Very underappreciated background from one of the competition stages. This background should be made into a polished up wallpaper someday as the small resolution you see it in the original stage doesn't do it justice. Glad to potentially have the zone it came from remade in Sonic 3 remastered if Sega ever decides to allow it to happen any time soon. Most likely won't, but I won't let the idea fade away.
... wat? Anyway Titanic Monarchs BG is similar to Chrome Gadget and at one point there was a mod that replaced TM Act 1 with a modified Chrome Gadget idea at one point (I don't think it works anymore but it was fun). I mean other BGs I like? S2 Aquatic Ruin, S3 Azure Lake, and SM HZ Act 2. Don't care for a lot of S1 backgrounds though outside of GHZ and MZ. Wasn't sure what SYZs BG was meant to imply, the bronx?
I also enjoy Azure Lake's background, since that background had plenty of substance for a stage that was way simple and short to the point. Sonic backgrounds don't really seem to get the attention they definitely deserve. Mainly just the Sonic 3 Multiplayer stages. Since those aren't in a Single-player stage. Which I was kind of disappointed at since I played the competition stages before the Main Game. But I guess that's just me.
The oddly non-surreal cityscape has always weirded me out. The straight up buildings are just so out of place in classic Sonic, even from an artistic standpoint...
Yep, not gonna lie on this one. Spring Yard Zone was definitely out of place and experimental. They were clearly trying to do something different from Sonic's set-in-stone art style in Marble and Green Hil when they were developing it. But I kind of like Spring Yard Zone because of how kind of peaceful it looks.
Eh, I'm not really seeing what's so weird about SYZ's BG. It wasn't the only BG in the classic games (or even Sonic 1) to depict buildings, and said buildings were drawn in the same style as the SBZ1 BG. On the topic of 2P backgrounds, I rather like CG, BP and AL. In fact, I've always felt that CG as a whole looked great, and would have made an awesome full-fledged zone. Guess I wasn't alone, seeing how they gave us TMZ in Sonic Mania
Huh. Barely noticed TMZ paid homage to CG. I think I forgot about CG when I played it. Glad to see that Sonic 3's Competition stages are still remembered. I just hope to see something that'll blow me away when I play it in the future.
There is something special about all of these stages. Its amazing even in the multiplayer stages Sonic team took the time to animate the backgrounds. Often there are blinking lights or small details to look at. I used to just stop and stare at Balloon park all the time. The detail on the elephant and the giraffe are amazing.
Definitely something special about these stages indeed. I just wish these stages had more of a spotlight in the eyes of ROM hackers, so we could have the best possible experience of Sonic 3. Even better than Sonic3 Complete, which is already the best possible experience of Sonic3 to date.
IIRC, in Taxman and Stealth's proposed remake S3K that all sadly never came to fruition, the plan was to include all the the Competition stages remade in to full single-player acts ala their take on S2's Hidden Palace. It's a shame that we never got to see that. But Titanic Monarch in Mania is an obvious homage to Chome Gadget, especially in Act 1. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that some ideas that the team had for the S3K remake were adapted into Mania
I was always partial to Sonic 1's more surreal style, and I think Scrap Brain and Spring Yard's backgrounds are my favorite in the series, bar none. I even love the little animations that Scrap Brain has, and how good it looks for its rather flat shading. There's a ton of detail just back there that you would never notice unless you looked at it outside of the game. Conversely, I love CD's foreground design and overall level element design choices, but not the actual backgrounds. Everything feels too close, in your face, and too busy. The least offenders are Palmtree Panic and Quartz Quadrant, but still, they're fairly busy and too detailed for what a good background should be IMHO, and kind of only really like them because I love the design of the levels they're in. I also never really liked Sonic 3's designs as much as 1 and CD. Just never got into the new shading style. The game's great, but visually speaking, its the least appealing for me in the Classic series. It made great use of the limited color palette, and I notice tricks it did now that I wouldn't've noticed 10 years ago (how the shading is always a subtle color rather than pure black or oversaturated like earlier games would've had), but it just never stuck with me.
I agree with everyone here when it comes to the fact that all these stages' backgrounds are appealing one way and kind of offputting on the other. Nice to see that I'm not the only one here who acknowledges backgrounds to a very vocal extent. Perhaps I should critique some of the artwork in some fangames since I seem to have a fascination with discussing how good art looks... Never really acknowledged that about myself until now.
I've always had a thing for the backgrounds in the Classic Sonic games. I usually have one as my desktop background then alternate Zones whenever the mood hits. Speaking of the S3 competition backgrounds, those are some of my favorites. Azure Lake and Balloon Park are tied for second with first being Chrome Gadget. Also, am I the only one that would've preferred Balloon Park Zone's backgrounds used in Carnival Night Zone? I think it would've helped the Zone feel less crowded in a weird way.
I can see that. When I was a kid I used to look and stare at the backgrounds sometimes. I would always wonder who is in the buildings; what's going on over there; nice blue water and great mountain views; bet it would be awesome to chill on this beach and etc.... Almost like looking at a Bob Ross painting and getting lost in it. Kids, right? Mostly from S1 and S2 because I prefer the more surreal environments.
My headcanon as a kid was Oil Oceans bg was actually Metropolis zone. I was looking to see how the world kinda connected itself.
I cannot unsee Mario's face in Marble Zone's entablatures. I'd say this is supported by Dynamite Plant, which is composed of Oil Ocean and Metropolis gimmicks, implying that it located between the two.
Same. Considering games had just gotten into having detailed backgrounds such as these... I was mesmerized. Suddenly this world is much bigger than I'd've ever dreamed of, and I know I'd only ever see a fraction of it. Who lives in those city blocks in Spring Yard, anyways? I have a pretty good guess who's working the factories in Scrap Brain, though. Same. XD
Funnily enough, on an artistic and gameplay standpoint, I enjoy Marble Zone. Regardless of how people say it's slow, it still feels very interesting and adventurous for what it makes up in with the lack of speed. It had a lot to it, and I honestly adore the aesthetic. Also, I never thought anyone would ever be able to see Mario's face in Marble Zone's entablatures.
That was always one of my favorite part about the CD BGs. The level of detail in them was a highlight for me, yet I never found it distracting. I just loved how I would notice something new every time I looked closely at them.
