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Sandopolis Zone
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A desert Zone that goes over quicksand to the pyramids.


— Description, Sonic & Knuckles[1]

Sandopolis Zone (サンドポリス ゾーン[1] Sandoporisu Zōn?) is the third Zone of Sonic & Knuckles and the ninth of Sonic 3 & Knuckles. It is an extremely large desert and pyramid area located in Floating Island.

Description[]

Sandopolis Zone is an Ancient Egyptian-like desert area that goes over from quicksand to pyramids.[1] In Act 1, the Zone takes place outdoors, with a purple-yellowish sky and a background showing a flat area covered with sand and a few pyramids; while in Act 2, Sandopolis Zone takes place inside of a pyramid with several different-sized rectangular walls in the background. These walls have candles and murals depicted with hieroglyphics.

Story[]

Sonic's story[]

After jumping from the Flying Battery, Sonic and Tails land in the sands of Sandopolis. They proceed through the desert to find a hidden pyramid. Unfortunately, Sonic and Tails end up releasing a swarm of Hyudoros that proceed to haunt the pyramid. To keep the ghosts at bay, Sonic and Tails had to keep the lights in the pyramid active or risk being attacked by the ghosts once the lights went out. Later, after defeating Eggman's Egg Golem, Sonic and Tails attempt to pursue him but fall into a hidden pit that leads to Lava Reef.

Knuckles' story[]

After jumping from the Flying Battery, Knuckles lands in the sands of Sandopolis and proceed to find the same hidden pyramid that Sonic and Tails had found earlier. Upon entering, the Hyudoros that Sonic and Tails released earlier are still haunting the interior of the pyramid, forcing Knuckles to avoid them until he reaches the Egg Golem, now piloted by the renegade Eggrobo. Once the Eggrobo is forced to flee after the Egg Golem is destroyed, Knuckles avoids the hidden pit Sonic and Tails fell into earlier and heads into Lava Reef.

Gameplay[]

Sandopolis Zone features small sand-falls that allow the player to progress upwards by repeatedly jumping, while others will automatically carry them along their paths. Larger ones will similarly either carry or safely lower the player to another level. The loops here are different, as the player will circle through them twice before going upward. Notable gimmicks include sand blocks which the player can ride on once the block is pushed onto the black rails, sand slides, and bead strings that catapult the player diagonally upwards once the player stands at a certain spot and platforms connected to the wall via beads which moves in a U-shaped trajectory when stood on, allowing the player to progress upwards or safely descend. Other gimmicks include grappling handles that can be used to descend to lower areas, but depending on the device the grapple is attached to, it can either send the player spinning around across a large gap to the other side, or just let them rappel down to a lower ledge from the one they were just on. There are also columns of sand that block the player's path but can be disintegrated by simply jumping at them. Some sand blocks can also be jumped on, only to crumble away though sometimes, it can be a hidden Rock'n.

Notable obstacles include quicksand pools that can either function as bottomless pits, or lead to secret areas, and thick moving blocks that can act as crushers or as platforms. Sand falls may also be filled with Sandworms that have to be avoided as most sand falls lead to bottomless pits.

In Act 2, the background darkens over time. This empowers Hyudoros, which will attack the player once the Act is at its darkest state. Lighting switches hanging from the ceiling throughout the Act can be used to light the Act back up to its fully illuminated state, which will repel the Hyudoros. The Act also features switch blocks which can be pushed to open barriers to subsequent rooms, although they close after a short amount of time so the player must pass through them quickly. Some rooms have bricks sealed in the walls that release sand flows when broken, which raises the ground level in the room, allowing progression to higher floors but also bringing a risk of crushing the player against the roof if they are not fast enough to keep up with the overflow.

Overview[]

Act 1[]

Act 1 opens with the player falling from the Flying Battery Zone and landing in the sand. They will need to jump to get out of the sand and proceed through the Act normally. Multiple routes can be taken using the gimmicks in the Act to move around. Some of the Giant Rings can only be accessed by Tails, especially if used to airlift Sonic to them. Some passages are inaccessible to Sonic and Tails as only Knuckles can break through the blocks to gain access to those paths.

At some point near the end of the Act is a floating sandstone bridge leading to swinging platform; the area directly to the left has a lower route and an upper route. However, the upper route is only accessible by using the swinging platform, otherwise the player is not able to reach the upper route.

Navigating the desert leads to a massive sand fall, where a hidden pyramid rises from the ground, before releasing the Guardian. Once the Guardian is defeated, the tomb can be entered to proceed into Act 2.

