Favorite Clone of Green Hill?

[Badnik]

I don't know, just a random question that just spark in my head.
If I have to pick a favorite it'll have to be Neo-Green Hill from Sonic Advance.

[Big Panda]

What actually qualifies as a Green Hill "clone"?

[Person]

Palmtree Panic Good Future because there's metal trees and also checkered triangles> checkered squares.

[Menace2Society]

Um, does Seaside Hill count as a Green Hill Zone clone?

Because I'm going with that, if it counts.

Anyways, I choose Seaside Hill because I love how it looks aesthetically, the music is great, and it's filled with bunch of alternative paths. It also does a good job showing how the rest of the game works. It's my probably the second favorite stage in the game behind Egg Fleet, honestly.

Edited November 16, 2016 by Yoshi the Party Pooper
Added more elaboration as towards why it's my favorite.

[Adamabba]

Not because I believe it's the best clone to play through. It's special to me because it symbolizes all the hard work it took to 100% this game.

[Mad Convoy]

13 minutes ago, Ernest-Panda said:

What actually qualifies as a Green Hill "clone"?

My guess, judging from fan conversations, would be levels that take place in a green field with lots of man-made paths and lots of plants and wildlife. Sky is bright blue, and its an overall happy place. There's always plenty of water in a Green Hill but it is generally not the focus of the level, usually being just an aesthetic thing. This isn't a hard requirement, but Green Hill clones are generally the first level/zone in the game and thus the easiest.

For me, I think my favorite Green Hill clone would be Seaside Hill from Gens. I just love it so much, especially since Seaside Hill Classic one of the few Green Hill to actually use the water in gameplay and not just for aesthetics or setpieces.

 

[SolFlint]

Mine would probably be Planet Wisp... such an alien like version of Green Hill that's not the first stage. Also dat piano work in the music

[Neo_Fire_Sonic]

sunset hill >all other green hills

[Forte-Metallix]

I've always been fond of Emerald Hill Zone:

To me, this just trumps Green Hill in every way- Better color palette, cooler music track, and corkscrew loops are immensely more awesome than loop-de-loops! One of my fondest Sonic memories is getting all seven Chaos Emeralds in this Zone before reaching the laughable Egg Driller. Part of me wishes this place would appear more often, but I get that Green Hill has nostalgia in its favor.

[Badnik]

2 hours ago, Mad Convoy said:

My guess, judging from fan conversations, would be levels that take place in a green field with lots of man-made paths and lots of plants and wildlife. Sky is bright blue, and its an overall happy place. There's always plenty of water in a Green Hill but it is generally not the focus of the level, usually being just an aesthetic thing. This isn't a hard requirement, but Green Hill clones are generally the first level/zone in the game and thus the easiest.

For me, I think my favorite Green Hill clone would be Seaside Hill from Gens. I just love it so much, especially since Seaside Hill Classic one of the few Green Hill to actually use the water in gameplay and not just for aesthetics or setpieces.

 

Yes you got it~

[Monkey Destruction Switch]

4 hours ago, Badnik said:

I don't know, just a random question that just spark in my head.
If I have to pick a favorite it'll have to be Neo-Green Hill from Sonic Advance.

 

3 hours ago, Yoshi the Party Pooper said:

Um, does Seaside Hill count as a Green Hill Zone clone?

Because I'm going with that, if it counts.

 

3 hours ago, Neo_Fire_Sonic said:

sunset hill >all other green hills

Not trying to be critical, but just a reminder to remember to flesh out your posts. Give reasons for your preferences, don't just state them. These simple responses would be fine in a status update, but on the main boards, we're trying to get a discussion going, so try to exchange ideas and reasons.

Personally, I'm not sure I can pick one favorite. I definitely agree with Forte-Metallix that Emerald Hill is a true delight of a level - really bright and colorful, breezy and fast and satisfying to play, energetic and awesome music...it's not just a zone, it's an experience, really. Everything about it is so lively and lush. Almost like it captures the joy and fun of running around on a spring day without a care in the world. It looks great, plays great, and feels great. Though, whether or not it's better than Green Hill, I'm not sure. In some ways, the fact that it's a lot easier than Green Hill is a bit of a demerit, but I can still totally appreciate it for what it is. Overall, the two zones are good in their own ways.

