How do you pronounce Hydrocity?

I love Sonic the Hedgehog 3 but in the last few years I found something about the game that blew my mind. There are legions of Sonic fans out there that pronounce the second zone 'Hydrocity'. You know the zone I'm talking about, the one that feels like an underwater city? I've always pronounced it 'Hydro City' but, in reality, the zone name has no space between 'Hydro' and 'City', leading many to pronounce it like 'HydroSSity'. In this video I want to try to bring the debate to a close and try to lay out the evidence pointing us to the correct pronunciation.
Chapters :-
00:01 The Origin of the Mystery
02:08 The search for answers
04:44 My Evidence
10:34 Closing Statements
Old video title was 'Sonic Mysteries - Hydrocity or Hydro City?' inspired by @TheRealJims 's 'Simpsons Mysteries' videos. Check out his channel, his Simpsons' stuff is excellent.
Music used in this video :-
- "Hydrocity Zone Act 1" from Sonic the Hedgehog 3
- "Hydrocity Zone Act 2" from Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Find me on Twitter: / thejohnnyvector

[@JohnnyVector]

Hey folks, I've heard your feedback and I will concede that the whole 'Superman' point was pretty dumb. My bad! Thanks again for watching.

[@anwyl42]

The only problem with the superman point is that you didn't use eggman.

[@JohnnyVector]

@@anwyl42 I'll attribute that to me being a Robotnik kinda guy

[@walkerphillips2818]

Nah it wasn’t dumb.

[@dangerdantheone]

Well, I've always called it Hydro City, but Megamind done the same thing with "Metro City" and "Metrocity": ...making the two words one even if it's not supposed to be, so I am not surprised if any of this is happening...lol But, Sonic Origins...may be the answer...to our questions?

[@Scroteydada]

The Hydrocity pun applies to the Spanish translation you had on the screen

[@TRUECEOofGaming]

They put "Cope" in Spring Yard Zone, as a forshadowing for Labrynth Zone

[@JohnnyVector]

Very clever of them

[@matty6598]

It was actually used for the spinning spike thing in the prototype but they just kept it there

[@charmyzard]

It makes total sense. Even if Labyrinth Zone was planned to be Second and Spring Yard last, I choose to believe.

[@SubroOrbus]

Labrynth? Labyrinth*

[@gogito2379]

@@SubroOrbusLabrinth? Labrenth.

[@Andrew_TS]

I'm convinced that the running gag from Megamind where MM calls Metro City "Met-ross-it-y" is due to a geeky writer who knows Sonic and Final Fight. I'm for Hydrocity myself.

[@itsprodigit]

i've always made that callback to megamind whenever someone has an argument over the pronunciation

[@chocov1233]

Best headcanon.

[@SonicKirbo]

he part of the hit a rock itty gang

[@WolforNuva]

That honestly sounds more like an argument in favor of "Hydro City" - since Megamind often mispronounces words as a character flaw.

[@IxodesPersulcatus]

Megamind probably got it from the criminals who pronounce it like that because it sounds like "atrocity"

[@thevenomspino]

To quote a friend of ours "I just called it the water level from Sonic 3". Honestly we think the reason why it was spelled Hydrocity without the space in Mania was to keep it close to the original stage instead of putting a leg in the debate.

[@G.reviewz]

Well mania is basically a celebration of the classics so keeping to the original design and title card layouts makes sense. Or sega just dont care take your pick. /\ Thats mine.

[@blockytheblock1]

@@G.reviewz it wasn't just sega working on mania though

[@G.reviewz]

@@blockytheblock1 i know but sega probably still aint gonna give a shit these days.

[@win_ini]

or... Labyrinth Zone Aquatic Ruin Zone

[@Purple_Sloth]

I agree. Mania has a ton of little Easter eggs that those super fans get. Keeping it as Hydrocity would keep the debate going, as opposed to “oh it’s just hydro city now”

[@kingacastus8915]

I like how Tails, who has an IQ of 300, calls it "Hydrocity". Kind of like how Megamind calls it's own city "Metrocity". I guess brilliant minds think alike!

[@obd9660]

But it IS spelt "Hydrocity."

[@WolforNuva]

Comparing it to Megamind is amusing but doesn't do that pronunciation any favors since Megamind did clearly pronounce words wrong all the time.

[@Plasmariel]

Ppl gotta start realize Tails never had an I.Q. of 300. Eggman has, not Tails.

[@obd9660]

@@Plasmariel where's your proof of that statement?

[@Plasmariel]

@@obd9660 the fact that, exactly, Tails has never been stated to have an I.Q. of 300. That's literally one of Eggman's main traits, to be the smartest. Tails' I.Q. hasn't been revealed

[@Hank_A_S]

Honestly i’ve always pronounced it high-drow-sit-e, never knew people argued over it

[@roxywp15]

Yeah same here

[@the_flipside_world]

I never knew people debated about this until I saw BilleBawb say "Hydrocity"

[@UrixMusic]

High-drow? Like eyebrow?

[@Hank_A_S]

@@UrixMusic no

[@UrixMusic]

@@Hank_A_S so it's more like high-droh

[@springyard]

I think the Japanese Katakana is actually cut and dry because the pronunciation is baked into how it is written. The accent in Japanese is on the first sound of the word. "Hydro City" style pronunciation would be written ハイドロシティ (as it is in the official documents). "Hydrocity" combined pronunciation would be written as ハイドロッシティ. Paste it into Google Translate to hear it pronounced. Mostly likely it's title card error that a native Japanese speaker might have missed as spaces are not important in Japanese sentences. Like the "cope" in Sonic 1. It could be programmer was thinking "対処" (taisho) which might have been used to say "keep your head above water" or "you can do it", but grabbed a dictionary and used the literal translation. I lived and worked in Japan for 10 years and I've seen this a lot.

[@CymruCreator]

If you want to lean on katakana to support the pronunciation, you should be calling it hydoroshitty.

