Angel Island-Sonic the Hedgehog 3
Angel Island Zone
The forests on the edge of Angel Island make for a healthy tropical stage with a jungle twist, at least at first. A fairly simple, straightforward zone, though also unorthodox, as it contains a number of cut-scenes amidst the gameplay. Knuckles makes his debut by stealing Sonic's Chaos Emeralds, and then the entire stage gets set on fire halfway through Act 1, drastically altering its appearance from a lush green jungle into a burning inferno. Not your average, run-of-the-mill Green Hill clone, for sure. Grab swinging jungle vines and use unstable platforms to scale up huge waterfalls.

Game: Sonic the Hedgehog 3

Stage Number: 1

Level Division: 2 Acts

Boss: End of Act 1. End of Act 2.

Playable Characters: Sonic & Tails, Sonic, Tails. Knuckles (Sonic 3 & Knuckles only).

Difficulty Rating: 1

Music: Variations of similar music for each act. Act 1 is very tropical sounding with its steel-drum-like instrumentals and it presents a light, happy atmosphere very suitable for a lush seaside jungle. Act 2 remixes this tune significantly into a slightly more serious tone.

Typical Length:

Act 1: 1 - 2 minutes
Act 2: 2 - 3 minutes (Around 2 minutes for Knuckles)

Available Items:

Rings Checkpoints 10 Ring Item Box Fire Shield Item Box Water Shield Item Box Lightning Shield Item Box Invincibility Item Box Speed-Up Item Box Extra Life Item Box Eggman Item Box Special Stage Ring
Act 1 173 2 7 3 3 1 5 1 2 0 2
Act 2 237 4 4 3 3 3 0 0 4 0 2

Angel Island Zone Downloads:

Level Maps: Act 1 map (.png)
Act 2 map (.png)
Art: Official badnik art (.jpg)
Official concept art (.jpg)
Art found in the Japanese instruction manual.
Top Tips
- Angel Island Zone has a lot of platform-hopping activity to take on board, so if your jumping skills are a little rusty, this is a good place to tune them up a bit. You also need to practise careful timing when jumping on platforms that alternate between stable and unstable, and watch out for all those crumbling ledges and bridges around. If you fall, it's not always a bad thing, because there may be another short route you can take below to get back on track, but other times, it can become a big setback.

- Both bosses are a lot easier to defeat if you have a fire shield handy. For Sonic and Tails, you can find one just before each boss, so there's no excuse for not coming prepared!
Each section of this page allows users to add their own notes to fill in any missing details or supply additional research etc.
View general notes for Angel Island Zone (7)
#1. Comment posted by Rec Games on Monday, 21st June 2010, 11:46pm (BST)
-Sonic was originally supposed to surf onto the island! This can be seen by looking in the debug mode objects for the level. If the correct object is placed at the right time, it will appear to be Sonic surfing. At the end, he simply jumps off his surfboard and runs onto land and Knuckles does not appear. Then, the game starts normally. This can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnfrQWPR1jQ . Another object that can be found in the debug mode is a strange object with red spheres rotating in 3D.
#2. Comment posted by yasin smaidy on Wednesday, 6th June 2012, 1:07am (BST)
one thing i hate about knuckles is that he is so easy to trick.eggman tricked knuckles to think sonic and tails are his enemy's.when i found that i was like what the fuck. until in sonic and knuckles after you beat knuckles in hidden palace zone,knuckles finds out that eggman was the real bad guy when he see's him taking the master emerald.
#3. Comment posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, 26th June 2012, 7:25pm (BST)
There is a double ring in this zone somewhere.
#4. Comment posted by Nipples the Enchilada on Saturday, 20th July 2013, 2:20pm (BST)
Knuckles is so dumb. He believed Eggy...

