- This article is about the Zone in Sonic Mania. For the original Sonic the Hedgehog CD round, see Stardust Speedway (Sonic the Hedgehog CD). For similar uses of the term, see Stardust Speedway (disambiguation).
| << Previous Zone | — | Sonic Mania Stardust Speedway Zone |
— | Next Zone >> |
Stardust Speedway Zone (スターダストスピードウェイゾーン Sutādasuto Supīdowei Zōn?) is the sixth Zone of Sonic Mania. It is a reimagination of Stardust Speedway from Sonic the Hedgehog CD, being one of two Mania stages to come from that game alongside Metallic Madness Zone. The Zone comprises two Acts: Act 1 is set in the past timeframe, with Greco-Roman aesthetics, while Act 2 is placed in a modern city in the present. In Sonic Mania Plus's Encore Mode, Stardust Speedway is the seventh Zone and has an appearance reminiscent of the original's bad future. As with the original, the stage culminates in a boss fight against Metal Sonic.
Description[]
Stardust Speedway Act 2 in Mania Mode (top) and the bad future-stylized version from Encore Mode (bottom).
Stardust Speedway Zone looks virtually identical to the Sonic CD stage, with each Act set in a different timeframe of the original. Act 1 takes place in the past, with a landscape inspired by ancient Greece and Rome under a nighttime sky, with constellations depicting harps, Roman helmets, or Sonic. The roads consist of green highways with overgrown vegetation,[1] decorated with yellow statues, vases, and dark red and green temples, and with fireflies flying around. The background features an illuminated polis in front of a lake.
Stardust Speedway Act 2 takes place in the present, which is a modern cityscape full of neon-lit buildings covering the area in the background. The highways are also golden, decorated with musical instruments. The ancient temples are replaced with large, brown buildings under construction.
In Sonic Mania Plus's Encore Mode, Stardust Speedway Zone has received various color palette changes. Act 1 now takes place at sunset, with a reddish sky. Act 2 is reminiscent of the original stage's bad future, with the sky and buildings colored crimson and the highways tinted sea green.
Story[]
Sonic and his friends are transported to the past of Stardust Speedway by Doctor Eggman using the Phantom Ruby at the Press Garden. Making their way across the city, the heroes destroy a robot transporter, thereby restoring Stardust Speedway's future, and use a Time Warp sign to travel to the present. They destroy a Metal Sonic hologram, summoning Metal Sonic in the process, who gives chase to them. After the robot is destroyed, Sonic's group confronts Eggman as he plans to build the Titanic Monarch; the doctor uses the Phantom Ruby to teleport the crew to Hydrocity. In Encore Mode, virtually the same events transpire.
Gameplay[]
Both Acts of Stardust Speedway Zone feature gimmicks and obstacles from the original Round. These include iron balls that periodically pop out of holes, and shooters the player can load with the playable characters and then fire in different directions.
Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1 features several gameplay elements from Marble Garden Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 3, including diagonal Pulleys, Platform-raising Wheels that are interacted with the Spin Dash, iron balls that swing around horizontally, and downward loops with pillars that the player spirals around. There are also curled up vines that form bridges when walked across, and bouncy threads of vines on corners that can be used for enhanced jumps. These gimmicks are respectively taken from Mushroom Hill Zone and Sandopolis Zone, both stages from Sonic & Knuckles. The Capsules seen in Sonic the Hedgehog CD are located throughout the Act; destroying them causes a "Beanstalk" to grow, spawning leaves that serve as platforms and harmful carnivorous plants that Mighty's Hammer Drop can destroy.
Act 2 comparatively features few new gimmicks. Bungee Ropes can be found at the edge of various paths, sending the playable character upwards in proportion to their speed, akin to the same gimmick in previous games like Sonic Advance. The player can also ride on firework rockets, similar to those seen in Tropical Resort in the 3DS Sonic Generations; they can be tilted to the left or right when grabbed onto but last briefly before exploding, although the explosions are harmless. Most rockets lead to Rings in the sky arranged like diamonds, a reference to the Sonic R song "Diamond in the Sky".
Overview[]
Act 1[]
Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1 in Encore Mode
Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1 takes place in the past. At the end of this Act, the playable characters will automatically destroy a nearby robot transporter before using a Time Warp sign to travel to the second Act in the present.
Act 2[]
Stardust Speedway Zone Act 2 takes place in the present. At the start of the Act, the player will find themself in a portion of the original Round's Zone 2. Throughout the Act, the level layout is similar to that from the original Round, having many parts featuring ramps, loops, and tunnels.
Bosses[]
Act 1 boss[]
The Hotaru Hi-Watt
The boss of Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1 is the Hotaru Hi-Watt, a giant version of the Hotaru enemies. Regular-sized Hotarus appear in its place to battle the player. Once these enemies are overcome them, the Hotaru Hi-Watt re-emerges by firing a laser across the arena. It is vulnerable as long as it is visible, and is destroyed with six hits.
Act 2 boss[]
One of the phases of the Metal Sonic boss fight, with mass-produced Silver Sonics.
The boss of Stardust Speedway Zone Act 2 is Metal Sonic. The battle takes place in the brown Eggman statue predominantly featured in the original level, and is set in three phases. During the first phase, the player must run while dodging Metal Sonic's attacks. Once inside a room, Metal Sonic spawns Silver Sonics, from the 8-bit Sonic the Hedgehog 2, that can be knocked up to him with a Spin Dash.
