Scrambled Egg Zones: Eggman Levels in Sonic Games (SPOILERS)

[Sonictrainer]

(This artwork is the Textless Version of the Variant Cover of Archie Comics’ Sonic the Hedgehog 278, which was created by Elesis-Knight, originally known as Rafa Knight)

Whether fans prefer to call him Eggman, Robotnik, Robuttnik, Baldy McNosehair, Egghead, or just Doctor, at least they can agree that he is one of the most iconic villains in gaming. For 25 years, he’s been trying to conquer the world by creating impressive inventions, using the power of magical items, dealing with supernatural forces, and teaming up with alternate versions of himself, only to be stopped by Sonic and friends. In this topic, I want to discuss some of the greatest and most dangerous locations Dr. Eggman has used as his main HQs and battlegrounds for final fights with Sonic and Friends.

NOTES: 
1. All entries in the opening post are Zones and Hubs with the words “Robotnik” or “Egg” in the name, Zones Eggman personally created, Eggman’s playable levels in Sonic Adventure 2, levels where Shadow can team up with Eggman in Shadow the Hedgehog, and some of the Final Levels in Sonic games that Eggman actually appears in.

2. Since we’ll be covering many Final level, Final Bosses, and True Final Bosses in this topic, there will be spoilers revealed for people that haven’t played these games (even though some of these games are 5-25 years old). YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

3. Many of the Factory and Metal themed Levels are debatable for this topic because it’s not easy to say whether or not Eggman originally created them, like Crimson Tower, or if he just took them over and set up a base there, like the Quartz Quadrant Zone. So for now, I’m only going to include a few debatable ones and save the rest for another topic at another time.

4. I haven’t played Knuckles Chaotix, Sonic Rivals 1 & 2, Sonic Free Riders, or any of the Sonic BOOM games so I intentionally left out levels from those games (Examples include stages such as Meteor Base Zone and Final Factory).

5. I haven’t completed Sonic Blast and Sonic Pocket Adventure, so I intentionally left out Eggman Levels from those games.

6. If you have a favorite Eggman Level or Hub I forgot about, didn’t mention because I never played or completed it, or have a level you feel can be described as a Eggman level, feel free to talk about it in the topic.

 

Sonic the Hedgehog: Scrap Brain Zone and Final Zone

The Scrap Brain Zone is Eggman’s HQ on South Island. The area is filled with traps like drop bridges with Rings to bait Sonic into Bottomless pits, fire and electric traps, round circular devices that have their own gravity, and a new Badnik called Ballhog, a Badnik Piggy bank filled with bouncing bombs. Act 3 is a sewer version of the Labyrinth Zone.

The Final Zone is a small Boss Battle where Sonic has to dodge energy projectiles and try to Spin Jump into Eggman as he hides inside of giant crushing pillars. The only challenge comes from the fact that there are no Rings present in this level.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2: Metropolis Zone, Sky Chase Zone, Wing Fortress Zone, and Death Egg Zone
This is the start of the Death Egg Saga, where Sonic and Tails try to stop Eggman from using his custom made Death Star from taking over the world.

The Metropolis Zone is a giant city sized factory Eggman build on Westside Island. This is the only Zone in the game to have 3 Acts and is remembered for being one of the hardest levels in the original trilogy. Sonic and Tails will have to avoid being crushed by pistons, pop-up spikes that appear in regular areas and small blocky platforms, use switches to activate some platforms, ride conveyor belts and the insides of pipes, and run on gears to reach higher areas. If the traps weren’t hard this zone is also home to the toughest Badniks to avoid due their positions. Shellcracker is an upgraded Crabmeat that tries to sucker punch enemies with its giant claw and stands near the edge of platforms, Slicer is a preying mantis that shoots its claws in a boomerang arc and can be found on ceilings as well as the edge of some platforms, and Asteron is a starfish Badnik that positions itself on walls where Sonic and Tails can’t reach it with a Spin Jump and explodes to shoot its spikes at them when they’re running on top of gears.

Unlike the other Zones, which normally had 2 or 3 Acts for 1 Zone, Sky Chase Zone and Wing Fortress Zone are 2 Zones that have 1 Act each. After leaving the Metropolis Zone, Sonic and Tails chase after Eggman in the Tornado in the Sky Chase Zone, while dodging attacks from the Badniks Balkiry, Nebula, and Turtloids.

The Sky Chase ends once they reach the Wing Fortress Zone, a giant flying plane designed by Dr. Eggman. Sonic is now forced to go solo as he or Tails tries to reach Eggman’s hanger by jumping across automated and floating platforms, hanging off of railings and cranes, floating off of fans, avoiding propeller blades and the Badnik Clucker, and using Booster like forklifts to get some speed and air.

The original Death Egg Zone is a set of Boss Battles where Sonic or Tails have to fight Silver Sonic and the Death Egg Robot. Unfortunately, the challenge comes from the fact that you don’t have any Rings throughout both boss fights…again. Silver Sonic can Spin Jump like Sonic but he also has rocket boots, allowing him to slide quickly along the floor, and after a certain point he will shoot his quills as projectiles when he Spin Jumps. Silver Sonic’s weakness is his head and the fact that the fight starts out with him being stationary, Sonic and Tails have time to get a few quick hits in.

Finally, after defeating Silver Sonic, Sonic and Tails will chase Eggman into another room where he will jump inside of his last robot, which in Generations was officially called the Death Egg Robot. The original Death Egg Robot takes 16 hits, can’t be hit while its’ spiky heads are in front of its torso, and will fly up and try to squash its enemies while giving a warning with a cursor. Never try to go behind the Death Egg Robot, otherwise Sonic and Tails will be bombarded by Eggman shaped bombs that shoot out of Death Egg Robot’s back. Players will need more good luck if they’re playing as Knuckles because of his lower jump.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles: Launch Base Zone, Flying Battery Zone, Death Egg Zone, and Doomsday Zone

The Launch Base Zone is a shuttle launching area for the Death Egg, located near a lake on Angel Island. Act 1 has Sonic and Tails ride elevators, avoid getting crushed by spiked crushers and being shot at by rail turrets and flamethrowers, and running across giant horizontal cylinders. Act 2 starts going into the lake and ends with Sonic riding one of Eggman’s Egg-o-mobiles to the next series of Boss Battles.