Act 2[]

Act 2 takes place inside the tomb of the pyramid the Guardian was protecting. Early into the level, Sonic and Tails inevitably open a Capsule which will release Hyudoros. Once the Hyudoros are present, the act undergoes through four different phases indicating the status of the act's illumination, and the presence and behavior of Hyudoros. From brightest to dimmest, these are:

  1. The stage is fully lit with no Hyudoros present.
  2. The stage is fully lit as with the first phase but now one small Hyudoro hovers along the top of the screen which does not interact with the player.
  3. The stage is partially lit, giving it a darker appearance and two Hyudoros (slightly larger than the Hyudoro in the earlier phase) now appear on the screen which do not interact with the player.
  4. The stage is completely dimmed out, giving the stage a dark purple tint. Three Hyudoros (now fully revealed) are present on-screen. Initially, they will still hover on top of the screen and not interact with the player. After a short amount of time passes, they will pause for a brief moment and start charging into the player. As such, Knuckles will deal with the Hyudoros as soon as the Act begins for him as they will have already been released by Sonic and Tails when they came through earlier.

The phase changes by one level after a certain amount of time has passed. The player can jump onto lighting switches which will fully illuminate the stage back to the "first illuminated" phase.

Sand slides and more moving columns dot the interior of the pyramid, along with sliding switches that must be pushed to open up passageways for a short time before the switch slowly slides back into its original position and seals the path off again. Sand dispensers must be broken to cause the sand to lift the player up to a higher area (which is mainly important for Sonic) although Tails (including Sonic and Tails together) and Knuckles may not be required to use sand dispensers due to their unique abilities. As in Act 1, some paths are inaccessible to Sonic and Tails and only Knuckles can access them by breaking the blocks sealing them off.

The final puzzle of Act 2 for both Sonic/Tails and Knuckles' routes requires the player to break a sand dispenser to raise the sand level (but not continuously do so unlike the previous two cases). In Sonic and Tails' case, this simply raises the sand level in order to pass through a sliding switch-operated barrier while in Knuckles' case, the raised sand level allows Knuckles to push a sand block which then pushes and locks a sliding switch at the far right position to open a barrier (which otherwise has a very short timer).

Once past the final barricade to the boss room, the Hyudoros will retreat, and the lights stay on for good for the fight against the Egg Golem.

Bosses[]

Guardian[]

The Guardian serves as the boss of Act 1, which emerges after a pyramid rises out of the ground. The Guardian mainly attacks by jumping towards the player. It can easily be broken apart by a Spin Attack to the head but will quickly reform and continue to attack. To defeat it, the player must lead it to the quicksand pit on the far left of the area and have it jump in, destroying itself. After beating this mini boss, the player enters the pyramid to start Act 2.

Egg Golem[]

The player must hit the head of the Egg Golem as it constantly moves forward, which is the only weak point on its body to temporarily expose Dr. Eggman/the Eggrobo. Eight hits are required to defeat the boss. The left arm while extended acts as a stepping stone that the player can use to jump up and hit its head but the player must be mindful of the spikes that cover most of the Egg Golem. Over time, the Egg Golem will fire charged lasers if not hit from its eye that travel at a slanted angle towards the ground in front of it.

Giant Ring locations[]

Act 1[]

  • The first giant Ring requires the player to take the lower path after scaling the first narrow sand-fall at the beginning of the act. At the end of the path, the player needs to gain enough momentum from the first sand slide to clear a steep hill with a moving vertical block at the top of the hill. After a few slopes, the player will then come across two sand-falls; by falling into the gap between the sand-falls, the player can find a path to the left where the Giant Ring lies in a small dead-end room just past a vertically-moving block (which can crush the player).
  • The next Giant Ring requires the player to push a sand block onto a set of black rails (which is located after a series of two sand slides past the first Star Post the player encounters when taking the route to the first Giant Ring), then ride along it until at the very edge just before it drops where the player needs to jump off of it and land on a beaded platform. This takes the player up to a Skorp and a sand-fall where the player can repeatedly jump to scale up, reaching an upper section where the Giant Ring is present at.
  • The third Giant Ring can only be accessed by Knuckles. After passing the second Star Post of the Act, there is a platform that moves back and forth along an arc above a quicksand pit; the player needs to drop to the lower level sealed by a barrier of tiles only Knuckles can break through, then use the red spring to reach a high path. The player will need to continue along the route, taking care not to fall through a quicksand pit. The player will eventually come across a pit where the right side has a narrow sand-fall; they'll need to fall in and the Giant Ring is located to the left at a small dead-end room past a moving crusher with spikes.
  • The fourth Giant Ring can only be accessed by Tails; this one follows a similar route to the previous Giant Ring (only Tails does not need to use a spring as he can simply fly up to the high route the red spring will launch Knuckles at. Following on the route until Tails reaches a sand block, the player will need to fly up instead of using the block, reaching a high place where a Rock'n is present along with a vertical moving block that conceals a route on top of the hill. The player will reach a Star Post but to continue on to the Giant Ring with he will need to fly past up a narrow opening in the upper-left direction while avoiding being crushed by the horizontal-moving crusher to reach an upper area. Then the player can simply move left to reach the Giant Ring in this room, while avoiding being crushed by the vertical crusher
  • The fifth and final Giant Ring can only be accessed by Knuckles, from the final Star Post before the Guardian boss fight, the player must speed up to reach enough height to glide into the left wall, climb high enough then glide over to the right wall and climb it. The player will be able to reach an alcove above the left wall (which the crumbling platform placed at the edge blocks the player from entering it via climbing the left wall only) where the Giant Ring awaits.

