Good point! I was looking at the spikey hanging badnik from Wacky workbench thinking it looks a lot like the hanging microphone badnik in Studiopolis. Ok I'll add Mushroom Zone and Wacky workbench to my list.
I wouldn't necessarily say the reuse of a sound effect precludes the zone from appearing - however, I'll also point out that Mushroom Hill's uncurling vine platforms have been spotted in Stardust Speedway footage, so it should still be in the list either way. = P Also, Caterkiller Jr. from Angel Island has been spotted in Chemical Plant footage, so that zone should probably be on the list too.
Chemical Plant has the Metallic Madness directional tubes and Carnival Night spinning tubes. And the step-blocks that come down when you hit the bottom of them from Star Light. Also some Stardust Speedway sirens and Metallic Madness hits in the Act 2 music. Parts of the new Green Hill layout appear to be inspired by Palmtree Panic. The pushable rock and ziplines remind me of Angel Island. Flying Battery has the rotating cylinders of and similar deadly springs to Metropolis (in the original too, I know). The Burrowbot from Labyrinth appears in the trash, I suspect it's been moved to a different zone. Studiopolis has the bumpers of Spring Yard, Casino Night, Collision Chaos and Carnival Night (a weak connection I think) and the Marble beta UFOs... sort of. Mirage Saloon has a new kind of Caterkiller (Marble maybe?) and the pinball flippers of Casino Night and Collision Chaos. That's all I can think of that hasn't been mentioned. So far, I think it's safe to rule out Marble, Spring Yard, Star Light, Emerald Hill, Casino Night, Metropolis, Wing Fortress, Palmtree Panic, Collision Chaos, Wacky Workbench, Metallic Madness, Angel Island, Marble Garden, Carnival Night, Mushroom Hill and Sandopolis.
That leaves a handful of tropes to work with. If Sonic 2 gets another representative, which I bet/hope will, then it will be between Aquatic Ruin, Hidden Palace, Mystic Cave, and even Oil Ocean. (Though perhaps if were extra lucky the Mania team will throw in a scrapped level...please?) Out of those, I'd peg ARZ and MCZ as the most likely. If it happens to be Aquatic Ruin, then that likely rules out Hydrocity, or possibly even Labyrinth and Tidal Tempest if 1 & CD got extra representatives. If Hydrocity was ruled out from 3, then that only leaves Launch Base and Ice Cap. Considering there will be glorious stage transitions, (right?) and with Flying Battery being a pick from &K, then that leaves Ice Cap as the likeliest option. That being said, I would actually prefer Launch Base. On the Sonic 1 side of things, the options are: Marble, Spring Yard, Star Light, Labyrinth, and Scrap Brain/Final. I doubt we get Labyrinth. I also doubt we get Scrap Brain as that is fairly similar to the Metropolis we surely won't be getting due to the inclusion of Flying Battery. If anything, elements of the Final Zone could end being worked into whatever the final zone(s) are in Mania. So, probably no other stages from 1. For Sonic CD we have: Palmtree Panic, Collision Chaos, Tidal Tempest, Quartz Quadrant, Wacky Workbench, Metallic Madness, and R2. Quartz Quadrant pairs with Mystic Cave, but is where my bets are going. Though I would still rather see R2. Worth keeping in mind that game will have more than 14 zones, and we know 6 so far.
Good point McAleeCh. Sound effects may not be the deciding factor to add to the list. The vine platforms are in Stardust Speedway. Can't believe I didn't realise Catterkiller Jr. wasn't in Chemical plant zone! Added to the list!
Great post ApocalypticSalad. I'll update the list. The bumpers of Spring Yard, Casino Night, Collision Chaos and Carnival Night may not be enough evidence to discard them as they are a reused element. What are your reasons to exclude Wing Fortress, Carnival Night and Sandopolis ?
I like your logic saintminya. When we have evidence of a definite water zone it will probably rule out the others. For example if it's hydrocity I would expect elements and badnik from Labyrinth and aquatic to be in it. Do you think this means for definite that the desert zones are all excluded due to the mirage zone? If so I hope the best elements of Sandopolis is in zone 1! I can imagine if ice cap zone does make it in it will have elements of lava reef zone 2 added to it!
Haha, I know what you mean! With its blue colouring and body made of connected spheres, it really looks like it belongs there - perhaps more so than in its original location. No wonder the Mania team decided to use it there! XD
I would doubt that Sonic 2 "Hidden Palace Zone" would be added, since while Mirage Saloon shows a desire to show off beta or unused content, we got the iOS version relatively recently to incorporate HPZ. Would the fact that we've been officially told that the Hyper Emeralds are non-canon be enough of a reason to shoot down S+K "Hidden Palace Zone"? It's part of the most climactic part of the game, hasn't been revisited already, and could easily blend in aspects of Lava Reef and Sky Sanctuary to bulk it out enough for a full level. Further, the original version of it being as short as it is would make it a pretty good surprise level to add in, since nobody would think there's enough innately there for a full level (without incorporating LRZ and SSZ).
I'm still not quite sure if we're getting more than one Classic zone per game. We might, but it's not inevitable like some people here seem to be implying. Still, I think you're on the right track with Sonic 3's zones at least. Hydrocity, Ice Cap, and Launch Base are all likely return candidates. All of which I'd be fine with (Ice Cap seems the most demanded/likely, with Hydrocity following behind it) I'd also be okay with Mystic Cave coming back, as it and Hill Top literally the only Sonic 2 stage to not be re-used since 1992 in some form (and Hill Top is far less interesting).