In the original Sonic 3, there were 3 Bosses here:

A ball throwing machine,

a machine with lasers and a small, rotating spiked energy ball flying over the top,

and Big Arm. Big Arm only appears for Sonic and Tails without Knuckles.

The Flying Battery Zone is a giant airship, a little similar to the Wing Fortress Zone, carrying supplies to the Death Egg. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles will have to run through horizontal grated cylinders, grab and hang from monkey bars on the ceilings, swing off of giant propellers, avoid flamethrowers, landmines, and fake Prison Capsules holding Badnik Parties, and navigate through areas affected by electromagnets.

The Death Egg Zone in Sonic 3 & Knuckles has been expanded into a giant metal labyrinth with moving conveyer belts surrounded by spikes and missile turrets, areas with different gravity, and electric traps that a Thunder Shield will protect Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles from. The Badniks Spikebonker and Spikechain patrol the areas of the Death Egg and can be annoying to hit due to their spikes.

After defeating Act 2 mini boss, Sonic and Tails will chase after Eggman to fight a bigger and stronger version of the Death Egg Robot, which is now equipped with giant hands, flamethrowers, and a laser powered by the Master Emerald, that’s hard to avoid if the timing is off and the only time Sonic and Tails can damage the robot when the Master Emerald is exposed.

If you’ve collected all of the Chaos Emeralds as Sonic, you will unlock the Doomsday Zone. Here Super Sonic (or Hyper Sonic if you have all of the Super Emeralds) will chase after Eggman through an asteroid belt. Once Super Sonic catches up with Eggman, he will have to lead the homing missiles into the Death Egg Robot’s head to destroy the blue armor. In the last phase, Super Sonic has to ram into Death Egg Robot to take him down and take the Master Emerald back to Angel Island.

Sonic CD: Metallic Madness Zone and Every Bad Future
If Sonic doesn’t collect all of the Time Stones or destroy all of the Badnik Machines in the Past, all of the Zones will be Eggman levels in their Bad Futures.

The Palmtree Panic Zone will have its resources taken and the trees and plants will be replaced with pipes and metal.

The Collision Chaos Zone will be a darker depressing neon light show.

The Tidal Tempest Zone will be set of metal underwater ruins.

The Quartz Quadrant Zone will be depleted of its gems and replaced with dozens of machinery.

The Wacky Workbench Zone will be a rusty, worn down factory.

The Stardust Speedway Zone will be another series of factories and polluted highways.

The Metallic Madness Zone is Eggman’s HQ on the Little Planet. It’s filled with old and new ideas including crushing pistons, poles with blades on wheels, teleporting platforms, spiked platforms with safe gaps that fall slowly, and a shrink ray that makes Sonic smaller.

In the Past, the factory is smaller and unfinished.

In the Bad Future, similar to Wacky Workbench, the giant mechanical wonder is rusty, cracked, and in need of repairs.

In the Good Future, multiple plants, trees, water fountains, and even areas with entire forests have been added to calm the madness and make the skies more clean and fresh with oxygen.

In Act 3, Sonic will have to navigate across a bottomless pit, with a crushing piston waiting at the edge of the platform at the other side, jump between the foreground and background to avoid a pole of spikes, fight a gang of the Stardust Speedway Lightning Bugs, and finally fight Eggman in his giant Egg Fan, carefully avoiding the blades to get the perfect Spin Jump in. After defeating Eggman here, players will be treated to another great 2D animated cutscene that has a cool montage.

Sonic Spinball: Toxic Caves, Lava Powerhouse, The Machine, and Showdown

Toxic Caves is the bottom of the Veg-O-Fortress, a sewer filled with toxic waste. Sonic will have to avoid getting eaten by Rexxon, destroy barrels plugging up pathways, ride a minecart and use levers to switch the tracks, use a empty barrel as a paddleboat, and avoid falling into the waste to grab 3 Chaos Emeralds, and take down Scorpius, a giant robot scorpion with Eggman’s face. 

The Lava Powerhouse is a geothermal energy plant gathering energy from the volcano the Veg-O-Fortress was made from. Here Sonic must bounce into turrets, be pushed by steam, and avoid falling into molten lava by quickly grabbing the chain and jumping to safety. The Boss of this area is the Roboiler, a series of nightmarish looking, Eggman Roboheads that leak lava from their mouths…

The Machine is the last area of the Veg-O-Fortress. Here Sonic will bounce off of pistons like springs, use an elevated Bumper, and break into an Animal Prison. There’s not really a Boss Fight this time. It’s basically just Sonic destroying a Badnik making machine.

The Veg-O-Fortress is starting to collapse and Eggman tries to escape using his airship. Grabbing the last 5 Chaos Emeralds from the remains of the Veg-O-Fortress, Sonic bounces off of missiles to reach Eggman’s airship and knock him out of the sky.

Sonic 3D Blast: Gene Gadget Zone, Puppet Panic Zone, and The Final Fight

The Gene Gadget Zone is a genetics lab with pipe elevators, electric tiles that emit an electric shock once stepped on, and fans Sonic can float across.

The Puppet Panic Zone is the main HQ for Eggman on Flicky Island and is similar to the Gene Gadget Zone. Unlike the other zones, Flickies are now inside of circular containers instead of Badniks. In Act 2, Sonic has to climb a giant statue of Eggman and end the Act by going inside his nose.

The Final Zone has Sonic fight a small, miniature Death Egg with hands. This Boss has multiple means of attacking and can only be hit if it moves onto the panels.

Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine

This was a puzzle game that was the release of Puyo Puyo using AOSTH Robotnik and his robots. The game has 13 levels with Robotnik being the final boss of the game.

Sonic the Hedgehog (Game Gear): Scrap Brain Zone and Sky Base Zone

The Game Gear Version of the Scrap Brain Zone is not as bad as the Genesis version and has more maze elements to it.

The Sky Base Zone is a blimp Eggman uses. Act 1 has Sonic carefully jump and avoid electrical barriers, Act 2 has him Spin Jump on moving platforms and dodge turrets without Rings, and Act 3 is a different Final Boss Fight that uses flamethrowers instead of crushing pillars.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Game Gear): Scrambled Egg Zone and Crystal Egg Zone

The Scrambled Egg Zone is a base that Dr. Eggman created on the inside of a mountain or cave, with pipes that Sonic can roll inside that lead to new areas or Spike Pits. The Boss of this level is a prototype version of Silver Sonic, that’s not as strong as his finished Death Egg version, and can be deflected by Sonic’s Spin Jump.

