Evolution of Classic Sonic Environmental Chases

I was thinking about these little setpieces, and I realize we really don't get anything like that anymore. Wanted to shed some love on them. They're some of my favorite parts of these games.

[@flaintheinfernite]

You have this calm music but then there's sonic running,rolling, and jumping so he doesn't get crushed, burned, drowned, blown up, dichted on a flying battery, enclosed in sand, left behind on a platform in space about to blow up

[@sonicx2.0577]

The hydrocity pursuit just give me nightmares when i was like 9 years old, i still get nervous seeing that stupid wall

[@IaeyanElyuex]

Never really realized how much this is used in S3K.

[@Barraspy]

Man as much as I like Hill Top Zone I completely forgot about that top route, wow I actually questioned if it was real or not lol, Marble Garden Zone is SOOOOOO UNDERRATED like dang I actually love it, giving it a decent score made me happy

[@MarkerMurker]

I actually got the idea for this because I saw that Sonic 2 Absolute added one of these in Hill Top Act 1 as a Knuckles path. It's really cool. And I always loved Marble Garden. Those giant faces used to actually scare me though 🤣

[@Barraspy]

@@MarkerMurker Fr the faces be like 🗿

[@ADAMBNRAHALHAOUSR-mf1bo]

It looks really similar to that emogie for some reason people think sonic.exe is scarier at leat fast damage you instead of jumpscare

[@basiccatplush5247]

@@ADAMBNRAHALHAOUSR-mf1bor/ihadastroke

[@MrEvilbyte]

You forgot about one in Chemical Plant Act 2, where you need to get to the top before you drown. Which was a rather bad early game difficulty spike for newer players. Sonic CD counts as a classic game. From that game, Stardust Speedway Act 3. Pretty iconic and difficult boss battle. That Labyrinth Zone one probably Game Over'd and traumatized a lot of players back in the day. Also, getting hit in the wrong way sends you ALL the way to the bottom and you're basically screwed. The Hilltop Zone upper path one doesn't even work right. You actually cannot get crushed or killed there (you'll be pushed harmlessly into the ceiling at worst). Maybe they fixed it in Origins though. Angel Island one is literally Hold Right to Win (still a cool setpiece). Hydrocity one is a bit bugged. I've seen speedrunners instantly die by outrunning the wall too fast. Casually players can do it too by using cheats to get Super Sonic early.

[@MarkerMurker]

I didn't count Chemical Plant because it really didn't seem the same as the rest. It just becomes another underwater section. Same reason I didn't add Labyrinth Act 2. I suppose I could have added Sonic CD, but that's not really an environmental chase to me because the danger is the boss itself. I definitely got stuck at Labyrinth act 3 and Chemical Plant act 2 as a kid. But they're way more manageable in hindsight. Never knew about the bugged ones, that's interesting to know. I used Sonic 1 Forever, Sonic 2 Absolute, and Sonic 3 AIR, so they might be fixed there. I refuse to get Origins because of the weird lack of polish. I appreciate the comment! A good discussion is always nice.

[@TheAmazingAnimator]

​@MarkerMurker flying battery act 2 isn't enviromental?

[@elisabethsun7059]

“Rather bad difficulty spike” is an understatement. That section made me quit the game entirely because of how much the drowning music makes me panic (it’s even worse than playing horror games somehow). I’ll just stick to watching people pay Sonic games on KZbin instead. Maybe I’ll go back and beat it sometime but I really don’t wanna rn

[@baval5]

If Amy does her super jump at the top of the Flying Battery one she can fly off the top of the screen and get stuck lol

[@MarkerMurker]

I still haven't figured out how to get Amy unless it's a mod 😅

[@baval5]

@@MarkerMurker I was indeed talking about a mod =D

[@rubykaylaandogie3334]

@@baval5well there is origins plus but ok

[@baval5]

@@rubykaylaandogie3334 she cant do super jumps in origins plus. I think he was talking about getting Amy into Sonic 3 AIR, as shes in the base game for Sonic Forever

[@rubykaylaandogie3334]

@@baval5 oh I thought it would have been the same either way

[@Shreder3.0]

1:30 also for mobile players you have the Knuckles path,on first act,on the beginning. When bridge falls,you need to catch on the wall,and go little bit down,what to do next is pretty obviously. There will be chase with lava.

