- This article is about the stage in Sonic 1. For the Sonic 3 stage, see Marble Garden Zone. For other uses, see Marble Zone (disambiguation).
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Marble Zone (マーブルゾーン[1] Māburu Zōn?) is the second Zone in the original Sonic the Hedgehog and its numerous ports and remasters. Located on South Island, the bulk of the stage is set inside an ancient, underground dungeon with several traps that include lava pools and spikes. Occasional outdoor sections feature open fields and grassy platforms on lava that sink when stepped on, briefly burning them. As with other stages in the game, Marble Zone has three Acts, with the third concluding in a boss fight against Doctor Eggman in the Egg Scorcher.
Description
Marble Zone is an ancient ruin nestled in a mountain landscape. The ground here features grassy areas that grows on top of the local architecture that encompasses most of the ground, which is mostly made of purple bricks. On the surface, the Zone is filled with various blue stone pillars, and Greco-Roman architecture in the form of columns, arches and walls that are mostly colored green. There are also tall, fern-like trees, medium-sized mountains. Further into the background are also tall purple mountains with a deep blue overhead that features wispy cyan clouds. Underground, this Zone is home to a towering underground dungeon made of purple stone bricks. The dungeon is flooded with lava and includes crushing pillars, spike-tipped chandeliers, lattice windows, torches, pillars, and mosaics.
Story
Marble Zone was one of the many regions on South Island affected by Doctor Eggman during his quest for the six Chaos Emeralds. There, the doctor kidnapped the local Animals and used some of them to power his Badniks, while leaving the rest of them in huge Capsules. When Sonic the Hedgehog arrived at the Zone however, he saved the Animals and defeated Eggman in his Egg Mobile.
Gameplay
Marble Zone features several lava pools that damage the player if touched. Some lava pools shoot fireballs upwards that then fall back into the lava before being fired again. The top sections of the Zone are less traversed and feature grassy platforms. Some sections of this terrain move vertically. There are unstable grassy platforms that sink into the lava when stepped on, setting the grass on them on fire. Hidden chambers with Item Boxes can also be found in this Zone, both on the surface and underground, that often serve as shortcuts. The entrances to the dungeons around Marble Zone are sometimes blocked by green bricks that can be broken in chains for extra points.
Various types of crushers appear in the underground sections. These include wide platforms with spikes at the bottom and square weights with no spikes. Both of these obstacles slowly rise to the top by chains, and then dropped downwards, and can be used by the player as platforms. Several sections have cannons that fire projectiles in straight lines. Hidden spikes that occasionally sprout from the floor or wall are also a common element. Other gameplay elements in this Zone are green movable boxes that the player can push into the lava and slowly moves to the other side, creating a stepping stone that allows them to navigate expansive lava pools. In addition, every now and then, lava pools will explode into fiery sprouts that will push the movable box that the playable character is riding upward, thus allowing the player to reach new heights. In other sections though, columns of lava will drop from the ceiling through wide openings. Some lava pools are crossed either by using small brick platforms that fall from the ceiling or with swinging platforms.
Overview
Act 1
Act 1 is slow-paced, with the first part taking place on the top surface of Marble Zone, and the rest of it in the dungeons. The outdoors part is a short, introductory path where the player must use grassy platforms to cross a large lava pool before entering the underground dungeons through a moving platform. A notable section here includes a movable box that the player needs to push into a recess to activate a Switch to advance. After some puzzles, the player will exit the dungeons and end the Act.
Act 2
Act 2 is similar to Act 1, though much longer. A notable section in the dungeon part features flowing lava that will try to catch up to the playable character. Eventually, the player will exit the dungeons, ending the Act.
Act 3
Act 3 features more alternate paths to take, some of which work as shortcuts. A section in this Act also features a hidden room with a single 1-Up Item Box, which the player can use to skip some of the Act's sections (however, the player must be extremely careful when exiting from the right side, as there is a spiked crusher). Once outdoors, the player will fight Doctor Eggman in the Egg Scorcher. After clearing this boss, open the Capsule on the right to end the Act.
