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Slowpoke Isle (スローポーク・アイル Surōpōku Airu?) is the fifth area of Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric.[1] As indicated by its name, the lush river-covered isle is home to villages of anthropomorphic turtles like Old Tucker. It can be entered after obtaining the Radiant Crystal and unlocking the level's Crystal Lock on Bygone Island.
During Team Sonic, Lyric and Dr. Eggman's hunt for the Chaos Crystals, the parties raced each other through Slowpoke Isle to find the Verdant Crystal. In the end, Team Sonic got the Crystal first and took out Metal Sonic.
Description[]
Slowpoke Isle is located in an archipelago of mountainous and closely packed islands. The islands are like soft hills with lush grass and large-crowned trees growing on top. Around Slowpole Isle and its islands lie buildings from the Ancients that form a city over the sea. This city is made of pale rock and is adorned with golden rims and roofs. It include towers, dome-shaped and castle-structured buildings, colossal walls, a network of suspended roads and aqueduct-like bridges. Despite being a thousand years old, the city is in remarkably good condition, having only cracked walls a few collapsed roads.
Slowpole Isle consists of pillar-like and soft mountains with long grass, flowers and large-crowned trees. Weaving through it are passages and river-filled gorges and canals with calm waters, and small waterfalls. Amidst the isle lies two sections of turtle villages with large wooden gates as entrances. These villages are tribal, with hut-like houses (some of which stand on stilts above water) that have vegetation growing on them. Other structures include towers with large horns and windmills. The first village section has cable railways with turtle-shaped carts, while the second is a burning ruin due to Metal Sonic. Outside the villages lies a large wooden tower called "Octagon Tower" which resembles the village huts and contains a large bell.
The last part of Slowpoke Isle is a dark and murky cave flooded with water. Large stalactites hang from the roof, and vegetation like moss, a few leaves and glowing fungus grow there. Deep inside lies a complex from the Ancients which contain the Verdant Crystal.
Story[]
A thousand years ago, the Ancients hid the Verdant Crystal on Slowpoke Isle so that Lyric could not find it.
Arriving at Slowpoke Isle with Lyric and Dr. Eggman hot on their heels to claim their Radiant Crystal, Team Sonic played keep away with the Crystal to occupy the villains. Eventually, the team escaped them when Eggman accidentally flew into Lyric.
While Team Sonic continued their search, Lyric got fed up with Eggman's failures and decided to dissolve their "partnership." Eggman agreed and summoned Metal Sonic to finish Lyric. However, Lyric took control of Metal Sonic using his suit, and had the robot blast Eggman away. Lyric then upgraded Metal Sonic and sent him on a rampage through the villages. When Team Sonic found the Verdant Crystal, Metal Sonic took it, having followed the heroes there. However, Team Sonic pursued Metal Sonic and defeated him, allowing them to retake the Verdant Crystal.
Gameplay[]
In Slowpoke Isle, the player travels through the river chasms, through the turtle villages and into a cave. Like other areas in the game, Slowpoke Isle includes speed level sections, where the player runs down a long path with speed-enhancing gimmicks while avoiding hazardous obstacles, and as well slower-paced areas for exploration and combat. One speed level section also include metallic blue balls that the player can use to briefly stunt pursuers by knocking the balls away with an attack. The level also features the standard puzzles that the player must solve with the Enerbeam mechanic and Buttons. Unique to itself, the level has a "Simon Says" button puzzle near the end.
Slowpoke Isle contains gimmicks for all four playable characters' specific actions. These include Spin Ramps and Air Targets for Sonic, Climbable Walls and Ceilings for Knuckles, Balance Beams and Beam Swings for Amy and Tails Vents for Tails. Besides bottomless waters, hazardous obstacles in Slowpoke Isle include floating mines in the water skimming sections that explode upon contact, rotating windmill sails which will slice the player when touched, and fires in the destroyed turtle village that deal damage upon touch. Also, should the player have not completed Old Tucker's side-quest in Cliff's Excavation Site, red hedges with purple thorns also appear, which damage both the player and enemies when touched.