[@Zero-gl2ou]

Nobody talks about the thumbnail... Tails swimming in lava and not burning.

[@MarkerMurker]

Yes! Thought it would be funny, and I'll be doing similar things for future thumbnails

[@frankkkbard0n315]

it is actually possible to walk through the lava without hurting, Its a cool glitch, I show it in my Sonic 2 glitches video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qICxfoJpptaqf8U

[@timebinder9345]

2:09 i legit thought this was soh

[@Darklight65583]

I never knew pressing jump again in the air let him spindash once he hits the ground. That would have saved me so much time, and lives, back then

[@michaelkowal3230]

The water chase in Labyrinth Zone should have a higher rating for if you have the bubble shield due to the immunity to drowning and the bounce jump it provides

[@DIGITIALDRAWING]

The game he’s using is Sonic 1 Forever(for sonic 1) (pin just in case people wanna play it) idk if it’s the game or not

[@MarkerMurker]

Yeah, Sonic 1 Forever, Sonic 2 Absolute, and Sonic 3 AIR.

[@pneumonoultramicrosc0p1csilic0]

​@@MarkerMurkeri knew it was sonic 3 air because of the ghost players

[@jnprfilms]

Wow Good Memory

[@toastingtoasters]

i got a sonic forces ad before this 💀

[@MarkerMurker]

Sega needs to just give up on Forces at this point 🤣

[@aaronjohnson5592]

Man I guess S3&K really liked the concept of autoscrollers

[@MarkerMurker]

It was definitely more cinematic than the others in that way

[@rinder.crates]

Sandopolis is pretty hated because of the ghost gimmick (which I personally love), I really loved the fact that you gave it a pretty good rating

[@MarkerMurker]

Yup, the ghost thing isn't even a problem if people just pay attention. I feel this way about a lot of the games I play. Interesting mechanics are added and people go crazy because it's not as straightforward

[@SUSha64]

i think it's hated because level is just slow if you do it the way it meant to be played, in act 1 there is thing that you need to grab and slowly desent while only jumping and mini-boss is just waiting, slow platforms that you need to push to the conveyor(?) and then it will slowly move, doors that need to slowly push using the thing, and most anoying for me: act 2 this sand chase. Sure, there is so parts where you go fast but thats it.

[@rinder.crates]

@@SUSha64 Most of the things you mentioned that make sandopolis "slow" have many to avoid them, like taking a different route, jumping at the right place, or just waiting for 2 seconds before returning to the speedy state

[@SUSha64]

@@rinder.cratesYea, but most pepole are casual players so they replay this game idk like 1 time a year, and they probably won't just jump in to the void even if there is land, or spindash jump from those little platforms on conveyors, because they aren't sure if this time save will work out for them, and if they fall they will lose even more time, and those things that you need to push, well you need to push AT LEAST like 10 times (and this is if you don't be late for the door) and you can't speed up the sand chase if you playing as just sonic, and tails doesn't speed up by much, and most casual players don't remeber/know layout of stages, and they probably won't try a lot on time atack to remember the stage and beat it quickly, because they didn't liked it first time. My point is: Most players are casual and they just can't remember how to avoid most of the stuff and don't make risky moves.

[@SUSha64]

wow, i wrote a bit more that i expected

[@HYPERSPEED609]

Labyrinth zone is still most hardest one.

[@fun_muffin]

would be cool if there was a environmental chase or boss fight but you would have like a fire or electric shield that’s part of it to make it more fun because labyrinth zone with a electric shield looks fun

[@MasterStar_aa]

1:56 You played the Air version, but in the original it was different

[@KiboNoKami8888]

And then there’s Doomsday Zone

[@MarkerMurker]

The threat there only comes from ring count, not your surroundings. Nothing's technically coming after you, so I didn't include it

[@KiboNoKami8888]

@@MarkerMurkerI mean, Sonic’s the one chasing Eggman, so you can technically still count it as a chase

[@alwaysagoat1064]

Ig he right ^

[@catlover9593]

Hill top has an upper route?

