Funny thing: DJ Yuzoboy actually made a mash-up of Mystic Cave Zone's music and the Inspector Gadget theme and not gonna lie it works and sounds great!
13:24 I also love the reference to Knuckles Chaotix here! The machine, that Metal's strapped to, looks just like the one from that game's stage select! Plus, the second phase is literally the final boss of Chaotix, just recolored!
Missed opportunity to say this series goes "up and down and all around" Good picks overall. Glad to see Heroes in particular get some love. And some amazing gameplay for that section.
Hang Castle/Mystic Manor have amazing music- hell Sonic Heroes has a slammer soundtrack. I agree that City Escape is the top. Sonic Adventure 2 Battle was my second branch into the series, and GOD DAMN does SA2 hit you in the FACE with Hero Side's opening. It's kind of why I replay SA2, just for that opening.
Personal favourite Sonic level would probably go to Planet Wisp from Colours. The music combined with the mix of beautiful nature and harsh construction makes for an amazing atmosphere.
Saw rooftop run act 1 day from u leashed and city escape from SA2 coming a mile away. The fact rooftop rum was beaten ONLY by City Escape makes me smile. Unleashed is my favourite sonicbgame so to see 1 of the elder stages I like from the other games more than most of the game beat it...yeah I'm OK with this.
I do love City Escape, and it earned its spot in Generations, but I've always preferred Final Rush for Sonic's stages. It's just the spectacle of it all, and it's the fastest you go as Sonic.
Personally Sonic's Crisis City from 06 is my all time favourite Sonic Level, but I can understand why you went with the Generations duo. Nice job with the list!
I'm really excited for that characters list, and now I'm wondering if it will be game characters only, or if anyone is allowed so long as they are in official products like the IDW comics
totally glad that Mystic Cave Zone made the cut, that was my favorite Sonic 2 level. Sonic month is off to a great start, so what next? Egg Bosses? Characters? Cartoon Episodes??
Ooooh Sonic month you say? Im looking forward to this already. Can't say I agree with all of your picks. But I can see your reasoning. Also super mario bros z reference. Love it. Im so glad mark released the episode 2 remake after all these years. I had my worries about the mecha sonic redesign since the original was such a classic for the series. ... Episode 2 showed me mark knows what he's doing and this new mecha sonic is to be F E A R E D! ... Poor Yoshi though. Durable little dino for sure. But he took one heck of a beating. Gave it right back though.
Gotta say, it's great to see Rooftop Run on here. Unleashed was my gateway into the series, but it wasn't until much later after I had matured a bit more as a gamer that I actually made it up to that point. Seriously, by that time, I had already played the Generations version of Rooftop Run... still a great level, personal favorite in the entire series, glad to see it on here! ...Also, how the heck did I forget that I'd also played Sonic Heroes as well? Feels like that's something I shouldn't have forgotten...
13:14 um, ACTUALLY Josh, while Metal Sonic does appear in Super Mario Bros Z, the much more prolific robotic hedgehog replica from that series is Mecha Sonic, a different robot who serves as one of the final bosses of Sonic 3 & Knuckles 🤓
Assuming the "um actually" here isn't a joke, pretty sure Josh is talking about the current version of SMBZ that's 2 episodes in that Alvin is working on which scrapped the whole mecha sonic thing and its just Metal Sonic/Metalllix now
for Mania i would have picked Studiopolis instead also i want to give a mention to Forces' Capital City (nice lighting, a good showcase of the Wispon abilities & Infinite showing his powers everywhere)
Overall a really great list, Josh! I can agree with most of these picks, especially Mystice Cave due to being my personal favorite zone from Sonic 2. If we ever get a Sonic Mania 2, I’m hoping that get that stage back instead of Chemical Plant (I mean, it’s good but not *that* good.) And some of my other favorite zones include Studiopolis Zone from Sonic Mania, Angel Island Zone from Sonic 3&Knuckles, Tidal Tempest from Sonic CD, Windy Valley from Sonic Adventure, Metal Harbor from Sonic Adventure 2, Radical Train from Sonic ‘06 (specifically Project ‘06 where it’s actually playable), Planet Wisp Act 1 from Sonic Colors, and last but not least, the Generations version of Sky Santuary Zone. Anyways, I’m entirely looking forward to Sonic Month, and can’t wait for more Sonic-related vids from ya in the coming weeks!👌🏽
The mania choice was good, but personally I liked the second act of Press Garden zone. It was already a fun level for me, but that music? Umf.... I fall asleep listening to ten hour compilations of that theme. So peaceful and majestic feeling
Man, Sonic Unleashed is such an underrated game and I think it has so much more to offer than just Rooftop Run. I mean, the overall aesthetic is awesome, the music is probably the best in the entire series, besides Rooftop Run there are also other great stages like Cool Edge, Dragon Road and Skyscraper Scamper and the story is very well written (even though it's the same "big mythical monster terrorizing Earth" thing we've seen in other Sonic games). Also, I really enjoyed night levels for some reason. Sure, they were slow and long, but they also had a nice battle system and interesting vibe. The only bad thing I have to say about this title are QTE-s in some levels and THAT FRICKIN EGGMANLAND! Otherwise, a very solid game that needs more love.
