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For other uses of the term, see Big Arm (disambiguation).

Big Arms[1][2] (ビッグアーム[3] Biggu Āmu?), also known as the Squeeze Tag Machine,[4] is a vehicle that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a modified, combat-oriented Egg Mobile created by Dr. Eggman. The vehicle was used by its creator to defend his Death Egg during its first re-launch from Angel Island.

Description[]

Appearance[]

Big Arm Thumb

Big Arms is a heavily armored Egg Mobile. Significantly modified compared to the regular Egg Mobile, it possesses two giant mechanical arms on the sides. These arms are gray with red shoulders, wrists and finger joints. It also possesses a windshield and a red canopy with gray spikes on top of it, and two small red thrusters on its back.

Powers and abilities[]

Big Arms is able to hover or fly through the air using the thrusters on its back. Its arms also give this vehicle the ability to grab its opponents and throw them into the ground with lethal force, make powerful palm thrusts, and throw tremor-inducing punches.

History[]

Sonic 3 & Knuckles[]

In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, when Sonic and Tails got onboard the Death Egg during its first re-launch from Angel Island, Dr. Eggman returned to defeat them using excessive force (which meant using Big Arms and other vehicles to fight the heroes). However, that force proved to be Eggman's undoing. As the duo defeated Big Arms, the Death Egg succumbed to the damage the fight had inflicted on it, causing it to crash-land on Angel Island once more.[5]

Much later, at the abandoned Launch Base, Knuckles fought the Big Arms, this time piloted by an Eggrobo. Despite the odds, the echidna destroyed the mech, but the Eggman-looking robot dropped a bomb while retreating that sent the hero flying to Mushroom Hill.

Sonic Generations[]

In the Nintendo 3DS version of Sonic Generations, Classic Sonic ended up fighting Dr. Eggman and Big Arms beneath the Death Egg during the time of the Angel Island incident. After Sonic beat Big Arms however, the Time Eater showed up and kidnapped Eggman while he was still inside his mech.

When the Time Eater was destroyed, the Big Arms was presumably restored to its proper place in the timeline.

Battle[]

Big Arms is the third and final boss of Launch Base Zone Act 2 in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as well as the fourteenth and final boss overall in that game. In Knuckles' story in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it is the second and final boss of the said Act and the twelfth boss overall in that game. In Sonic Origins, it is the fourteenth boss in the game overall in Sonic and Tails' stories.

In Sonic 3, Big Arms is fought with Sonic or Tails. In the original version of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, it is fought by Knuckles only. In Sonic Origins, it is fought by Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. In Sonic Origins Plus, it can also be fought with Amy. In all cases, the Big Arms is fought directly after defeating the Egg Rocket.

Boss guide[]

The arenas where the Big Arms is fought at is the same respective locations as with the Egg Rocket. The battle commences after Eggman or the Eggrobo on the Big Arms vertically descends through the screen. The first phase of the Big Arms' attack pattern consists of the Big Arms swooping horizontally across the screen with variations on its path. If the player jumps into the Big Arms' hands, the Big Arms will grab and immobilize the player, roll them into their Spin Attack and then slamming them down into the center of the arena upon which they will take damage and the Big Arms will fly away while resuming the remainder of its attack pattern. Normally, the player's only opportunity to attack this boss is when it swoops across the screen. Because the Big Arms has spikes on the top of its cockpit and wide arms below, Big Arms has a limited amount of space where it can be safely attacked. The player must use a well-placed Spin Jump to attack the cockpit; too high and the character will hit the spikes, too low and they will be grabbed by the hands. While playing the standalone Sonic the Hedgehog 3, using the Insta-Shield is an effective tactic for Sonic. After the Big Arms gets hit while swooping across the screen, it will fly directly towards the corner.

After swooping across the screen two times, the Big Arms commences the second phase of its attack pattern where it will appear on top of the screen and fly horizontally back and forth several times. It will pause for a brief moment before descending below the arena and repeat the same movement, requiring the player to jump over the Big Arms to avoid contacting with it. Afterwards, the Big Arms will pause for a brief moment before flying upwards and then repeating its attack pattern from the first phase. While it is flying across the screen below the arena, the player cannot damage it though it is possible to damage the Big Arms by a well-timed jump just while it descends and also after it finishes this attack depending on its position.