[@ferdinandcatacutan7106]

The flying battery sounds like 1-2 from sonic 4 ep 2 3:40

[@lionocyborg6030]

Here’s some more from all games I know have those in chronological order (games I played only): Sonic 4 Episode 1: Mad Gear Zone. I can’t remember if it was act 2 or 3 but that one where you are chased by a huge drill wall is super tense and easy to die to several times. Making it to the next warp tube is a breath of fresh air. Not the most fun level compared to others. Sonic 4 Episode 2: Oil Desert. Very similar idea to above but with sand, similar to Sandopolis and just as annoying. Sonic Mania: Metal Sonic boss (the good version). Instead of Eggman chasing you with a laser, you get chased by a wall of spikes defeat Metal and he crashes into the wall on the final hit. It takes the best of the original CD fight and the Generations version and sets it in the present instead of either future version of the stage. Sonic Adventure: Emerald Coast. After seeing a huge orca dolphin jumping and making waves, it suddenly gets the hots for Sonic and tries to chase him to knock him into the sea for sexy times, as dolphins like to do. It makes for a surprising opening sequence. Icecap. Accidentally triggering an avalanche is a great way to bring back the snowboarding from older games but in 3D. Both the original music and the Sonic 3 Icecap music mod are great here, especially as the latter uses the original Hard Times. Lost World. A flaming boulder at one point in act 2 is rather short but tense. Sonic Adventure 2: City Escape. That giant army truck GUN use at the end is a massive “what the fuck?” moment as it comes out of nowhere with no warning. Cosmic Wall. While riding a jet coaster, Eggman is suddenly chased by a giant drill he has to try and destroy or at least slow down before he reaches the end. Final Rush. That flaming debris segment at the end. Cool sequence but what the hell is happening there? Shadow/Sonic boss 2. This is the best example of the Metal Sonic boss in 3D crossed with the final phase of Kyodai Eggman Robo in Sonic 3 as seen in the video: the passageway behind Sonic & Shadow is slowly breaking apart and you must attack the other hedgehog by homing attacking or spin dashing into them as you run along. If they get left behind or fall off the passageway, they use chaos control to get ahead of you. Eventually, they catch on to spin dashes and jump out of the way if you try, same with homing attacks. You can either wait for them to teleport into a line of rings and light dash through them to damage them like in Star Wars or you can slow down and bait them into using their 2nd multiplayer special attack once they get far enough ahead of you (Chaos Spear for Shadow & Sonic Wind for Sonic) and homing attack them while they're distracted, making sure to dodge their attacks. You only have 5 or 10 minutes to do so though as if you simply keep running for that length of time you either wrap around to the start again or all the platforms ahead of you start breaking too. This is to simulate Eggman firing the Eclipse Cannon and the shockwave destroys the passageway. Sonic Heroes: Ocean Palace. The spiked rolling wheels at the end set the scene for most “Act 2” levels to end this way. Power Plant. The infamous lava tank chase. Super annoying if it’s your first couple of goes and you don’t know how homing attacks work in this game compared to all the others. A lot more fun and just as tense when you do. Lost Jungle. A gigantic alligator out of nowhere which while super tense, does get annoying if you swing back on the vines even once. Sonic Advance: Egg Rocket. The whole stage is a race against time before the rocket stages separate, even if you have the classic 10 minute timer turned off. Sonic Advance 3: The twinkle snow boss. You will be pulling your hair out on this one especially when Eggman stops the chase to bring out that mace. Shadow the Hedgehog: Cryptic Castle. The flaming spider skeleton thing in Eggman’s castle. Easy to avoid once you know how but surprisingly scary in a mostly non scary level. Even Eggman has no idea what the hell it is and didn’t even know the passageway you find it in was there. Lethal Highway, Iron Jungle & Air Fleet. I group those 3 together as this time _you’re_ the one chasing. The first of those even has the flying tank blow up sections of the highway with bombs as you go. Finding and stealing a GUN motorbike lets you keep decent pace with the tank as you blast its shields with SMG fire. More to come as it’s too long to simply edit the comment.

