Zone Idea Station - Share your Sonic Level Ideas Here!

[Sonicfan787]

Gateway Zone:

Theme- Clouds and Gold Pillars/Platforms

Layout- Flat with few loops but mostly platforming elements

Badniks- Eagle styled badniks and mini-tornado badniks. (The mini tornado ones would just spin like a beyblade, and you'd have to jump on them when they slowed down.

Boss (Act 2)- It would be a golden cube like the tesseract that would open up and shoot lasers while hovering around.

[Cyb3rkn1ght]

So, this is the first one I thought of recently:

Pyrite Terminal

This Zone mostly takes place in a subway station, yet also abandoned and part of a sewer. I don't have any gimmicks other than like, trashcan enemies, Mechanical rats, Icky trash juice, and who knows, maybe you can ride the subs as well, bringing you to secret areas and having momentum to jump, like really, REALLY far. it would be interesting to have a Metal Sonic Race/Battle in here, with some tubes akin to Chemical Plant. The reason why I choose "Pyrite" in the name is because of its other Nickname "Fool's Gold", and that can be associated with trash, garbage, and other nasty things. "Terminal" I chose because it sounds a lot like a train station or transportation as a whole.

Zephyr Zion (Man I love alliteration)

This one Occurs somewhere above the clouds, similar to Sky Sanctuary. the setting is a large garden, with flowers and high winds. winds so strong, they carry Sonic like the laser tube in Death Egg. Some winds can also be cloud runways, just above pits. the flowers here are gorgeous too, with some of them being springs and fans, also helping the heroes traverse around. Bouncey clouds and Iron bars are here too in the bottom path. i can easily see this being in Sonic: Dream Team, or Sonic: Generations.

So, any thoughts? who is the boss here? you decide!

[Shiny Gems]

On 5/31/2024 at 7:05 AM, Cyb3rkn1ght said:

So, this is the first one I thought of recently:

Pyrite Terminal

This Zone mostly takes place in a subway station, yet also abandoned and part of a sewer. I don't have any gimmicks other than like, trashcan enemies, Mechanical rats, Icky trash juice, and who knows, maybe you can ride the subs as well, bringing you to secret areas and having momentum to jump, like really, REALLY far. it would be interesting to have a Metal Sonic Race/Battle in here, with some tubes akin to Chemical Plant. The reason why I choose "Pyrite" in the name is because of its other Nickname "Fool's Gold", and that can be associated with trash, garbage, and other nasty things. "Terminal" I chose because it sounds a lot like a train station or transportation as a whole.

Zephyr Zion (Man I love alliteration)

This one Occurs somewhere above the clouds, similar to Sky Sanctuary. the setting is a large garden, with flowers and high winds. winds so strong, they carry Sonic like the laser tube in Death Egg. Some winds can also be cloud runways, just above pits. the flowers here are gorgeous too, with some of them being springs and fans, also helping the heroes traverse around. Bouncey clouds and Iron bars are here too in the bottom path. i can easily see this being in Sonic: Dream Team, or Sonic: Generations.

So, any thoughts? who is the boss here? you decide!

Very nice, @Cyb3rkn1ght! I like the Pyrite Terminal subway stage. I like those kinds of stages.

Anyway, here are some more of mine.

Perfect Planet Zone

In this zone, despite the name, this takes place in another dimension where things are perfect; not in a utopian style way, but in the sense that everything has perfect properties, which will be explained below. Here, things are perfectly immovable, unstoppable, rigid, smooth, etc. Eggman is after something here while trying to mine for some of the materials here, so it is up to the heroes to stop him.

In this zone, there are immovable objects, some which look like they will tip over, but they won't. Sonic and friends can use these objects in various ways. There are also unstoppable objects the heroes can also use for clinging onto and jumping off of and such. There are smooth, frictionless floors the heroes can slide on, and there are perfectly rigid objects that the heroes can bounce off of.

Speaking of bouncing, the heroes encounter various objects that bounce off the ground, without losing height or stopping that can be used to reach higher places. The heroes also come across various machines, which are trying to mine for resources, but to no avail. There are drills the heroes can run on to make them float, similar to the tops in Marble Garden of Sonic 3. There are also axes and other sharp objects the heroes will have to watch out for as those objects try to crush things, and there are crushers trying to crush perfect stone objects the heroes will have to watch out for.

Additional Information: Something like this would be the music.