The Crystal Egg Zone is the secret seventh Zone and is only accessible if Sonic collects all 6 Chaos Emeralds hidden in the other Zones and picks up the Yellow one dropped by Silver Sonic. It’s a unique area made out of crystals that has flying Choppers, floating orbs Sonic can roll around, and glowing spikes. In the final Boss area, Sonic must use the pipes to avoid Eggman’s attacks and carefully jump out to hit him once it’s safe. After defeating Eggman, Tails will be freed, and Sonic and Tails to will run off to their next adventure.

Sonic Chaos: Sleeping Egg Zone and Electric Egg Zone

The Sleeping Egg Zone, which is featured on the US boxart, is a series of fake floating ruins that Eggman created. Some of the stones are loose and will break when Sonic and Tails walk on them or use a Spring to get airborne. Pogo Springs can also be used here.

The Electric Egg Zone is a base that looks like the inside of a computer (reminding me of the Techno Base Zone from the Sonic Advance 2). It also has pipes like the Scrambled Egg Zone.

Sonic Triple Trouble: Robotnik Winter Zone and Atomic Destroyer Zone

The Robotnik Winter Zone is an ice level where Sonic can ride a snowboard to navigate.

The Atomic Destroyer Zone is a spaceship with breakable walls, tubes that Sonic and Tails can roll through, and switches that activate turrets and Badniks. At end Sonic and Tails will have to fight Metal Sonic and Dr. Eggman in 3 different battle machines.

Sonic Adventure: Sky Chase Acts 1 & 2, Egg Carrier Adventure Field, Sky Deck, Hot Shelter, Final Egg, and Egg Viper

I’m not sure how big the Wing Fortress was in Sonic 2, but I’m pretty sure the Egg Carrier is bigger and better. The Egg Carrier is Eggman’s massive mode of transportation and a luxury sky ship for any evil genius. 
The ship has 
•    An indoor pool
•    A game room with “Whack a Hog”, that has 2 Power-Ups as Prizes for Amy if she can beat 2 different High Scores
•    A massive battle stadium
•    A mini dungeon with jail cells, with one of them hiding a Black Chao Egg
•    A briefing room with a giant monitor
•    A giant energy cannon
•    2 different modes it can transform between
•    A tractor beam
•    Several teleportation beams, including one that goes to a Chao Garden on a beach
•    A deck filled with Badniks, robots, and 3 pieces of the Master Emerald
•    A service room to upgrade certain robots
•    Several monorails
•    A bedroom for rest and relaxation
•    An indoor aquarium
•    Male and female restrooms?
•    Minor, Major, and Final Boss Battles including Sonic/Tails VS Gamma, Gamma VS Sonic, Sonic/Knuckles/Big VS Chaos 6, Amy VS Zero, and Gamma VS Beta mk.II

After losing 4 Chaos Emeralds, Sonic and Tails try to chase after the Egg Carrier using the Tornado in this Dreamcast Era remix that becomes a plane shooter. Unfortunately, they fail in Sky Chase Act 1 and get blasted out of the sky, sending Sonic to Station Square and Tails in the Mystic Ruins. After finding another Chaos Emerald, Tails creates the Tornado 2, reunites with Sonic, and succeeds in chasing after the Egg Carrier again and landing on top of it.

Sky Deck is the exterior of the Egg Carrier. Here Sonic and Tails try to reach the other side of the ship after it transforms. They’ll have to use Rockets to destroy giant cannons, climb and sidestep around giant metal pillars, grab and ride on swinging cranes, and use a lever to change the ship’s altitude and angle of the stage. Meanwhile, Knuckles will search for the last pieces of the Master Emerald in the last area with the lever and cranes.

Hot Shelter is the interior of the Egg Carrier. Amy will rush through here to try to escape from the Egg Carrier, Gamma will come here to defeat his brother Epsilon, and Big will come here to fish out Froggy in the aquarium area.

Final Egg is Eggman’s ground HQ, located in the jungles of the Mystic Ruins. Before trying out the switch puzzle to open the door, you can see cameos of Metal Sonic and a new Silver Sonic. For Gamma, this is the his first level where he practices in the shooting gallery with dolls of Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles before taking on his brother Beta. For Sonic and Amy, this is their last level, where Sonic chases after Eggman for a fight showdown and Amy searches for answers regarding her bird friend.

At the end Sonic fights Eggman in the Egg Viper, a robot armed with lasers and spinning spiked platforms. Once it’s almost out of power, Eggman tries to take Sonic down with him, so watch out!

Sonic Adventure 2: Iron Gate, Sand Ocean, Lost Colony, Weapons Bed, Cosmic Wall, and Cannon’s Core
Sonic Adventure 2 was the first time Eggman was a playable character in a canon Sonic game.

Iron Gate is the first level of the Dark Story, following Dr. Eggman as he storms through a G.U.N. facility with his Egg Walker.

Sand Ocean is Dr. Eggman’s secret desert base hidden inside of a pyramid. At least it was secret until a horde of G.U.N. tracked him down and surrounded the place.

Lost Colony has Dr. Eggman enter the Ark for the first time. None of the lights are on, the music is ominous, and the only residents here are the G.U.N. robots that have been stationed here.

Weapons Bed has Dr. Eggman return to Prison Island and cause a diversion for Shadow and Rouge by blowing up deactivated G.U.N. robots.

Cosmic Wall has Eggman go through a path in space to intercept Team Heroes. The gravity is lighter in this level, allowing Eggman to jump higher and hover longer. I always get an A Rank when I play this level’s first Mission.

After Sonic destroyed the Eclipse Cannon and Dr. Eggman placed all 7 Chaos Emeralds in the central computer, a video file is played across multiple monitors worldwide revealing that Professor Gerald went insane, the other Project Shadow, and his crazy revenge plan. Afterwards, the Ark starts heading towards the planet to collide with it and destroy it. Cannon’s Core has Tails, Eggman, Rouge, Knuckles, and Sonic try to reach the core of the cannon to try and stop the Chaos Emeralds’ power using the Master Emerald. Exclusive to this level are special switches that can stop time allowing characters to move past lasers and fast moving obstacles.