[@algotkristoffersson15]

In English it would also be written as two words if it was pronounced that way,

[@astropgn]

Brazilian here: The PT-BR name that came in the manual is "HIDROCIDADE". "Cidade" means city, but it is also the end of velocity ("veloCIDADE"). It is ambiguous because both (hydroCITY and HYDROcity) could be spelled the same way. Well, I tried to add something, but I didn't add anything apparently lol

[@keven8671]

as a brazillian as well, tu acha q o brasil vai chegar as semi da copa?

[@LucasTF]

@Gustavo Cokkie eu torço

[@umbrellaeyethingguy4665]

No mínimo eu acho que isso é prova de que eles sabem do trocadilho e tentam preservá-lo, independentemente do sentido original

[@astropgn]

@@keven8671 Oitavas I guarantee. Semi? Sei não...

[@chgjake2230]

maybe it's both hydrocity and hydro-city. Maybe it's both a pun on velocity, and an underwater city.

[@Granditamias]

I’ve always pronounced it “Hydro-City”. Because the second half of the names of most zones in the Genesis games referred to the location, like Green HILL, Spring YARD, Chemical PLANT, Oil OCEAN, Marble GARDEN, Launch BASE, etcetera.

[@BenSchappacher]

I used to pronounce it hydro city but then I heard hydrocity on a KZbin video, and over time now that’s what I say. To be fair there’s also Marble, Labyrinth, Metropolis, Sandopolis, and Studiopolis in just the classic games.

[@Acceleracers7]

So then IceCap must take place on a visored hat?

[@gneu1527]

@@Acceleracers7 y e s

[@qaaris4280]

@@Acceleracers7 Have you never heard the phrase "snow capped mountains"?

[@oisin2696]

@@BenSchappacher I'd argue marble labyrinth and metropolis are removing the first word (Green, Spring, Chemical etc.) And Studiopolis is from mania so I wouldn't count it towards the classics, but sandopolis is an outlier that I agree on.

[@FoxerTails]

For the third point, I could see the possibility of there being individual icons for each zone. However, each zone is located on Angel Island. The icon could just symbolize that the zone is located on Angel Island as if the palm tree is the stable symbol of the island as a whole. In other words, you could see it as being a symbol on a flag for a country.

[@PollyBonanzas]

That’s a good point. I like the idea of there being multiple symbols, but if that was the case, it doesn’t add to the argument. I thought it was a weird thing to add in the video as if it adds “another” mistake to the level card. If that’s the case, literally all of the other levels except Angel Island Zone have that same mistake. Kinda cancels it out. Plus the statement was made as if the lack of a space in Hydrocity was actually a typo. I find that kinda hard to believe. Even if it is pronounced as Hydro City.

[@ethanhobbes3476]

You both would LOVE Sonic 3 Complete

[@PUTRiDLegacy]

Just want to say, that the “O” in the Sonic 3&K font always connects itself to the next letter, so that’s why there’s no space in Hydro City on the zone opening card

[@gooseteeth5455]

Huh, so it's probably pronounced Hydro City. Cool! Now time to play my favorite zone in Sonic 3, Hydrocity!

[@triplepinata27]

Yes

[@algotkristoffersson15]

@@triplepinata27well in that case whoever created the title card should have their pay cut.

[@frostgamer9820]

The Sonic Mania Soundtrack (both the digital one and the Japanese exclusive Plus version) list the zone as Hydro City. Same with the Non-Stop Sound Selection Vol .4, where Hydro City Act 1 from Sonic Mania features on the album.

[@L00D__]

Hydrocity still makes sense to me as "velocity" literally means speed, and the stage itself is a surprisingly fast paced water stage with a ton of gimmicks (fans, literal hand dash panels, high pressure waterjets, giant blue roll tubes) that keep you going at a fast pace. The stage design actively keeps your velocity fast while Hydro is there to be the "Water" part of the name. And name puns/wordplay and such often did get lost in translation back then. If the Zone was new in Sonic Mania, the wordplay itself would of probably been better kept in translation (and possibly even explained) The visual aesthetic of the stage _however_ does kind of look like a City being carved out and pieced together with chiseled bricks hand made by the people that were once living there. The theming of an underwater City is there, but isn't nearly focused on enough (Sonic 3 could afford to have a lot of visual theming in it's Zones, just take a look at some of them) But if they were to play into the "City" theming a bit more with ruins of what were once lived in houses and such, I would be on the Hydro City team. But as it stands, I'm on team Hydrocity. If you can respect that, then good for you for being able to take an opinion. But if you cannot handle that and you're about to type a salt filled response, seethe, cope, cry about it, and mald even. :)

[@JohnnyVector]

Fair points. If it is indeed a city, it's pretty bare.

[@somethingusual8576]

it still just sounds like a word meaning the wetness of something to me

[@GaJ42]

Not opinion, it’s literally an incorrect fact

[@luckyworm_9453]

YEAHHH BASED Y'ALL HYDRO CITY PEOPLE BETTER START PRAYING TO THE COPE SIGNS IN SPRING YARD

[@sten2897]

Zoomer detected

[@grinbrothers]

I never even knew there was a debate on the production of this zone's name; then again, until a few years back, I never knew there was a debate on the pronunciation of Ristar. I'm always impressed with how you can stretch out seemingly simple aspects of the Sonic series into full blown, detail rich and entertaining videos!

[@requiemofcolours1894]

Pretty sure Ristar is pronounced Ree - Star Can't imagine it being pronounced R-ai-star

[@dennisinfinity24]

@@secoTheSonicFan Man making a video about pronounciation problem in a video game ...

[@Naean]

@@requiemofcolours1894 For me, it's neither of those! It's always been Rist-ar (Pronounced like wrist.) to me. 😁

[@grinbrothers]

@@requiemofcolours1894 ...I'm pretty sure it is pronounced Rist-Are; like wrist + star. Do people actually try to pronounce it Ree-Star?