Home Hill Zone

In this zone, Sonic and friends come across a set of hills that are home to various animals. In fact, lots of animal homes can be found here, from birds' nests, to burrows to termite mounds to beaver dams and the like. There are also various animals here to be found along with these homes. Here, one of Eggman's bases is up ahead, so it is up to the heroes to get through here and be able to reach that base!

In this zone, there are giant spider webs here that the heroes are able to either climb, grind or bounce off of, but they have to watch out for giant spiders, too. There are many bee hives and wasp nests here, some the heroes are able to enter and get through; they just have to watch out for the bees and wasps. There are also termite mounds and ant hills in this zone, to be found, with some termite mounds looking like this.

Just be sure to watch out for the termites and ants.

There are also many birds nests to be found here, mainly on trees. In fact, some birds nests look like these.

And no, I am not kidding. It is possible for the heroes to hang on these nests, but it is also possible to get caught in them, requiring multiple jumps to escape. The heroes just have to escape before being pecked by angry birds (and I don't mean the game). There are beaver dams the heroes can enter from below, sometimes finding hidden treasures such as rings and monitors, just don't wake the beavers in them up. There are also complex burrows the heroes can swim through, but the heroes must watch out for the animals in them, or the heroes will stop and the animals will bite them before the heroes continue.

Additional Info: Something like this would be the music.

So, what do you all think?

[Shiny Gems]

Here is another idea from me.

Coil Corridors Zone

This zone takes place in an area above a city, where there are many "hallways" in the form of actual spring coils everywhere. You don't just bounce on them, for you also walk or even run and spin through these areas. There are springs here to be bounced on, but what matters are the actual coils for this level. Eggman has been chased to here, and it is up to the heroes to catch up to him before things spring out of control in the area.

In this zone, there are spring coils that heroes walk on or inside, and they can spin through some of them, much like how they can spin through tubes like in Chemical Plant Zone of Sonic 2. The heroes can even bend the coil to avoid small spikes that can harm the good guys should they touch them. Sometimes, the coils stretch, and the heroes will fall through the gaps of the coils unless they are to boost or spin dash through them.

There are coils on walls that function like spring poles, launching the heroes into the air when they are touched. Some coils can be grinded on, and some coils can be walked on, and jumping on them makes the heroes jump like on a trampoline. Some coils move left and right above the path the heroes are on, and they can knock the heroes off the path if they are not careful. There are also wooden planks on or inside the coils that the heroes can walk on. There are plenty of coils that act as pillars for large structures, and these structures can be made lighter by hitting a switch on them, and that will cause the coils to move the structure upward and send the heroes flying like the floor of Wacky Workbench of Sonic CD. The heroes can even hang on and even swing on coils from above, too.

Additional Information: Something like this would be the music.

So, what do you all think?

[Sblue712]

I have a lot of zone ideas but two that I would choose would be called Heavy Kingdom Zone and Love Garden Zone. Heavy Kingdom is a zone that the player would play in as Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles. The style would be a 2D Sonic Colors mixed with Sonic Mania. The story is: After the three left Oil Ocean, they make their way to the Heavy Kingdom Zone. It's a kingdom with a big and giant castle far away, a town centre, and a big gate. There are posters of the Hard Boiled Heavies everywhere in this zone. Act 1 takes place in the town where the three (you rotate the characters like the character rotate in Encore mode in Mania) go through many street vendors, badniks, and buildings in the town. The boss is called the Egg Servant, a servant and trustee for the Heavy King at the castle. He throws serving trays at you, attempts to sweep you up, tries to hit you with his broom, and halfway defeated, he shoots orbs out of its antenna on top of his head. After defeating him, you head to Act 2 where the trio make their way inside the castle. The castle is really big and has different towers for each of the heavies (except the king). They go through each of the towers, even jumping out of the windows to progress to the next place in the castle. The boss is the Hard Boiled Heavies and you fight them one by one and halfway defeating them, the Heavy Magician forms all of them together into one giant Hard Boiled Heavy. It'll either stomp on you, shoot rockets at you, shoot orbs at you, shoot lasers at you, throw a shuriken at you, shoot magic at you, or throw spikes at you. After defeating, there is a big hole formed from the heavies in the wall and they jump through to get to the next zone.