The third phase diverges depending on the version of the game. Prior to the June 2018 update, the player had to outrun a spiked wall while attacking Metal Sonic when he is vulnerable. Since the release of Sonic Mania Plus, the player instead faces Giga Metal: a transformation achieved with the Phantom Ruby inspired by Metal Sonic Kai, the final boss of Knuckles' Chaotix. The player needs to land eight hits to Giga Metal's belly, where the Phantom Ruby is, to defeat the boss.
Giant Ring locations[]
Act 1 Giant Rings (Encore Mode)[]
- The player should take the path with the pulleys. After exiting the spring maze, they need to take the lower path right until they begin bouncing off the vines. They should bounce up to the path with the Star Post. They need to then enter the next spring maze and take the left path down to the ring chamber.
- Upon exiting the ring chamber, the player needs to take the launchers up to the highest one. They should then launch upward to the right to get on the top path. The player must make sure to jump over the spring to continue right to bounce off the vine to the pulley. They have to break the capsule and climb the Beanstalk all the way to the final leaf next to the launcher moving up and down. They should launch themselves near the top of the swing to reach the upper platform with a Giant Ring on top.
Act 2 Giant Rings (Encore Mode)[]
- The player should take the lower path down to the launcher. The need to launch down to the left to go down to a chamber full of launchers. They need to make their way to the farthest right launcher on the bottom. The player needs to launch up to the highest platform they can reach to the right. They should continue right and bounce up one level to reach another launcher. They have to launch to the right and continue straight right after the gap with the spring which will lead them to a loop. Before they hit the second loop, the player should stop and turn to the left. From the hill in between the loops, they need to jump to the left but watch out for the hidden spring. The player need to them jump up to the left and then to the right to find a small tunnel leading to a ring chamber.
- After exiting the ring chamber to the right, the player should launch upwards to the right to the second launcher and then launch straight up to the rocket. They have to veer to the right to get on the top path. The player should launch down to the bottom path and take the spring maze to the left to find the ring chamber. If they get the wrong path and reach the Star Post near the loop on the bottom, they can work their way left through the spring maze and also reach it.
Trivia[]
- Lucas Carvalho, one of the game's artists has said on Twitter that this Zone was the one he loved working the most on Sonic Mania.[2]
- Stardust Speedway Zone features several references and Easter eggs:
- The second phase of the Metal Sonic boss fight is based on his boss fight from Knuckles' Chaotix.
- In Stardust Speedway Zone Act 2 in Sonic Mania v1.05.0713, the way Giga Metal marches towards the player is very similar to how the Giant Eggman Robo matches towards the player in the Death Egg Zone in Sonic & Knuckles.
- In Stardust Speedway Zone Act 2 in Sonic Mania v1.05.0713, the way the glass dome on Giga Metal's chest becomes more cracked as it takes damage is similar to how each Egg Mobile-themed boss in Sonic 3D Blast shows how much damage it has taken.
- One of the many constellations that can be seen in the background of Act 1 is of the Tantalus logo, a reference to one of the studios that worked on Sonic Mania.
- The flower heads on Beanstalks resemble unnamed Badniks from Flower Park Zone in Sonic: Mega Drive.
- The Dangos in Stardust Speedway Act 1 are pink rather than green, which is the same color that they were in prototype versions of Metallic Madness in the original Sonic CD.
- The roles and abilities of the Hotarus in Sonic CD are switched for their appearance in Sonic Mania. In Sonic CD, the Hotarus appeared in Stardust Speedway as regular enemies that appeared exclusively in pairs and created a chain of electricity between them, with a special variant appearing in Metallic Madness as a sort of miniboss that shot beams of light straight down. In Sonic Mania, the latter appear commonly throughout both acts of the zone, with the former exclusively appearing during the Hotaru Hi-Watt miniboss.
- Players can place the old version of the Hotarus into the level in Debug Mode, but their sprites are glitched and they do not work properly.
- For reasons unknown, starting in version 1.05.0713 of Sonic Mania and Sonic Mania Plus, Act 1 and Act 2 of Stardust Speedway each have different pairs of animals. Act 1 has Flicky and Ricky while Act 2 has Flicky and Picky. It is the only Zone in the game with this distinction.
- Despite Pocky being featured in the Metal Sonic hologram of both this stage and the original Stardust Speedway, it is not among the Animals that pop out of Badniks in either Act.
- In Mania Mode, Stardust Speedway Zone has the same level number as the original Round.
- This is the only Zone where, if the player is equipped with a shield upon completing Act 1, it will not carry over to Act 2, even if the player does not skip the transition cutscene. This is a reference to how, after entering the Time Warp with a Shield in Sonic the Hedgehog CD, the player would lose it.
Music[]
The music for Stardust Speedway Zone is inspired by Japanese soundtrack of Sonic CD rather than the North American version. When fans questioned about the absence of the iconic "huehues" during Stardust Speedway Act 1's music, Tee Lopes, the game's composer, jokingly responded with a video on Twitter.[3]
| Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music track |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Stardust Speedway Zone (Act 1)" | Tee Lopes, Naofumi Hataya | 2:58 | |
| "Stardust Speedway Zone (Act 2)" | 2:56 |
Videos[]
Sonic Mania Sonic Solo Part 6 - Stardust Speedway Zone
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sonic Mania OST - Stardust Speedway Zone Act 1. YouTube (July 31, 2017). Retrieved on August 7, 2017. "Relax to the mellow funks of the past as Sonic and friends return to Little Planet's firefly-lit marble cityscape. But things aren't so simple as fauna has grown rather lush."
- ↑ Lucas Carvalho on Twitter. Twitter (August 31, 2017). Retrieved on September 6, 2017.
- ↑ Tee Lopes on Twitter. Twitter (July 31, 2017). Retrieved on August 1, 2017.