[@CSharpDCS]

@@secoTheSonicFan no, thats not true

[@kathy444]

for me i think it's intended to be called Hydro City but i just prefer saying Hydrocity like velocity because it just sounds coolor and rolls off the tongue better

[@remusventanus5341]

This is an arguement I can get behind.

[@gold571]

me

[@Diathan]

@@remusventanus5341 he's on both sides, so he can always be on top.

[@zestyvoyage2188]

@@Diathan i think they already know that

[@jyllianrainbow7371]

I've gone back and forth between saying it like "hi-drawcity" as a kid and "hi-dro-city" later on. The former still sounds cooler to me, but the later makes more sense.

[@bulb9970]

Honestly, I’m a defender for Hydrocity since it’s how I first read the name, it sounds a lot cooler in my head and the level isn’t a city to begin with. But admittedly, the best argument I’ve seen for supporting Hydro City is that the team who considered naming a level “Genocide City” probably wouldn’t be able to think of such a pun.

[@triplepinata27]

Agreed.

[@ManiacX1999]

Which game and level was that supposed to be?

[@bulb9970]

@@ManiacX1999 it was a scrapped level of Sonic 2. It didn’t have anything to do with genocide, the team just wanted that name because it looked cool but didn’t know the meaning of it.

[@BBWahoo]

@@bulb9970 I'm assuming it was "genome" and "paradise" which got lost in translation lol

[@FrankEShaw05]

It clearly is meant to be an ancient city built with tiles that has been flooded and sunk . ”the level isn’t a city to begin with.” What is it meant to be then ,a big underwater shower room??? How else would their be tiles

[@ExValeFor]

I really doubt they even knew the word 'Hydrocity' when naming it. It was likely an error and was kept there because, yeah, it doesn't look like a city per se, so may as well keep it as it reads cool.

[@andyukmonkey]

They knew enough to know hydro is greek for water

[@deruka7820]

For me it's Hydro City, because all the other zones that are ruin focused in the SnK3 lineup are all "theme" and then "location". Hydro City, Marble Garden, Hidden Palace, Sky Sanctuary. Even Sandopolis falls under this because it's a "Sand" themed "Polis", which is latin for city.

[@algotkristoffersson15]

But why on earth is it not spelled that way then? Eggman works because man isn’t a suffix, making it obvious tha it’s a portmanteau but “ocity” is one.

[@FinalLychee]

My counter argument to the "other levels are two words" defense is that in the Sonic 3 beta the other levels were already written as multiple words, meaning if it was indeed an error they had more than enough time to fix it. Also the two word naming convention isn't set in stone as there have been other single word zones in Sonic games. Also Sandopolis Zone proves the devs weren't above using made up words to name levels

[@etherealhatred]

The betas already had completed stages, after all, changing the name is not a priority, how would they knew people would be so annoying about such a minuscule thing that literally has 0 impact on the franchise?

[@pvzmariosonica8fan]

Also, you could make the same debate about the first level of CD, because I don't think "palm tree" is grammatically correct when written as one word

[@odd-eyes6363]

I always called Hydrocity because of both velocity AND atrocity. Because it feels like a watery death trap, given the amount of piranhas, underwater badniks and all that.

[@LARKXHIN]

Same!

[@TechBlade9000]

But think about it this way, the Japanese wouldn't do English puns

[@toekneemart5597]

@@TechBlade9000 sure but is intent that important when the pun is so cool

[@kso86.]

it’s quite a reach… it’s an ancient submerged flooded city.

[@Agent-yw1kj]

@@toekneemart5597 I'm going to call Ice Cap "IceCap" since it's a pun to Icemart. Who the hell cares about what the creators intended? As long as it is cool, right? :)

[@ytwhattup6128]

honestly I've never even known the "Hidrocity" name debate was even a thing until recently, I've always pronounced it Hidrocity but Hidro City does make sense

[@Daniel-wu6pl]

hYdro

[@WolforNuva]

Likewise but in reverse, it was always "hydro city" to me and people I knew; only heard that some people pronounced it as one word a year or two ago.

[@Ganonussyszestygorillagrip]

Are you a 10 year old? You apparently can't spell.

[@ytwhattup6128]

@@Ganonussyszestygorillagrip I misspelled one word chill mf

[@algotkristoffersson15]

It’s not hidro anything at all, the y is pronounced as in fly.

[@Truffle_D_Toad]

I call it "the pretty good water level from sonic 3 but one that I feel overshadows aquatic ruin too much since that level's pretty fun too"

[@zachgamemaster3329]

The only reason that it over shadows Aquatic Ruin is the name debate. Also, I would disagree. Hydro City has more going for it.

[@Truffle_D_Toad]

@@zachgamemaster3329 the water level from sonic 3 IS good, I won't deny that. great music, fun gimmicks, badniks aren't too annoying, and solid level design. it does have a problem where it feels like the level can be a bit samey at points for me, though. I like aquatic ruin because it turns the water into something that can be bypassed completely, but it's not overly punishing if you do go into the water, since the badniks underwater are barely any issue, and there's plenty of air bubbles to go around. of course aquatic ruin does have those persistent arrows and surprise grounders, so it's not flawless either, I just think it's fairly overlooked when it comes to the best of sonic 2.

[@zachgamemaster3329]

@@Truffle_D_Toad that is very fair. I just don't like Aquatic Ruin as much because it seems slow at times and it punishes you if you go fast since you can either run into the water or run into the Grinders that pop out of nowhere. Hydro City can also feel slow (as is the nature of water levels), but once you get out of the water, it gives you a chance to go really fast, with the hands that grab you to wind you up being a good example. I also prefer the look of Hydro City over Aquatic Ruins, but that's more of a personal opinion. In the end, both levels are good in their own ways.