Overview[]
In Slowpoke Isle, the player's objective is to collect the Verdant Crystal. The first section of this area begins at the start of a speed section, with the player controlling all of Team Sonic. To enter the speed section, go through the Boost Ring ahead of the starting point. At the beginning of this speed section, the player can jump up to three platforms that are suspended over the road by cranes in order to reach a Crown. After that, the player will have to run up a wall and then bounce off it with a Bounce Pad to reach a couple of Zip Targets leading over to the next section. However, watched out for the swinging spiked pendulum between the Zip Targets. Once in the next section of the speed section. the player can use the Ener-Rail for a shortcut, but watch out for the spiked balls hanging along the way. Alternatively, the player can run through the section with extendable platforms. Notably, after being send flying following the first Ener-Rail section, the player can let themselves fall into a hidden chamber with protruding and retracting platforms instead of grabbing the Ener-Rail ahead of them. There, they can find hidden collectibles. Regardless of their choice, the player will enter another road in the speed section where they have to cross another gap with the Enerbeam while avoiding a swinging spiked ball. After that, the player will continue down the speed section until the characters are send flying again, into a new section.
In the next section, the player takes control of Sonic and Tails as they Hydro Dash through the water canals. While running, Lyric will hover above the path and follow the playable characters while firing green laser bombs at them. These blasts will damage the surroundings, thereby creating new obstacles for the player to dodge, and touching them causes damage. Along the water canals are also obstacles like explosive mines and barricades made of submerged ruins. When reaching the end of this path though, a cutscene plays. After that, the player takes control of Knuckles and Amy as they run down a speed section. Along this section's road are obstacles to sidestep or jump over, and Eggman firing missiles in all directions from his Eggmobile. At the end of this section, a shot cutscene will play again, and the player returns to controlling Sonic and Tails in the water canals. There, the player will resume the gamplay from where they left off, except Eggman will now occasionally appear and make debris fall into the water canals. At the end of this section, another brief cutscene is played. Afterward, the player resumes control over Knuckles and Amy in the speed section where they must avoid obstacles, Eggman's missiles, and now Lyric's laser blasts. When Knuckles and Amy eventually arrive in from of a tunnel, another short cutscene will play.
After the cutscene, the player resumes control over Knuckles and Amy as they run down the speed section until they arrive in front of a large gate into the first turtle village. There, the player gets control over all of Team Sonic again. In front of the gate are a number of Destruction Troops that the player must destroy in order to make the gate open. Worth noting that there are as well breakable rocks and islets next to the gate that host Robot Scrap Chests. After passing through the gate, the player will arrive in Old Tucker's village. This village has two ways through it, depending on whether or not the player has successfully completed Old Tucker's side quest. If the player did not complete Old Tucker's side quest, there will be a maze of bushes with thorns that the player has to pass through while being attacked by Destruction Troops. At the end, there will be a Furnace Brute that must be destroyed in order to open the gate leading out of the village. If the player has completed Old Tucker's side quest however, Old Tucker will welcome Team Sonic to his happy village, which will be fully open for exploration. To open the gate out of the village here, instead of destroying Destruction Troops, the player must first find and press three Buttons to send three rail carts into the tower in the middle of the village. These Buttons can be reached with the different characters on Team Sonic:
- Sonic: To reach Sonic's Button, use the Spin Ramp on the left side of the village entrance to send Sonic into the air and skip then across the Air Targets coming into view. When arriving on a cliff on the wall, use the Air Target on the left to reach the path above. Follow it then up to the top of a hut and use the Air Targets from there to reach a plaform with one of the Buttons on a rail cart. Press it to return to the ground.
- Amy: To reach Amy's Button, use the Balance Beams on the right side of the village entrance to reach a rock plateau. Use then the pink ledges on the cliff ahead of the plateau to get up there and use both the Balance Beams and Beam Swings to reach the next platform with the Button on the rail cart. However, watch out for slicing windmill blades. Once that Button is pressed, the player returns to the ground.
- Knuckles: To reach Knuckles' Button, use the Climbable Wall next to the village's exit gate, followed by the subsequent Climbable Ceiling, to reach a cliff. On this cliff, use the cliffs on the left to climb up to the hut above and follow its bridge over to the next hut. However, watch out for holes in the bridge. Next to the next hut is another Climbable Wall. Use it to reach a cliff where the rail cart with the Button is. Press this Button to go back down to the ground.
