Sonic Mania Plus Angel Island Zone |
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Angel Island Zone is the first Zone in the Encore Mode of Sonic Mania Plus. This Zone is a re-imagined version of the original Angel Island Zone from Sonic the Hedgehog 3 for the Sega Mega Drive.
The Zone is a lush jungle area on the coast of Angel Island. Unlike most other Zones in Sonic Mania Plus, Angel Island Zone is composed of only one Act, with no boss fight at the end. It is not playable in Mania Mode under normal circumstances, though it is visited in a cutscene at the beginning of Mania Mode. It is also only playable once on any save file.
Description[]
Like the original Zone, Angel Island Zone is a thick, tropical jungle with palm trees, breakable rocks, swinging vines and plenty of foliage as far as the eye can see. This time around, there are now Animals populating the jungle in a carefree manner, though there are the odd bunch of Badniks that Sonic must destroy.
Story[]
Encore Mode[]
After having defeated Dr. Eggman in another dimension, Sonic the Hedgehog is returned to this Zone, where he notices that the Phantom Ruby has also returned with him. Seeing it float away, Sonic follows it through the jungle.
Eventually, Sonic finds a capsule containing Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. After Sonic frees the pair and chooses his partner, the Heavy Magician reveals herself to be the other character. She flies away with the Phantom Ruby, with Sonic and his partner giving chase. They soon find the discarded remains of the Phantom Heavies. The Heavy Magician gives the Phantom Ruby to the Phantom King, who awakens and teleports everyone to Green Hill Zone.
Gameplay[]
Angel Island Zone makes use of the same gimmicks as its counterpart from Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Common obstacles include ziplines, breakable rocks, and underwater sections. The Zone is also much shorter than its original counterpart. Also, because of Encore Mode's life system, the player only has one single life for the first part of the Act. Losing it will result in a Game Over.
Overview[]
The first part of Angel Island Zone is a replica of the first Act of the original Angel Island Zone, except that most secrets and alternate paths are removed. As soon as the player reaches the open clearing where the gigantic tree trunk before the Fire Breath originally appeared, they will find a capsule containing Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. When the capsule is destroyed, the results tally plays. After this, the player must choose which character they would like to partner with. The character the player does not choose will be revealed to be the Heavy Magician in disguise, who will then swipe the Phantom Ruby and escape with it.
Afterward, the player regains control of Sonic and their new partner, and must use their partner's abilities to overcome an obstacle and chase after Heavy Magician. If the player choses Mighty, they will have to use his Hammer Drop to break the rocks in the ground and take a lower route; if they chose Ray, they must use his Air Glide to climb a ledge that is too high for Sonic to reach and take a higher, shorter route. Both paths lead to the broken-down Hard Boiled Heavies, which will initiate a cutscene leading to Green Hill Zone.
Trivia[]
- Angel Island Zone features several references and Easter eggs:
- The capsule Mighty and Ray are trapped inside resembles the Combi Catcher from Isolated Island and Newtrogic High Zone in Knuckles' Chaotix.
- The music that plays when choosing a partner is a remix of "Run Run Run!," the track for Volcanic Vault in SegaSonic the Hedgehog.
- The "High Five" track that plays when the player's partner has been selected is a reference to the same act that appears when receiving a partner in Isolated Island and Newtrogic High Zone in Knuckles' Chaotix.
- Sweep, an enemy in this Zone, has the same attack pattern as the Amenbo, an enemy from Sonic the Hedgehog CD.
- The Sweep that appears in this Zone was first discovered in the files for Sonic Mania as unused content before its official appearance.
- In the game's files, there is a corrupted file for an Act 2 of Angel Island Zone.[1]
- This Zone and Lava Reef Zone are the only Zones in the game where Dr. Eggman does not appear.
- This version of Angel Island Zone has the same level number it had in Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
- Angel Island Zone is the only Zone in the game that is entirely absent of Giant Rings.
- Despite Angel Island Zone being only acceded in Encore Mode, there is a glitch that allows the player to play a corrupted version of the Zone in Mania Mode, even if they have not downloaded the Encore DLC. Depending on whether or not the DLC has been downloaded, the latter section of Angel Island Zone will change slightly.
Music[]
Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music track |
---|---|---|---|
"Angel Island Zone" | Tee Lopes, Falk Au Yeong | 2:25 |
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Maps[]
References[]
- ↑ Bones Burger on Twitter. Twitter (17 July 2018). Retrieved on 20 July 2018.