Knu(kl35 15 ju57 @ n00b...
#5. Comment posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, 3rd September 2013, 9:18pm (BST)
The reason why the game gets confused and loads the Act 2 music after going into a Special or Bonus Stage after the island burns up is because, internally, that part of the level is part of Act 2's map, and the game doesn't have proper checks to see if you're actually in Act 2 or not.
#6. Comment posted by Caitlin Alexander on Monday, 3rd February 2014, 5:43pm (GMT)
there is a forth bonus ring to get a chaos emerald near water, it's not easy to find but I have found a total of four, not three if anything I'd just stick to beign happy with getting even one of them. there is also a way to be able to redo the stage, just press quit before the screen that totals the points up, if you wait til all the spheres are out of sight then there's no possible redo
#7. Comment posted by Euler on Tuesday, 11th February 2014, 3:12am (GMT)
20 years since this game saw the light... and 20 years since I first saw it. The thing is, I've never seen anything as exciting since. Why is it that this game caused such an impression on some of us? I don't know if it's the thrill of finding Knux to mess us up, or having a hard time during our first experiences with the oh-my-God-there-so-many-Boss-fights, maybe the new 3D special stages, or those exotic routes you found by a remote chance and when replayed you could not find, and asked yourself "where the hell was it?"
But all of those things could mean nothing if it wasn't for the magic this game has... It's so genuine that is so hard to let it go. During tough times in my life it made me ask myself "why isn't there a bit of magic like in this game?". I know it sounds exaggerated, but that's how much it changed me.
Hide Notes
Appearance
Things start off in an idyllic fashion as you explore a tropical seaside jungle with palm trees, and many leafy bushes and flowers. There's a still, hazy lake in the background reflecting the surrounding jungle and brown soil prevents everything from being a bit too green.
You can peer over the canopy at the top of the act to see a simplistic view of the surrounding ocean, which the island has fallen into. Small clouds float by in the slightly dark sky.
Sonic and Tails cross the edge of the island, through a sunny beach into a pleasant tropical jungle, surrounded by healthy green plants, vines and leaves. In the background, there's a still lake sitting peacefully along the bottom half of the act, reflecting the plant-life that hangs just above it. You can see several rows of trees and bushes above, beyond which lies the surrounding sea that Angel Island has fallen into, and an oddly light horizon below a suddenly dark blue sky, with small clouds floating past. Interestingly if you play the act as Knuckles, there is no water, suggesting the island has returned to the skies by this point. The background is rather blocky and vague, actually. Not the best, and certainly a departure from the details of Sonic 1 and 2. The ground is made of an uneven brown rock, with the surfaces covered in grass. Surrounding this all over the place are wild bushes with masses of huge green leaves, some appearing up close in the foreground. Dotted across the grass are plants of different shapes and colours, some animated, along with the necessary palmtrees, and internal rooms are a dark brown colour, with what appear to be little windows inside. There are also waterfalls, some small and embedded in the rock, and some very wide and tall, but all are dropping running water into the tranquil river below.
Soon enough, everything is obliterated by an army of flame pods that turn the peaceful jungle into an inferno. The background is a burning, quivering mass of orange and red and the surrounding soil, grass and leaves are discoloured and hazy.
There are internal caves of a dark brown background, with little windows along the wall. Flames lick away at the foliage all over the place.
You don't get to enjoy this serenity for long though, as halfway through Act 1, Eggman's fire breathing machines set the whole jungle on fire, in a desperate attempt to stop Sonic and Tails from meddling in his plans before they've barely even had a chance to grasp the basic plot. They survive, but the appearance of the zone takes a nasty turn for the worse. All the previously green leaves and bushes are now a much duller, dead green colour and the palmtrees and plants are on fire. The background is a flashing inferno as the whole forest is ablaze, and you can make out silhouettes of burning palm trees and bushes back there, going from orange to red colours the further you go down the level. The brown rocks and foliage are constantly shimmering and changing colours slightly, as a result of the gases being released. Oddly, there's no thick, heavy black smoke like there usually would be with massive fires, but you can understand why that would be a bit of a boring aesthetic decision.
#1. Comment posted by GOLD_sonic on Thursday, 10th September 2009, 4:16am (BST)
It should be noted that since Knuckles goes through his story after the events of Sonic and Tail's stories, the whole island is in the air, floating, instead of laying on the ocean. This is shown since if you play as Knuckles, you might noticed how his background for the level features a blue sky, and some extra bits of forest, instead of the wide open ocean that Sonic and Tails see. Good attention to detail, Sega!
