Mapping Mobius: Adventure Era

[MetalSkulkBane]

Few months ago I took closer look at  Classic Sonic. (If you missed it, it's here. I recently added section about "Neo Classic" games). It was a fun experiment, so I'm trying it again with Modern Sonic (of course his list of games is much longer, so I'm doing it in parts).

Quick disclaimer: Creating "World and Lore" for classic games was 80% reading manuals that everyone forgot about and 20% me making hypothetis

In modern games, lore is more "in your face" and pretty much everyone knows the story of ancient echidnas or GUN. So this entry is about 20% finding lore you never knew and 80% of my crazy conspiracy theories  highly logical deduction reasoning. Just a fair warning.

 

Without further ado

 

1) Sonic Adventure 1

Spoiler

SA1 is the first game in the franchise where most of the adventure takes place in an area not controlled by Eggman. In classic titles, we could always assume that Eggman forces moved to grass/ice/desert/ruins zone and changed it into death course for Sonic to run through. In SA1 Eggman controls only Egg Carrier and hideout in Mystic Ruins (so Final Egg, Hot Shelter, and Sky Deck). Ice Cap, Red Mountain, Lost World, and Windy Valley seem uninhabited, so his robots probably just walked there, but landscape seems to be 'naturally' build death course. And then we have Emerald Coast, Speed Highway, Twinkle Park, and Casinopolis, four stages that are swarming with bots, while being part of peaceful city, (one NPC will say her mommy spends too much time in casino. Perhaps that woman doesn't have a gambling problem, she's just hiding under a table from killer robots). Twinkle Park is probably the worst with floor traps and spike-balled merry go rounds. At least Speed Highway is dangerous only to idiots who try to run on the clearly unfinished road.

Honestly, explanations can be range from "Eggman send his troops only to points of interest, like where Emeralds or Froggy might be" to "do you want to have a video game or not?"

 

Sonic Adventure takes place mostly in Station Square, a human metropolis with many tourist attractions like a casino that literally shakes money out of you, an amusement park that allows cute couples and fat cats for a free, or beautiful beach with angry large orcas. Still, it could be considered a pretty typical place in Sonic franchise if it wasn't for Mystic Ruins. First of all, there is Windy Valley: floating ruins with naturally occurring tornado contained to a single location. That's... actually one of strangest location in Sonic franchise, with absolutely no explanation for its origin or purpose. Secondly, there are ruins of Knuckles Tribe. Now I know that echidnas are a big part of Sonic Lore, but after careful looking, I didn't find anything interesting about (nothing that all of you already don't know already). I suppose they might have worshiped some kind of Giant Snake based on Lost World level, but that might just be a simplified Chaos statue. I also wonder if any upgrades in this game are echidna origin. Rhythm Badge is found in ancient past and Warrior Feather gives very similar moves. It would make perfect sense for Shovel Claw due to its appearance in Sonic X. (Then again, treating power-ups as canon might not be a good idea. They are as 'natural' as Star pots or Live Monitors)

 

When I think about it, was Angel Island part of Mystic Ruins? If Tikal lived with Tribe but regularly visited Master Emerald altar then it had to. Quite a coincidence that Angel Island fell so close its place of origin. Makes me wonder in what way Angel Island even floats. Does it choose the direction, has its orbit? Or maybe it floats in one place (over Mystic Ruins) in Human World, and over the ocean in Animal World? Now that I think of it we never learned where island fell in Adventure 2.

 

Of course, we know what's the biggest mystery of this game

 

I don't even want to guess.

 

2) Sonic Adventure 2

Spoiler

Personally, I like to think that very little time passed between SA1 and Sa2. Tails still have Emerald for his help in the last game. Also in SA1, Eggman had 2 Egg Carries, a tower in the jungle, giant missile, several vesicles and an army of robots. In this, he has a single hideout in the pyramid, Egg Walker and handful Badniks, so he clearly didn't have time to rebuild (don't worry, he'll seriously overcompensate in Heroes).

