Sonic jumping over a bottomless pit, from Sonic Generations.
A bottomless pit,[1] also called a bottomless abyss[2] or simply a pit, is a hole that causes a loss of a life for the playable character should they fall through it. Bottomless pits are quite common in platforming games, such as the Sonic the Hedgehog series. Bottomless pits are often found as holes in the lower sections of the level. That is, the player's character dies when they reach the bottom of the playable area. The player has to avoid these pits by jumping, using gimmicks, or other abilities.
Overview[]
Sonic after falling into a bottomless pit, from Sonic the Hedgehog (16-bit).
Bottomless pits can be found in almost every platforming title in the Sonic the Hedgehog series, positioned at the very bottom of levels, Adventure Fields, boss stages or Special Stages. Bottomless pits are generally scarce during early levels, but become more frequent as the game progresses; some levels are almost entirely suspended above bottomless pits, with falling off the level a constant threat. Falling into a bottomless pit will cause the player to lose a life regardless of Ring count or invincibility, potentially resulting in a Game Over if the player has no lives remaining. Even super transformation offers no protection against this hazard.
Some levels feature variations of this obstacle. In most levels that feature anti-gravity as a gimmick, such as Crazy Gadget, it is possible for the player to fall off the top of the screen as well as the bottom. Some pits, rather than being truly bottomless, have a floor of spikes (such as in Green Hill Zone) or lava (such as in Hill Top Zone), giving the player the opportunity to escape if they are fast enough, but at the cost of losing their Rings. In addition, some levels in the Sonic Adventure series will block the player from falling into a bottomless pit by releasing a jet stream that makes the player float above it.
The warning sign, from Sonic the Hedgehog Modern Style Guide.
Bottomless pits in 3D games have become even more common, as the player can mostly fall into a dark hole, ocean/lake or quicksand sections of the level and thus lose a life. In recent games, the players have been warned before entering sections with bottomless pits with signs of an exclamation mark, as it is first seen in Sonic Unleashed and Sonic Colors. Since Sonic Generations, there can be seen dark orange and black colored, floating warning signs, featuring a render of Sonic's death pose from Sonic the Hedgehog. They also exist with the same design as Sonic Generations in Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II and Sonic Colors: Ultimate. However in Sonic Lost World and Sonic Forces, these warning signs were not used. Bottomless pits in Sonic Frontiers are present in traditional sense during Cyber Space stages while in Open Zone fields, falling into ocean/lake portion outside one of Starfall Islands will make Sonic to respawn to the location near close to the pit. Falling into a bottomless pit will also restart the current progress on the Open Zone field, including encounters with guardians.
Trivia[]
- Sonic the Hedgehog CD has only a single bottomless pit, which is located in Metallic Madness Zone 3.
- Collision Chaos and Stardust Speedway also contain bottomless pits, but the player cannot fall into the pits unless they use Time Warp to fall into a bottomless pit.
- Sonic Rush is the only Sonic game that features bottomless pits in all the zones.
- In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, if the player uses the Debug Mode to cause the gravity to reverse and reach the top of the screen, the playable character will lose a life in the same effect as a bottomless pit.
- The bottomless pit warning signs, specifically the orange colored design, are based on the type of road hazard signs used for construction and maintenance work in the United States.
- The bottomless pits first appeared in Green Hill Zone from the first ever Sonic game.
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Screenshots[]
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 A simple bottomless pit in Star Light Zone, from Sonic the Hedgehog.  An underwater bottomless pit in IceCap Zone, from Sonic the Hedgehog 3.  Quicksand can act like a bottomless pit in levels such as Sandopolis Zone, from Sonic & Knuckles.  Bottomless pit below Red Mountain, from Sonic Adventure.  The bottomless pit seen in Mystic Mansion, from Sonic Heroes.   The swamp with floating Egg Flyers, from Sonic the Hedgehog (2006).  Bottomless pit as seen in the nighttime stage of Apotos, from Sonic Unleashed. .jpg "Sonic Colors Asteroid Coaster (10).jpg (233 KB)")  Bottomless pit below Classic Sonic, from Sonic Generations. Notice the floating warning signs below.  Sonic coming to the Grind Rail section above the lake of bottomless pit in Planet Wisp, from Sonic Generations.  Sonic and Tails crossing wild area of bottomless pit in Oil Desert Zone, from Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II. |
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Sonic and the Black Knight (Wii) European instruction booklet, pg. 14.
- ↑ Sonic Colours (Nintendo DS) European instruction booklet, pg. 8.