The music and levels for the sonic games were always hit or miss and the ones that hit always live rent free in your head for years and the ones that miss are still good but are not as memorable
First, Kingdom Hearts in 2019, then Villain Songs in 2021, now Sonic in this current year? What’s next, Josh? Pokémon month on behalf of Ari next year? (Cause if we’re doing stuff like this at least once every year, I’d sure like to see Mario month given that I’m a die hard fan of gaming’s ultimate mascot)
City Escape obviously. Fun to play, fast and frenetic, and my personal go to for grinding rings at the Chao World's Black Market (Daddy needs that Omochao theme no matter how annoying he can sound).
Never got into Sonic but I want to see all the classic gaming franchises do well, or better than they have been. Sonic probably got hurt by the polygon ceiling worst than any other, but its good to see good effort made to heal from it. The trick, I feel, is to design the 3D stages like race courses a la F-Zero.
Popcross Studios did a video where he took Sonic characters and reimagined them as characters in a more traditional-ish setting. But it isn't the first time he's used Sonic characters for his videos, he mentions, and shows, a few in the video itself.
So I have two disagreements here, Red Mountain is my favorite SA1 stage due to it's speed and exploration within a great setting and Asteroid Coaster from the DS version of Colors is a great send off to that game with it's difficult and culmination of mechanics. Also Omega better be on that Character list.
Oh my gosh! Josh is doing Sonic Month! I'm Sonic's number one fan so it's a dream! EEP! :) My favorite stage is Ice Cap from Sonic Adventure DX while City Escape is my favorite from SA2. :) No offense to Rooftop Run but too many people mention that stage like Speed Highway gets mentioned a lot too and they are my favorite stages yet my favorite stage is the Holoska stage from Sonic Unleashed I just love snow levels and having fun riding stuff as Sonic! EEP! :)
So, I'll be the apologist for Sonic Forces and put forward Capitol City. You want frantic and challenging? How about launching a desperate assault on Eggman's base of operations with Infinite messing with the level as it goes on? Gravity becomes twisted at various points, meaning you're upside-down or running on the sides of buildings. Giant creatures destroy the path as you go forward, forcing you to change course. Laser cannons are absolutely everywhere and *will* wreck you if you're not careful. This is all reflected in the level theme, itself frantic, as if it's trying to keep you calm in this situation while trying to calm itself.
Unpopular opinion relating to Unleashed: Eggmanland Night (PS2/Wii), Chun-Nan Night (PS2/Wii) and Holoska (PS2/Wii) as a whole are really fun to play. you can argue with me, but I will hold this opinion as a proud PS2 Unleashed player
Rooftop Run was good. But to me, I would have went with Jungle Joyride. Man that stage was run when you started speedrunning it. In fact, I liked ALL the daytime acts for Jungle Joyride, DLC included. I can't say that about any other section of unleashed. And this is coming from a guy that actually liked the werehog on top of the day stages. Also.... YOU RUN ON WATER AND ACROSS A WATERFALL, WHY HAD SONIC NEVER BEEN ABLE TO RUN ACROSS A WATERFALL BEFORE?!
Maybe it's just me growing up with the PS2 so my first major exposure to sonic was Heroes and Shadow...but I love Final Haunt. A lot of Shadow's levels felt too gun heavy, too slow, too many bottomless pits. Final Haunt doesn't have that, it's wide and open giving you space to shoot or to blast through, plenty of auto run loops and the 2 missions aren't complete BS like some levels. Either hit 4 switches or get to the goal ring without hitting any switches. It helps that you have the best 2 of the game's 3 final bosses as your end fight, Either Diablon or Black Doom.