[@lionocyborg6030]

Part 2. New Sonic: Wave Ocean. The horny killer whales return and this time Sonic rides one (by the dorsal fin, not its “underside fin” if it has one) in an attempt to escape. A nice little nostalgic run plus it introduces the improved mission character system from Shadow, where you play as those characters for a short time ala Heroes. This one has Tails close the beach reserve gate so the orca doesn't drag Sonic out to sea. It then gives him a boost to an archipelago on the other side of the inlet triggering the mach speed zone in act 2. White Acropolis. Mirroring the avalanche in the 3D Icecap zone, another one taking the form of a giant snowball hounds Sonic as he snowboards down the titular mountain's slopes to Eggman's base. Crisis City. Iblis himself in the form of a fire whirl (a real but extremely rare extreme weather condition) catches Sonic navigating debris he's carrying in a tunnel of plasma winds behind him on a highway he's burning up during act 3. Once Sonic gets in front in act 4, he chases the hedgehog further down the highway, throwing cars, billboards and obsidian boulders at him. And Iblis is a crack shot. Once you get good enough to either avoid being hit or taking a lot less hits (very hard but 100% possible as i've done it a few times), the chase loses its edge somewhat because Iblis is programmed as part of the map, moving relative to where Sonic does so it's impossible for him to catch Sonic. In the Legacy of Solaris mod, it's even possible albeit hard to turn Sonic around and chase Iblis away again. P-06 and one of the old, one level New Sonic PC prototypes made before it fix this by making Iblis an actual hazard: he strips away Sonic's rings if he gets too close and if he gets any closer he sucks Sonic in for a fiery 1 hit kill. P-06 itself takes this further than the Crisis City prototype by having Iblis appear in fire tornado form in the big lake at the end of act 2, foreshadowing his chase and during the chase, the screen catches fire as Iblis gets close enough to do ring damage, if Sonic is caught, there's a new animation of him being sucked in (the prototype just has Sonic die normally and the tornado leaves the camera behind, dragging Sonic along), he throws a Chao in Space 3 billboard toward the end and right before the goal ring, he hurls an oil tanker in such a way it completely blocks the road. It you don't jump over it as it lands, it stops Sonic dead when he crashes into it, allowing the fire tornado to catch up. Radical Train. Similar to the 3 Shadow levels where you chase a fleeing vehicle but this time you're trying to save it from walls of bombs on the tracks. The Mach Speed zone in act 2 has you chase the now runaway train save Elise. It crashes and burns but Elise is fine. As Shadow, in a nod to his game, you need to destroy the train instead so Eggman doesn't escape. Act 2 has him blow it up using a now armed GUN bike. Kingdom Valley. The whole level is pretty much trying to board the Egg Carrier 3 before Ibis destroys it (trying to save Elise himself but failing epically). Act 4 has us doing the main chase by navigating a canyon of upwards flowing waterfalls the ship launches from including running on the falls themselves twice. P-06 is even more epic as the whole stage's weather gets duller and rainier each act before the canyon chase has a full blown electrical storm complete with lightning. Unfortunately as the next cutscene shows, we're too late, requiring a short hop back in time to before the Egg Carrier 3 launches. End of the World. Black Holes open all over the universe and rip everything apart Langoliers style. We have to get all 7 chaos emeralds before the planet becomes a global, inky black bottomless pit. We don't see this last bit in-game however as it never got implemented and i doubt the time limit TV tropes claims the stage has even exists in the final game, so all we can do is avoid the black holes, many of which close up again behind us and new ones open as we proceed further in each act of the level. i checked in-game myself. P-06 aims to fix it though Chaos X's plan seems to be not to make the black holes destroy the world geometry if left alone too long but simply make the singularities' gravity wells much deeper/stronger if left too long. Sonic Colors: In the Egg Nega Wisp boss, a black hole opens on its death and