SA2 takes place in... umm, San Francisco? The game only describes it as "capital city" (small letters) so it might be Central City (from ShTH and Battle), it would explain why the president was here. Either way, we spend only handful stages in the city and rest on Prison Island, near ruins or space. From what we saw it's s pretty city will few too many billboards, and a way too big budget for GUN (that truck).

 

GUN, like Knuckles Tribe, are a big part of the lore that you already know of. Military organization, jerks who killed Maria, have a lot of robots (but use human soldiers too). We don't know who designed their bots, but their power source Chaos Drive was invented by Gerald over 50 years ago. I guess Eggman really uses animals as an energy source just for kicks.

 

SONIC ADVENTURE 2 MAP

 

Going back to my speculations, if SA2 takes place soon after SA1, Central City might be near Station Square. Maybe  Sandopolis from Angel Island used to be part of the dessert we see in the game. At the start of the game Rouge and Knuckles fight over ME on the dessert, implying that Angel Island is near it. Plus Sondopolis and Pyramid Cave are only two Egypt-themed levels in Sonic that are haunted. That's just a theory though.

 

Of course, ghosts in this game are also found in Wild Cannon (with more Egyptian architecture), Aquatic Mines (so either ghost can move far or someone drowned here) and Pumpkin Hills (which is basically Halloween town). Funny  how SA2 is probably the most haunted Sonic game and it's completely unrelated to the plot.

 

Outside human settlements and haunted ruins we have Green Forest & White Jungle, thick green vegetation with absurdly huge mosquitos. Between them, turtle in Dry Lagoon, the whale in Emerald Coast, spiders in Red Mountain, frogs, turtles and crocodiles in Heroes, and Sonic Forces giant snake,  I'm certain that Sonic World has some giant animals problem (you know, outside the blue hedgehogs and two-tailed foxes). Perhaps there is some kind of connection between giants listed above and the tiny animals ("Mobini") Eggman uses for his robots.

 

And lastly, we have unlockable Green Hills. Funny enough, it's location fits canon. You might remember from my previous entry that South Island can move, so it can be Central City now and in the middle of the ocean in Classic games. Green Hills has been used numerous times, but so far only one game seriously messed up its location: Sonic Forces (and arguably Chronicles).

 

3) Sonic Shuffle

Spoiler

The game starts with Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles falling. Hedgehogs land on their butts, while other two gently land. I know it's not lore, but in 06 when the main trio falls only Sonic land on his feet, while in "Rise of Lyric" it's Amy. Why does only this game realize that people who fly/glide would have an advantage in this situation?

Maginaryworld is a world of dreams (basically NiGHTS with a pinch of 'Inside Out' moral. I think, this game is VERY Japanese). Just like Special Stage, it's another dimension, so there isn't much to talk about it's a connection to bigger Sonic lore. It's also quite abstract, so there is no point in analyzing it as on its own thing.

4) Sonic Advance 1-3 + Battle

Spoiler

(BTW, Sonic Pinball Party takes place in Casinopolis in Station Square. I guess not whole city drowned. Make sense, someone gave Emerald to Tails before Adventure 2.)

Neither of Advance games is really worth examining on it's. We don't know where they take place, nor the locations we visit are really worth mentioning. I suppose they all visit Angel Island at some point (that or Sky Canyon in Advance 2 is on some other flying landmass), but since Angle Island moves (allegedly) that tells us nothing about the other zones.

But hey, we get another map in Advance 2, that's something.

 

SONIC ADVANCE 2 MAP

 

I actually have some theories, that I'll cover in a second

 

Last GBA game is Sonic Battle.  Topic of  "Fourth Great Civilization" I'll cover after I check Sonic Chronicles. For now, I'm more interested in games locations.

 

Sonic Battle takes places in

- Death Egg (Mark IV, counting Sonic 4 and Fighters), which has enough power to destroy several stars with one shoot, no emeralds. Why Eggman needed ARK again?