[@ElectrikStatik900]

lmao that would probably be really inconvenient to say everytime you talk about it

[@Leeron005]

It's like a SUPER Labirynth Zone

[@Spookyybuy]

another weird zone name is Gigapolis from Sonic Chaos. In the Master system version it's spelt Gigalopolis, but on the gamegear it's Gigapolis

[@fernandodavid9495]

Gigachad zone

[@colesephhh9546]

Don’t forget how Casinopolis is actually casin-opolis

[@TheOneAndOnLEE.]

I’m SO glad I’m not the only person that has wondered about this! Personally, as a child in the 90s, I pronounced it “high-drossity”, but as I got older I started thinking it was probably pronounced “hydro-city”. It has driven me nuts for years.

[@BasileJodar]

10:09 Technically not in French since "cité" (which means "city" in French) is also used as a suffix in words like "vélocité" (which means "velocity")

[@DJoka10001]

Wow, I really enjoy these videos, man. Seeing things from a different region perspective is pretty interesting as well. Man please i beg of you (or if not you then someone in this Chaotic ass community) make a video or series of Sonic The Hedgehogs geography, cartography and relativity between different zones or how different themed zones that maybe located in the same area may effect the lore. i.e: Carnival Night Zone Circus Park Zone and possibly Twinkle Park or Like what's the East island equivalent to South Island West island and Angel Island?

[@Morhamms357]

9:37 Wait, what? No, how? In Japanese, it is spelled "ハイドロシチィ (Haidoroshitii)". They do not have an "Si" sound, so "Shi" is the next closest thing. Anyway, no one is debating that the last part says "city". The "city" in "Velocity" and "Hydrocity" are pronounced almost exactly the same anyway. However, you could make an argument that "the intended pronunciation would still be Hydrawcity in Japanese, maybe they pronounce it differently!". However, then it would be wrote like "ハイダラシチィ (Haidarashitii)". It's written in Katakana, AND is a new word, they could've made the spelling however they liked. Plus, does no one know that compound words exist? It's a good way to differentiate the two pronunciations, but "Hydrocity" can be spelled as so and have the latin "Hydro City" pronunciation. He also pulls a good argument, it's extremely likely that it's supposed to be the latin word "Hydro", instead of a complex portmanteau of "Velocity", a pun that I never even thought about the possibility. They're Japanese, English is not their main language, the obvious answer is likely the right answer. Another comment pulls a good argument, too. The whole "two word Zone layout" is honestly very minor, there are a lot of compound words in the titlecards. "Metropolis", "Doomsday", "Sandopolis", a lot of levels are compound words. The "two word Zone layout" is not a strict thing. Yes, we don't call it "Metro-polis", but that's because "Polis" is a suffix, NOT a prefix. Prefixes (like "Hydro") are always pronounced the same. However, suffixes are usually pronounced differently depending on the previous word.

[@mrboost4186]

Hydro in hydrology and hydroxide is pronounced differently than in hydrocarbon

[@Morhamms357]

@@mrboost4186 Yeah, the suffix may change the pronunciation. However, it's likely that "Hydro" is a PREfix, doesn't affect the word. "Hydrology" is an interesting case, since it's a prefix and a suffix with no in between, so the suffix instead modified the prefix, giving us "Hydrawlogy" instead of "Hydro-Logy". Carbon is a word, not a suffix, so it does not affect "Hydro" in "Hydrocarbon"

[@novelezra]

Jerry: You know what I never understood? If Tails is Tails; Knuckles is Knuckles. Why is Sonic, Sonic? George: Because that's his name. What would you want him to be? Feety? You know Tails is just a nickname right? His real name is Miles. Jerry: So what's Knuckles real name? **Elaine walks in and sits down** Elaine: What you talking about? Jerry: Talking about what Knuckles real name is, since Knuckles sounds like a nickname Elaine: Oh, I never played those. I was more of a Mario girl myself George: Pfft! Mario, pretends to be a plumber when really he's off trying to sleep with a princess. I could do that too ya; know! Jerry: Well I hope you wash your hands first

[@kyaban5192]

What do you mean we're "puzzled" from the COPE sign in Spring Yard? The defining factor of that sign is due to Sonic's character. Cope, is the meaning of overcoming. Leading that way into Sonic's determination. Sonic is a motivated character. He does whatever he must to get through any obstacle in the countless zones hes gone through. Therefore, cope.

[@algotkristoffersson15]

Yes but there isn’t a sign saying “Perservere” in the middle of Hyrule field is there?

[@mightyfilm]

"Hydrocity" sounds like how Megamind would pronounce it. And if anything, the Japanese title pretty much confirms a long "O" in the character "RO" in HydroCity. There's not really a short "o" sound, and it would probably be a "RA" if it were.

[@dazza2350]

A language that literally doesn't have short o's substituting it for a long o? Seems like a very convincing argument to me

[@win_ini]

@@dazza2350 but... japanese DOES have long O's... and short ones... you write お for a short one and おお or おー for long ones??

[@dazza2350]

@@win_ini no you don't 💀 japanese お is stil long o

[@DuoDynamo]

Ah, yes. Good old High Drossity Zone. Right up there with champs like Marr Bowl Zone.

[@LunaMinuna]

Hydro-city isn’t a city so HA

[@DefinitelyReagan]

I've wanted a video like this for nearly 30 years.

[@spacelem]

I've always called it Hydro City, I didn't even realise there was an alternative until recently. "Hydrocity" is interesting, but I don't think I'm going to start calling it that.

[@algotkristoffersson15]

I would understand you if none of the zones had spaces in their names, but they do, so clearly the lack of one here is intentional rather than because of thecnical limitations. Why would they go out of their way to spell it as one word if that’s not the pronounciation.

[@nebuelle1330]

I found "Hydrossity" so funny when I first heard it that it slowly overtook my pronunciation of the level and now I semi-unironically pronounce it that way because it gives me a headache to try and refer to it any other way

[@alwaysabiggafish3305]

It rolls off the tongue nicely

[@apslup]

I’ve always pronounced it as Hydro City and I’ve found the people who claim Hydrossity is a pun to be stretching a bit. The vast majority of the staff on Sonic 3 were native Japanese speakers, so I find it unlikely that they would come up with a English pun like that.

