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Death Egg Zone (Sonic & Knuckles)

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Death Egg Zone
For the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 level, see Death Egg Zone. For other uses, see Death Egg (disambiguation).
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Death Egg Zone
Seventh Zone, Sonic & Knuckles
Number of Acts: 2
Level themes: Death Egg, industrial, outer space
Sub-boss: Red Eye
Sub-boss for Act 2: Death Ball
Boss: Kyodai Eggman Robo
Maximum rings, Act 1: 278 + 90
Maximum rings, Act 2: 198 + 120
Prerequisite: Play as Sonic and/or Tails
Non-English names:
Sky Sanctuary Zone | The Doomsday Zone

Death Egg Zone is the seventh Zone of Sonic & Knuckles (and the thirteenth Zone of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles). As the name implies, the stage is set in the enormous hull of the Death Egg. Sonic and Tails enters by jumping on board from Sky Sanctuary Zone, and exits for a final battle with Dr. Eggman in space as the Death Egg falls apart.

Knuckles doesn't participate in this level as Sky Sanctuary concluded his story. However, by using the Level Select he can play this stage normally...for the most part. He's unable to beat the first boss due to his lower jump height.

Overview

Whereas the Death Egg was represented as a short series of corridors and boss fights in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, it has been expanded to a full two-Act Zone in this game. Act 1 has the player explore the enormous hull of the Death Egg, where many contraptions are spread about to slow down the heroes as much as possible. These include dangerous electricity fields that will shock the player should they attempt to come into contact with them. A Lightning Shield will allow the player to safely stand on these fields (making it one of only two Zones where the Shield features its elemental immunity, the other being Carnival Night Zone), but the electrical surges from the fields can even overpower the Shield, taking it away.

Anti-gravity orbs will make the player float into the air, bridges and ramps made of light will periodically turn on and off, and conveyor belt lifts will transport the player up and down through hazardous corridors filled with spikes and missile launchers; jumping up and down on the lifts will make the conveyor belts change direction. Large white tubes labelled "EGG" will fiddle around with the gravity when the player passes through them, causing the player to spin up and down until they leave. Another major feature are light beam transportation systems that begin a countdown when the player steps into their launching stations, then launch the player through a "light snake" that loops around an area. Many of these transportation systems can be ignored, which is generally faster to do and often rewards the player with Rings.

At a certain point in Act 1, the player will enter a large room where the player is constantly being pulled to the right and bouncing off of Spring-shaped bumpers, along with a larger bumper blocking the way out. The center of the room holds a strange contraption with six yellow buttons moving up and down, and the player must touch each button to turn them red in order to remove the blockade and escape. The player will then eventually fight Red Eye at the end of the Act.

After Red Eye's destruction, the player advances to Act 2, which is now set outside the Death Egg where space itself can be seen, along with a breathtaking view of Sonic's world. Many of the gimmicks seen in Act 1 are present here, along with the introduction of sections where the gravity is reversed, causing the player to walk about on the ceiling. The gravity is altered by passing through white gravity tubes, entering the vertical transport tubes or by pressing buttons. This gameplay mechanic would later be repurposed in a number of levels throughout the series, such as Crazy Gadget, Egg Rocket Zone/Cosmic Angel Zone, Egg Utopia, Cyber Track and Dead Line.

Act 2 ends with some very difficult boss fights against the Death Ball, followed by the Kyodai Eggman Robo. If Sonic has at least all of the Chaos Emeralds after finishing this Zone, he will go on to The Doomsday Zone. Otherwise, the game ends.

Quotes

Face bald, belligerent Robotnik in his whirling Death Egg!

Sonic & Knuckles US manualMedia:S&K MD US SonicJam manual.pdf[4]

When thinking of space, gravity controls come to mind, so that was the theme behind this stage. We tried to give it a feel you could only have in outer space, how did we do? We surveyed many people to determine if up and down should be reversed when the gravity flips. I guess that it is just easier to have pressing down to crouch feel natural!

Yuji NakaSonic Jam Official Guide[5]

Enemies

Spikebonker.png
SpikebonkerBadnik with a large spiked ball floating around it.
Chainspike.png
Chainspike — Blue Badnik with extendable spikes in four directions.

Animals

S2 cucky.gif
Cucky
S2 ricky.gif
Ricky

References


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