- Central City (including Night Babylon and Hot Shelter). Home to Rouge (makes sense, since GUN has headquarters here as well) and Amy (who probably moved after Station Square was flooded).

-  Emerald Town, home to Tails (at least one of his homes)

-  and Holly Summit, the ruins with echidna, emeralds and Chao imagery. I think it's safe to assume Knuckles Clan lived near. In fact look at the hole at top of the map

Could it be where Angel Island used to be? Granted, it seems a little small but keeps in mind GBA limitations. If it was the proper size it would either take several (pointless from a gameplay perspective) screens or wouldn't look like a round hole. Also in last chapter Chaos appears right next to it, but I'm not sure what that proves. (Knuckles describes that hole as "Estuary". Weird considering that there is no water there).

 

If I'm right, Sonic in 1998-2005 had actually the impressively interconnected world. I tried to sketch a map, but it looked terrible. Instead, I'll throw in the map from Sonic Rush and made this graph map

Spoiler

Green Lines are canon (or almost certainly canon)
Yellow Lines are fair guesses, based on logic or leads
Red Lines are pure speculations and wishful thinking

Kinda cool, even if it kinda conflicts with Sonic's "always traveling" image. In the next entry, I'll see if I can add "Shadow the Hedgehog" locations to this map. Modern games are long enough, so I'll finish with last (according to Sonic Generations) "Dreamcast Era" game.

 

5) Sonic Heroes

Spoiler

For a main Sonic title, Heroes is disappointingly lacking in world-building. Then again, we're not stuck to one location. It took Team whole 3 days to pass the first four levels, so game covers a big chunk of land. It's probably a continent, although Seaside Hill takes place on the islands as well. The game seems to be completely unconnected to previously established locations, although Team Rose story stars at the beach that kinda resembles Emerald Coast from SA1.

Egg Fleet and Rail Canyon are obviously made by Eggman, Casino Park probably too (who else would make such ridiculously big casino). Seaside Hill is remnant of yet another unspecified ancient culture and Frog Forest is home to humongous frogs that control the weather (including plant killing rain). Neat.

I can't decide whenever Hang Castle is really haunted or Eggman-made. Pumpkin Ghosts might be real  or convincing robots. There are Egg Pawn statues, plus that cool Eggman-rotate-Metal statue so it seems Eggman build it. But then we have gravity-defying switches, enemies jumping from portraits, invisible bridges or those flags with strange eye-like symbols.

Somehow it doesn't feel "Eggman" to me.

 

And lastly, we have Grand Metropolis, build by eco-friendly HEXAeco, taken over by Eggman. While strangely colorful, I used to think the city was built by humans. After all, no mobians (Tails aside) has this kind of technology. And then Forced came out and all bets are off. If Two Worlds Theory is canon, does this game takes place on "Earth" or "Mobius"? I pondered about and concluded that Windy Valley and Pumpkin Hills are on Earth, so weirdness isn't deciding factor. And if Angel Island can travel between worlds, why not other islands or cities? Really, only Unleashed and Forces are 90% certainly on Earth and Mobius respectively, rest is fair game in both directions.

 

Geez, that almost sound like Two World split is completely pointless.

And that's all for know. I hope it was at least mildly interesting read.

[Multikaris]

I think Unleashed and onward, due to their increasingly less connections to the earlier games (except several inexplicable design nods to Sonic 2 in Lost World), should have their own topic. Advance 2 still involved Angel Island as the location for the Sky Canyon stage.

[Marco9966]

For me Adventure also includes Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic Rush, Rivals and Riders.

[Sonic Fan J]

On ‎12‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 4:00 AM, MetalSkulkBane said:

I guess Eggman really uses animals as an energy source just for kicks.

