The Big Squeeze[note 1] is an object that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a giant trash compactor onboard the Flying Battery that Dr. Eggman used as a trap for Sonic and his friends twice.
Description
Appearance
The Big Squeeze's main components are two large flat blocks with yellow and black hazard stribes on the edges. These two blocks each have a large hydraulics mounted on their backside. On top of these two blocks are a rail that carries a gray and yellow mechanism with a blue electromagnet. This mechanism moves along the rail via wheels.
Features and traits
As per its purpose, the Big Squeeze can compress trash into manageable and wrapped bales. In terms of strength, it can squeeze already dense piles of scrap metal from various Badniks and other devices into even smaller blocks.
The Big Squeeze's electromagnet gives it a degree of magnokinesis. The magnetism the Big Squeeze creates and its ability to control it is advanced enough to let it manipulate Badnik parts into forming new robots, which the Big Squeeze holds together and moves through magnetism.
History
Sonic Mania
In Sonic Mania, the Big Squeeze was used as a trap by Dr. Eggman after Sonic, Tails and Knuckles go onboard the ship. With the press of a button while the heroes were stuck on the other side of a force-field, Eggman dumped Sonic and co. into the Big Squeeze to be crushed. While the trio stopped the Big Squeeze in time, it still managed to compress enough of its scrap to deposit both it and Sonic and his crew from the Flying Battery. Fortunately for Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, they were saved in the last moment by a crate mover.
Sonic Mania Plus
In Sonic Mania Plus, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Mighty and Ray had managed to catch up to Dr. Eggman onboard the Flying Battery, only for the doctor to drop them into a rebuilt Big Squeeze while they were stuck behind a force-field. Before the machine could crush them however, the group stopped it. Still, the Big Squeeze had compressed enough trash to initiate its deposing procedure, resulting in Sonic and co. being deposited from the ship. Fortunately for Sonic and his friends, they were saved in the last moment by a crate mover.
Battle
The Big Squeeze is the mini-boss of Flying Battery Zone and the seventh overall boss of Sonic Mania and Sonic Mania Plus. It is fought at the end of Flying Battery Zone Act 1.
In Sonic Mania, the Big Squeeze is fought with Sonic, Tails or Knuckles. In Sonic Mania Plus, it is fought with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Mighty or Ray.
Boss guide
The battle begins once the player is dropped into a pit of discarded robots by Dr. Eggman. The battle is against the electromagnet on the ceiling, which attracts pieces of the broken robots and turns them into functional Badniks. While it is forming the Badniks, touching the electromagnet will damage the player. The strategy is to jump on these Badniks it creates to gain enough height to hit the electromagnet.
Each time one of the Badniks is destroyed, the walls of the garbage pit will close slightly, decreasing the amount of available space and eventually crushing the characters if the boss is not defeated quickly enough, resulting in a loss of a life. With less space, however, the garbage pit piles up, steadily increasing the height which will eventually allow the player to hit the electromagnet with just a jump. Once it has been hit six times, the player has beaten the mini-boss. The player can then touch the Goal Plate that drops from the sky and finish the Act.
Knuckles will have to wait longer to be able to hit the boss due to his gimped jump. However, it is possible to gain altitude by gliding into the reanimated Badniks and potentially score early hits.
After its defeat, the playable character will be dropped into a pit by the Big Squeeze, only to be rescued by a Grabber-based gimmick which carries them to safety.
Music
| Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music Track |
|---|---|---|---|
| Danger on the Dance Floor | Tee Lopes, Falk Au Yeong (mixing) | 2:08 |  |
Video
Sonic Mania Boss 7 - Trash Compactor
Trivia
- The Big Squeeze is loosely based on Barrier Eggman, the sub-boss of the original Flying Battery Zone in Sonic & Knuckles.
- One of the Badniks seen in the Big Squeeze's trash heap is Splats, a Badnik that was planned to appear in Sonic the Hedgehog.
- However, Splats makes its official appearance in Sonic Mania in Press Garden Zone, the Zone after Flying Battery Zone.
- The makeshift Badniks created during the boss battle with the Big Squeeze appear to be comprised of Tubinaut and Rattlekiller parts.
- An unused Sprite of a destroyed Chopper moving its mouth can be seen in the files, meaning that he would also use his parts.
Notes
- ā While not listed in any instruction manuals, the internal files in the PC release of Sonic Mania refers to this boss as "BigSqueeze".