#2. Comment posted by Sonicfan32 on Tuesday, 10th August 2010, 1:54am (BST)
why does the island suddenly rise in the air when you play with knuckles? i know that i have seen the island float in the air with the master emerald, but without it, it falls to the sea. When you play with Knuckles, does he restore the master emerald?
#3. Comment posted by AquaRuin on Monday, 14th March 2011, 6:33pm (GMT)
The answer is simple, it's because Knuckles' story takes place after Sonic's (when he gets the Master Emerald back), as GOLD also stated. I used to think Knux's story took place during Sonic's but that doesn't make sense when you consider that Sonic would be fighting Robotnik for the Master Emerald while Knuckles was also fighting Super Mecha Sonic for...the Master Emerald. On a side note, this is my favourite zone in the game.
#4. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 18th November 2012, 12:11am (GMT)
In Act 2, you don't get giant rings as Knuckles.
Hide Notes
Structure
As you would come to expect from an introductory stage, Act 1 is nice and simple, with a fairly open layout, nice long stretches of ground with a few loop-de-loops here and there and some gentle slopes and curves, plus ramps at the end of speedy paths that throw you across an open area. Until the place gets set on fire, you don't really have anything to worry about here. There's a choice of higher and lower routes, all of which mainly lead right, and there are a few hidden items on high platforms around the top. Throughout the whole level there's a small amount of water along the bottom, creating several small pools, but these rarely become anything for water-phobes to get in a flip about. Remember though that your character's movement will slow down under water, and he only has 30 seconds worth of air before he drowns, so once you're in, you'll need to get out asap - always perfectly possible.
What first level is complete without loops? None, that's what. Run through with speed, as you well know.
Slopes lead toward built-in ramps at the end that fling you far across an area.
Occasional submerged sections slow things down a bit if you drop far enough at certain points, but they're easily avoided, and not long enough to cause much of a problem.
Act 2's structure tends to be a little more complex and challenging. There's less open space around and paths are a bit more broken up, meaning more platform-hopping, especially on large waterfall sections filled with small platforms. Directions are still mainly rightward, but also have a tendency to wind left and right over small distances at times, as you head upwards. There's still a decent amount of speed in some sections, plus long, winding tunnels to spin through. There aren't too many multiple routes throughout the whole of the act, but you will find one or two short alternate paths now and then, stemming from the main route, perhaps dipping into the water, but rejoining it not long afterward. There are several hidden rooms normally guarded by large breakable rocks and even a Tails-only shortcut. In Sonic 3 & Knuckles, you'll find that Knuckles actually has a completely separate Act 2 route from start to finish, never meeting the regular one at all. It travels along one single path beneath the rest of the stage and all of the water, and it mainly leads through internal passages filled with spikes. It's actually quicker than Sonic's path, but negotiating your way through the tunnels without hitting any spikes can be quite hard.
Take winding tunnels that curve up and down crazily as they lead to the right.
Look out for little rooms behind breakable barriers, as there are items or Special Stage rings to be had!
Take Knuckles on a journey through Act 2 and you will find an entirely different, internal passageway beneath the stage just for him. It's filled with spikes but it's not too hard, and at least there's no water.
#1. Comment posted by sonictails1189 on Friday, 11th September 2009, 3:14am (BST)
If memory serves me correctly, there are 3 rings floating out of bounds just above that room with the two ring monitors and the bubble shield in Act Two. They can be grabbed with a lightning shield. I think they only appear in Sonic 3, not Sonic 3 & Knuckles. I'll try and check on that later.
Hide Notes
Obstacles and Features
Rocks come in three sizes, but have varying properties. Some can be broken by jumping on them or spin dashing into them, others remain sturdy or can even by pushed.
Once the zone is on fire, all rocks become a brown-ish colour. Large ones regularly conceal entrances to winding tunnels or hidden rooms.
Some columns in the ground can be broken by jumping on them. For others, you can only break through by coming from underneath.
Standard moving platforms slide up and down or left and right.