Love Garden is a zone that the player would play in as Amy Rose. The style would be Sonic Mania. Here's the story: After Amy defeated the Egg Hopper in Summer Sunshine Zone, she makes her way to Love Garden where she sees a green grass, flowers in heart shapes, and badniks matching the style and vibe of the zone. Act 1 would be where Amy goes through a flower field full of heart flowers with petals on the grass and a daytime sky. She battle Eggman in a new machine called the Egg Heart. It shoots a pink laser, releases hostile robotic birds, hops everywhere, and when halfway defeated, releases mechanical hearts, and a heart that'll punch you (similar to the boots that'll kick you). After defeating Egg Heart, Amy is taken to Act 2, which has a sun setting (the zone after this one is at night), fewer flowers, and a big greenhouse. On the roof of the greenhouse, Amy battles Mecha Amy, who's hammer is much more powerful than Amy's. Halfway defeated, Mecha Amy knocks Amy off the roof and into the forest to continue the battle and Mecha Amy powers up and will attempt to either shock Amy or fire fast moving balls of orbs at her. After Amy defeats Mecha Amy, she heads to the next zone.

[Shiny Gems]

Here are some more ideas of mine.

Spoiler

Vague Void Zone

In this zone, Sonic and friends go in a void somewhere outside Sonic's universe. Here in this void, Sonic and friends go through various obstacles and dangers that were once parts of different realities. The void in question looks like this.

Eggman is after something here, and it is up to the heroes to find out what it is.

In this zone, there are many decaying rock platforms and roads the heroes can traverse, many which are decaying because of the effects of the void. There are also multicolored clouds the heroes can bounce off of to reach other areas above them. There are also many portals the heroes come across, and the blue ones lead to other locations while the red ones instantly kill the heroes.

There are also different ghost objects that the heroes will have to use or avoid, such as ghost cars that come out of nowhere. There are also people's hands that, if they grab the heroes, will drag them to the depths of the void, which counts as a death. Boosting or spin dashing will let the heroes escape these hands. There are also areas of total darkness, meaning the heroes must be careful crossing through here and find switches to turn the light back on.

Additional Information: Something like this would be the music.

Endless Enigma Zone

In this zone, Sonic and friends go through a palace of some kind, a strange palace; one that represents infinity and eternity. This means there are bottomless pits, endless hallways and the like. This is based off the 2-player levels from Sonic 3 and the falling sections of Labyrinth Zone (Sonic 1) and Ice Cap Zone from Sonic 3. There are many dangers here, but Eggman is hiding here, so Sonic and friends must find him.

In this zone, Sonic and friends come across endless hallways and rooms as well as the aforementioned bottomless pits. Unlike those in past games, they have more sections and things to pass by before repeating, but the heroes will have to find a switch or find a route out of here. If the player is controlling Sonic, and Sonic only, however, he can achieve boost mode or boost for several seconds to escape these areas easily.

Now, also in this zone are warp spheres that take heroes to halls with many "laps" they will have to try and escape. There are portals holes on the ground and ceiling, causing the heroes to fall continuously if they fall in them. They can't move by themselves, but the player can move the portal. Even some platforms are endless, causing the heroes to find a way out if they step onto the wrong one. There are also "eternal sections" where Sonic and friends must continuously run, jump or do some other action out of their control until they reach a switch.

Additional Information: Something like this would be the music.

Spiritual Sky Zone

In this zone, Sonic and friends are high above the clouds, where there are actually many spirits to be found. Based on the "Wild Hunt" spirits from folklore and the song "Ghost Riders in the Sky" as well as the idea of Native American spirit guides, these spirits might help or hinder Sonic and co. Eggman is seen flying through here, but there is no time to take the Tornado, so the heroes must go on foot through the sky!

This takes place at night, by the way.

In this zone, Sonic and friends run on clouds. Some clouds that are more blue in color will cause the heroes to bounce when touched. There are also occasional lightning bolts that the heroes will have to dodge, and there are tornadoes on the clouds that the heroes will have to avoid, though some may help them reach high places if used properly. There can also be strong winds the heroes can use or must evade.

As said before, there are Native American spirit guides in this level that appear in the background, giving the heroes advice on how to get through the level or giving some tips, all if a white light that is next to them is touched. There are also "Wild Hunt" spirits that throw spears and shoot at the heroes, and there are hounds the heroes must evade. The riders of horses are able to be attacked, with the horses being able to be ridden afterwards. Just don't let the ghosts grab you. The heroes can also run on demonic ghost cows moving around.

Additional Information: Something like this would be the music for Act 2.