Act 2[]

  • The first Giant Ring can only be accessed by Knuckles, the player needs to wall climb up the wall on the left side of the first room at the very beginning of the act, making their way up the wall while avoiding being crushed by the moving blocks or taking damage from the Hyudoros. This will lead to a path where the first Giant Ring is unmissably located past a breakable wall.
  • In the first sand slide section, the player needs to backtrack against the first down-left flowing slide they encounter. All characters can reach it although when playing as Sonic alone, he will need a Flame or Lightning Shield to do it. When playing as Knuckles, after following the path past his first exclusive Giant Ring, he will be able to reach this slide. The player will eventually reach solid ground and then another down-right flowing slide and fall onto solid ground fall into a gap where the second Giant Ring is located at the right most end of this path.
  • The third Giant Ring can only be accessed only by Knuckles. After traversing a loop, the player drops to a quicksand section with two vertical-moving blocks; the player needs to break through a barrier of tiles to the right which only Knuckles can break through. From there, the player should follow the path and after the player reaches the end of it (past a moving crusher), the player needs to climb the wall in front of them where the Giant Ring is above.
  • The fourth and final Giant Ring is only accessible by taking Sonic/Tails' route instead of Knuckles' second exclusive route (which Knuckles will need to be Super/Hyper to gain enough momentum to scale the wall and the moving vertical block). The player will come across the 2nd-to-last switch block which needs to be pushed all the way to the right, then navigate through the section to get past the barrier opened by the switch as soon as possible. After a drop, the player needs to make a jump at the end of the path to reach a small dead-end room that is about to be closed off by a barrier and the Giant Ring lies right behind the sliding switch (which can be used to exit the room after the Giant Ring is used.

Trivia[]

  • The entrance to Lava Reef Zone from this Zone is different between Sonic and Knuckles. Sonic goes into a tunnel and falls through a hole, but Knuckles runs right over it, even though the pre-released Hyudoros should indicate that Sonic has been there already.
  • When playing as Tails (or with Sonic) in Sandopolis Zone Act 1, there is a level wrap glitch the player can exploit. By flying to reach a higher path at the very start of the act, the player will soon encounter a loop where they must have Tails fly into the top left corner of the loop where he can clip into the corner. Then by pressing right, the player will shoot off past the left-most boundary of the level and then be transported all the way to the very end of the act where Guardian is fought, skipping the entirety of the act. In doing this however, the player's character sprite appears behind the pyramid which makes it difficult to see the character and is only visible when they are to the left of the pyramid.
  • If the player goes to Act 2 in regular gameplay, the act will be at its fully dark state. However, if the player uses level select to enter Act 2 or restarts it, the act will start in the second illuminated state.
  • Act 2, it is impossible to avoid releasing the Hyudoros from the Capsule. Even if a player uses Debug Mode to directly bypass the tunnel that launches them right onto the capsule, passing the next Star Post or finishing a Special Stage will trip an event flag that releases the Hyudoros anyway.
  • In Act 2, after finishing a Bonus or Special Stage, the player will continue the Act at its second illuminated phase regardless of the state it was at when the player entered the Bonus/Special Stage.
  • Sandopolis Zone appears as a part of the Sonic the Hedgehog Adventure World in Lego Dimensions.
  • For unknown reasons, almost all of the grappling ropes are left out of the Sonic Origins version of the game, resulting in one area in Sandopolis Zone Act 2 being inaccessible as Sonic without the use of a well timed Spin Dash and Spin Jump.

Gallery[]

Concept artwork[]

Artwork[]

Gallery

Sprites[]

Screenshots[]

Act 1[]

Act 2[]

Music[]

Name Artist(s) Length Music track
"Sandopolis Zone Act 1" Sega 1:57
"Sandopolis Zone Act 2" Sega 1:50

References[]


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