unlike other chases, you can't outrun it. Only the wisps save you. Sonic Generations: Green Hill as modern Sonic has a giant chopper from Sonic 1 chase us at one point but it's scripted and easy to evade. In Seaside Hill however, that's less so as the same chopper acts as border patrol for the sea if Sonic boosts across it. Sky Sanctuary has the tallest towers collapses as we run for the Death Egg in both acts but unlike Sonic 3's original tower collapse, neither of them are cutscenes. (i thought Sonic 3's wasn't a cutscene either due to how all previous zones ended but i found out later that wasn't the case) Stardust Speedway as the Metal Sonic boss has the highway collapse on its own after Metal does his more explosive form of Black Shield. Interestingly, the giant wheels in Seaside Hill only chase classic Sonic but not modern unlike the original: Modern Sonic merely has to dodge between them as they cross his path from other bridges. Metal's boss in the 3DS version also uses the original geometry of Stardust Speedway act 3 but is set in Casino Night for some ungodly reason. Same with Shadow & Silver who now appear in Radical Highway and Water Palace from Rush respectively. The run down the Jin Mao Tower inspired hotel in Speed Highway now has Sonic pursued by Eggman's cop speeder robots, all of whom crash into the catwalks on the way down and the rest slam into the atrium floor. The GUN truck is back but even badder. It's on Classic Sonic from the start, used for several timed platforming puzzles, the punishment for failure either being death or being forced to take a crummier, more boring lower path. Against Modern Sonic, it's learned from SA2 and against Classic so it pulls out the big guns: a trio of giant buzzsaws and rocket engine afterburners. Shadow's boss is now a big looping area with the original Shadow & SA2 passageways only appearing when you get the powerup cores you race Shadow too. Fun for more variety and i love the SA2 Battle intro reference at the start but unlike almost all other remixes in both the HD & 3DS games, the For True Story remix is a massive downgrade. Iblis in fire whirl form is an interesting case: as Classic, he steals the goal sign, forcing you to navigate the plasma winds and the tornado's main vortex to catch up to it like a cross of Sonic's Act 3 in the original and Shadow's Act 4 also in that game but without the stupid grind rails that ruined the original setpiece (the Glyphic Canyon tornado thing wasn't implemented in the final game and unlike many other stuff, Chaos X never fixed it and seems unwilling to). As modern, the roles are reversed: Iblis stays put in the plaza and throws cars & granite or peridotite boulders at Sonic (instead of the original obsidian) as Sonic chases _him._ Like all the 3DS version bosses, Silver's fight is in the wrong arena, being in Crisis City this time and it involves more telekinetic shenanigans ending with a garbage boulder you need to knock Silver into. Sonic Forces: One of a million Green Hill levels. The Avatar is chased by a giant robot crab and he needs to use his arm mounted grappling hook trip it over like the AT-AT in Star Wars Episode 5 (I know that from Rogue Squadron PC). Metal Sonic has phantom ruby cubes chase you during the boss fight with him and Imperial Tower somehow manages to be worse than vanilla 2006's Iblis chase: you're supposed to be racing a star illusion Infinite conjured to drown the planet (or rather, just all who oppose Eggman) in flame. The idea being to use a Ruby prototype to cancel out the sun illusion before it reaches the surface. However, the sun is nowhere near as close to earth as it appears in the two cutscenes while in actual gameplay and only descends a little bit once you reach a certain point, the only main danger being Eggman chasing you with his Stardust Speedway laser right before the end. This coupled with the fact the level is played in 2D only makes it a huge waste of potential like the entire game itself. And this is coming from someone who actually likes Forces.

[@RayaneHmimsa]

I was there playing on my tablet 😂

[@basiccatplush5247]

when

[@Wmx2011]

cool but could doomsday zone count?

[@MarkerMurker]

I only put in parts where the environment itself is chasing or endangering you, but I do love Doomsday Zone

[@just-xenaa]

Wasn't most of the levels put into sonic mania?