Wing Fortress is an airship, and we already have Flying Battery. Carnival Night is a similar trope to Studiopolis, and the tubes have made an appearance in Chemical Plant. Sandopolis is a desert, and we already have Mirage Saloon. As for the bumpers, they did appear in each game but they were also unique to one zone in each game. Even the massive S3K only had them in Carnival Night. I wouldn't object to them appearing in two of Mania's zones, though. They're fun. Line 1: Metropolis is based on Scrap Brain 2 (as is Metallic Madness) and Flying Battery is based on Metropolis (and Wing Fortress) but if you cut out the middleman, Scrap Brain and Flying Battery are pretty much entirely different. I'm about 70% sure that Scrap Brain will actually be in Mania, as either the last or second-last regular zone. Line 3: Iizuka said that Mania has more zones than any classic game, but whether S3K counts as one game or two is unknown. Since Sonic 2 has eleven zones, Mania must have at least twelve. Line 2: We have to be getting two zones from at least some of the classic games, or else some of the information we've got from Taxman and Iizuka is contradictory. >More zones than any classic game (i.e. at least 12) >More old zones than new. (therefore at least 7 old) Besides that, Sonic 2 absolutely has to have two zones representing it. Fans would riot if Chemical Plant was the only one used, considering it was already in Generations. The devs would only dare include it if they were extremely confident in their level line-up... Oh look they are. Anyway, the upper bound is two zones per game, I think. My predictions are Scrap Brain, Mystic Cave, Quartz Quadrant, Hydrocity, IceCap and Lava Reef. At least, that's my dream.
All great points ApocalypticSalad. Thanks for adding quotes from Taxman and Stealth. I actually agree with all your points. Man I hope they were meaning the combined level numbers of sonic 3 & Knuckles. I want as much content as possible. I really hope if Ice Cap zone is in there that the music is correct and there isnt some legal issues with the Jetzons Hard Times song. It would be really shame if it was missing. Hydrocity, IceCap and Lava Reef are in my dream zones list. Sandopolis was as well but you guys are right, it would not make sense to have two desert zones and it was time for Desert Dazzle/Dust Hill to shine
While we're discussing Zones, anyone have any non-1,2 3&K CD stages they would want to see? Obviously the idea of that happening is a Monkey's Paw wish, but it's fun to consider at least. I'd love to see Toxic Caves and Rainbow Road Radiant Emerald. I always felt those would make for some unique 2D levels.
I already said it (more than) once but I can say it again, I would LOVE to see the train from Sonic Triple Trouble. We already got autoscrollers in the main titles (Sky Chase Zone a section in Lava Reef Zone), it wouldn't feel out of place if you put it near the end like I wanted to do in my hack before cancelling it. The train can be the mean of transportation used by Sonic to get into the city where you can find the last Zone or the last Boss.
Rusty Ruin from 3D Blast, with a music remix combines the Genesis and Saturn tracks, or maybe have the Act 1/Act 2 split be the two OST versions... and just for the sake of getting out of Game Gear purgatory: Sunset Park, complete with THAT track and THAT boss at the end. I feel there's some good Game Gear potential that could be tapped into! Edit: WELL the great minds think alike. Didn't read nineko's post until after I posted mine. The mob has spoken!
Honestly, Sunset Park would be great to have been remixed with a Mirage Saloon, at the very least. The level being a Southwestern Desert and all could work with a train motif. But no, all we got is fucking Casino Day Zone, which is still a large fucking waste of potential. It's the fucking Southwestern Desert, use what's there, crinkly old bridges over large gorges, water rapids, fucking canyons, trains, Wild West Towns, caves, ect. The dev team had something, but only used some of these things and went straight with a casino zone, it honestly infuriates me. Hell, New Vegas could've been a perfect inspiration, but I digress. As far as any non-Classic level is concerned, Lava Crater from Advance 2. That level had some great music, and the art is hella hot :v: Also Secret Plant and Cosmic Angel from Sonic Advance. The former because that music is kicking, the latter because of those background effects.
Yeah, I'd be over the moon if a remixed level from /any/ of the handheld or Saturn games showed up. I'm not expecting it but it would be a fantastic surprise. Egg Rocket / Cosmic Angel would be killer.
Here's a piece of old Sonic trivia that would support Ice Cap's appearance: Originally, Flying Battery was supposed to be right before Ice Cap in Sonic 3. That piece of debris Sonic follows at the very end of Flying Battery is supposed to be the snowboard he's using at the start of Ice Cap. The reason why this didn't happen was due to a deadline crunch and Flying Battery was shoved to S&K. It would be one hell of an awesome meta gag if Ice Cap did directly follow Flying Battery this time. Subsequently, as Brad Buxer is alive and reachable, I would not doubt the Mania team would move heaven and earth to get the original Ice Cap music cleared so it could be remixed. Hydrocity is a trickier proposition. There's some circumstantial evidence the composer is Cirocco Jones, who is also alive and reachable, but it's not as much of a certainty that it's not an MJ number as much as Ice Cap is. The possible presence of Aquatic Ruin in the game would not preclude Hydrocity either, as Aquatic Ruin and Hydrocity play differently and have different design philosophies. You play Aquatic Ruin the right way you may never even see the water, while Hydrocity kind of gives you no choice but to dive in. Launch Base is definitely a Michael Jackson soundtrack though and like Carnival Night I think that means LB is screwed.
Didn't Sonic Generations include Hydrocity's music as one of the sound test / bonus tracks? I get the feeling SEGA can use that a lot more than the forbidden S3 tracks. Sonic Pocket Adventure also used Hydrocity's music so fingers crossed it's fair game.
