Lost on the Way to Metropolis Trivia Quiz

The Emerald Hill Zone is very similar to the Green Hill Zone on 'Sonic 1', albeit faster, easier and with fewer spike pits to fall into. It is one of the zones available in two-player mode, along with the Casino Night Zone, Mystic Cave Zone and Special Zone; all of the two-player zones have a different theme tune besides the Special Zone (which is not featured in this quiz as it's a bonus stage that can be entered via a star post with fifty rings, rather than a level you have to play through). The boss is the Egg Drillster, a craft with a drill on the front that detaches after the player hits it a few times.

Fun fact: the zone is named after the town of Emerald Hill, near San Francisco. It's also possible to get all seven Chaos Emeralds on this level (assuming you're good enough to get them on your first go!), though you will need to collect a LOT of rings, which involves exploring every little bit of the level. If you do this in the 2013 remaster, you'll get a trophy.

The Chemical Plant Zone, as its name suggests, is set in a factory full of a purple toxic liquid called Mega Mack. It is one of the fastest levels in the game, albeit with quite the difficulty spike from its previous level (especially towards the end of Act 2, when the player has to cross a pool of Mega Mack on a floating platform and climb up some moving steps as the liquid rises). It is also one of the few levels where Sonic or Tails can die even after beating the boss, as the player has to jump over a row of platforms that open and shut, and if they stand on the platform when the yellow side is at the top, they'll fall to their death. The boss, Egg Poison, drops chemical 'sludge bombs' on Sonic or Tails, which has the nasty knock-on effect of making them fall through the platforms on either side if they happen to be open.

Fun fact: Prince fans might notice that the level music bears an uncanny resemblance to a small section of 'Glam Slam'.

The Aquatic Ruin Zone is the game's water zone, with a Roman ruins theme, and the only one that contains the air bubbles Sonic and Tails need to inhale in order to protect them from drowning. Parts of the level are submerged in water; in Act 1, it's possible to complete the stage without getting in the water at all. When the character is underwater, a chime will sound every five seconds, before the terrifying drowning music kicks in and you have five seconds left to find an air bubble in time. The boss is Egg Hammer, a craft with a hammer that whacks a pair of totem poles to make them fire arrows. (The player can use the arrows as climbing aids if they're sufficiently high enough.)

Fun fact: Grounder, one of Dr Robotnik's minions in 'The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog', is based on the Grounder badnik, which has caterpillar tracks for legs and a spiked nose.

The Casino Night Zone is set in an amusement park at night, with plenty of bumpers that can be both a hindrance and a help, and flippers that can be used to bounce Sonic or Tails around the level, including against Dr Robotnik (though you're better off Spin Dashing up the walls and bouncing off them, as using the flippers can be risky). It features a fruit machine game which can be useful for racking up rings; if you're lucky enough to get three jackpots, you get 150 rings (and if you're playing as Sonic and you have all the Chaos Emeralds, you can turn into Super Sonic), while three Sonics give you 50 rings and three Tails give you 25. However, if you get two or three Robotniks, or two jackpots and a Robotnik, you'll lose all your rings. The boss is the Egg Claw, a craft with a claw, which drops small bombs and becomes electrified.

Fun fact: the fruit machine game was later used in one of the bonus rounds in 'Sonic 3 & Knuckles', in combination with the revolving scenery of the 'Sonic 1' Special Stages. Three jackpots give you 100 rings, three Sonics give you 30 rings, three Tails give you 20 rings and three Knuckles give you 25. Bars give you smaller quantities of rings. Unfortunately, you still risk getting two or three Robotniks and losing all your rings, which is NOT helpful when you're coming up to a boss!

The Hill Top Zone is filled with lava and is partially underground, similar to the Marble Zone of the previous game. The player can use gondolas and seesaws to get around, and can also ride on the back of the plesiosaur-like Rexxon badnik after destroying it. In Act 2, the level will flood with lava and Sonic or Tails must get to the top and try to outrun it. The boss is the Egg Scorcher Mark II, which rises from the lava and sets the grass platform Sonic or Tails is standing on on fire.

Fun fact: the Hill Top Zone appears in the racing game 'Sonic Drift 2' as a racecourse, entitled 'Hill Top 1'. It is one of six purple (easy) racecourses.

The spooky Mystic Cave Zone is, in my opinion, when the game starts to get tricky, though it also has my favourite theme tune in the game. As well as the caterpillar-like Crawltons popping out of the bushes, revolving boxes which can squash Sonic or Tails, and Flashers, which can knock your rings off if you hit them while they're glowing, there's also a notorious spike pit on Act 2 with no way out, though it can be avoided by grabbing a vine. There's also a star post right before the post, with no rings in the vicinity, meaning that if you do the Special Stage before the boss, or die fighting the boss after touching the star post, you'll start the boss fight with no rings. The boss is the Egg Driller, a drill machine which drills into the ceiling and makes spikes fall from it.

Fun fact: the 2013 remaster of the game threw players a bone; if you're unlucky enough to fall into the spike pit, it'll teleport you into the Hidden Palace Zone (not to be confused with the level of 'Sonic 3 & Knuckles' where you get to beat Knuckles up before Robotnik robs the Master Emerald!), a secret level with an underwater cave theme. The music for the Hidden Palace Zone is the music used for the two-player Mystic Cave Zone, although Number 10 on the sound test was thought to be the original theme.