Healing Highlands Zone

In this zone, Sonic and friends go through an area of grassy hills and trees damaged by Eggman, and to some extent, GUN. From mining to deforestation to even battles between Eggman and GUN, this place has been torn apart. However, people are making an effort to restore this place to its old self, as in healing it. Sonic and friends must reach Eggman, who  plans to damage the area again and stop the restoration.

In this zone, there are drones that carry seeds. Touching them will cause the drones to fly and drop seeds along its way. These then grow plants that could grow big enough to reach high platforms or alternate routes. There are also sick animals with medicine capsules nearby. If Sonic and friends knock the capsule into these animals, they will get better, and help the heroes in some way. There are also medical tents the heroes can bounce off of.

There are also sick trees and plants around the area as well. Here, there are large injection needles (like the ones from Act 2 of Chemical Plant from Sonic Mania) on the ground that, when pushed, will cause the plants to be healed and thus used in some way. There are quarries being restored too, and areas like these have bags of seeds the heroes can grab and then drop while running to plant seeds to grow plants that can be used as platforms. There are also sections where dirt is dumped into holes, and Sonic and friends must avoid getting buried, or rushed in areas of rising dirt (like the last area of rising energy in Sonic Heroes' Power Plant).

Additional Information: Something like this would be the music for Act 1.

And this for Act 2.

What do you all think?

[Dreamcasted Soul]

Here’s an idea I recently had:

Melting Glacier Zone

Act 1 would feature Sonic getting to Eggman’s base of operations at the center of this snowy desert.  However, due to Eggman trying to melt the glacier for his own nefarious purposes, parts of the glacier have caved in on itself, forming caverns deep with in from the heated air pumped through it.  As a result, the higher path(faster) of this zone is at the top of the Ice Caps where Sonic has to dodge pits deep into the melting caverns, which is where the lower path(slower) is located.  Badniks such as flying Egg Robos, Penguinators, Buzz Bombers, and Sols will try to stop Sonic as well, with particular enemies interacting with the terrain as well like Penguinators skidding along the snow on the higher paths and skidding even faster along the rivers of melted ice on the lower paths, and Sols dropping their fireballs to melt the terrain below if Sonic doesn’t defeat the soon enough.  This music would be something like this to capture the urgent but exciting tone of this act: 

 

 

Act 2 would feature Sonic traversing through the inside of the center region of the glacier, which has formed into a huge melted cave system with water flowing in many parts of it from the heated air pumped through the tunnels.  In parts of the zone, Sonic will ride a makeshift snowboard down the caves’ tunnels which gradually increase in size further in, contending with Penguinators and falling icicles in the process.  The lower paths take place at the bottom of the caverns, which have begun to be filled with ocean chipping away at the structure, which Sonic has to avoid falling into or else ocean will quickly freeze him to death.  The upper paths feature the various remaining structures of ices that have yet to fully melt, although some will soon collapse once Sonic lands on them.  Throughout these more open sections which make up most of the zone, Egg Robos and Buzz Bombers make their return, with Rexons being in pools of water ready to spew fire at Sonic when he appears.  This more atmospheric, even mournful tone will be reflected in the music, as even if Sonic stops Eggman, the glacier and its ecosystem will be scarred for a long time.  It would sound something like this:

 

Act 3 is dedicated to a boss against Eggman, who is piloting his latest creation: The Steam Machine.  Sonic will have to deal with cloudy bursts of hot steam that are shot out at him and the arena’s ceiling of spiky icicles that fall down once hit, both of which will damage Sonic if not dodged.  Also, halfway through the fight, Eggman will use a rush of the machine’s energy to shoot a flame thrower at the hard ice of the ground, causing it to break up into large uneven chunks and form small gaps to the freezing ocean.  During this second phase, Sonic will have to deal with the more treacherous arena environment as well as avoid the occasional flame burst through at him from the machine.  After finally dealing enough hits to the contraption, however, the Steam Machine will explode into bits, leaving only Eggman fleeing from the scene in his Egg Mobile, allowing Sonic to shut down Eggman’s heating system inside the Glacier.  The music accompanying this intense encounter would sound along the lines of this: 

I thought of the idea of this zone when listening to these remixes of Grand Glacier from Sonic Hoshi, and I feel like it would be good to have a level in a Sonic game that reflects the franchises often ignored environmentalist themes.

 

Edited August 17 by Dreamcasted Soul
Typo Correction

[Shiny Gems]

Here are some more ideas of mine.

