Circus Park

Shadow the Hedgehog

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Circus Park

Circus Park
Hero Third stage, Shadow the Hedgehog (game)
Level theme: carnival/casino
Prerequisite: Glyphic Canyon (Hero) or Lethal Highway (Hero)
Dark mission: Eliminate the GUN robots! (20 total) Dark companion: Eggman's Drone Leads to: Sky Troops Ending quote: "Disgusting humans! How dare you show your faces in the doctor's presence." 30,000 points 28,000 points 20,000 points 10,000 points Finish the mission
Normal mission: Find the Chaos Emerald! Normal companion: None Leads to: Mad Matrix Ending quote: "Sorry, but this Chaos Emerald is mine." 23,000 points 20,000 points 15,000 points 10,000 points Finish the mission
Hero mission: Collect 400 rings! Hero companion: Miles "Tails" Prower Leads to: Death Ruins Ending quote: "Sorry, Doctor. I got no time for games." 26,000 points 22,000 points 16,000 points 10,000 points Finish the mission

Circus Park is one of three possible third levels of Shadow the Hedgehog; in the game's branching path structure, it follows from taking a more heroic, G.U.N.-aligned path through the previous levels. Set inside one of Dr. Eggman's ubiquitous carnival facilities, this level challenges Shadow to jump through flaming hoops or complete shooting gallery minigames to collect more Rings.

Story

Shadow comes to Circus Park searching for that damn fourth Chaos Emerald, and luckily enough, as he approaches the carnival, Tails flies overhead in the Emerald-powered Tornado III. The fox is shot down in crossfire between Eggman's defences and an attacking force of G.U.N. troops, bailing out and leaving the Tornado to spiral away into the distance. Undaunted by his violent arrival, Tails suggests to Shadow that they should team up and "recover" all the Rings Eggman's collected in the park.

Further in the level Shadow runs into Eggman's Drone, who conversely asks Shadow for his help in defeating the "GUN geeks". The third, neutral option is for Shadow to just ignore them both and spring towards the Tornado crash site, to pick up the grey Emerald.

Gameplay

Circus Park is a flashy, vibrant stage filled with bright neon lights, large balls that serve as bumpers, and various gimmicks that award Rings, such as giant clocks that, when struck, will begin counting down and cause balloons to float up, creating a shooting gallery. When the countdown ends, the player will receive 5, 10, 25, or 50 Rings, depending on how well he or she scores. There are also flaming hoops that will give 5 Rings for jumping through, and large towers that when struck (by hitting the center of the special spring), will provide the player with 50 Rings. The infamous spinning barrels from Carnival Night Zone also make an appearance, although they rise and fall automatically. This stage fulfills the carnival/casino level trope for this game.

The more annoying Eggman robots in this stage are Egg Pierrots; Egg Pawns balancing on top of giant balls, which must be destroyed before the pawn itself can be damaged. Ball Pawns tend to explode once they are destroyed, so it would be wise to keep distance. In Circus Park, they are styled to look like clowns. The Ball is colored light blue with blue and yellow highlights, while the Pawn, who sports a blue party hat, has a light blue torso and a lower body that is pinstriped blue and light blue.

This stage shares its name with an area in Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg.

Secret door location

After the fourth checkpoint, there is a Triangle Jump section. The player must jump to the end to find the door in front of them. Behind the door is another shooting gallery. This is potentially useful if they're really bad at collecting Rings but they should have no problem getting 400 without it.

Screenshots

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  Shadow doing the Dark mission

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  Shadow doing the Hero mission