[@xXKillaBGXx]

Miles Prower is a pun they came up with

[@PollyBonanzas]

As if most of the points in this video weren’t stretching it a lot. Plus that’s a bold assumption to say it’s unlikely Japanese people can’t come up with English puns. Also, the game was developed in California. Even if most of the developers were Japanese, that doesn’t mean they couldn’t have learned some English puns or gotten the idea from an American team member.

[@conradojavier7547]

@@PollyBonanzas Sonic 2, & 3 were Half-Western Made.

[@PollyBonanzas]

@@conradojavier7547 no they weren’t. Sonic 2 was but Sonic 3 and Sonic and Knuckles had mostly just the Japanese half of STI working on them. Only a few American members actually worked on the games.

[@PollyBonanzas]

@@conradojavier7547 unless you’re saying they were half-made in America, which isn’t true also, because they were basically fully made in America to my knowledge.

[@acuman99.9]

Mysteries is a perfect video theme and you're the right person for it. I love this. Keep it up

[@unemptysoul]

I always thought it was a play on atrocity as a kid. Hyd-rocity. Hyd replacing at. Like there was an atrocity that lead to it being underwater. Perhaps I was wrong.

[@unemptysoul]

I also thought connected Hyd with hide. A hidden atrocity. I was a kid and it sounded epic in my head.

[@Terra_]

interesting

[@SonicZuki]

I'm looking forward u doing more sonic mysteries aka debates of the sonic series nice video

[@OhNoBohNo]

Evidence: It sounds rad as one word Source: I MADE IT UP As for something a little more official, if you look at the grey blocking behind the text in the intro banners, the other zones DO split them up into different individual grey blocks, EXCEPT for Hydrocity and Icecap Zone! So, whatever we decide on for Hydrocity would also carry over to Icecap as well, technically! Wild! Edit: In '& Knuckles', Sandopolis is all in one grey background box, and we def don't separate it into Sand Opolis.

[@JohnnyVector]

It does sound pretty rad

[@destroyerkitty9434]

While I know it’s absolutely Hydro City, I still enjoy calling it “Hy-dross-ity”. It makes it sound more unique and dynamic, and making it rhyme with velocity is perfect for Sonic. I can think of plenty of Hydro Cities in fiction, but there’s nothing like Hydrocity. Also I think it’s worth saying we’ve had one word zones before. Marble and Labyrinth.

[@triplepinata27]

Indeed. I agree with that all the way

[@algotkristoffersson15]

Um if it truely is pronounced as two words, why is it not written like that, I mean there is literally no case in English where “ocity” without a space is pronounced in any way differently from at the end of “velocity”

[@Yuti640]

“I’m in total agreement with Ken Penders.” That’s a line that can be taken out of context

[@ThousanWhite]

The best video I didn’t know I needed this week

[@static2488]

one big clue i’ve noticed is the spanish translation. In spanish, “city” is translated to “ciudad” while velocity is translated to “velocidad” i think i rest my case

[@alexcampuzano2001]

Velociudad :D

[@TheUltimateRare]

that doesn't mean the official name is the same as the translators. even teh translators might be unclear on the name of the stage.

[@static2488]

@@TheUltimateRare its hydro city cry about it

[@TheUltimateRare]

@@static2488 i know how you say it. i was just saying the translation teams might have gotten it wrong too.

[@static2488]

@@TheUltimateRare oh bet, sorry about that. 💀💀

[@flickyfkosstitcher8547]

I, and everyone I've known, have always pronounced it Hydro City; but hey, it's not uncommon for us Scots to pronounce things in ways the cause most folk to have no clue what we're saying.

[@XXCaptainXFalconXX]

Reignited my childhood love for sonic, my current favorite KZbinr.

[@manuelmontoya8839]

As far as 1 word zones are concerned, the very rarity of it is part of it's naming convention. In Sonic 1, there's 3; Marble Zone, Labyrinth Zone, and Final Zone. Final Zone doesn't have as much weight given that it's the final boss, but it does qualifies. In Sonic 2, we only got Metropolis Zone. In Sonic 3, we have Hydrocity Zone and for whatever reason, Icecap Zone. In Sonic and Knuckles, we have Sandopolis Zone. The only exception to this is Sonic CD. This particular naming convention is meant to be rare and given that Sonic CD is a major shift in comparison to the rest of the series it make sense that it won't keep that naming convention either. As much as you think this is not normal, these one word titles are a thing and are meant to be rare, because they are consistent with each numbered game (Sonic and Knuckles included). Now whether it's Hydrocity or Hydro-City is simply up to personal preference, and my preference is Hi-draw-sit-e.

[@caden6389]

As a Hydrocity (Hydrausity) defender, it's so much fun to say Hydrausity it really doesn't matter which way is correct

[@EvanJack06]

I've never understood this argument since the word hydro means water so pronouncing it "hide row sit e" seems obvious since hydro is pronounced "hide row" and city is a separate word. Never understood the reasoning behind the "hide ross it e" pronunciation.

[@KennethPlaysOfficial]

Its because the level is about high velocity.

[@algotkristoffersson15]

@@KennethPlaysOfficial no, it’s because it’s the only zone with no space in it’s name. If it was pronounced as two words it would be spelled like that.

[@KennethPlaysOfficial]

@@algotkristoffersson15 also, hide row sit e sounds really stupid and hyro sitee makes more sense

[@Outshinedsg]

"I am in total agreement with Ken Penders" Johnny Vector, 2022

[@megamillion5852]

I always felt that "Hydro City" was the proper name of the location, and "Hydrocity" was just a clever pun denoting the fast-paced nature of the underwater action, but not necessarily meant to be spoken, simply noticed. Still, this interpretation would be more appropriate if the name had a space to begin with. Then again, that may be the case, and the lack of a space was also a mistake!

