Ice Cap Zone - Sonic Metropolis

Information about the Zone

First appearance : Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994)

Game appearances : Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994), Sonic Drift 2 (1995), Sonic Adventure (1998).

Type : Action Stage, Racing Track, Minigame.

Zone description : A huge mountain at the very top of Angel Island, the Ice Cap Zone is one of the coldest places in the world, full of snow, ice and frozen caves. Incredible snow slopes are like made for snowboarding, ice tunnels of astonishing size, cold water of mountain rivers, and deadly falling icicles and ice platforms are what awaits the casual traveler in the Ice Cap Zone. As if the local dangers weren’t enough, Dr. Robotnik has adapted his mechanisms to the cold climate of Ice Cap Zone, creating special robot penguins ideal for fighting on ice and snow, as well as special machines that spew air so cold that it can freeze Sonic.

OSTs used in this Zone

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994) [Act 1]

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles (1994) [Act 2]

Sonic Drift 2 (1995)

Sonic Adventure (1998) [Snowy Mountain]

Sonic Adventure (1998) [Limestone Cave]

Sonic Adventure (1998) [Be Cool, Be Wild and Be Groovy]

Events

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994)

After his defeat, Dr. Robotnik lands on Angel Island, where he finds an energy source even more powerful than the Chaos Emeralds, namely the Master Emerald. However, it was protected by the powerful guardian Knuckles the Echidna. Despite his power, Knuckles is rather gullible, so Robotnik convinces the echidna that Sonic and Tails are trying to steal the Master Emerald, thus turning Knuckles against the heroes. Soon, Sonic and Tails arrive on Angel Island and are immediately attacked by Knuckles, who takes the Chaos Emeralds from the heroes and hides them in Special Stages portals around the island. Sonic and Tails have to search all over Angel Island to find the portals in the form of giant rings while chasing Robotnik and Knuckles along the way.

After defeating Dr. Robotnik at Carnival Night Zone, Sonic and Tails shoot themselves out of a cannon, flying right into the snowy Ice Cap Zone mountain. Descending from the mountain on improvised snowboards, the heroes get into the cold caves of the Ice Cap Zone, (with some pathways causing them to emerge on the snowy surface) and find themselves in battle with the Big Icedus robot as well as Robotnik himself in his new machine – the Egg Froster. After defeating the villain, Sonic and Tails use Spindash to dig a tunnel through the snowy ground, suddenly finding themselves in Dr. Robotnik’s main base, the Launch Base Zone.

After destroying the Launch Base Zone, Sonic and Tails followed Knuckles into one of the portals, but it did not lead to the Special Stage. Instead, it led them to the Master Emerald altar. After placing the Chaos Emeralds around the Master Emerald, Sonic and Tails find the portals to the Special Stages again, where they energize the Emeralds, turning them into Super Emeralds with the power of the Master Emerald. Using the power of the Super Emeralds, Sonic and Tails finally defeat Knuckles and Robotnik.

Sonic & Knuckles (1994)

After the defeat of Dr. Robotnik, however, many of the evil doctor’s robots and machines remained on the island. One robot, called Egg Robo, had enough intelligence to replace Dr. Robotnik and rebuild an army of robots and weapons itself. After dropping bombs on Knuckles, Egg Robo steals the Master Emerald, forcing the echidna to go in pursuit. Like Sonic and Tails, Knuckles also visits the Ice Cap Zone where he also battles Big Icedus and Egg Robo in the Egg Froster machine.

On the way, Knuckles finds seven Chaos Emeralds and absorbs them, activating the form of Super Knuckles. After destroying Launch Base, Knuckles enhances the Chaos Emeralds on the Master Emerald altar, turning them into Super Emeralds. Using their power, Knuckles transforms into his Hyper Knuckles form. Eventually, Knuckles catches up with Egg Robo at Sky Sanctuary, defeats Neo Metal Sonic and retrieves the Master Emerald. After his victory, Knuckles returns Master Emerald to its altar and restores peace to Angel Island.

Sonic Adventure (1998)

The much-grown Sonic faces a new threat: the mighty Chaos monster. Dr. Robotnik frees this monster from Master Emerald by destroying it (which causes the fall of the Angel Island with the Ice Cap on it) with the hope that Chaos will help him build his empire. Chaos can absorb Chaos Emeralds and become stronger, so Sonic teamed up with Tails and after giving Robotnik the nickname Eggman, sets out in search of Emeralds. Ice Cap becomes one of the places Sonic and Tails visit in their search for Emeralds. Also, Big the Cat was looking for his missing friend Froggy here. In the process, the heroes are contacted by a mysterious red spirit, apparently trying to help in the fight against Chaos.

In the end, Chaos manages to absorb all the Chaos Emeralds and becomes Perfect Chaos, flooding all of Station Square. The red spirit that has been with the heroes all along materializes next to Sonic, turning out to be a girl who lived many years ago named Tikal. Tikal was a friend of Chaos, but she saw no other way but to re-seal Chaos into Master Emerald forever. Sonic flatly refuses this option and believes that this approach won’t solve the problem because Chaos’s hatred won’t go anywhere. By using the positive power of the Chaos Emeralds Sonic becomes Super Sonic and defeats Perfect Chaos in battle. The weakened Chaos speaks to Tikal, and she manages to extinguish the pain and rage of the distraught monster. After thanking the heroes, Tikal and Chaos return to Master Emerald and Sonic doesn’t stop on his adventure. Angel Island, on it’s part, returns to the sky again.