Angel Island Zone

Angel Island Zone
First Zone, Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Number of Acts: 2
Sub-boss: Angel Island Zone Sub-boss
Boss: Angel Island Zone Boss
Underwater areas: Both acts for Sonic/Tails, Act 1 only for Knuckles

For the eponymous zone in Sonic Advance, see Angel Island Zone (SV1)

Angel Island Zone is the first zone in Sonic 3. When playing as Sonic, a somewhat lengthy introduction is played in which Sonic and Tails discover the floating island and first run into Knuckles. An alternate version of the intro had Sonic surfing onto the island, which is a leftover from a beta version of Sonic 3. The surfing sprites can be viewed via debug mode. Nemesis created a savestate with a restored surfing intro sequence, which can be downloaded here.

Instruction Manual Description

Welcome to the Floating Island. Things will really heat up once Dr. Robotnik sets fire to this area of the island. Beware of the Flying Battery blimp.

Sonic Team Commentary (from Sonic Jam Strategy Guide)

We started development on "3" with a story in mind, but it turned out we couldn't make it in time without problems. In the end, the game ended up being cut in half (laugh). This stage starts off with a certain impact, as the flame thrower machines set fire to the island and change the color considerably. (Sonic Team, Iizuka)

Glitches

• It's possible to go into a Knuckles-only section of Act 2 when playing as Sonic by using debug mode, then go up to Sonic's path after going through the long set of breakable walls. When you get to the boss, there will be two of them - one acting as Sonic's boss and one acting as Knuckles'. This can be used to give a 50000 point time bonus if you use one of the capsules to trigger the end of level and reset the time to zero, then use the other to trigger another end of level.
• When at the end of Act 2, after defeating Robotnik, you can also hold left and repeatedly try to jump during the Knuckles cut-scene. If done correctly, you'll jump off the bridge as it collapses, allowing you to avoid falling into Hydrocity Zone.

Badniks

• Rhinobot — A robotic rhino that charges at you.
• Monkey Dude — Just your standard (blue) coconut throwing monkey.
• Bloominator — A red flower with a metallic blue stem.
• Catakiller, Jr. — A blue caterpillar surrounded by a shield-like contraption. Only the head is vulnerable.