[@moltengears7483]

This ^

[@win_ini]

>lack of a space was also a mistake if it was a mistake, then some bright spark at sega must not have realised for sonic 3, sonic & knuckles (in which the S3 levels are still seen in the level select) and sonic 3 & knuckles, because in all of the games, the spelling is hydrocity in the level select and, in S3 and S3K, in the level itself (S&K probably doesn't have that data, even though the level select text is still there, the levels can't normally be accessed without hacking/savestates/cheats, but i'd guess it'd also be spelled hydrocity)

[@nothingboie7329]

It could reasonably be both Hydro city: could possibly give lore, as if the stage was a sunken city like the one stage in mario 64, and it is more of a interesting name for story purposes. Hydrocity: is funner to say, and sounds like a play on words for velocity, water velocity, or going through water very fast Hydro city would be a better name if you were trying to give the stage some type of mysterious vibe, or the feeling of lore. Hydrocity is a neat play on words and could tell you exactly what the level entails from the name alone. I prefer Hydro city for this reason I think, it gives it a neat sort of unexplored vibe, but it isn't empty by any means, the music is popping of and pretty catchy while you're going through an awesome area filled to the near brim with water, perhaps life has been here before... perhaps not, if they were, what happened to them, did they all drown? Did they escape and evacuate? Who or what filled it with water? Was it something that the sadistic eggman did??? It gives the stage a whole new vibe.

[@Sampletexto1]

The fact that in the spanish manual is "Hidrociudad" and not "Hidrocidad" (Which conserves the pun) its weird to me

[@itsprodigit]

i'd say that's the fault of games as a whole having subpar localization at the time

[@Rayito_]

That's the point, yeah. The translators thought it was just a city.

[@Vejitatheouji]

I always called it Hydro City. I didn't even know "Hydrocity" was even an option until I watched this video.

[@starblaiz1986]

My friends and I always pronounced it Hydro City, because like you say, it was a city under water, and baring one or two exceptions the zones all follow that two-name formula at least phonetically. I've been pronouncing it that way since the 90's, and it was only recently that I heard a KZbinr pronounce it like velocity and I became aware that there was even a debate about this o= NGL, Hydrocity (velocity) is a pretty cool word, but I'm pretty unconvinced that that was the original intention and still think it was meant to be pronounced Hydro City. The translations you mention towards the end pretty much settle it for me honestly.

[@algotkristoffersson15]

But this on LITERALLY DOESN’T follow tha formula, scince if it did it would have been written as “hydro city” but it isn’t

[@MotivatingMaverick]

I've always viewed it as spelled, Hydrocity, but have always pronounced it as "Hydro City"

[@solame4983]

Hey, Ken Sega here. I created Sonic. Here’s the answer. It is called Hydrocity. Anyone who has called it Hydro City is a liar and a fool.

[@donstarplayz]

The fact that there’s literally a hyphen between “Spider” and “Man” makes that Friends joke dumb

[@haydenhayden]

I feel like the official soundtrack releases would be a good place to look, and Sonic Mania has it listed as “Hydro City”

[@werelwolf]

Wasn't COPE there because in Sonic 2, there are all sorts of computer related terms floating around as signs, like CPU, and COPE was the acronym of one of their graphics routines? This is just googled so it could be wild speculation.

[@qwerty5684]

COPE was in Sonic 1...

[@gianluco]

I always called it Hydro city because it's a city with water

[@Fan_of_Minecraft-UA]

For me always before this video it has more sense to be hydro city, because in my language it has more sense but now i just don't know =^•~•^=

[@wackykirby]

wtf see the city on this?

[@gianluco]

@@wackykirby with a little bit of imagination

[@Fan_of_Minecraft-UA]

@@wackykirby I think I know why for me it is Hydro city. In my language it is гідро місто I don't know but it in english sounds better (for me) as two words P.S in my language it is almost same as one or two words

[@wackykirby]

@@Fan_of_Minecraft-UA ok

[@bchristian85]

Everyone I knew in the '90s said Hydrocity as in velocity so I always thought that was what it was, and never thought much about it until recently discovering that this has been a longgoing debate.

[@Lunarcreeper]

it's clearly hydro city but i always pronounce it like megamind pronounces metrocity does because idk why

[@Crow_Rising]

I think they're both correct. It's unclear whether Hydro City was the original intention or not, there is a slim chance that they were both intended, making it a double pun. Hydro and Velocity combined into one word, but as the name for a literal Hydro City. This would make it Hydrocity the Hydro City. However, even if just Hydro City was the original intention, I feel like since then the flipflopping regarding it is enough to consider whatever you prefer correct. I personally prefer calling it Hydro City.

[@JohnnyVector]

I've re-assessed and I think maybe they're flipflopping just to mess with the fanbase haha

[@Ch.ul512]

Personally I've always called it Hydrocity zone (Hi-draw-city) as i feel that it makes the most sense when taking the BG visuals into account. Honestly, a quick search for Cistern on Google brings up many images which Resemble Hydrocity zone quite well, so perhaps Hydrocity zone is just a ridiculously huge Cistern.

[@Diamond_2403]

I've been calling the zone Hydrocity for so many years now. Calling it Hydro City just feels wierd. And for some reason Hydrocity just sounds better tbh and fits the vibes of the zone way more.

[@pvzmariosonica8fan]

Game Apologist compared this zone to a literal _sewer system,_ and also made jokes relating to the debate with every other word with the "-city" suffix (such as "atrocity" and "tenacity")

[@Irina-lv5bd]

I always said Hydro-City because Sonic zone names seem to be very literal. Carnival Night? It's a Carnival at night. Mushroom Hill? There's a lot of hills and a lot of mushrooms. Chemical Plant? It speaks for itself. Hydrocity? There's a lot of water and the zone looks like an abandoned city. Saying Hydrosciti(?) makes no damn sense when you actually pay attention to the naming conventions that Sonic zones used for the first 3 mainline games. Hell Sonic games still name their zones in a literal manner even after the Genesis era. Rooftop Run? Sonic is mostly running on the rooftops. Final Rush? It's Sonic's final rush to the eclipse canon. Sweet Mountain? It's a mountain mostly made out of sweets.

