- For other uses, see Wing Fortress (disambiguation).
| << Previous Zone | — | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Wing Fortress Zone |
— | Next Zone >> |
Wing Fortress Zone (ウィングフォートレスゾーン Wingu Fōtoresu Zōn?) is the tenth and penultimate Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, its various ports and remasters, and the lock-on game Knuckles in Sonic 2. It is also either the tenth or eleventh Zone in the 2013 remaster of Sonic the Hedgehog 2. It is Dr. Eggman'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. Eggman. 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. Eggman 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 slowly 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 Eggman for good.
Braving through the Wing Fortress, Sonic overcomes several traps, and is eventually able to enter the ship's control room, where Eggman 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, Eggman 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 Eggman'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[]
The Laser Prison, from Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
In this Zone's boss fight, Dr. Eggman 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 Eggman 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 Eggman running.
In other media[]
Books and comics[]
Sonic the Comic[]
In the Sonic the Comic series 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 of the game's release.
- 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 spite of the chicken-based Clucker being the only Badnik present in the Zone, Cucky is not among the Animals that can appear here.
- 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 at the platform the player drops down onto after defeating the boss which marks the end of the Zone.
- In Boss Attack Zone in the 2013 remaster, 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. In the 2013 remaster, the player will not die (while 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.
- This marks the last Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 to include Star Posts (and Special Stages).
Gallery[]
Artwork[]
Screenshots[]
| Gallery |
|---|
Music[]
| Name | Length | Artist(s) | Music track |
|---|---|---|---|
| "StH2 Wing Fortress Zone ~Mega Drive Version~" | 1:59 | Masato Nakamura |
Video[]
References[]
- ↑ Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Mega Drive) Japanese instruction booklet, pg. 39.
V·T·E · {{Sonic 2 (8-bit) info}} · Category