Chemical Plant Zone (Sonic the Hedgehog 2)


 * For other uses of the term, see Chemical Plant Zone (disambiguation).

Chemical Plant Zone is the second Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. As with most other Zones in this game, the Chemical Plant Zone 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 blue 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 is 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 players 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 2 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 jets of sludge that shoot from one tube to another, or in a parabolic path. These cannot be destroyed, so just run past them and hope that you survive.

Boss
The boss is Dr. 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
In the Sonic the Comic series published by Fleetway Editions, the Chemical Plant Zone is a large industrial Zone on Mobius. Once a beautiful and natural region, it was laid to waste by Dr. Ivo Robotnik. During Dr. Robotnik's global rule, it played a huge role in the pollution of Mobius and was also the sole producer of Mega Mack, the chemical designed to kill Sonic the Hedgehog.

Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
The Chemical Plant Zone appears in the television seires Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. It appears in the episode "The Mobius 5000", where it is one of the locations Sonic, Tails and Professor Caninestein pass through during a race against Dr. Robotnik's Race Bots.

Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Chemical Plant Zone is a location that appeared on Mobius during Operation: Clean Sweep, where Dr. Eggman and his accomplishes reshaped reality with the Genesis Wave. After the entirely of the Multiverse was altered by the Super Genesis Wave, the Chemical Plant Zone became a permanent part of Sonic's World.

Trivia

 * The Death Egg Zone and the Chemical Plant Zone both use 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.
 * Some Samsung phones feature a game called "Jump Boy", which features the music from Chemical Plant Zone.