[@ryanmeade6742]

Nice video and I know this is off topic but thank you for showing me fleetway sonic I'm from the US and thought the Archie days were kinda bad, a bit mellow dramatic for my tastes also I always called it Hydro City since I was 5.

[@greencomet2011]

Just pronounce it like Megamind pronounces "Metro City" "Metro-see-tee" "Hydro-see-tee"

[@montydoesgames]

I was JUST about to comment on here about Megamind

[@alexander2019.]

Will always go for hydrocity because it sounds a lot cooler. Also why wouldn’t we side with tails if he’s canonically a genius

[@themustachioedfish5988]

Because Sonic's the one to actually provide a valid argument for his side. Also Tails isn't ALWAYS right, sometimes even he gets tricked.

[@ShinAkuma2]

He’s a mechanical genius, but that doesn’t make him a linguistic genius. Listen to him trying to translate the wisps in Colors.

[@TheUltimateRare]

i've never seen a single person think it's said as just one word. this video is completely new info to me.

[@Mr_Fard185]

Another mystery idea I have is about the strange platforms in carnival night zone which move up and down when jumping on or off them as I want to know what the strange red things are on the bottom and what their purpose was in the whole theme

[@SpiteAnims]

You seem to know a lot about sonic. Hey, I have a question. In the doomsday zone, why does sonic make such a high pitched sound

[@MashedPopato]

Scream

[@SpiteAnims]

@@MashedPopato he already has a scream sfx though?

[@scrapbrainsinc]

I think I'm sticking with Hydrocity (Hi-drow-cite). A zone so awesome deserves a name better than "Water City".

[@Newbieprod]

but...Hydro City is a better name than "Water City" lol This is also the same series that introduced "Green Hill" as it's first level. Not too innovative when you think about it, especially with the significantly better named "Emerald" Hill in Sonic 2.

[@Hipesque]

I like the argument more than the choices

[@bobbyonkazoo3512]

Before I watch this, the name is hydro city, it’s an underwater city. It reminds me of a colosseum, which are in cities, and compound nouns are a thing, and this is coming from someone who called it hydossity as a kid, it just makes more since

[@SAerror1]

I used to think it was Hydro City but this video has convinced me it's definitely Hydrocity

[@BOABModels]

It's definitely Hydro-city - that would fit the template of level names for Sonic 3 as they are all two parters - Angel Island, Marble Garden etc Even ones from '& Knuckles' with one part names like Doomsday and Sandopolis fit the pattern too as those are made of two words as well. In fact, 'Polis' is Greek for city - it's where we get the words politics, policy and police from. Also, neither Sandopolis or Metropolis Zones are particularly city-esque. I rest my case!

[@ShaimingLong]

If only they went with "Hydropolis," all of this could have been avoided.

[@BOABModels]

@@ShaimingLong haha - if only.

[@RedHatGuyYT]

"i rest my case" my guy this isn't a courtroom or even remotely formal

[@LadCorazon]

I never really thought about it, but I just always thought of it as both 😅 It makes for a clever pun, intentional or otherwise, while also being the name of the place. I never knew there was any kind of debate, but this did make me chuckle! Edit: Are we sure the localization team didn't just see an opportunity for a cute pun? The original intent for it to be Hydro City is obvious, but it seems to me that a translator might think that Hydrocity would be neat as a double meaning, perhaps not meaning to spark a war over it. Although if the Japanese team was entirely responsible, then my thought is possibly moot. (I just like it as both any who)

[@BadBoyBird]

Hydrocity is my favorite sonic zone of all time and in my opinion I think reason for it not being space is because hydro means water and not only does velocity sound like hydrocity but it also means speed so a it would make sense for a level about those 2.

[@walkerphillips2818]

Hydro City: Sounds better, makes sense, doesn’t stretch your trust in grammar. Hydroscity: Sounds dumb, doesn’t make sense, forces you to bend your knowledge of grammar a *whole* lot.

[@darkychao]

I don't think the localization into non-english languages point really stands, puns and stuff are often lost in translation, and in many cases the localizers might not have even recognized something that was intended to be a pun as a pun at all. (see: the "Ralph the Viking" debate for an example of the inverse)

[@emilianotorres7795]

Guys. If the Sonic 1 water level says "Labyrinth Zone," so it must be clear that Sonic 3 water level must be Hydrocity zone. They are bothe water levels.

[@emilianotorres7795]

yea guys

[@Kelohmello]

you called me a heretic and so now i'm doubling down on my pronunciation

[@internetdirigible]

"Hydro" is a prefix not a word which is why there's no space. I think "Hydro-City" makes more sense. I agree it doesn't seem much like a city though, and think hydrocity might fit the stage beter. The purple paralax could be a bit of a city with parthenon style buildings I suppose.

[@marvelfannumber1]

Well, the Hydrocity/Velocity pun would not even work in most other languages, so if it were up to a translator it would obviously make more sense to just translate it literally as Hydro City. So it's still Hydrocity! Why would it be Hydro City? It's obviously not a city! Great video as always by the way, heretical Hydro City propaganda aside of course.

