which he/she has to defeat a horde of Red Deep Nightmares and several Spikes before proceeding. After clearing out the enemies, the player must proceed through another corridor before arriving at a large elevator platform. On this platform, the player must defeat incoming waves of Dark Gaia's Minions as the elevator descends toward the end of the act. After the elevator has reached the bottom, the player proceeds through another corridor and into a room in the floor where he/she must defeat two Big Mothers. After these enemies are vanquished, the player can proceed to the Goal Ring.

Act II: Robot Factory
This act takes place in a factory deep inside Eggmanland, with inactive Egg Fighters standing idle in the background. The act begins with a wave of enemies, which the player must defeat. From there, the player has to walk down a series of conveyor belts, with bottomless pits on both sides and spikes at the end of the conveyor belts. At the end of the conveyor belts, the player has to defeat three Thunder Bats on the moving surface while avoiding flamethrowers. After that, the player has to defeat some enemies on a new platform. From there, the player enters another area with conveyor belts. First, the player must complete a puzzle involving switching the direction of the conveyor belt so that the player can bring a water barrel to a fire blockade and use it to extinguish the flames, thus allowing the player to proceed. The player is then required to complete another puzzle in which he/she must switch the direction of the conveyor belts and ride them while carrying a metal crate to defend against incoming flamethrowers. From there, the player arrives on an area where he/she has to defeat several enemies before being able to climb up to the Goal Ring above.

Act III: Beyond the Factory
This act takes place in an even deeper factory area that goes under and beyond Eggmanland's main frontward appearance, and features much pole climbing and swinging, wide bottomless pits and many moving blocks that can push Sonic into said bottomless pits.

At the begining of the act, the player moves down a catwalk, before having to climb and swing on poles across a bottomless gab to the other side. There, the player has to cross another catwalk, while avoiding moving blocks and facing enemies. After making it around the corner, the player enters another section with a wide gab, which the player has to cross using poles to climb and swing on, platforms to step on, and Dark Bats to ride on. Once on the other side and having gotten past another section with moving blocks, the player arrives in an area where he/she has to defeat some of Dark Gaia's Minions. From there, the player enters a corridor where he/she has to enter a room on the left and activate a switch there, which will unlock the door out of the corridor. Once passed through the door, the player enters an area with catwalks, where a metal block that can push the player into a bottomless pit, is chasing the player from the left. Here, the player has to reach the far right of the catwalks and exit the area though a door there before the block get him/her. From there, the player can then proceed to the Goal Ring.

Act IV: To Zero Point
This act takes place across some dark rooms and corridors that are located even deeper within Eggmanland. At the beginning of the act, the player has to ride down a steep path on an elevator. After activating the elevator with a switch, the player starts descending. While descending, the player can use a metal container to block incoming flamethrowers by placing it in the path of the flames so that they will hit the container instead of Sonic. Additionally, on the last flamethrower on the elevator path, which flows outwards, the player has to stand on top of the container to avoid the flames.

Now at the bottom, the player must ride a platform across a gab to a narrow path. After then having cleared out some of Dark Gaia's Minions and moved onward to a corridor, a Dark Energy Force Field will block the path further ahead. From there, the player has to ride moving platforms and cross gabs by climbing along ledges, swinging on poles and climbing poles, while collecting the three Dark Energy Keys needed to unlock the force field along the way. Once the player has arrived in a wide area where the Dark Energy Force Field is placed with all three Dark Energy Keys, the force field will be lowered, revealing a path into an elevator platform. The player then has to ride the elevator to the bottom while defeating incoming enemies and then a Big Mother, before arriving at a door that leads to the Goal Ring.