Good list, my list would be: 10 Rooftop Run (Sonic Unleashed) 9 Lava Reef Zone (Sonic Mania) 8 City Escape (Sonic Adventure 2) 7 Green Grove Zone (Sonic 3D Blast) 6 Crisis City (Sonic Generations) 5 Hill Top Zone (Sonic 2) 4 Angel Island Zone (Sonic 3 & Knuckles) 3 Metallic Madness Zone (Sonic Mania) 2 Planet Wisp (Sonic Colours) 1 Chemical Plant Zone (Sonic 2) Honourable Mentions: Stardust Speedway Zone (Sonic CD) Mystic Mansion (Sonic Heroes) Sky Sanctuary (Sonic Generations) Star Light Zone (Sonic 1) Starlight Carnival (Sonic Colours) Mystic Cave Zone (Sonic 2) Pumpkin Hill (Sonic Adventure 2)
Not going to lie I had a bad time with sonic unleashed because the version I used to own was the Wii and it wasn’t good in my opinion but years later I now appreciate it the Xbox 360 version
I HEAVILY have to disagree with #8. I was never a fan of Hang Castle and Mistic Manor. If anything, I put Grand Metropolis or Rail Canyon for that entry
Cannon’s Core and City Escape are my favorite levels. Cannon’s Core combines great music with a unique concepts that works really well, especially since you have 1 objective with the Treasure Hunting characters instead of 3. We all know why City Escape is great. Great music, amazing pacing and some of the best set pieces in Sonic history in the truck chase and the snowboarding section.
Choosing a personal favorite sonic level is debatable to me. The sonic franchise has a lot of good iconic levels throughout the series even in the most infamous ones from the critics and fans. Still as always I will appreciate and look forward to the list and the other sonic countdowns. Wouldn't be surprised if Games and bosses get their lists this month.
If I was to go with a Heroes rep, I would have gone with Egg Fleet, the entire level is a great set up for the final act of the main game, kickass soundtrack, and a great showcase of all three members with different sections for each.
Oh yeah that one is great. I'm glad at least the 3DS version of Generations repped that set of levels by bringing back Egg Emperor as a boss fight. Still weird how that version only had 2 actual stages per post-Classic era. Would have been fun to see a Heroes stage in Rush style layouts.
As someone who did a Best and Worst Levels list for my own Year of Sonic, I did enjoy this video. Here are my thoughts on your picks. #10 Didn't expect a Rush representative. Honestly, Rush was one of the games I didn't cover because I simply thought the levels were just fine. Respect your opinion though. #9 I personally chose Starlight Zone as the best level in Sonic 1, but Green Hill Zone is still understandable. Except for the part where you slanderized the music. That was offensive. #8 HARD DISAGREE. In fact, this was my pick for the WORST level in Heroes. It's too long as Team Sonic, too hard as Team Dark, and Team Chaotix's torch mission is COMPLETE BS. Egg Crisis is my personal favorite in Heroes. #7 Unexpected choice. I thought Casino Night Zone or Chemical Plant Zone would be the Sonic 2 representative, but I can respect your opinion. #6 Understandable choice, but I personally like Twinkle Park more. #5 YES!!! This is my favorite level in all of Sonic! I'm so happy it was the Colors representative! #4 I agree. This was my pick for the best level Mania too. #3 Agreed. Best level in Gens, but don't you bash the OG Crisis City. That's the best level in that game too. Side note: I agree with the editor. Planet Wisp in Gens isn't very good. The music for Classic's level especially sucks. #2 Yet again, I agree. Best level in Unleashed. I also talked briefly about the Night version since I thought that version deserved a mention. #1 Not my choice for best level in Sonic, but it is my choice for best level in Sonic Adventure 2.
Glad to see someone else brings up the Team Chaotix experience for Mystic Mansion. And if you think the main mission is hard, just try to do the extra mission where you must extinguish the even harder to find blue torches. And yeah, the Team Sonic version of the level has pacing problems with the trolley segment and the three altars with clunky mechanics (especially for the Speed section).
