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No sleeping yet, double feature!
I don't really get why all the music instruments. It certainly is a fast level for such a small space but glitches and weird physics and curves don't help. Still, it's extremely lively; not paying attention where you're going can be deadly or get you lost.
- Past: A green plant-like aesthetic covers the level. It's dark, there are fewer buildings and vines cover the instruments.
- Bad Future: An eerie purple glow suffuses the background. A metropolis sprawls in the background and most instruments have been left to rust. Lightning flashes on dark clouds in the background.
- Good Future: Hey, it's a carnival! This reminds me of the various casino zones from just about every sonic game ever, even though we've seen similar set pieces earlier on. I wish I could find a picture of it, but it's really hard and
The center of the city, in the past, has a towering cathedral. This turns into an Eggman statue like the video showed, but the good future becomes a gigantic skyscraper.
BADNIKS
None of these enemies were listed in the instruction manual. What gives, Sega?
Kanabun (beetle)
Winged bot that flies spiral patterns in and out of the background. You can hit it when it's on the same plane as Sonic. Damaged ones fly slower.
Kabasira (mosquito swarm?)
The video showed those but they weren't very clear. They fly around with a smoke trail and shoot out a ghost image in Sonic's direction when he approaches. The damaged ones don't shoot anything and fly slower.
Dango (pill bug)
Crawls along the ground and curls up into a speedy roll when Sonic approaches. They can only be killed when unrolled and have no damaged form.
Hotaru (firefly)
This badnik comes in pairs. They fly around and lock themselves on the screen, following you around, then fire an electric jolt between them. Once the attack's over they'll fly away. The damaged ones can't shock, only flash.
You may also remember these enemies from other Sonic games. They're similar to the Flasher badniks from Mystic Cave Zone in Sonic 2 and the Batbot badniks from Carnival Night Zone in Sonic 3.
BOSS: Metal Sonic
This is it, Metal Sonic's first appearance as a boss... and you have to race him and his rubberbanding A.I. He has the following traits:
- He can't be hurt by the spin dash.
- He can go through all obstacles Sonic can't, like spikes.
- Go too far ahead and he'll use his Maximum Overdrive Attack
, boosting forward until he passes/runs into Sonic.
- If you're behind him, he'll use his Ring Spark Field
. This will slow him down and make him glow.
So yeah, he's a dirty cheater. A good strategy is to take the high path when possible, avoiding Metal Sonic altogether. Throughout the race, Eggman keeps following you with a giant laser -- one-hit kill, but he doesn't go too fast for it to be a problem. The winner gets to safety and a door slams shut behind them; the loser gets locked out and dies to the laser. If you won, Eggman flies away and you get to rescue Amy.
No, you can't leave her there. I'm sorry.