When fighting the Big Arms as Knuckles in Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the Big Arms now swoops across the screen four times in the first phase of its attack pattern before the second phase commences. After defeating the Big Arms, the player can hit the Capsule descending from the top of the screen as it moves horizontally across the arena to finish the act. Also, the player does not lose all of their Rings by the Big Arms' grab attack while in their Super State.

After eight hits, the Big Arms will be destroyed, and Eggman with the Egg Mobile will fall from the arena (or on it in Origins). Whatever happens will affect the Death Egg itself and the arena along with Sonic/Tails will be detached from the space station. The player will see the damaged Death Egg falling in the background, as well as Eggman Fleeing to it in Origins, thus ending the first part of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, and the game will then progress to the end credits in the original version of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 or continue on with Mushroom Hill Zone in the Origins remaster of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. When Knuckles defeats the Big Arms, the Eggrobo will appear and drop a bomb causing the pipe floor beneath Knuckles to explode. Knuckles proceeds to escape and falls off into Mushroom Hill Zone.

Trivia[]

  • In Sonic the Hedgehog 3, if Big Arms grabs Super Sonic, the player will lose all of their Rings, and thus losing the character's Super State. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles however, if it grabs a character in their Super State, it will create a Spring sound effect upon impact and the player will not lose any Rings from the attack.
    • This makes Big Arms the first boss in the Sonic series that is capable of harming Super Sonic.
  • If a character is in their Super or Hyper form, they will be able to damage Big Arms when it comes down to sweep across the platform. This can also be done without transforming, requiring a well timed Spin Dash.
  • After delivering the final hit on Big Arms in both Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and in the original Sonic 3 & Knuckles while in mid-air from a Spin Jump, the player's character instantly uncurls. This is due to a programming oversight, where a bug in the original Sonic the Hedgehog 3 could occur where if Tails were to defeat Big Arms while Sonic is grabbed, then Sonic would remain in midair.[6] This does not occur in the Sonic Origins remaster of Sonic 3 & Knuckles.
  • The music played during the fight against Big Arms is reused for the first phase of the fight against Mecha Sonic Mk. II in Sky Sanctuary Zone during Knuckles' playthrough and the fight against the final boss of Sonic & Knuckles.

Music[]

Name Artist(s) Version Length Music Track
"Final Eggman" Sega Sonic the Hedgehog 3/Sonic 3 & Knuckles 1:50
Sonic & Knuckles Collection "FM Synthesizer" 1:42
"General MIDI" 0:57

In other media[]

Books and comics[]

Sonic the Comic[]

Big Arm in STC

Robotnik piloting the Squeeze Tag Machine, from Sonic the Comic #37. Art by Richard Elson.

In the Sonic the Comic series published by Fleetway Editions, Dr. Robotnik pilots Big Arms, here referred to under its original European name of the "Squeeze Tag Machine", when he invades Sonic's Secret Underground Base in Emerald Hill Zone. The Squeeze Tag Machine is built so solidly that Sonic cannot damage it. Luckily, he is helped by Knuckles, who cracks the small windscreen with a punch, weakening it enough for Sonic to tear the top of the machine off.

Archie Comics[]

Main article: Big Arms (Archie)
Big Arm (Archie)

The Big Arms, from Sonic the Hedgehog #276.

In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, Big Arms appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog #276, where it was piloted by Dr. Eggman in his effort to rescue Metal Sonic from the Distant Abyss Zone.

Gallery[]

Screenshots[]

Gallery

References[]

  1. Sonic Team (June 23, 2022). Sonic Origins. Sega. Area/Level: Boss Rush (Sonic 3 & Knuckles). "Boss Rush 5/9 - vs. Egg Rocket - Big Arms"
  2. Sonic the Hedgehog (January 24, 2019). Sonic Mania Adventures Special Remix - "Big Arms" by Tee Lopes & Jun Senoue. YouTube.
  3. (in Japanese) ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ3 公式ガイドブック. Shogakukan. July 1, 1994. p. 75. ISBN 978-4091024794.
  4. Hill, Simon (June 1994). "Launch Base". The Official Sonic 3 Play Guide. Titan Books. p. 81. ISBN 1-85286-567-9. "Squeeze Tag Machine: What a real nasty piece of work this thing is! With steel claws and razor-sharp spikes it's enough to make you want to run for cover!"
  5. Sonic The Hedgehog 4. Sega. Archived from the original on May 12, 2013. Retrieved on October 27, 2017.
  6. https://s3unlocked.blogspot.com/2018/01/keep-your-arms-inside-at-all-times.html

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