Also, Mecha Green Hill Zone isn't anything particularly amazing to play through, but I love it for the concept alone. I'm fascinated by the concept of roboticization in general, and to see it applied to a zone as opposed to animals is just wild!

[Badnik]

I love the beach setting...It feels relax.

 

[MetalSkulkBane]

I'll be a quirky one and choose Green Hill from Sonic 2 (8-bit). Great music and SO MUCH RINGS!

I guess Seaside Hill is good too, but it has too much own identity to be "green hills clone" to me.

[JezMM]

When one Green Hill ain't enough:

Okay this is just nostalgia bias because it was my first Sonic game, it's not like this edition did anything PARTICULARLY special, but naturally the music is fantastic, I like the mix-up of the visual design with the rectangular blocks, and I really dig that the 8-bit team was so willing to break the mould early on by putting the typical level 1 trope halfway through the game - (even if the difficulty of said level, outside of Act 3, didn't really reflect the fact).  It's also probably the best stage in Sonic 2 8-bit for playing around with rolling physics and the "long jump" Sonic obtains by rolling and jumping in this game.

I always felt it a shame that they didn't base the Generations 3DS version of Green Hill off of this version to give some more handheld/8-bit love, but I can appreciate that even the most distant Sonic fan would notice the original Green Hill's iconic music being absent from the experience.

[Salamander]

Does Angel Island Zone even count?  It's a lot more jungle-like than your standard Green Hill clone, and halfway through the first act then the level theme pretty much changes entirely.  That's why it's my favourite; it does so much more with the basic idea.  Sunset Hill and Palmtree Panic definitely merit honourable mentions, though.

[TheOcelot]

4 hours ago, FFWF said:

Does Angel Island Zone even count?  It's a lot more jungle-like than your standard Green Hill clone, and halfway through the first act then the level theme pretty much changes entirely.  That's why it's my favourite; it does so much more with the basic idea.  Sunset Hill and Palmtree Panic definitely merit honourable mentions, though.

Totally agree on Angel Island. Visually it's such a pretty lushous-green forest until Eggman burns it to the ground! Afterwards the fire-damage effects in the background creates a good atmosphere. There's just so much going on in the stage, like near the end when Eggman tries to bomb Sonic out of existence (and how you see Eggman appear behind the trees before you fight him). 

 

Gotta give a shout-out for Palmtree Panic from Sonic CD. What I like about this stage is that it's a blatant re-imagining of Green Hill and it's not trying to hide that fact. It's visuals are really sharp, the level design and multiple-routes offers a unique challenge and the Jp music is amazing. So upbeat, makes it feel like Sonic is at a carnival!

 

Forgive me for this, but another Green Hill clone which impresses me is:

Haha, yeah I of course played act1 of Mania's GH at Summer of Sonic. The controls feel really natural and the way the stage starts off familar and then becomes totally reimagined with new routes above and below in a cave-like setting is very interesting. It's definitely a version of GH which I intend to explore top to bottom to discover all it's secrets 

[Star01]

I love this game very much.... 

[Menace2Society]

4 hours ago, Star01 said:

I love this game very much.... 

Um, what game are you referring to?

[Lucid Dream]

My favourite would have to be Neo Green Hill Zone

I really love how the background is really nice, calming and peaceful. It's really cool how it transitions from a beach to a grassy field and then to a city bridge, it really gives context to the level and gives a little fun variety and a sense of progress.  It's pretty easy and fun to go fast in this stage too. Did I mention the music is awesome? Neo Green Hill Zone has my favourite theme from all of Sonic Advance 1, and it's just so fun and casual.

It's like going on a fun, fast jog in a pretty place where you just look at the ocean and appreciate how wonderful it is to live, but not in a deep, philosophical way, but in more of a happy and cheerful way. It's one of my favourite moods, and I feel like this stage, along with its music really gives off that vibe really well. A wonderful, pleasant stage.

[TB100]

I have to go with Emerald Hill as it's just a much more colorful and more unique zone in general and the music is just classic.

Neo Green Hill and Mecha Green Hill are also not far behind. (Due to their more unique settings.)

[DeadAccount2]

Sunset Hill Zone for me, especially considering it's glorious remix. : 3