While sorting through zone themes for kicks and Mania hype, and rearranging the zone orders according to each Genesis-era games playthrough, I stumbled upon a thought regarding Hyrdocity. I didn't see anything on it on the wiki, nor was there a theme association for it. Is Hydrocity an underwater ruin? Or is it a modern city underwater?
Thanks. That's what I figured. It puts the zone transition from Angel Island in better perspective. As opposed to Eggman having told him to drop Sonic into an egg city, its just Knuckles' own knowledge of the island.
My question about Hydrocity is... Sonic is plastered EVERYWHERE! How did Knuckles not recognize that chubby little Hedgepig?
Knuckles made the sculptures himself upon the first time seeing Sonic. May have a bit of a hate-crush. :v:
We've had this discussion before. Sonic is so awesome that wherever he runs, he transforms the world around him into his image. That's how he appears on the other side of the signpost.
Seems legit. I've had to check where did Sonic appear in Hydrocity after reading this, so I guess Knuckles didn't notice either. To me, Hydrocity is like Marble Zone but flooded by water instead of lava, and happening only indoors (outdoors is a task for Marble Garden).
We should keep in mind that the Knuckles Clan had 3000 years to build new stuff after a chunk of their land was pulled into the sky and became Angel Island. For all we know, Hydrocity could be a mere 100 years old.
Actually, I noticed that Sonic 3 & Knuckles is one big ruin level game. But would Launch Base be considered ruins too? I always saw it as a level that was at first ruins but Eggman built the machinery on top of it making it a mix of the two. Some of the buildings and look of the level reminds me more of ancient ruins than an Eggman base so that's why I get that impression.
I never really gave it much thought, but you have a point. You don't usually see factory-trope zones utilizing stonework, but LBZ definitely has significant amounts of stonework; and the rounded tops with pointed ends that are on the top of pillars, as well as the cathedral-esque windows in the interior portions give me an Eastern-European vibe.
You could ask the same thing about nobody recognizing Blaze despite her face and name being plastered all over Night Carnival Zone. Of course, Sonic being plastered all over the ruins of Angel Island actually has some plot significance, so I guess that's not totally comparable.
For real, I definitely took note of the majority of S3K being ruins in some capacity while sorting through all the Genesis zones, which propmpted the clarification for Hydrocity. Launch Base certainly has ruins in the background. It looks as if only Carnival Night, Flying Battery, and Death Egg are not ruins.
As for Sonic statues appearing in Hydrocity, it may be one of those things where it's supposed to represent some sort of prophesy. Note the ancient art on the wall where you fight Knuckles in Hidden Palace; it foreshadows Doomsday Zone. Thus, the statues don't seem out of place to me at all.
So happy other folks were wondering about this! I always figured that the Launch Base ruins in the background of Act 2 are representative of those large, cathedral-esque rooms built of stone and featuring ornate entranceways which occur throughout the zone. Perhaps that's what the area looked like before the Death Egg crashed, presumably partially sinking the ruins? Who knows, but it's fun to speculate. Also... how the hell did Eggman find the time - and Knuckles' permission, for that matter - to build Carnival Night Zone when he's panicking about the Death Egg's relaunch?
Did Eggman build Carnival Night? Where the fuck did Carnival Night even come from? It's the strangest stage in the entire game. On an island full of ruins, there's just a town with working electricity that's constantly partying?
I think Eggman built Carnival Night Zone. At least that's what Archie said (In the last issue Eggman was having Snively oversee construction of Carnival Night during the events of Sonic CD. He considered it "tactically important")
Archie shoehorned CD between 2 and 3? Lame. Anyway, yes, I'm pretty sure it was built by Eggman. Who else could be behind it but the guy who gave us Circus Park and Eggmanland (Unleashed)? He probably can't stand staying away from carnivals and amusement parks too long, given his childishness. So he must have built Carnival Night for himself during his stay in Angel Island.
Given the Sega mandates that are known that the Archie staff got I'm pretty sure Sega wanted it that way. At least to me it looks more of a Sega decision than an Archie one.
Well, I'm not extremely informed on these mandates. But from what I've read, most of them seem to pertain the game characters and their portrayals. They seem to have a hands off approach regarding the storylines, so I don't see them making a "games have to be adapted by release date order" mandate or similar.