Sonic Heroes: Egg Fleet, Final Fortress, and Egg Emperor

The Egg Fleet is a giant armada of fish shaped battleships in the sky. Teams will use flying machines to reach other ships, dodge or destroy turrets and new Badniks, and use Speed Characters to Spin Dash into the inside of the main ships, cause them to explode, and jump out of the resulting explosion.

The Final Fortress is the last level in the game, where Teams will have to quickly run and fly across collapsing platforms, use self-destruct switches, and dodge lasers while rail grinding.

Waiting at the end of this level is the Egg Emperor, the strongest Egg Pawn that holds a tough shield and energy lance. Teams will have to carefully avoid the lance’s strikes while staying close to Egg Emperor. If Egg Emperor gets too far away, it will Air Boost into your Team, regardless of their positions. Egg Emperor’s shield has its own HP bar, so once it’s out of the way, Teams can attack its main body.

Sonic Battle: Gimme Shelter and Death Egg

The Gimme Shelter is Eggman’s secret base located in Night Babylon. Emerl will come here with Cream and Knuckles and fight against Chaos Gamma.

The Death Egg only appears in Emerl’s story and is the setting the final battles with Emerl VS Eggman and Sonic VS Chaos Emerl.

Sonic Advance: Egg Rocket Zone, Cosmic Angel Zone, X Zone, and Moon Zone

Like the Sky Chase Zone and Wing Fortress Zone in Sonic 2, where instead of 2 Acts for 1 Zone there are 2 Zones with 1 Act, Egg Rocket Zone and Cosmic Angel are both 2 Zones with 1 Act and are representatives of Zone 6. The Egg Rocket Zone has Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy try to catch a ride on Eggman’s rocket, before it launches off the ground into the sky and eventually into space.

The Cosmic Angel Zone is a space station filled with Badniks and areas with reversed gravity. The last Special Spring is also here. I love how the music is faster and more jamming here.

The X Zone is a series of 3 Boss Battles. The first 2 battles are the first Boss Machines Eggman uses in the Genesis Versions of Sonic 1 and 2, each with a remix of the original Boss Music. The last one is the Egg X, a roulette placed on the Egg Mobile that has a selection of 4 different attacks Eggman can use: 
-a quick laser that can be dodged by crouching
-a hand that tries to grab characters and, if it succeeds, will shake the Rings out of them
-a bouncing bomb
-a fakeout, where Eggman dashes towards the other side of the screen 
While the Roulette is spinning, Eggman is invincible.

If Sonic has all 7 Chaos Emeralds, he will follow Eggman to the Moon Zone, where Super Sonic will fight against Eggman’s secret robot on the moon. After winning, players will be treated to a remixed version of the Sonic 2 cutscene using Modern Versions of the characters.

Sonic Advance 2: Egg Utopia Zone, XX Zone, and True Area 53

The Egg Utopia Zone is Eggman’s latest space station filled with cannons, redesigned Badniks, and gravity changing areas. You have to pay close attention so you don’t actually miss a jump and go into a pit. The Boss of this area is the Egg Frog where characters can Spin Jump to switch their gravity at will.

The XX Zone is a massive Boss Rush where characters will have to fight all of Eggman’s Boss Robots again while only needing 4 hits to take them out. However, waiting at the end is a new robot the Prima Strategy Guide calls Egg Bot. Egg Bot is stationary and attacks periodically by shooting lasers from its eyes and launching its arms similar to Death Egg Robot. However, its arms can be attacked and destroyed after 6 hits when they’re not spinning. Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy will have to use the elevating platforms to Spin Jump and hit Egg Bot’s head to do damage. This has to be done quickly to avoid the laser, its arms, and the spikes that are on the ceiling.

Once Sonic collects all 7 Chaos Emeralds, he will have access to the Extra Zone, True Area 53. Here Super Sonic will duke it out with Eggman’s secret machine, by returning its missiles to sender. Once Sonic wins, he saves Vanilla, and then runs off to his next adventure.
 

Sonic Advance 3: Emerald Alter and Nonaggression

With Eggman’s 7 bases destroyed around the new Chaos Controlled world, everyone must try to get Knuckles back the Master Emerald as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Eggman and Gemerl had already beat them to it. Here they will have to face Gemerl solo one last time before facing Hyper Eggrobo.

After collecting 7 Chaos Emeralds and defeating again with Sonic as the Leader, Gemerl will tackle Sonic to grab the Chaos Emeralds and transform into Ultimate Gemerl, and fly off. Now Super Sonic and Eggman join forces to stop Ultimate Gemerl from…whatever Ultimate Gemerl was planning to do.

Shadow the Hedgehog: Cryptic Castle, Circus Park, Sky Troops, Mad Matrix, Iron Jungle, and Lava Shelter

Cryptic Castle is one of the possible Level 3 routes, only possible by doing a Dark Mission at least once. It’s similar to Hang Castle, with it being another haunted base Eggman has for some reason, except with pumpkin balloons, winged alien riding, and a Chao Garden. The Missions for Cryptic Castle are helping Amy find Cream and Cheese to be a Hero, helping Eggman to light up all the giant lanterns to activate his defense systems to be Dark, or just going for the Goal Ring to be neutral. For some reason Amy will get upset if Shadow destroys Eggman robots here. Also, there’s a giant creature called the Giant Walker that tries to get Shadow while he’s grinding on Rails on the neutral path... 

Circus Park is another one of the possible Level 3 routes, only possible by doing a Hero Mission at least once. Infamous for that quote about the Yellow Chaos Emerald, Circus Park was created by Eggman and is now currently being swarmed by G.U.N. The missions include helping Tails collect 400 Rings to be a Hero, helping Eggman destroy 20 G.U.N. Beetles to be Dark, or just going for the Chaos Emerald.

Sky Troops is one of the possible Level 4 routes that is possible to reach from Cryptic Castle by helping Amy or from Circus Park by helping Eggman. Sky Troops is a series of flying alien battleship ruins that are a battleground between Eggman and the Black Arms. Here Shadow can help Eggman destroy the temple jewels to deactivate the ships to be a Hero, help Black Doom by using turrets to destroy Eggman’s fleet and be Dark, or just go for the Goal Ring.

Mad Matrix is one of the possible Level 4 routes, which is possible to reach from Circus Park by being Neutral. It’s a digital level exploring the inside of Eggman’s computer database. Shadow can help Espio access 4 terminals to be a Hero, help Black Doom set off some bombs to be Dark, or just go for the Goal Ring.

