The Machine

You may be looking for the song This Machine.

The Machine is the third level of Sonic the Hedgehog Spinball for the Mega Drive and its 8-bit port for the Game Gear/Master System, coming after Lava Powerhouse and before Showdown. As with other stages in this game, Sonic must bounce through the pinball-like level, acquiring Chaos Emeralds which are in turn used to access the boss. In this stage, there are 5 to find, unlike the 3 required at the previous two levels.

Overview

The Machine is the rumbling, robotic core of the Veg-O-Fortress; the facility's entire raison d'être. It is here that Lava Powerhouse's electricity flows, and where Toxic Caves' pollution flows from, for the entire level is one giant Badnik production facility. Glassy industrial pipes riddle a stage of churning pistons, electrical arc furnaces, and massive electronics systems. The stage also comes complete with a giant prison for Mobians awaiting robotization (being turned into power sources for robots); one of the Chaos Emeralds is hidden away in a cell, so ensure you break them all open.

Boss

Main article: Veg-O Machine

Just as this level is the Veg-O-Fortress' reason for being, this boss is in turn The Machine's reason for being. Fueled by the geothermal energies harnessed in Lava Powerhouse, the Veg-O Machine is an automatic "robotizer", transforming animals into power sources for Badniks at a terrifying rate. Happily, this abomination of Dr. Robotnik's twisted mind does not put up too much of a fight. Sonic must simply smash the tubes which feed animals to the cruel machine, then hop inside and smash the thing up pinball-style.

Hitting the targets at the sides of the boss will prevent the player from draining the ball, as Sonic will be caught in a field which will dump him in a piston, shooting him back up into the boss room instead of falling back down to the Animal Prison. The player is notified by the message "Surge Activated!".

Trivia

• Despite being a significant feature in early Sonic games, The Machine is the only level that features moving platforms in Sonic Spinball.
• The small square screens between the flippers in the lower section indicate the positions that the wheels are in, which the player can use to help get the Emeralds inside them if not wanting to risk being thrown out of a power chamber towards death.
• This zone is inspired by the scrapped Sonic the Hedgehog 2 zone, Genocide City Zone.

Music

Name	Artist	Length	Music Track
The Machine	Brian Coburn, Barry Blum, Howard Drossin	4:09
The Machine (8-bit)	Paul Gadbois	2:09

External links

• Sonic Spinball page at The GHZ has detailed information on all the Sonic Spinball zones.