Going a little off topic (kind of since we're still talking lore) but according to the Japanese manual for the original game, Eggman put the animals in the robots not to power them, but to effectively use the animals as hostages forcing Sonic to hold back making it easier to defeat him. It seems though that this little tidbit was forgotten almost immediately after it was written as the only game that follows with Eggman not repeating the same strategy twice is Sonic CD (Chaotix is an arguable case as well since Eggman is trying to unravel the secret of the rings and creates the dark rings as an energy source). Then again, the only modern game you see the animals being put in machines as a power source is Lost World and that was supposedly primarily scripted from westerners who admittedly knew next to nothing.

[DabigRG]

You're right, that map does look kinda shit. Guess it goes to show that while continuity is something they do generally like to honor, SonicTeam ultimately doesn't care that much about where some locations would realistically be.

You were smart to omit Advance 3 since it was warped by the Genesis Wave. Not sure about Advance 1, though.

Heroes gets more confusion when you notice the Manta ray ships seem to have a GUN logo on it.. But still, I think it's obvious that it takes place in the Mobian world as far as anyone cares.

On 12/27/2018 at 6:00 AM, MetalSkulkBane said:

3) Sonic Shuffle

  Hide contents

The game starts with Sonic, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles falling. Hedgehogs land on their butts, while other two gently land. I know it's not lore, but in 06 when the main trio falls only Sonic land on his feet, while in "Rise of Lyric" it's Amy. Why does only this game realize that people who fly/glide would have an advantage in this situation?

 

Because they can't normally fly there?

Also, it establishes Boom!Amy as particularly acrobatic/badass. Even though I'm sure that scene was only in an early trailer.

On 12/27/2018 at 6:00 AM, MetalSkulkBane said:

4) Sonic Advance 1-3 + Battle

  Hide contents

Sonic Battle takes places in

- Death Egg (Mark IV, counting Sonic 4 and Fighters), which has enough power to destroy several stars with one shoot, no emeralds. Why Eggman needed ARK again?

- Central City (including Night Babylon and Hot Shelter). Home to Rouge (makes sense, since GUN has headquarters here as well) and Amy (who probably moved after Station Square was flooded).

-  Emerald Town, home to Tails (at least one of his homes)

-  and Holly Summit, the ruins with echidna, emeralds and Chao imagery. I think it's safe to assume Knuckles Clan lived near. In fact look at the hole at top of the map

Could it be where Angel Island used to be? Granted, it seems a little small but keeps in mind GBA limitations. If it was the proper size it would either take several (pointless from a gameplay perspective) screens or wouldn't look like a round hole. Also in last chapter Chaos appears right next to it, but I'm not sure what that proves. (Knuckles describes that hole as "Estuary". Weird considering that there is no water there).

 

 

To have a reference point for how he could build something similar if necessary one day. Does he ever actually use it?

Holy Shit, they remembered that for Shadow's Game? That's cool.

Not gonna, I read that as "Tails' Town."

What was this place exactly in that game?

[Almar]

I don't see what the Two Worlds retcon is getting brought up here for. Yuji Naka himself said Sonic Adventure 1 happened in the same world as the Genesis era ones with Sonic just leaving their islands for the region where Station Square is at. Not to mention the obvious point that Station Square is in train distance of echidna ruins.

[DabigRG]

15 minutes ago, Almar said:

I don't see what the Two Worlds retcon is getting brought up here for.

Because it's relevant to the current status quo of Modern Sonic.

15 minutes ago, Almar said:

Yuji Naka himself said Sonic Adventure 1 happened in the same world as the Genesis era 

Oops.

[Razule]

21 minutes ago, Almar said:

I don't see what the Two Worlds retcon is getting brought up here for. Yuji Naka himself said Sonic Adventure 1 happened in the same world as the Genesis era ones with Sonic just leaving their islands for the region where Station Square is at. Not to mention the obvious point that Station Square is in train distance of echidna ruins.

Maybe he was just saying his opinion.

[Almar]

Both the OP and DabigRG brought up Two Worlds. And I'm pointing out that the Adventure Era games were surely not designed with Two Worlds considered. Talking about a Human World or Mobian/Animal World is inappropriate if we're looking at the lore/setting of the games from Adventure One to about Rivals 2.