In the 2013 re-release, there is a secret pathway that can only be acceded by Tails and Knuckles. To access it, the player must fly or climb through a large wall at the beginning. At the top is a pathway that is shorter than the normal route and features some puzzles that require them to use these characters' abilities.
Boss
The boss of Marble Zone is the Egg Scorcher, an Egg Mobile equipped with a flamethrower piloted by Doctor Eggman. The boss arena consists of two platforms on the side separated by a lava pool in the middle. During the fight, the Egg Scorcher flies between the two edges of the arena, shooting fireballs onto the surface of one of the two platforms in the arena, briefly setting them ablaze. The Egg Scorcher can be damaged when it descends while flying across the center of the arena. Upon landing eight hits, the Egg Scorcher is destroyed.
Other game appearances
Marble Zone has been occasionally homaged in future games. It appears as a race track in Sonic Drift alongside other Sonic 1 stages, in the same order as in its original appearance. A replica of Marble Zone Act 1 can be played in Game Land 2-1 in Sonic Colors, while the Sonic the Hedgehog Level Pack in LEGO Dimensions features a Marble Zone area. Sonic Mania, while not including Marble Zone, includes multiple gimmicks from the stage: the lava sprouts return in Lava Reef Zone, and gashapon models of the Egg Scorcher are fought during the Gachapandora boss fight in Metallic Madness Zone Act 2.
In other media
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
The Marble Zone is also featured in the Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog television series where it appeared in the second episode, "Subterranean Sonic". Despite the location being named Marble Zone, however, it looks completely different than it did in the video game. In this media, the Marble Zone is the home of Spelunk, a cranky mole who mines the underground tunnels for treasure.
Books and comics
Archie Comics
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Marble Zone appeared during the "Genesis" story arc. Here, Sonic, Sally Acorn, Boomer, and Antoine traveled across Marble Zone to try and locate Dr. Eggman after Sonic freed the trio in the Green Hill Zone.
After the events of Worlds Collide, Marble Zone became a permanent part of Sonic's World with a history virtually identical to its game counterpart.
Sonic the Comic
In the Sonic the Comic series published by Fleetway Editions, the Marble Zone appeared in the story "Mayhem in the Marble Zone" in the third issue. In this story, Sally Acorn's brother Tufftee ran off to Marble Zone to be a hero, only to captured by Badniks and eventually rescued by Sonic.
Sonic X
In the Sonic X comic series published by Archie Comics, Marble Zone appears as a virtual simulation based off Sonic 1 that Dr. Eggman traps Sonic and his friends on. During this story, after leaving the virtual Green Hill Zone, Sonic arrived in Marble Zone. Exploring the area, he found and rescued Amy Rose. The two then battled a virtual version of Eggman, and were soon transported to the Spring Yard Zone.
Paramount
In the Sonic the Hedgehog film series produced by Paramount Pictures and its spin-offs, Marble Zone is an alien zone ruled by Rava the Destroyer that was once visited by Tails during his search for Sonic.
Trivia
- An early version of this Zone featured UFOs in the sky, but they were dropped for the final release. They can be activated through Debug Mode of the 2013 re-release.
- Marble Zone also had a hazard which behaved similarly to the dropping crushing hazards, except it shot out horizontally instead of vertically and had three spikes on the end of it. However, it was removed upon the final release.
- At the area where Sonic needs to outrun flowing lava in a hallway, there is a set of spikes located at that area. But the spikes will not crush Sonic against the ceiling after poking out of the floor. Sonic would be pushed to the sides and receive damage but would not show his hit sprite.
- This was fixed in the 2013 re-release; if the spikes crush Sonic, he will instantly lose a life.
- This is the third Zone listed in the original version's level select, likely a remnant of an earlier Zone order.
- Remnants of Marble Zone can be found in the code of Sonic the Hedgehog for the Sega Master System as this Zone was originally supposed to be part of the game but was cut from the final release. One remnant is the track for the 8-bit variation of the Zone's 16-bit theme that still exists in the final game code.
- The first act of this Zone was replicated in Stage 2-1 of Game Land from Sonic Colors.
Music
| Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music track |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marble Zone | Masato Nakamura | 2:07 |
Videos
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sonic the Hedgehog (Sega Mega Drive) Japanese instruction booklet, pg. 30.