Once all three Buttons have been pressed, a moving Tails Vent will be activated at the foot of the village's tower. Use that to reach the platform encircling the tower and press the Button up there to activate a horn that opens the gate out of the village. After then passing through this gate, another cutscene will then play.
After the cutscene, the player can proceed to the dock ahead. There, one of the villagers will inform Team Sonic about Metal Sonic's attack on the next village. From there, the player has to get onboard the boat at the dock and activate it by pulling the engine's latches with the Enerbeam. This will make the boat start sailing towards the next dock. However, it will eventually stop when Destruction Troops drop down on the boat from above. To make the boat move again, defeat all the Destruction Troops on the boat and pull the boat's engine with the Enerbeam again. This pattern will occur three times in total, with the last wave of enemies introducing the Fridge Brute. Once the boat reaches the next dock, follow the devastated bridge up to the broken entrance into the next village. There will however be Derstruction Troops awaiting the player's arrival. Inside this village, watch out for numerous bottomless pits. However, each character can use their special skills to cross these gaps; Sonic can slip across the gaps using the Air Targets on the right side of the entrance; Tails can use the Tails Vent in the middle to hover over the gap; Knuckles can climb across the gaps using the Climbable Walls on the left side of the entrance; and Amy can use the Balance Beams nearby.
Regardless of which path is taken, the player will arrive on a broken windmill with an Ener-Rail at the end. This will take the player to Octagon Tower. There, the player enters a 2.5D perspective. When passing through the different floors of this tower, the player will come across a pair of dowels on each floor that block the way forward. To raise them, they must be attacked. When the dowels on the top floor are raised, they will ring a bell that opens a path to the next Ener-Rail. Use it to travel to a platform with a Checkpoint on it. Here, attack the wall ahead to open up for a passage into a cave. Inside this cave, the player has to walk across giant stalactites stuck in the ground and defeat all the Destruction Troops on each of them. Notably, right below the cliff at the entrance to the cave is the entrance to a hidden room with Rings. After all the Destruction Troops have been defeated, a passage into the last part of the level will open. Use the Enerbeam inside of this room to pulls some latches. This will activate a mechanism that will reveal a randomly generated game of Simon Says where the player has to hit some bells nearby in the same sequence that they flash up in. This will open the gate into the Verdant Crystal. When entering this room, the player will initiate the boss fight with Metal Sonic. After clearing it, the player is taken back to Bygone Island.
Boss[]
The boss of Slowpoke Isle is Metal Sonic, Sonic's robot duplicate. He can be fought directly after reaching the end of Slowpoke Isle. For this boss battle, the player controls all of Team Sonic.
When fighting, Metal Sonic will attack with lasers, powerful charges and floating orbs. To defeat Metal Sonic, the player must keep knocking the orbs on the course into Metal Sonic until he is defeated.
Collectibles[]
This level has the following total of collectable items:
- Crowns: 13
- Shinies: 5
- Robot Scrap Chests: 13
Trivia[]
- Slowpoke Isle is the only level in the game whose layout can be changed depending on whether the player completes a side-quest or not.
- At the beginning of Slowpoke Isle, several copies of Hayward and Foreman Fred can be seen and heard from on a scaffold above the path.
- Even if the player clears Old Tucker's side-quest and removes the thorns and enemies in the first village section of Slowpoke Isle, Treasure Minions which release weapons upon defeat can still be encountered inside the village, though their weapons are rendered mute due to the absence of foes.
- There is an unused ball, loaded in the main area of Slowpoke Isle, with a texture of the words "Replace Me" on it. It's exactly purpose is unknown.
Music[]
Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music track |
---|---|---|---|
N/A | Richard Jacques | 4:00 | |
N/A (Battle) | Richard Jacques | 4:00 | |
N/A (Chase) | Richard Jacques | 2:58 | |
N/A (Cave) | Richard Jacques | 2:24 | |
N/A (Cave/Battle) | Richard Jacques | 2:24 |
Video[]
References[]
- ↑ Sonic Toon. ワールド紹介 (16 October 2014). Retrieved on 17 October 2014.