Iron Jungle is one of the possible Level 5 routes, which is possible to reach from Sky Troops by being Neutral or from Mad Matrix by being Dark. This area is one of Eggman’s jungle bases getting ready to be raided by Omega and G.U.N. Here Shadow can be a Hero by helping Omega destroy the Egg Balloon before it reaches the end of the stage, be Dark by destroying some more GUN Beetles for Eggman, or just run to the Goal Ring.

Lava Shelter is one of the final levels in the game, which is possible to reach from Iron Jungle by being Neutral. Shadow either teams up with Omega to get to the Goal Ring or activates the lava defenses for Eggman. Regardless, if Shadow clears this level and defeats Egg Dealer, he will come to the conclusion that he is a Shadow Android, decide to rule the Eggman Empire, and then kill Eggman… Good thing this ending isn’t canon.

Sonic Rush: Dead Line Zone, Point-F/W, and Exception

The Dead Line Zone is a Modern Remix of the Egg Utopia Zone, where Sonic and Blaze will use giant rockets to get across bottomless pits, switch gravity during certain parts of the levels, and wall run on these green wired boards. At the end Sonic and Blaze will duke it out as the Eggmen watch.

Point-F/W is Sonic and Blaze’s fight with the Egg King, a giant mech that can instantly kill them by slamming both of its hands into the ground. They will have to quickly run across its arm to hit the cockpit to damage it.

The Exception (yes, that’s what it’s called) has Super Sonic and Burning Blaze team up to take on Eggman and Eggman Nega in robots that remind me of Megadramon from Digimon.

Sonic Rush Adventure: Egg Wizard

After defeating Captain Whisker and his crew and getting all of the Chaos and Sol Emeralds, Eggman and Eggman Nega steal the Jeweled Scepter and Super Sonic and Burning Blaze chase after it.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2006: White Acropolis and Egg Wyvern

The White Acropolis is Eggman’s winter base in Soleanna.

The Egg Wyvern is Sonic’s Final Boss. It’s a metal dragon that moves and acts like Egg Viper and Egg Cerberus. The ending animation for this fight is priceless.

Sonic Riders: Egg Factory and Ice Factory

The Egg Factory is one of Eggman’s giant smelting factories surrounded by lava, where Knuckles faces off against Storm. Racers will have to fly off of giant ventilation fans, avoid or destroy the cleaning robots, and grab a crane rest and restore their air. There’s a hidden shortcut with a red light that Power Characters can break.

The Ice Factory is a frozen over version of the Egg Factory, that Storm breaks into to steal Dr. Eggman’s secret files on the Babylonians. 

Sonic Riders Zero Gravity: MeteorTech Premises, MeteorTech Sparkworks, Crimson Tower, and Security Corridor
MeteorTech is a company Eggman created that produces and control security robots, which look so generic that the robots from 06 look original.

In MeteorTech Premises, Team Heroes meets up with Team Babylon and leaves after sounding the alarm. Knuckles races against Wave as they try to escape the building. Even though Power characters can punch through the giant spinning gears, they can still be hurt if the metal parts come down on top of them.

In MeteorTech Sparkworks, we visit a different part of MeteorTech. We also find out what happened to Amy and Storm, who got separated from everyone else. When Racers do tricks here, their Extreme Gear will collect electricity and release it once they touch the ground. The only thing I don’t understand is why Amy is wearing her normal clothes instead of her Riders Outfit.

Crimson Tower is the main HQ of the mother computer of MeteorTech, sending information to all of the robots around the world. Sonic and Team Heroes will race Team Babylon for all of the meteorites and stop Eggman at the same time. There are a number of sharp turns during the first section of this area.

Security Corridor is a different area of the Crimson Tower, surrounded by small and giant fans.

Sonic Unleashed HD: Tornado Defense, Eggmanland, and Egg Dragoon

After meeting Chip, trying out his new Werehog form, and saving Tails, Sonic learns about Professor Pickle and decides to head off to Spagonia. With the planet split into 7 floating pieces, Sonic, Tails, and Chip, ride the newest model of the Tornado, which Tails calls the Tornado-1. However, Dr. Eggman intercepts with a horde of flying Egg Fighters. Although Tornado Defense is similar to Sonic Adventure’s Sky Chase levels, players don’t control the movement of the plane. Instead they control Sonic while he fires the guns, which is a giant Quick Time Event Minigame. At the end, Eggman and Orbot appear in a giant battle airship called the Egg Cauldron. Unfortunately, the camera may screw players over during the battle causing them to wait to see the missiles’ button command and react too late. Towards the end of the game, when Sonic heads off to Eggmanland for the first time, they will encounter Eggman’s flying fighters again before skydiving down to the Country.

Even though he hadn’t planned to lose the Chaos Emeralds and split Dark Gaia into multiple pieces, Dr. Eggman made a comeback by creating a beacon to summon all of the leftover Dark Gaia Minions to a specific location. That specific location had a Gaia Temple as well. Using his robots and Dark Gaia’s Energy, Dr. Eggman finally created Eggmanland, a country sized Amusement Park and Factory Fusion. Too bad the local food here sucks except for the Doggone Dogs from the Fancio’s Hot Dog Franchise… though you do have to wonder how he got there and why he thinks this would be a business opportunity when even Wentos avoids this Country.

The level itself is a gauntlet, forcing Sonic to switch back and forth between his Hedgehog and Werehog 5 times throughout 6 areas and using all of his skills to avoid falling into bottomless pits and instant death.

After Clearing Eggmanland, Eggman strikes back with the Egg Dragoon, the exact same robot used in the Opening Cutscene. Upgraded with new weapons and Dark Gaia Energy, the Egg Dragoon is ready to get completely curbstomped by the Werehog. The QTE for this fight is Sonic tearing the robot apart piece by piece. I S Ranked this boss on my first time fighting it.

Sonic Colors: Tropical Resort, Starlight Carnival, and Terminal Velocity
At some point, Eggman decided to create Eggman Enterprises, give Orbot a new red paintjob and personality, create Cubot, kidnap 4 small, alien planets, turn them into a massive space amusement park, and create a mind control device on the side.