Act V: Dark Gaia Cauldron
This act takes place in the deepest part of Eggmanland, far into the Earth's crust. At the start of the act, the player moves down a long dark corridor. After having destroyed a few steel gates blocking the path, the player enters a room through a hole in the floor, where the player has to defeat some Fire Masters and Thunder Bats. From there, the player proceeds down another long corridor into a large lava-filled cauldron room. Here, the player has to climb a pole and cross a catwalk until the player gets to the top of a colossal Egg Fighter torso, where the player has to defeat a wave of enemies to proceed. After that, the player has to cross over to another colossal Egg Fighter torso by riding on Dark Bats, where the player has to defeat a Red Titan. After defeating the Red Titan, the player can proceed down a catwalk and into a large room that is essentially one large bottomless pit. In this room, the player has to cross the bottomless pit by walking on narrow catwalks, often without railings, and climbing poles and ledges while avoiding spikes and flamethrowers. After getting to the end of the room, the player has to destroy a steel gate to reveal a pathway into the Gaia Temple. After entering the Gaia Temple, the player has to defeat a few waves of different enemies and then a Red Titan, before getting access to the Goal Ring.

Phase One
At the beginning of the act, the player travels through the entrance corridor, avoiding laser barriers and Egg Fighters. After exiting the corridor and arriving in the urban area, the player can either grind on grind rails above Eggmanland, or move through Eggmanland down on ground level. After getting through the initial part of Eggmanland, the player arrives at a slow segment where he/she must hit a Hourglass to transform into Sonic into Sonic the Werehog in order to proceed. From there, the player has to get across and climb some platforms, while encountering Egg Fighters, before having to grab onto moving pots of lava to proceed through the act. After riding the pots to another platform, the player must defeat another hoard of Egg Fighters, before getting to another hourglass which the player has to use to transform Sonic the Werehog into Sonic's normal form in order to proceed.

Phase Two
At the start of the second segment for Sonic the Hedgehog, the player runs through a section with several corridors in 2.5D, which feature Wall Jumping maneuvers and moving blocks that can push the player into bottomless pits. After escaping the 2.5D section, the player enters a bobsled course where he/she first rides on grind rails throughout the amusement park area of Eggmanland, before entering a half-pipe section where the player has to navigate through Egg Fighters and avoid obstacles, such as spikes and laser grids. After escaping the half-pipe section, the player arrives in front of a factor with another hourglass in front, which the player has to use to transform into Sonic into his Werehog form in order to proceed.

In the second Werehog segment, the player enters a deeper factory area where he/she has to walk down narrow pipes to nearby platforms. After getting to the other side of the area, the player enters a cauldron-like area with giant turrets and bigger pipes to move onward with. After crossing the pipes, the player has to get through a closed room swarming with enemies. Once through the room, the player encounters another hourglass which he/she has to use to transform Sonic the Werehog into Sonic's normal form in order to proceed.

Phase Three
The third segment for Sonic the Hedgehog takes place inside a cauldron. At the beginning of this phase, the player moves through a 2.5D sections with narrow corridors, while encountering obstacles, such as moving blocks that can both push Sonic into bottomless pits and crush him, spikes and moving saw blades. After exiting this section, the player enters a large cylinder-shaped room where he/she has to complete some Quick Time Events or fall into the bottomless lava pit below. The player will afterwards arrive on a conveyor belt that he/she has to reach the end of, while avoiding laser barriers, bombs and spikes. From there, the player arrives in another large room with a bottomless lava pit below. Here, the player enters another 2.5D section, where the player has to get to the top of the room using moving platforms and blocks, springs, quick time event Cannons and disappearing platforms. After escaping the room, the player will enter a deeper, larger room where he/she has to skydive to the bottom. Once at the bottom of the room, the player can either use a hourglass to transform into Sonic into his Werehog form and proceed from there, or take the path to the right through Wall Jumping and take a shortcut into the Werehog section.

