Back at the beginning of Sonic and Tails's Mirage Saloon Act 1, did you notice Heavy Magician knocking Knuckles off the Tornado plane? Well, this stage is where he wound up after falling. Apparently landed without sustaining any injury, Knuckles then gets up and gets going, and his verson of Mirage Saloon Act 1 begins.

For Knuckles, this means traveling through a canyon's winding roads so he can eventually meet up with Sonic and Tails later on. Like any well-designed Sonic stage, Knuckles's version of Mirage Saloon Act 1 is full of both gimmicks common to the Zone and gimmicks no found in any other stage.

Giant Gold Ring Count:
Total: 3
Available in one go: 3

Badniks:
Vultron - Behaves just like in the others' Mirage Saloon Act 1.
Cactula - Behaves just like in the others' Mirage Saloon Act 1.
Bumpalo - Behaves just like in the others' Mirage Saloon Act 1.
Rattlekiller - This rattlesnake-themed Badnik is found only on totem poles, curling around them. They will ascend or descend the pole to get close to Knuckles and suddenly lunge.
Roller mk.II - A Badnik themed on an armadillo. They stand there guarding the area, then curl into a ball and roll at a high speed toward Knuckles.They can also jump while curled in a ball. They can only be defeated when uncurled. Unlike the original version, the mk.II version has unlimited range and will pursue you as far through the stage as it's capable of. Its AI is very limited though.

Other Sonic References:
Sonic 1 - Roller Badniks were first seen in Spring Yard Zone. Their jumping noise, unlike the playable characters', is identical to Sonic's in Sonic 1.
Sonic 2 - The seesaw gimmick/obstacle in this stage functions like the ones in Hill Top Zone. He can also find breakable rocks on the floor like the ones there.
Sonic 2 - Rattlekiller's attacking is much closer to the Crawltons found in Mystic Cave Zone rather than the Caterkiller or any known variant.
Sonic 2 - This stage is reminiscent of Sand Shower Zone, a scrapped Zone from that game, namely in its canyon theme and the light brownish color of the terrain.
Sonic Chaos - Uber Caterkiller, in this game, resembles the boss of Gigapolis Zone and even has the same attacks, only Uber Caterkiller's segments are bigger.
Sonic CD - The breakable glass balls and pinball flippers from Collision Chaos return, though reimagined for the southwestern US theme, alongside their sound effects. The spinning bars of three spiked balls, previously seen in this game's Stardust Speedway Act 1, also return.
Sonic 3 - The swinging vines in Angel Island Zone return in this Act, and only this Act.
Sonic 3 - The green piñatas Knuckles can pop to gain height are functionally identical to the balloons in Carnival Night Zone.
Knuckles' Chaotix - Uber Caterkiller's sound effect when bouncing its segments is the same bounce sound effect used in Amazing Arena Zone's boss.
Sonic Championship - Wanted posters of Bark the Polar Bear, Bean the Dynamite, and Nack the Weasel (AKA Fang the Sniper) can be seen where you fight the boss.
Sonic Adventure - This song takes from "Unknown from M.E." in style.
Sonic CD HD Remake - Christian Whitehead has confirmed that Desert Dazzle is the inspiration for this particular Mirage Saloon Zone theme.

Non-Sonic References:
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly - Like with the other characters' Mirage Saloon Act 1, the iconic couple of phrasses appear at the beginning of the gasme.

Uber Caterkiller challenges Knuckles here too, though as Knuckles is on the ground rather than in a plane, the attack patterns are totally different. Here, Uber Caterkiller has only four segments, including its head. The bottom and third-from-bottom segments bounce at a fixed trajectory (meaning you can stand roughly between the Bark and Bean posters and you'll be fine), while the second-from-bottom segment rolls along the ground. Only the head is vulnerable, and it never leaves the far right side of the screen. Once you get its patterns, this boss is a piece of cake, but it can be difficult if you don't know what it'll do, especially since Knuckles's lower jumps means less room for error than if Sonic or Tails fought this one.

свернуть