- For other uses, see Wing Fortress (disambiguation).
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Sonic the Hedgehog 2
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Wing Fortress Zone (ウィングフォートレス[2] Wingu Fōtoresu?, lit. "Wing Fortress") is the tenth Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, its various ports and remasters, and the lock-on game Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It is also either the tenth or eleventh Zone in the 2013 remaster of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It is Dr. Robotnik's flying battleship. Wing Fortress Zone only consists of one Act, with a boss fight at the end of it.
Description
Wing Fortress Zone is a giant battleship owned by Dr. Robotnik. Most of the vessel is made out of light brownish metal, with a few parts being red or silver as well. Notably, various circuits and engines can be seen adorning the ship's walls.
Story
After chasing Dr. Robotnik through the skies in the Tornado, Sonic and Tails locate the Wing Fortress and attempt to infiltrate it. However, the vessel opens fire upon them with a laser barrage, damaging the Tornado and making the biplane showly fall with Tails in it. Sonic, meanwhile, is able to get off the Tornado in time and land onto the Wing Fortress before the Tornado falls out of range. Being forced to leave Tails behind, Sonic continues onward to stop Robotnik for good.
Braving through the Wing Fortress, Sonic overcomes several traps, and is eventually able to enter the ship's control room, where Robotnik is waiting for him with a trap. However, Sonic defeats the doctor's trap, making the Wing Fortress fall slowly out of the sky. In panic, Robotnik escapes using his space rocket. Fortunately, Tails returns in a repaired and modified Tornado in time to give Sonic a ride that allows him to leap onto the space rocket and hitch a lift to Robotnik's Death Egg.
Gameplay
Wing Fortress Zone contains all too many opportunities for the playable character to fall into bottomless pits, be it swinging hand-over-hand on the bars right next to the flaming booster engines, or jumping along retractable platforms set on the side of the ship, or being thrown over wide, open spaces by the launcher chairs which lie amidst the steel rigging. Vertical propeller blades are also on hand to damage the player when they run into them.
Overview
When the Zone begins, whoever the player is controlling at that time will make a leap from the Tornado's wings and begin the Zone as them. The player will have to explore Wing Fortress Zone alone, even if playing with Sonic and Tails.
Boss
Barrier Eggman, from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
In this Zone's boss fight, Dr. Robotnik eschews his usual Egg Mobile and attacks with the level itself. After breaking into the interior of the airship, Sonic (Tails or Knuckles if the player is using 1 of them as the playable character) finds himself trapped by a pair of forcefields, while Robotnik deploys cruelly spiked platforms and a laser beam to cut the hero down. This is quite a difficult one, the trick is to jump atop the floating platforms when the laser opens its shield casing, and wallop it before it fires. After enough hits, the machine overloads, blowing up the forcefields and sending Robotnik running.
In other media
Sonic the Comic
In the Sonic the Comic comic series and its spin-offs published by Fleetway Editions, the Wing Fortress was a giant aircraft whose past was virtually identical to its game counterpart's. One time, Sonic and Tails returned to it in order to find one of the space shuttles, which they would use to reach the Death Egg.
Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Wing Fortress appeared during Operation: Clean Sweep, where Dr. Eggman had reshaped the history of the Prime Zone. When Sonic's multiverse was later completely rewritten following the events of Worlds Collide, the Wing Fortress became a permanent part of the history of Sonic's World, where it had a past nearly identical to its game counterpart's.
Trivia
The mention of "Eggman" on the side, from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
- "Eggman" is written on the Zone in all worldwide releases of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, despite the character being called "Robotnik" in Western nations at the time.
- This Zone is an inspiration to Sky Fortress Zone Act 2 and 3 from Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode II.
- Interestingly, in the Beta 4 build of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Wing Fortress Zone was called "Sky Fortress Zone" on the stage select screen.
- Strangely, the two parts of the Wing Fortress Zone are not properly connected, not even through frame.
- In the 2013 remaster of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, when playing this Zone in Time Attack, the section after defeating the boss does not trigger the cutscene transitioning from Sonic to the Death Egg. Instead, a Capsule appears which marks the end of the Zone.
- In Boss Attack Zone in the 2013 re-release, the Capsule is instead replaced with a Dash Panel.
- During the cutscene transitioning the player to the Death Egg, if the game's timer exceeds 10 minutes (the timer will still count as normal during the cutscene), the player will still die because of this. In the 2013 re-release though, the player will not die (though the timer remains at 9:59) and the cutscene will still play as normal.
- This Zone, along with Sky Chase Zone and Death Egg Zone, is one of the only Zones in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to have a singular Act.
Gallery
Concept artwork
Screenshots
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Music
| Name | Length | Artist | Music Track |
|---|---|---|---|
| "StH2 Wing Fortress Zone ~Mega Drive Version~" | 1:59 | Masato Nakamura |
Video
References
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Mega Drive) United States instruction booklet, pg. 16.
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Mega Drive) Japanese instruction booklet, pg. 39.