For me, starlight carnival is my least favorite zone in Sonic Colors (excluding game land/terminal velocity), the visuals are immaculate, the spectacle is unmatched and when it’s good, it’s some of the best level design in any Sonic Game. Only problem is that there is too much automation in act 1, despite it being excellent otherwise, act 2 has some of the worst flow in the game, act 3 has a terrible spring gimmick, act 4 and act 6 are decent , BUT act 5 truly shines for having excellent flow and a great open 3D section with the Hover wisp at the end. Hope I don’t sound too mean, that’s just my personal opinion for my favorite Sonic Game along with Unleashed. Mystic Mansion I enjoyed a lot as team sonic but it does wear out it’s welcome and the final section is a pain. Egg fleet is the definitive best level in heroes for having great use of its theme, the spectacle is excellent, and it doesn’t feel padded out with stupid switch puzzles or janky mechanics, along with being a huge level with many routes to take, heroes is at its peak in egg fleet. Mystic cave was a weird choice. Overall I felt it was just meh (if not bad), my choice would’ve definitely been chemical plant. Seaside hill would’ve been my go to choice for Sonic Generations. Classic is good but modern is just incredible with its open ended level design. Aquarium Park is easily my favorite zone is sonic colors. The theme and music are fantastic. The water portions are actually really good due to the drill wisp. Laser and hover are used very well in act 1, act 4, and act 6. Not only that, even if you ignore the water sections, the level is still really big when on the surface, featuring many activities to take part in with the wisps and alternate routes. Act 2, 3 and 5 are alright but act 1, act 4 and ESPECIALLY act 6 are so incredibly good that they feel like the peak of colors to me. City escape is great and all but final rush would be my pick for having the best use of grinding rails in any sonic game. Just really open, tough, and the fast paced rush of the stage makes it the most memorable stage in SA2 for me. Rooftop run i totally agree with. Best stage in any sonic game, at least in my opinion.
Glad I saw most of it during the premiere, I had to finish the last two later. Great list! The only one that I am completely certain I disagree with being on the list is stardust speedway in Sonic mania because the boss battle against Metal Sonic there really ruins that zone for me. I really hate that boss battle especially when Metal Sonic goes Giant.
Sonic Month! So excited for this! I love Sonic city levels so Rooftop Run, Skyscraper Scamper, City Escape and Speed Highway are personal favorites of mine.
Awesome first countdown. Looking forward for the rest of this month! I never thought you would put 3 first levels, but, to be honest, the first level does exactly what is supposed to do: giving us the thrill and excitement for the rest of our adventure. Not to mention the soundtrack that accompanies us is magnificent, but Sonic has always been known to have great music (hope to see a countdown on that this month). If I had to give an Honorable Mention, I would put these 2 levels: - Evil Foundry / Night Palace (Sonic and the Secret Rings), for their awesome soundtrack and ambience; also "Who's Gonna Rock the Place" always had a place in my heart - Egg Fleet (Sonic Heroes): traversing a huge armada, at the edge of space, with great soundtrack, avoiding everything Eggman can throw at us is, in one word, OUTSTANDING? What are your Honorable Mentions?
I love every level of Unleashed day and night, Shamar and Eggmanland are the only exceptions to that rule. But other than that the entire world adventure was a blast.
Speed Highway is so good I’m convinced SA2’s speed stages were built around its faster pace compared to the rest of SA1’s stages. As for Generations, I’m a sucker for its take on the stage, but putting Speed Highway twice would’ve been weird, too. Still, I like how it updated what was already the best SA1 stage. Now it’s a similar experience without the jank
Not water levels. SA2B definitely the sonic and shadow areas are a ton of fun. Honestly I really liked the sonic colors areas like the sweets place as the powers are a lot of fun to use
I get it for most Sonic games (Labrinyth, Aquatic Ruin, and Tidal Tempest were a slog) but something about Hydrocity...at least in Mania, I'll have to wait a few months to play the original. But yeah, that was pretty fun! Sure you're sluggish in water at first, but it makes a good challenge. I mean it had to considering how many zones it jumped compared to its placement in S3K. And the speed you reach outside the water is just...hoh. The bosses were really fun too! A bit tough for Act 2, but really good when I got the hang of it
I gotta say seeing the more latest countdown videos I love the new effects for the name reveal of the choices. Feels very clean and aesthetically pleasing
Mystic Mansion is the only stage in Sonic Heroes, and I believe one of the first times for Sonic as a whole, where the stage's song changes based on what part of the level you're in. This is sort of the dynamic bgm showcased in titles like Banjo-Kazooie and DK64, but much more simplified as it's on a loop timer. Blast through a section before the loop started in the previous section ends, and you skip it. And even though each loop is 15 seconds long, that's more than enough time in some sections to completely bypass them. This is Sonic, after all.
