Opinions about Hill Top Zone

Hill top rocks.

 

Heh I made a poll a while ago related to this:
http://forums.sonicretro.org/index.php?sho...t=0&start=0
Unfortunatly the poll options seem to have gone a bit wonky.

But yeah I quite like the hill top zone concept, it gives the game more consistancy.

 

Honestly I don't care if it "looks like Emerald Hill". Hill Top is different enough, regardless of the tileset - I quite like it.

 

Hill Top, despite reusing tiles, honestly felt like a level of its own—the layout style was drastically different, and it had many unique qualities, such as the underground lava sections and the earthquakes. In addition, it was the first zone to ever use dynamically reloaded patterns to simulate an extra layer in the background.

And, mind you, Hill Top was planned very early on... I'd say it was even one of the first levels to be made. I mean, I know I sure as hell didn't expect to see it in the Nick Arcade proto of Sonic 2 when I booted it up. No, that level definitely had thought put into it, and I don't believe it was done lazily like some people tend to think.

 

It was probably planned to reuse Emerald hill tiles from the beginning. That explains why that level was made so fast because besides the background and pine tree art, no new tiles had to be made, just reconstructed to make something new.

The level isn't too bad. It's unique enough not to feel old yet at the same time it feels kinda cheap to me, simply because of the art. However it maintains consistency and at the very least it's not back to back with Emerald hill, so you get some space before seeing the art again.

 

I tend to hate levels in videogames which make me wait for no good reason in sections just to get by.

Marble Zone AND Hilltop Zone are both guilty of this.

As for the rest; it looks good (Nice enough colours, I don't care about it looking too close to EHZ) and I love the music, even if it does sound more like a grand-canyon styled level should, IMO. It's just the earthquakery stuff. No thank you.

 

I didn't really like it. It's a slow level and I didn't like its music.

 

I quite liked it. The fact that there was an outdoor section alongside large indoor cave sections gave it more variety than most Sonic levels. The section with rising lava may seem boring now that we all know what to do, but when people first saw it, it was quite threatening and exciting. I'm also a sucker for loop-de-loops in Sonic levels.

 

I do agree HTZ is truely it's own level because it may reuse tiles, but they are reworked so the level works good.
I do agree with love.self.hate though is the waiting is what always gets me in a few sonic levels.

 

Although it incorporated some interesting concepts I hated HTZ's music and the layout didn't appeal to me.. it had nothing to do with it being an EHZ rip-off, though. I just felt that parts of the level design were shoddy, although the earthquake, rising lava and even the boss were all pretty cool.

 

I'm not much of a fan of Hill Top Zone, mostly because I find the level a little bit boring, but I did like the gimmicks it had with the rising lava and earth-shifting earthquakes. I won't berate it completely like most people do, since it was quite a bit to make it a unique level and not just "the first Emerald Hill Zone recolor/edit."

 

I like HTZ exactly because it reused some of EHZ's art. The first time I saw it I was like "cool, EHZ, -remixed-!".
I also like it, because it reminds me of Sky High Zone from S2GG, one of my favorite zones.

Everything else has already been said. Unique feel. Interesting layout. Neat boss. etc.

 

I don't know why, but I actually LIKED seeing the reused art when I was a kid. Maybe I just like the blue pallette better than the brown/tan, but perhaps it's because it feels like an extension EHZ. By that I mean it gives the level a very, well, "broad" sense, I guess I'll say. It feels like EHZ is a large expanse traveling through the mountains and caves; it doesn't exist soley by the sea-side.

However, a problem I have with the level is the layout. It's not exactly bad, per se, but it tends to jump back and forth between speed sections and slower, platforming sections rather erratically. One moment you're buzzing along through loops, and the next you're sitting in front of a door waiting for the magma to get out of your way so you can dash up a series of platforms, get to another door, and eventually back outside again to another speed section. Now, said platforming sections would be far more tolerable if you weren't forced to constantly lose your speed and wait beforehand. In my opinion, the level would be funner to play if things were kept at a similar pace throughout. Perhaps not as slow as standing still waiting for doors to open/an earthquake sequence to carry you to a ledge (or, god forbid, Marble Zone), but not so blazingly fast as to pass up some fun platforming opportunities. Ideally, the player should be able to move quickly through the obstacles, but not zooming through and falling off into the abyss and whatnot. However, as it stands, the layout is for the most part fun, innovative, and most definitely distinct from EHZ.

All in all, I've always enjoyed playing it. It may not be as engaging as zipping through a level like Chemical Plant, but it doesn't bore me to death like Marble or Labyrinth, where I feel like switching the console off and finding something better to play.

And for the record, I'm apathetic about its music. =P

 

That is a common misconception, one of those that are (thankfully) disproved by the Sonic 2 Nick Arcade build. They weren't exactly strapped for space at that point (with 1/8+ of the ROM being totally blank and most of the space-intensive data uncompressed)

Myself, I like HTZ. I like the music, and I never seemed to heavily 'connect' it to EHZ. It 'feels' like a separate level to me, with its different level layout (a maze-like one, with traps and lots of in-door space, as opposed to a 'press right' level that is EHZ).

 

Esrael was able to fit in all the lost levels into Sonic 2 Delta II without exceeding the 1MB original ROM size, so I doubt ROM size as an issue for them at any point in time. They could have easily added a level with a completely original set of graphics in the final build, if they really wanted to.

 

...like hidden palace zone!! *shot*

 

Hill Top Zone was always my favorite zone in the game. I liked the background, and the overall design of the levels. The earthquakes were also an interesting concept. I never saw the connection between EHZ and HTZ until it was pointed out to me online, so I never considered it a "rip off" of EHZ.

I liked the background, layouts, and the earthquakes (or volcanic erruptions, whatever they are :P), making it my favorite zone. Oh, and the music is good, but I liked some other tracks in the game more.