Tropical Resort is the center of the space park, connecting all of the stolen planets together. Here Sonic and Tails meet Yakker and confirm their suspicions about Eggman’s space park.

Starlight Carnival is a beautiful parade of lights and sounds based on space constellations. Returning with the idea of paths made of light from Levitated Ruin, Sonic races through the parade meeting with the Blue and Green Wisps in the Wii Version and the Orange Wisps in the DS Version.

It seems that Eggman didn’t notice the error message on his computer before firing the mind control laser and now the entire park is being eaten by a Nega Wisp induced black hole. After shoving Tails to safety, Sonic runs down the space tower while racing Badniks and the Big Chaser. At the end, Eggman appears with the Nega Wisp Armor, a robot uses Nega Wisp versions of the Color Wisps’ Color Powers. Fortunately, Sonic breaks the Wisps free from the robot and team up with all of them to make a Rainbow Homing Attack.

However, in the DS Version, we find out the Wisps actually have a Queen and she is now a giant Nega Wisp. It’s up to Super Sonic to calm her down and return her to normal.

Sonic Generations: Death Egg Robot, Big Arm, Egg Emperor, Egg Dragoon, Tropical Resort, and Time Eater
Many of the Final Bosses of the canon games were used as Boss Battles in the HD and 3DS of Sonic Generations.

First off is the Death Egg Robot from Sonic the Hedgehog 2, who guards the Genesis Era and has been redesigned to be able to withstand Classic Sonic’s Spin Jump. Classic Sonic will have to trick Classic Eggman into aiming Death Egg Robots arms into specific places in order to win.

Big Arm returns and guards the Genesis Era in the 3DS Version. His attacks are more aggressive and Eggman will attack from the background, sides, and use different palms and punches on Classic Sonic. Also, the remixed theme is awesome.

Egg Emperor is back and guards the Modern Era in the 3DS Version. The battle takes place between 2 different arenas, one where Sonic has to dodge missiles and sword slashes, and one where Sonic can home attack turrets to fire them back at Egg Emperor.

Egg Dragoon is back and better than other. Now that Modern Sonic isn’t mutated by Dark Gaia Energy, he has to try and Home Attack the cockpit while dodging lasers, freeze rays, and exploding drills and Boost into it during a Skydiving section.

Tropical Resort returns and is the last level in the 3DS Version. Classic Sonic teams up with the Red Wisps and Modern Sonic teams up with the Cyan Wisps.

2 Super Sonics. 2 Eggmen. 1 giant robot containing a monster of the week. The 3DS battle is better because there aren’t 10 friends yelling at Super Sonic to dodge the homing shot.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Mad Gear Zone, E.G.G. Station Zone, Oil Desert Zone, Sky Fortress Zone, and Death Egg mk.II Zone

The Mad Gear Zone is a fusion of the Scrap Brain Zone, Metropolis Zone, and Launch Base Zone. It’s later revealed in Episode Metal that Mad Gear Zone was used and created to fix and upgrade Metal Sonic into his Modern design.

The E.G.G. Station Zone is like the XX Zone, where Sonic faces off against all of Eggman’s Boss machines at half health. At the end, Sonic fights an upgraded Death Egg Robot. I must admit being able to fight this boss with Rings and without holding back is very exhilarating.

The Oil Desert Zone is a group of oil refineries Eggman created in a Desert. Sonic and Tails will have to slide down oil, avoid the Badniks Sandworm and Flamer, escape from an indoor sand trap, and play a game of Catherine with a Junk Giant. 

The Sky Fortress Zone is an upgraded version of the Wing Fortress Zone from Sonic 2 that now has elements of the Sky Chase Zone from Sonic 2 and the Death Egg Zone from Sonic 3. Sonic and Tails will ride the Tornado through obstacles, platform their way past exhaust, spikes, and elevating platforms, and fight against Metal Sonic in his new ride, the Metal Carrier.

The Death Egg mk.2 is brand a new Death Egg that was created around the Little Planet and imprisoning it inside of itself. In Act 1, Sonic and Tails will have to fight against Eggman and Metal Sonic at the same time and later have one last race against Metal Sonic. The final boss of this level and Episode 2 is the Death Egg Heart. After defeating Eggman, Sonic and Tails escape...but the Death Egg mk.II is still surrounding Little Planet...

Sonic Lost World Wii U: Lava Mountain

Lava Mountain is the volcanic region of the Lost Hex where Eggman’s main HQ, the Planet Energy Extractor, Tails, and the Deadly Six are located. Zone 1 has Sonic having a final fight with Zazz, Zomom, and Master Zik, who are now bigger and stronger after drinking Planet Energy Drinks, on a small planetoid that’s slowly being melted away by bottomless lava. Did I mention the forecast calls for fireballs from the sky? Zone 2 has Sonic grinding through another beautiful underwater cargo railway. Zone 3 has Sonic going through a fiery fortress while taking on Zeena, Zor, and Zavok one last time. Zone 4 has Sonic facing off against Eggman in a robot that looks like a fusion: It’s file name is Eggrobo, it looks like Egg Robo and Death Egg Robot, Sonic attacks and defeats it like the Nega Wisp Armor, and it has Egg Emperor’s cape made out of Planet Energy… let’s call it the “Titan Eggrobo”. 

 

Discussion Questions

If you had to choose, what would be your #1 Eggman Level/Hub Area in a Sonic Game?

What would be your least favorite Eggman Level/Hub in a Sonic Game?

If you had to choose, what would be your #1 Eggman Final Boss (Regular or True Final) in a Sonic Game?

What would be your least favorite Eggman Boss (Regular or True Final) in a Sonic Game?

What’s your favorite Eggman Level Music Track(s)?

What are some old or new ideas you'd like to see in future Eggman Levels in Sonic games?

What's another level theme you'd like to see fused together with the Eggman themes, that hasn’t been done yet, in Sonic games?

[Speeps]

My favourite Eggman level in a Sonic game is probably Eggmanland in Unleashed HD. People can complain about it being long and hard as much as they want but to me it's exactly what the last level in a game should be like - testing everything you've known up until that point by providing challenging obstacles that you need to maneuver your way around. It's not like the designers didn't know they were designing a difficult level, they give out free lives before pretty much every tough segment and the requirement for an S rank is low enough to accomodate a few deaths along the way. It's long, but it's not something you should be taking so lightly.