One bit I love about that world in general is the environment design. Whether it's climbing around the roofs & balconies of Hang Castle or the fun as hell mindfuckery of Mystic Mansion, they just had fun with the theme. Hang Castle having that Eggman statue that turns into Neo Metal when you hit the flipping switch as some background foreshadowing is a nice touch too.
So good to see all those amazing iconic levels! And of course City Escape was number 1, and good reason too! Personally I remember blasting through that stage on my friend's GameCube repeatedly (they didn't have a memory card so we just played City Escape all the time) and I absolutely loved it!
I know Josh isn't a big fan of black knight, but imo it has one of the most underrated levels in the series. CAMELOT CASTLE. Picture this, you just "beat" king arthur, and you feel ready to take on anything. But then you arrive in Camelot to find a blacksmith, and suddenly your rushing through packed streets, battling on stone bridges, slicing through artillery weapons, and tearing down walls with a ballista. And it isn't even that long, only about 3 minutes, but all of the extra side missions give it more than enough content. If misty lake was an intro to the game's controls, then Camelot is an intro to the game's aesthetics. It just sucks that the game has some really poor controls (not nearly as bad as Secret Rings, but still not desirable). But one thing that isn't poor, is the music. Which i will say, is one of the best modern sonic tracks, and maybe one of the best in the series. The entire soundtrack of the game is underrated in my opinion. I sincerely believe that if Black Knight had better controls, and wasn't exclusive to the Wii, people would regard as one of the best of the modern era. I will defend it until the day I die.
What was it? The only time I encountered a glitch in Generations was when I (intentionally) took a certain path in classic Seaside Hill to avoid loading the terrain for the middle portion of the stage (the collision was still there, though)
I’ve been a fan of the Sonic Series since I was 11(late 2003) and seeing you do a Sonic month is icing on the cake! Here’s my favorite Sonic levels(1 per game): 10:Music Plant(Sonic Advance 2) 9:Cosmic Fall(Shadow the Hedgehog) 8:Emerald Coast(Sonic Adventure) 7:Blizzard Island(Sonic Rush Adventure) 6:Crisis City(Sonic Generations) 5:Radical Highway(Sonic Adventure) 4:Studiopolis(Sonic Mania) 3:Aquarium Park(Sonic Colors) 2:Chemical Plant(Sonic 2) 1:Final Fortress(Sonic Heroes)
Finally we're Home and Fiery Joker or Josh Talks to a Fantastic Franchise He was Avoiding in Years,Sure some of my Favorites Speedway Run,City Escape,Crisis City(I love both 06 and Generations and 06 is still a Good Game with Flaws so let's move on to the Hate and accept that it's a Good Game),and Rooftop Run,the other Ones are Really Good,Next Week we get to Talk about the Character and even though I understand why not make a Long List on that Topic,instead of 10,Why Not 20?Both we have to Accept It.
My statements of this list's entrys: #10 Damn, I should play Rush games since I have them #9 It is the classic for a reason but SEGA's been milking it WAAAAAAY too much. Give Emerald Hill Zone the spotlight for a change. Still, OG Green Hill Zone deserves it's recognition #8 Picking up the best level from Heroes is HAAAAAARD but picking a least favourite is VERY easy. ... Well, OK, I too think Mystic Mansion is the best level in the game, but it was really hard for me to decide that. #7 OK this one surprised me. Sure, I don't exactly hate this level but I think Oil Ocean Zone and Chemical Plant Zone are better levels in this game. Those inescapable spike pits ruins Mystic Cave Zone for me. #6 I actually got my driver's licence because of this level's Generations version. I'm not joking. So of course I have a special place for Speed Highway in my favourite Sonic levels listing as well. #5 Honestly people tend to say Tropical Resort as the best Colours level and for a good reason. But I agree, Starlight Carnival is the best level in Colours in my opinion too. Glad they brought that level for All-Stars Racing Transformed. #4 Finally someone else thinks Sonic CD sucks. And I also agree Mania improved on CD's best zone big time. I also like how Mr. Super Mario Bros. Z battle also makes callbacks to Knuckles' Chaotix. If SEGA ever gives Metal Sonic the ability to talk again, they better make it official and cast Andrew Chandler as his voice. #3 I can openly admit Sonic 06 has it's good moments, but yeah, Generations improved on Crisis City big time. #2 I wouldn't say this level as THAT good BUT it is the best in the game and one of the best ones in the series. And rightfully so has SEGA brought this level back so many times. #1 Again, not THAT good but is among the best levels in the series. Definetelly one of the most unique levels in the series.