Peak Parkland Zone

In this zone, Sonic and friends go through what happens to be a theme partk plus mountain resort kind of place, one with many trails and rides to be found, not to mention, this place is very beautiful, since there is a great view at the summit. Nonetheless, it seems Eggman is in control of this area for some reason, and is ripping off its customers, so it is up to the heroes to drive him out.

As mentioned before, this place has many trails, some found in the forest and some that have loops. There are also alpine coasters the heroes can ride, and as they do, they will have to watch for obstacles along the way. Also here are many different slides where Sonic can either use sled tubes, skis or snowboards on, and there are zip lines the heroes can use to get down areas quickly.

There is also a ropes course with lots of rope elements the heroes can interact with if they choose to. There are gondolas the heroes can jump onto and ride as well as a disc golf section where the heroes act as a Frisbee from a cannon to score points. There are mining sections where the heroes can pan for rings, and there is a maze that the heroes can choose to go through or have to go through, watching out for surprise enemies along the way.

Additional Info: Something like this would be the music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVfNNKdDKr0

Culture City Zone

In this zone, Sonic and friends go through a big city where there are many cultural, ethnic enclaves to be had, from Little Italy to China Town to Little India, etc. The buildings in each area are based on the cities where each enclave is from. This takes place in the daytime in Act 1 and at night at Act 2. Eggman is hatching a scheme here, and is trying to exploit the people, so Sonic and friends have to stop him.

In terms of the city, Sonic and friends come across umbrellas that they can bounce off of, and there are fireworks the heroes can ride like in Stardust Speedway Act 2 of Sonic Mania. There are also streets to cross that have cars in them the heroes will have to watch for, and there are street lamps the heroes can swing from. There are construction site panels too that launch the heroes upward when they step on them.

In terms of the cultural element, there are lanterns the heroes will be able to activate to make things happen, and there are drums and other musical instruments the heroes can interact with to get around. There are masks that grant the heroes different powers to be used, and there are markets the heroes can run through, and neon signs to stand on. At night, all enclaves are each having a festival, with parades the heroes can go through.

Additional Info: Something like this would be the music for Act 2 at night.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbFwwOnXlx0&list=PLY8HOYmhvpJZ9nGO8LLKOsVt9kDYJpYfC&index=4

Quadruple Qualm Zone

In this zone, Sonic and friends go through the fourth spatial dimension, a place that looks like what is on the cover here and at 15:24. (Bad language video alert)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OljR8LqXEU

Only less blocky. Here, Eggman is after something he lost to this dimension years ago, and it is up to the heroes to find it before he does.

Here, gravity works differently, as it goes up and down as well as left or right and forward and backward, depending on which is nearest. There are also portals that spew objects at the heroes, and otherwise act as bottomless pits here. There are also plenty of clouds here, 4D clouds. The heroes can bounce off these clouds, going much higher than the likes of Sky Sanctuary from Sonic 3 and Knuckles' clouds.

There are also tesseracts of different colors that the heroes can interact with for different effects. Green ones invert the whole area, and red ones may turn the area inside out, and so on and so fourth. Sonic and friends can climb on the chain like things connecting the structures here, too. Some hyper shapes will "rotate", pushing the heroes around and even knocking them off structures if they are not careful. There are platforms that have different effects too, lasting as long as the heroes stay on them.

Heated Heavens Zone

In this zone, Sonic and friends go through a land where there are many fiery comets, meteors and space rocks in the sky, as shown here at 0:56 to 1:24.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEWzNg6lkUk

Don't worry, it is just this one area they are falling in, and it is not the end of the world. Yet, there is a space rock with powerful energy here that Eggman is after, so naturally, the heroes must act to stop him.

In this level, in Act 1, Sonic and friends have to climb the space rocks to get to the heavens from the land below. There are many space rocks that could harm the heroes, and there are certain platforms that will be destroyed at certain times in the level if the heroes don't reach them quickly enough. There are also flying sparks that the heroes must avoid, as they can burn the heroes well. Some flowers can cause the heroes to jump high, too.

In Act 2, which takes place in the sky, SURPRISE! Some of the space rocks are remains of planets that were destroyed. Some of these planets contain rotating, horizontal swing platforms the heroes can ride. Others may contain buildings that the heroes must speed through and not stop or they will perish. There are also floating elevators that the heroes can be in and knock around to change its direction. There are plenty of spike bombs laid out by Eggman that explode, sending out spikes that could harm the heroes, and there are many vehicles flying off the planet remains that the heroes can knock into other areas to open alternate routes. Other space rocks aside from planetary remains can be traversed, too.

What do you all think?