For my least favourite level, I really don't like Lava Mountain from Lost World because it's pretty obvious they're confusing Eggman levels with Bowser ones here. Eggman levels up until that point have always been mechanical fortresses filled with robots and traps that you need to get through in order to reach the doctor. Sure, if you're avoiding spoilers you're under the impression that the deadly six are going to be the final boss at that point, but even then who in their right mind while working on that game thought having Zavok become a giant out of nowhere in a world filled with lava wouldn't evoke comparisons to Bowser? I also feel the boss has the weakest buildup for any of the modern games, considering the boss that had all the build up (Deadly Six) is just tossed out the window in favor of Eggman and Generic Robot 547 up there.

 

I love the Death Egg boss from S3K. It has probably one of the best atmosphere for the entire classic era with all the buildup and the action that goes on in it. You're chasing Eggman down and suddenly he jumps into this giant robot that you immediately know is huge trouble as you're forced to pass by the thing before the fight itself starts. Chewing off fingers isn't the strongest part of the fight, but everything after it is amazing. You've got that amazing soundtrack to back everything up as you fight the robot in the scrolling segment and then chase down Eggman when he's trying to get away afterwards. The robot in Sonic 2 is the one everyone seems to love more, but this one is just a million times better.

 

Seeing as how I've already taken chunks out of Lost World I'm going to pick another game to bash for my least favourite boss - let's go with Sonic CD because I feel everyone knows the problems with Sonic 4 Episode 1's final boss already. The Final Boss in Sonic CD just doesn't feel like a final boss to me, it's treated like any other boss in the game with the exception of having a different soundtrack. In fact, the US version barely gets a unique song and just uses something almost the same as the regular boss theme (And calling that a unique track would be like saying the version of Escape from the City that plays after getting the Speed shoes is unique too). In terms of feeling like a final boss, even Final Zone from Sonic 1 outdoes the one from this game (Don't think I dislike Final Zone, it was a great final boss but the way final bosses have developed in Sonic games have just made it feel lacking in comparison. Shouldn't ignore it just for being the first game, right?) whereas if you're good enough this is what you'll be hearing as the buildup to the last boss of the game in Sonic CD.

Furthermore, this boss is very easy to beat as long as you're able to take a hit or two, I think the style in which this boss is fought is more like the boss from Metropolis Zone than anything else. Okay, so I heard this game and 2 were developed in different ways, but the weaknesses in the final boss still stand out to me, especially considering recent years have put this game on the same level as the main classic trilogy.

 

I really like the theme of Death Egg Mk. II from Sonic 4: Episode 2. This track brings out the exact feeling that an Eggman level should have - you're inside his robot metropolis wrecking all kinds of havoc and trying to track down the man himself without falling victim to any of the traps lying about. The track is fast-paced, very fitting for the wacky mechanics of the level itself and for a last level it definitely feels like you're about to go up against the big bad. I'd say this is probably one of the best things to come out Sonic 4 despite the blatant overuse of that one drum sound.

 

Another theme I'd like to mention is the Egg Wyvern one from Sonic 06. Now in no way am I saying that boss is one of my favourites (In fact it looks like the bastard child of Egg Cerberus and Egg Viper to me) but this theme is one of the best Eggman boss themes in the series to me not because of it feeling like a final boss (Egg Dragoon gets that job done much better for an Eggman boss) but because of how itmakes Eggman give threatening feels and makes you know he's going to be a tough opponent to take down. I'm sick of the way Eggman is thrown about in newer Sonic games (In Unleashed it wasn't that bad because he still had his moments, but everything after that is disgusting) and this track to me represents what fighting Eggman himself should be like.

 

This final boss theme is such a mess I don't even know where to start. For the final boss of a Sonic game with tracks like this and this preceding it, this track just feels... Generic, like something belonging in Rise of Lyric's soundtrack. It doesn't feel like the final boss for a Sonic game at all - it just feels like your usual "I am evil mwhahaha". The theme was fine being used in the cutscenes but it's just not cut out to be final boss music material for something with as high an expectation for a final boss theme as a Sonic game. It's not a bad track, but it's too different from what we're used to in order to put it in a good light against the other Sonic games.

 

As for old ideas in a newer Sonic game, I'd love to see bosses like the Egg Walker again where Eggman has truly been pushed to his limit and starts to really get down to business as the enemy. I know this probably isn't going to be possible while Nosehair jokes exist but I'm a sucker for Eggman's adventure characterisation (although it does get too dark at times, this is definitely going too far for a Sonic game.). I'd personally like to see Eggman somewhere between his Adventure 1 and Unleashed personality - he looks like he's a bit goofy but he's more than capable of being that guy who y'know, puts animals in robots and forces them to work for him against their will, getting things done as an evil genius and stuff.

 

Whlie we're at it, characters aside from Sonic going up against Eggman is pretty cool and it was done well in Tails' story in SA1 (Unlike the rest of his story, where the whole 'I need to stop relying on Sonic' arc is a moot point because he places himself in Sonic's roles for a good chunk of it), maybe it'd be a good idea to reinforce how scary Eggman is by having an NPC (assuming Sonic is the only playable character) such as Tails, Knuckles or Amy actually lose to Eggman in a fight. Sonic could also fill this role, but then I'd feel the effect of Eggman being scary isn't as good because you know you're going to beat him up at some point later in the game anyway. This would also help against everyone throwing Eggman around like a toy too, if he's able to actually win one fight.

 

And for something that hasn't been done yet in a Sonic game, let's try and bring something like this to the main series. Have Sonic and friends work together to down an Eggman mech rather than just Sonic jumping at it all the time. I mean, it doesn't need to be a 'This boss just can absolutely not be beaten by Sonic alone' personification of some grade school teamwork moral, it could just be a strong boss that could be dealt with alone but it'd just be easier with help, kind of like how Speedrunners tend to use Tails a lot when running the classic games. (The only time I've ever seen Sonic and friends work together to take something down is Metal Sonic in Heroes, but that wasn't really Eggman himself) All in all though, there's really not much I can think of when it comes to ideas for Eggman bosses that haven't been done already. There's a lot of solid ideas in the series that are or have been played out and would just be difficult to replace without straying too far.

So that's everything I've got to say about Eggman's stuff for now. There's likely a few points in there people will disagree with, but oh well.