[@MarkerMurker]

Not really, only 8 of the classic levels made it into Mania

[@ItYaBoiGreen]

Playing the Lrz2 boss side scrolling on the genesis just makes my hands tingle so much because of the tiny bit of input lag on the genesis

[@MarkerMurker]

I don't remember input lag on Genesis, but I had one way back when I was 9

[@ItYaBoiGreen]

@@MarkerMurkerwhen you get hit it freaks out for like 6 seconds

[@getbluespheres3k]

sonic 1 never had abilities other than the little roll you can do + only the regular shield, how were you playing these games?

[@MarkerMurker]

Sonic 1 Forever, Sonic 2 Absolute, and Sonic 3 AIR. These features are also in the mobile versions of Sonic 1 and 2, but I don't know if they kept them when making Origins.

[@getbluespheres3k]

@@MarkerMurker ok

[@caramelflann]

The bottom path in HTZ2 stressed me tf out the first time i got to that point

[@darkgamer_2024]

Fangames: fine...... ill do this myself

[@MarkerMurker]

Oddly, I haven't seen any fan games that do this kind of thing

[@riicky83]

First one was not quite Sonic 1 as A, you had no spikes during the chase (been a while since I've played the actual Soni 1 but I don't remember any spikes) and B, obviously no Tails as he wasn't around during Sonic 1.

[@Sharky_the_Shark]

does doomsday zone kinda count as one?

[@MarkerMurker]

Nah, you're the one doing the chasing and there's no real danger to you in the environment, so I left it out.

[@Superelite1024]

Does sky sanctuary count??? Remember the falling platforms the player has to run on?

[@MarkerMurker]

That's more of a cutscene that you can't lose though, right?

[@Superelite1024]

@@MarkerMurker right heh heh 😅 And if we are including sonic superstars, would the enormous robot fish chasing the gang count as well?

[@DekuWolf64]

4:33 A ghost behind Tails?

[@ABattleforDreamIsland]

1:32 what are these mini sonic things

[@BatMane95]

Sonic 3 air has an option that allows you to see the ghosts of other players on the stage if they're playing on it.

[@SpeedKKKKK]

bro forgot sonic mania hydrocity

[@shaleahkbroni4176]

Also stardust speedway

[@MarkerMurker]

That's a boss chasing you, so I feel like it's different

[@shaleahkbroni4176]

Yesn't

[@MiggleTheSmeghog]

I could literally make this thumbnail on Microsoft PowerPoint

[@MarkerMurker]

I used Microsoft Paint 😅

[@MiggleTheSmeghog]

@@MarkerMurker lol 😂😂😂

[@Abadytchannel]

You forgot about Doomsday Zone

[@MarkerMurker]

No, in Doomsday, you're the one doing the chasing. And there's no environmental danger to you.

[@tresmaxwell5304]

#sonicforvere

[@shaleahkbroni4176]

Chemical plant act 2?

[@MarkerMurker]

It's sooo small and completely skippable that I left it out

[@shaleahkbroni4176]

@@MarkerMurker marble is small tho

[@jboy6711]

where's doomsday????

[@MarkerMurker]

That's different, you're the one doing the chasing and there's no environmental danger

[@LouieTheLionsChannel1346]

Hey, you dropped this 📌 , can I have it?

[@Immunity1080]

A lot of these aren't even chase scenes

[@MarkerMurker]

I did specifically say environmental chases. Where the level itself is/has a hazard coming after you for a while that you have to get away from.

[@Immunity1080]

@MarkerMurker and the environment isn't "chasing" in most of them like I said. They're more shifting if anything. Half of them you're waiting with the environment to help you get to the next part

[@RosyGirl763]

Dropping a dislike for no game audio and for skipping the hole at 3:57 💀🤦‍♀

[@MarkerMurker]

Understandable. I thought pure music would make it sound cleaner. Also I didn't see any hole, that's just a little hallway area.

[@RosyGirl763]

@@MarkerMurker watch my streams for the hole 😛