The Warp Point is a gimmick that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a device that can transport its users to the higher levels of a location after stepping onto it.
Description
Warp Points are presented as big, glowing, crimson marble orbs with a small ring-shaped structure around them. When using them, they emit a pillar of light.
Game appearances
Sonic & Knuckles
In Sonic & Knuckles, Warp Points are featured at Hidden Palace Zone and Sky Sanctuary Zone. In Hidden Palace Zone, they are set on large altars and are used to transport to the Sky Sanctuary Zone, where they are used more regularly. It can be used to transport to another one, which is usually located at the higher section of the Zone. Warp Point transports the player as a large warp wave at high speed. When the player lands at the higher Warp Point, they are able to progress in the Zone. The higher Warp Point does not work similarly to the lower one, as it only works as a link to the transporting wave.
At the end of Sonic's version of Sky Sanctuary Zone, Mecha Sonic destroys one of them, in doing so making no escape for the player and challenges him to the fight. Knuckles' version of the Sky Sanctuary Zone has only one Warp Point at the linear arena, where the final battle against Mecha Sonic takes place.
Sonic Generations
In the console/PC version of Sonic Generations, the Warp Points can be found in Sky Sanctuary. They work exactly as they did in Sonic & Knuckles. The only known difference is that the higher Warp Point, where the player gets transported, does not have a marble orb, but only the hole where the player gets transported from. Warp Points also appear in a few Challenge Acts, including Knuckles: Buried Treasure and Amy: Topsy Turvy. In Aerial Paradise, they are also set on walls and ceilings.
Sonic Mania
In Sonic Mania and its expansion Sonic Mania Plus, a Warp Point appears briefly right after defeating the Heavy King and clearing Lava Reef Zone Act 2. Upon reaching that point in the game, a short cutscene will show the playable character using the Warp Point to transport themselves to Little Planet and the next Zone, Metallic Madness Zone.
In other media
Books and comics
Archie Comics
Knuckles and Amy teleporting the Master Emerald via a Warp Point, from Sonic Universe #90.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Warp Points are referred to as Teleporters, and are used to transport the user between two Teleporter units. They are common objects in Sky Sanctuary while another can be found in the Hidden Palace Zone on Westside Island.
Trivia
- In Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, the yellow and blue teleporter plates at Carnival Night Zone and IceCap Zone work a similar way.
- Background pillars of Sky Sanctuary in the console/PC version of Sonic Generations are seen to have similar, but larger and different colored marble orbs as a part of them.