[Sonictrainer]

On March 30, 2016 at 8:31 AM, JmTsHaW said:

 

How did I forget about the Egg Walker? Oh yeah, because his mech in SA2 is also called Egg Walker...

Anyway, here are my answers to my questions.

On March 30, 2016 at 2:16 AM, Sonictrainer said:

If you had to choose, what would be your #1 Eggman Level/Hub Area in a Sonic Game?

I'm also going with Eggmanland.

We've been hearing about Eggman trying to create "Robotnikland" since Sonic Adventure. The fact that he finally got to creating it and it's one of the hardest Sonic levels ever is just what you'd expect.

Quote

What would be your least favorite Eggman Level/Hub in a Sonic Game?

White Acropolis

Quote

If you had to choose, what would be your #1 Eggman Final Boss (Regular or True Final) in a Sonic Game?

Egg Dragoon (Original)

Watching Sonic take it down in the Intro and later as the Werehog is awesome

Quote

What would be your least favorite Eggman Boss (Regular or True Final) in a Sonic Game?

The Egg King from Sonic Rush

Trying to run across across its arm before shaking Sonic or Blaze is so annoying.

Quote

What’s your favorite Eggman Level Music Track(s)?

Final Egg aka Mechanical Resonance

Quote

What are some old or new ideas you'd like to see in future Eggman Levels in Sonic games?

• I like the idea of Eggmanland, a country owned by Eggman where he lives with Orbot, Cubot, and the rest of his robots
• I like the idea of "Eggman Enterprises". Even Eggman has to make money somehow
• I like the idea of a level where recordings of Eggman play throughout a level like in Colors
• I joked about this before in the past, but what if Orbot and Cubot took over for once and came much closer to taking over the world than Eggman did? Or if Orbot and Cubot piloted a Boss Machine.
• More cameos of past creations like in Final Egg

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What's another level theme you'd like to see fused together with the Eggman themes, that hasn’t been done yet, in Sonic games?

You know, what if Eggman build a base in the ruins of one of his older bases?

[Salamander]

On 30/03/2016 at 7:16 AM, Sonictrainer said:

Discussion Questions

If you had to choose, what would be your #1 Eggman Level/Hub Area in a Sonic Game?

What would be your least favorite Eggman Level/Hub in a Sonic Game?

If you had to choose, what would be your #1 Eggman Final Boss (Regular or True Final) in a Sonic Game?

What would be your least favorite Eggman Boss (Regular or True Final) in a Sonic Game?

What’s your favorite Eggman Level Music Track(s)?

What are some old or new ideas you'd like to see in future Eggman Levels in Sonic games?

What's another level theme you'd like to see fused together with the Eggman themes, that hasn’t been done yet, in Sonic games?

1. I really like the way Egg Rocket and Cosmic Angel are split up into separate zones, and the way Egg Rocket comes apart in sections as you play through it.  With that said, you can't beat S&K Death Egg Zone for deadly gimmicks and maze-like design - and that has visual differences as you progress through it, too, with space visible in the background in the second act while the first act is enclosed.  Using visuals to indicate progress is something they understood better in the old days; it really felt like you were achieving something rather than rattling through another obstacle course.  Honourable mention to Sonic CD, but everything in Sonic CD is gorgeous and dripping in detail in a way I can't imagine them having time for today, so it kind of doesn't count.

2. Good question.  I don't really dislike any of them, that I can think of.  The worst crime that they can commit is being too samey, though...  Oh yeah, and I guess the final stages of Sonic Lost World are nothing to write home about.

3. Again, though, S&K Death Egg's finale is perfect, a progression through multiple final bosses of varying styles; one the usual Eggman robot with a weird gimmick, then an enormous titan who you can only scratch the fingers of, and then it starts to eat away at the very ground behind you - last of all, you have to chase Eggman and the Master Emerald down even as the Death Egg collapses around you...  Masterful storytelling without a single line of dialogue.  They can't seem to do this any more; they just stick so rigidly to their formulae.

4. The Egg Wizard is a horrible concept and I hate that they finally gave up and just introduced outright magic to the series with that boss.  Point all you like at the Chaos Emeralds and Super Sonic, but I feel those are ultimately grounded in a sci-fi presentation, with Eggman attempting to exploit them technologically.  But then the extra boss of Sonic Rush Adventure comes along, and it's a wizard with a magic staff.  Awful, and one of the few rough points on what is otherwise an excellant game.  Also, Time Eater in Generations 3DS is unbelievably boring, and kind of poorly-communicated, too.

5. I don't really remember music that well; I'd like to say I like the S&K Death Egg best, and I think it is very good, but it's partly just because I played that level a lot compared to everything else since.

6. See below.

7. See below again, but I do think Eggman levels are sometimes guilty of getting a bit samey, especially in the Advance series.  Maybe ditch the space angle for once and give Eggman a kind of super subterranean base that's drilling to the planet's core to siphon its energy and cause earthquakes and such?  Snow - you could revisit Launch Base and see it encroached upon by the nearby Ice Cap Zone?  You could also have more non-final Eggman zones, like, arguably, Cyber Track in Sonic Advance 3 (penultimate zone to Chaos Angel's final).

On 02/04/2016 at 6:16 AM, Sonictrainer said:

• I joked about this before in the past, but what if Orbot and Cubot took over for once and came much closer to taking over the world than Eggman did? Or if Orbot and Cubot piloted a Boss Machine.

You know, what if Eggman build a base in the ruins of one of his older bases?

Your Orbot and Cubot idea sounds similar to what's apparently going on in Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice, with this new D. Fekt robot, whose design is of the Orbot/Cubot school, apparently pinching the top spot from the doctor.  There's also the Gemerl extra boss in Sonic Advance 3... Metal Sonic in Heroes, come to that.  Eggman's own creations have tried to unseat him a number of times - probably more times than he's had his own creations pilot boss machines, come to that, and the only examples I can think of are Mecha Sonic using classic Eggman boss machines in Sky Sanctuary, and the Eggrobo taking control of the bosses in Knuckles's story in Sonic 3 & Knuckles (except for Flying Battery, for some reason!).

I'd really like to see a level set in an old, ruined Eggman base - reconstructed, under construction or otherwise.  That seems to me like it'd be visually fascinating, and you could probably come up with lots of unique gimmicks for it.  Broken traps, for instance - or what if it was largely constructed of strange angles due to having collapsed on its side?