The Oil Ocean Zone resembles a chemical plant-cum-oil rig and has a vaguely Middle Eastern-sounding theme. Unlike the Mega Mack, Sonic and Tails cannot swim in the oil and will die if they sink too far in it. It is one of the faster later zones in the game, with oil-covered slides and balloon-like cannons that shoot your character around the zone, though the seahorse-like Aquis and octopus-like have an irritating habit of waiting for you at the top of lifts. The boss is the Eggmarine, a submersible craft which fires lasers; when it sinks into the oil, a snake-like robot will leap at you, and a seahorse-like robot will fire various lasers out of its snout.

Fun fact: in the original Mega Drive/Genesis version, if the player inputted the cheat code for fourteen continues on the Sound Test screen, the Oil Ocean Zone music would play throughout the entire game. Players could also complete the level quickly by spin dashing under the platforms through the oil, though the remaster has a game mechanic in place to prevent this.

Here we are at the Metropolis Zone! While the first seven levels have two acts, the Metropolis Zone has three, all of which are filled with nasty little traps to slow you down. Built like a factory, the level has lakes of molten metal to jump over, screws to climb by running on a nut, conveyor belts to ride on and pistons to dodge. One of the worst parts of this zone is the terrible trio of Badniks: the crab-like Shellcrackers with their extending claws, the star-shaped Asterons that hide in the walls and shoot you, and the praying mantis-like Slicers that throw homing blades at you. These utter pests are often positioned at the top of bouncy walls or screws and won't hesitate to knock you back down. The boss is the Egg Bouncer, a craft surrounded by bubbles; each time you hit it, a bubble breaks off and turns into a clone of Dr Robotnik. When all the bubbles are gone, he will attempt to ram Sonic or Tails.

Fun fact: the zone has three acts because the original single-act zone following it, the unfortunately-named Genocide City, was scrapped due to time constraints and became Act 3 of the Metropolis Zone instead, albeit using the original Genocide City layout. The Egg Bouncer made a reappearance as the second boss in the Sky Sanctuary in 'Sonic 3 & Knuckles', where it was piloted by Mecha Sonic Mark II. The Metropolis Zone is also the last zone to be on the ground - the following three take place in the air - and the last to have more than one act.

The Sky Chase Zone is a single-act zone and a nice little breather after the nightmare of the Metropolis Zone, and before the equally horrible Wing Fortress Zone. Tails pilots his plane, the Tornado, while Sonic rides on the wings, grabs rings and bashes badniks. (Of course, if you're a Tails player, Sonic will be piloting the Tornado instead.) Other than the flying badniks - the bird-like Balkiries, the Turtloids that fire lasers from the bigger turtle robot's mouth, and the Nebulas with their helicopter blades - there are no obstacles and notably, no boss. At the end of the level, the Wing Fortress flies past as a sign of things to come.

Fun fact: the Sky Chase Zone auto-scrolls from left to right and is the only level in the game to do so. It is very hard to die on this zone, as the Tornado will catch Sonic or Tails if they jump, but you can make Sonic or Tails fall off the plane to their death by spin dashing from the far left of the wing (though what are the chances?)

The Wing Fortress Zone, a flying battleship with 'Eggman' (Dr Robotnik's name in Japan) written on the wings, is a single-act zone. The Tornado will be shot down, forcing Sonic or Tails to jump onto the fortress before they go down with the plane. It only has one badnik, the chicken-like Clucker, but the biggest danger is the bottomless pits, including a section of collapsing platforms about halfway through. The boss is the Laser Prison, a laser in the ceiling, between a pair of light columns, with Dr Robotnik standing outside controlling it; the spiked platforms are an obstacle, but can also be used to climb on to hit the laser. After the laser is destroyed, Dr Robotnik retreats in a rocket, but Sonic or Tails is able to chase him in the now repaired Tornado. As the rocket flies into space, Sonic or Tails will grab on and ride the rocket as it docks onto the Death Egg.

Fun fact: there are loads of rings late on in the level when you're at the very top of the battleship, including a set of ring item boxes floating in the air, although these are tricky to reach. These are useful if you're a Sonic player, you have all the Chaos Emeralds and you plan on fighting the boss as Super Sonic. A handy hint: avoid turning into Super Sonic early on if you can help it, especially in the section where Sonic has to hang from bars before jumping onto a set of revolving platforms, as his extreme speed makes him very unwieldy to control and he risks falling to his death.

The Death Egg Zone is the final zone of the game, and the only one without rings. It has two bosses: firstly, Mecha Sonic, a robotic version of Sonic that will either curl up or zoom across the screen and try to ram Sonic or Tails as Dr Robotnik watches through a hatch, and secondly, the Death Egg Robot, a giant mecha version of Dr Robotnik with the man himself piloting it. The mecha will throw its arms at the player character, though they can avoid the arms' range by going to the extreme left or the right of the screen, before flying upwards, locking a target onto the player character and then crashing down onto them. While most bosses are defeated in eight hits, the Death Egg Robot needs twelve hits.

After Dr Robotnik is defeated, the Death Egg will crash, while Sonic will fall through space and be picked up by Tails in the Tornado (or vice versa if you're a Tails player); the Tornado flies triumphantly through the air, accompanied by a flock of birds, before Sonic or Tails jumps towards the screen in celebration. If you're a Sonic player and you have all the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic will turn into Super Sonic.

Fun fact: Mecha Sonic Mark II fights in a similar manner to Mecha Sonic in the Sky Sanctuary in 'Sonic 3 & Knuckles' when you fight him for the third and final time (unless you're Knuckles, in which case he's the final boss and has the Master Emerald powering him up). However, he does not fire quills and moves in a slightly different pattern. As the same game reveals, the Death Egg has crash-landed on the Floating Island, and makes a reappearance in Act 2 of the Lava Reef Zone, when it sets the zone on fire after the magma has cooled.