[@Daniel-wu6pl]

thats just an ignorant view why would they decorate it if it wasnt a city. and theres plenty of background location we DONT see, so there could be buildings. its hydro. city. hydrocity. not hyDROSSity

[@marvelfannumber1]

@@Daniel-wu6pl A city is usually an urban area designed for habitation, I don't know about you, but I don't see any proper buildings or streets in Hydrocity Zone. It looks more like a giant cistern or hydraulic network, something to provide an actual city with water, but not a city in and of itself. "Oh, but this is in the Sonic universe and maybe cities don't always look like that" you might say, but no. Because there are plenty of other cities, including ancient ones in the classic games, and they still look like actual cities. Even in Sonic 3 itself you have Marble Garden Zone, which obviously depicts the ruins of an ancient city of some kind, Hydrocity does not look like that. In fact, I believe it's no coincidence Marble Garden is the zone directly succeeding Hydrocity. Marble Garden is probably the ruins of whatever Hydrocity originally provided water for.

[@killmii8473]

@@Daniel-wu6pl This is just someone's opinion on the way to pronounce the name of a fictional location from an old video game calm down.

[@lucassantossj]

@@marvelfannumber1 A city for aquatic beings, maybe.

[@MrBlitzardo21]

Never expected someone to make a 11 minutes video discussing how to pronounce hydrocity, pure effort right there

[@snowbird1381]

I guess it can be whatever we want it to be. Maybe if we got more insight for what this zone was supposed to be used for we’d know. Like maybe there were inhabitants but they left with the echidnas

[@shadow1111111]

So a wrench in the "Studiopolis" pronunciation is that Casinopolis is pronounced "Casino- Opolis" in Heroes. Which is just wrong based on spelling, but it's canon. High-draw-sih-tee sounds better and rolls off the tongue easier than Hydro City

[@Newbieprod]

how does it "roll off the tongue" easier....both pronunciations are literally 4 syllables. Just because you feel it's "easier" to say, doesn't mean that's what SEGA was going for, as multiple other sources from SEGA make it painstakingly clear that it's Hydro City. Not to mention, we pronounce it "Ice Cap" when it's a singular word in the Title card as well.

[@OhNoBohNo]

​@@Newbieprod I was so gonna argue with you that Icecap Zone, is two different words, but you're RIGHT!- if you look at the grey blocking behind the text in the intro banners, the other zones DO split them up into different individual grey blocks, EXCEPT for Hydrocity and Icecap Zone! So, but whatever we decide on Hydrocity would also carry over to Icecap as well, technically! Wild! Edit: In '& Knuckles', Sandopolis is all in one grey background box, and we def don't separate it into Sand Opolis.

[@Newbieprod]

@@OhNoBohNo Sandopolis is like Studiopolis and Metropolis, its suppose to be 1 word

[@V.is.for.Vae.Victus]

Team Hydrocity here. Hydro=water=wet, velocity=speed=fast. It's wet. It's fast. It's fast and wet. Therefore Hydro+velocity=Hydrocity. Previous water levels were all slow until this one.

[@V.is.for.Vae.Victus]

Plus, it's not the first one name zone. Marble Zone, Final Zone, Metropolis Zone. Furthermore, if it is a city name, like Metropolis Zone was, or more recently Studiopolis Zone, then why isn't it Hydropolis Zone? Why city instead of polis?

[@walkerphillips2818]

Aquatic Ruin Zone would like to have a chat with you.

[@V.is.for.Vae.Victus]

@@walkerphillips2818 I know, but the water parts themselves were slowish in Aquatic Ruin, which remains one of my favorite levels actually. Also, you had the option to never get wet in A.R. So there is that.

[@reformedorthodoxmunmanquara]

Thanks for having the right opinion

[@LavaBidoof]

I just put it into a English to Japanese translator, hit the listen button, and it pronounced it, Hydro city. I made sure to not put a space between Hydro and city, I typed it down as Hydrocity, and it pronounced it as hydro city. So that's what I'm going with.

[@wintersummers3085]

In the original game it's Hydrocity. One word. End of story. Everything after it does not matter since they originally and willingly made it one word.

[@bubbykins4864]

Either way, the Mania version should be pronounced differently to the Sonic 3 version because it sure doesn't deserve to be pronounced the same.

[@St.Sparta]

“You mean Hydrocity?” For a pretty smart guy, this is one of the dumbest things Tails has ever said. In all seriousness, I understand that the correct pronunciation and what it was always meant to be is Hydro City. Though, whenever speaking of it, I say Hydrocity just because that’s how I’ve said it since childhood and that’s how it’s shown.

[@Gamerguy4567]

I know Hydro City is the more correct spelling/pronunciation, but Hydrocity just feels better to me. However one point that would add to the small moment in the IDW comic would be that Tails (at least in the Twitter Takeover specials/commentaries) mispronounces names A LOT. It's one of the recurring bits. So it may factor into Tails's habit that he sees it as Hydrocity rather than its proper name.

[@mentalconfines7338]

Debated this long time ago, and I like Hydrocity Zone better than Hydro City Zone because it is more ancient foreign/native sounding.

[@ThatMellon]

I pronounce it the second way (Hi-drossity). Always have done. I’m from the UK; don’t know if that makes a difference. Personally I prefer the sound of it. Childhood bias 100%. You’re not converting me; don’t care if I’m wrong.

[@JohnnyVector]

It does sound cooler

[@TheBitishDragon]

Hydro City is how it is for me, and to take your point about the level not being liveable or city like, you have to take into account that for the most part they are anchient ruins left over from the milennia gone Echidna tribe what we see is crumbling apart even as we play the level most likely in its prime Hyrdo City was just the aquaducts of the city above (either whats left of marble garden or the city itself crumbled and whats left is underground) its also may be that Hydro City still works in a deminished capacity letting it be remembered as a named zone as opposed to Aquatic Ruin Zone where the ruins name is mearly a descripter instead of an actual name.

[@galacticgalaxyonezerone7235]

I did always wonder about the palm tree behind the number in the level cards I didn’t know it was a tree though I didn’t know what to think of it back then I thought it was just part of the design like it’s decoration or something for whatever reason they did that. Thought it was weird but didn’t put much thought into it.

[@baileyyyyyyyyyyyy]

the greatest sonic debate topping the green eye vs black eye debate