For the third Werehog segment, from the beginning of the first hourglass in the bottom of the skydiving section, the player must travel through a room by swinging on poles with moving spiked balls on them. After exiting the room through a door, the player enters a broken-down-elevator where he/she has to use a switch to deactivate the laser barrier blocking the path out. From there, the player slides through a pipe and enters a turbine room filled with Dark Bats and Thunder Bats and a large damage-dealing fan at the bottom. Defeating the enemies, will unlock a switch that the player need to activate to open the path out of the room. From there, the player slides through another pipe, before arriving in a large lava-filled cauldron that the player can to climb through using Dark Bats, Dark Bat Snipers and poles. After crossing the cauldron, the player enters another pipe that will take the player to another broken elevator-platform. Here, the player has to find the switch unlocking the door away from the platform, while facing an endless wave of Egg Fighters. From there, the player enters a large room where he/she has to defeat a Titan before being able to proceed. After that, the player enters another room, where the player has to defeat two Titans (defeating the Cure Masters and Power Masters are optional) to make the Goal Ring appear.

Egg Dragoon
The first boss of Eggmanland is the Egg Dragoon, a mech powered by Dark Gaia's energy which is piloted by Dr. Eggman. It is fought directly after the player clears Eggmanland Act 1 in the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, and after clearing Act V: Dark Gaia Cauldron in the PlayStation 2/Nintendo Wii version of Sonic Unleashed. In this boss battle, the player controls Sonic the Werehog.

During the fight, the Egg Dragoon will attack the player with rapid fire bullets, ice bombs and electrical swings with its drill. Also, occasionally, the Egg Dragoon will destroy the platform the player stand on, causing Sonic to fall down to a platform directly below. To defeat the Egg Dragoon, the player has to attack the Egg Dragoon's underbelly until its health reaches zero.

Dark Gaia
The second boss to be fought in Eggmanland is Dark Gaia, a physical incarnation of darkness and a gargantuan monster. It is fought directly after defeating the Egg Dragoon. In this boss battle, the player switches controls between Sonic the Hedgehog and the Gaia Colossus.

In the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, the player controlling the Gaia colossus first has to approach Dark Gaia while dodging its attacks for then to complete a series of Quick Time Events. After that, the player switches to Sonic, who has to run across the Gaia Colossus to attack Dark Gaia's eyes. In the PlayStation 2/Nintendo Wii version of Sonic Unleashed, the player first engages Dark Gaia in a fistfight as the Gaia Colossus. After that, the player switches to Sonic, who has to make it across the Gaia Colossus to hit Dark Gaia's eyes. After hitting its eyes three times, Dark Gaia is defeated.

Perfect Dark Gaia
The third and final boss to be fought of Eggmanland, and the final boss overall in the game is Perfect Dark Gaia, the matured version of Dark Gaia. It is fought directly after beating Dark Gaia. For this boss battle, the player takes control of Super Sonic.

In the PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Sonic Unleashed, the player first has to get through a field of floating rocks and energy projectiles to get to Perfect Dark Gaia. After that, the player has to destroy Perfect Dark Gaia's tentacles, while avoiding its meteor showers and energy beams, and then complete a series of Quick Time Events to win. In the PlayStation 2/Nintendo Wii version of Sonic Unleashed, the player has to attack Perfect Dark Gaia's eyes with the Super Sonic Boost while dodging Perfect Dark Gaia's slashes, energy blasts and meteors. After seven hits, Perfect Dark Gaia will be defeated.

Trivia

 * Despite the fact that the Xbox 360/PS3 versions of the Eggmanland Act are very long, it is possible to finish the Act in around twenty minutes. For this to be possible, the player would need all of Sonic's and the Werehog's stats at their maximum levels (Speed and Ring Energy for Sonic; Combat, Strength, Life, Shield, and Unleashed for the Werehog), the shortest paths must be taken in the Daytime sections, and many fights must be ignored in the Nighttime sections. In the Wii/PS2 versions, Eggmanland has only one daytime act and five nighttime acts.
 * Another alternative for the Werehog sections in the Xbox 360/PS3 versions are to make sure to successfully land and complete as many Critical Attack QTE's for multiple bonus points.