Hill Top Zone
From Sonic Retro
|
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit) |
| Levels |
| Hill Top Zone |
- For the Sonic Drift 2 level, see Hill Top (Sonic Drift 2).
Hill Top Zone is the fifth Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, featuring extended level blocks such as Star Light Zone's start loops and Green Hill Zone's spin tubes. Graphics for the zone were created by Jina Ishiwatari.[1]
Contents
Quotes
| “ | Cable cars and see-saws on a high mountain. A suspicious rumbling sound can be heard underground. Utilize the rising lava and ground to advance! |
„ |
| — Sonic the Hedgehog 2 JP manual[2] (translation by Vertekins)[3] | ||
| “ | Lava boils from volcanoes and earthquakes shake the ground! Spring for the Rings on teeter-totters and blast through underground tunnels and caverns. | „ |
| — Sonic the Hedgehog 2 US manual[4] | ||
Features
This mountainous stage features lava pits and underground caverns, similar to Marble Zone. However, Hill Top features no sturdy ruins of long-gone civilizations; they would have been ground to dust by the frequent earthquakes which ravage the Zone and fill the chthomic spaces with scorching magma—often while Sonic and Tails are inside. Outside, pine trees rise over a landscape of blue-tinted rocks, with rickety vine chairlifts connecting one peak to another. See-saws and loop-the-loops are scattered throughout the zone; while the latter springs our heroes up the mountainsides, the loops invariably send Sonic and Tails cannonballing into the volcanic caves. The boss at the end is Submarine Eggman.
Geographically, the Zone is located amidst the high peaks of West Side Island. It can actually be seen from Emerald Hill Zone; the vertiginous ridges of Hill Top's background glimpsed on the horizon at the far right of the first stage.
Acts
| Act 1 | |
|---|---|
| Map: 1️⃣
Rings: 146 + 40 | |
| Act 2 | |
| Map: 1️⃣
Rings: 199 + 80 | |
Enemies
History
Development
| “ | The thing that stands out most in this zone is probably the way the whole screen shakes in the areas where the lava is moving. And then the mountain in the background has a slightly polygon-like look to it. We were aiming for a look similar to the kind of thing we had in mind with Sonic 1's Green Hill Zone. | „ |
A slightly modified version of Hill Top Zone's art is also used in Emerald Hill Zone, with different coloration. According to chief artist Yasushi Yamaguchi, this was a leftover from the game's original concept; A time travel adventure spanning across multiple time periods where certain Zones would've shared graphical assets with others in order to establish them as the same location in different times.[1]
Emerald Hill Zone and Hill Top Zone were presumably developed around the same time, as both Zones appear in the Simon Wai prototype where they are both completed, whereas the earlier Nick Arcade prototype has both levels feature objects and playable layouts (even though screen scrolling limits for Hill Top Zone haven't been changed yet).
Other media
Sonic the Comic
In the Sonic the Comic series, Hill Top Zone first appeared in issue #20 where it was depicted as a barren landscape populated by a tribe of native birds who request Sonic and Tails' help. According to Chief Kordon, the Mountain of Destiny was about to erupt, prompting the heroes to go inside and investigate. Inside, the heroes were attacked by a Rexon, and Sonic transformed into Super Sonic under great pressure. Though they found the cause of the eruption, which was Dr. Robotnik's Seismatron, Super Sonic attempted to escape with intentions of taking out Tails, though the fox manages to use reverse psychology to get Super Sonic to run circles around the erupting lava, cooling it and forming a Sonic statue.
The Hill Top Zone would later face other threats, including a swarm of Badniks that invaded from the IceCap Zone via a portal, and a missile fired by D.R.A.T. which Sonic was able to divert using his speed.
Sonic the Hedgehog (News of the World comic)
Localised names
| Language | Localised Name | English Translation |
|---|---|---|
| English | Hill Top Zone | Hill Top Zone |
| Japanese | ヒルトップ[2] | |
| French | Zone du Sommet de la Colline[6] | |
| German | Bergspitzenzone[6] | |
| Spanish | Zona de la Cima de la Colina[6] | |
| Italian | Zona Montecolle[7] | |
| Portuguese | Zona Hill Top[8] | |
| Dutch | Heuvel Top Zone[7] | |
| Swedish | Bergstoppszonen[7] | |
| Finnish | Harjunhuippuvyöhyke[7] | |
| Russian | Зона «Вершина Холма» | |
| Korean | 힐 탑 지역[9] |
Technical information
| Offset | Description |
|---|---|
| 7 | Level Value |
| 2BA2 | HTZ Palette (0B) |
| C7F2, C964 | HTZ layer deformation info |
| 0003FD26 | Dynamic pattern reloading for HTZ |
| 00040038 | HTZ animated pattern load cue |
| 00040372 | EHZ, HTZ misc sprite mappings |
| 00041FFE | HTZ object debug list |
| 00044E50 | EHZ and HTZ primary 16x16 collision index |
| 00044F40 | EHZ and HTZ secondary 16x16 collision index |
| 00046DD4 | HTZ Act 1 level layout |
| 00047044 | HTZ Act 2 level layout |
| 00095C24 | EHZ/HTZ main level patterns |
| 000985A4 | HTZ 16x16 block mappings |
| 00098AB4 | HTZ pattern suppliment to EHZ level patterns |
| 00099D34 | EHZ/HTZ 128x128 block mappings |
| 000E4D74 | HTZ Act 1 ring locations |
| 000E4EAA | HTZ Act 2 ring locations |
| 000E8302 | HTZ Act 1 sprite locations |
| 000E8668 | HTZ Act 2 sprite locations |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://note.com/beep21/n/n98e2ac3214bd
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 File:Sonic2 MD JP manual.pdf, page 34
- ↑ File:Sonic2 MD US manual.pdf, page 16
- ↑ File:SonicJamOfficialGuide Book JP.pdf, page 45
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 File:Sonic2 MD EU manual.pdf, page 36
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 File:Sonic2 MD EU manual.pdf, page 37
- ↑ File:Sonic2 MD PT manual.pdf, page 19
- ↑ File:SonicClassics MD KR manual.pdf, page 27
| Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (16-bit) | |
|---|---|
|
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