Some rock boulders on the ground, either rectangular clumps or small piles of rocks can be broken by jumping on them or spin dashing into them, while others will remain sturdy, and you can jump off of them to get to a higher platform. The tall ones that usually block your entrance to a cave will go down with a spin dash, and Knuckles just needs to touch them to send them tumbling with his spiky fists. You can also find columns of breakable ground in the floor that you can destroy by jumping on, though some can only be opened by coming up from underneath. Standard springs are hidden in the palmtrees and also regularly embedded in the ground, unexpectedly sending you upward when you step on them. Sometimes you'll find them hidden underneath breakable rocks. There are also the necessary crumbling ledges of rock and wooden bridges protruding from one edge, both of which start to collapse when you land on them, and don't forget the level's standard small moving platforms, sliding slowly along horizontal or vertical axis.
Crumbling ledges stick out of many paths - watch out when you step on them!
Wooden bridges sticking out of one ledge also fall to pieces under the slightest pressure. They don't seem to re-appear if you go away and come back though so you'd have to make tough leaps without them!
Rope with handles at the bottom swing back and forth by themselves. Grab on and use them to cross gaps or hop to the next one.
Longer rope rides can be used to cross far gaps diagonally. The bottom end is tied to a tree and you'll swing around on it when you get there, allowing you to jump off to a high platform.
Some waterfalls start dropping these small log platforms which slowly fall to the bottom. Use them as stepping stones to get to the top.
New for this level though are lengths of rope that swing back and forth, which your character will grab hold of upon contact with the bottom handle. Hop from one to the other, tarzan-style, and similarly, there are also long horizontal rope-rides that can take you over long gaps with no effort on your part, and are pretty fun. Just grab the handle at the top left end of the ride, and you'll slide down the diagonal rope. The bottom end is usually tied to a palm tree, and when you get there, you'll swing around 360 degrees on it until you jump off. In one case in Act 2, a fire on the rope actually cuts it prematurely, and you'll fall off before you get to the end. In the waterfalls, you'll often find small logs that cascade slowly down with it, and appear from the top, one by one, creating vertical stepping stones for you.
These spiked logs sit on the surface and turn upwards as soon as you unsettle them by landing on them or by disturbing the water.
Large blocks in the waterfalls come in twos and disappear and reappear through the water at regular intervals, one before the other.
Wooden staircases are fine to stand on as long as you're not on a step that's flipping, which they do one by one, in a wave. You'll fall through if it catches you.
After the whole place gets burned up, you'll find logs with three spikes mounted on the underbelly floating on the surface of the water. Land on one, or splash in the water, and this log will rotate, bringing the spikes upward, creating a hazard for you. Be careful if you try passing underneath, because you may not be able to squeeze through, and you could get crushed between the spikes and the floor. You'll also find large blocks of rock that appear in and out through the wide waterfalls, changing at regular intervals, so when you need to hop across a pair of them, use careful timing. Series of little steps leading diagonally upwards will flip over one by one, at which time you cannot land on them, and if you're standing on a step when it flips, you'll fall through.
Rhinobot
Catakiller Jr.
Monkey Dude
Bloominator
In the badnik department, Angel Island Zone stocks several Rhinobots, who rather aggressively charge back and forth over an area as soon as they lock eyes on you. Providing you have enough time though, they're easily disposed of at any angle. Monkey Dudes act like Coconuts from Sonic 2, and hang out in trees, hurling actual coconuts at you with their long, wiry arms. Catakiller Jr. are an evolved variety of the Caterkiller badnik and these float back and forth in the air, rather than crawling along the ground like their Sonic 1 predecessors. They emit a dangerous pulse of electricity across their bodies from one end to the other, and should only be hit on the head. Bloominators are weird, immobile flower badniks that stand there spouting spikeballs from the top which land either side of them.
#1. Comment posted by GOLD_sonic on Thursday, 10th September 2009, 4:51am (BST)
The Monkey Dudes have one difference that makes them no match when compared to the Coconuts in Sonic 2; They only have one coconut. Once they throw that single coconut, they are basically worthless, and you can laugh at them.
#2. Comment posted by Ace on Saturday, 4th February 2012, 3:19am (GMT)
Note that any type of shield will give you complete protection from the Bloominators' spikeballs, as they'll just bounce off. Also note that Knuckles can just PUNCH the spikeballs away, if they happen to hit his fists while he's gliding.
Hide Notes
Point #1
Sonic and Tails begin the game on their way to the disturbance in the ocean..
Deciding he'll be quicker himself, Sonic ditches his buddy by leaping off-screen into the sea, but then dashes across as Super Sonic. Mainly to prove to us that he has the emeralds. Alright Sonic, we've all had a bit to drink, no need to show off..
Sonic crosses the pretty beach of this mysterious new island, blissfully unaware of what's coming..
When playing as Sonic, this level begins following a short cutscene. Standing on the wings of the Tornado plane, Sonic, accompanied by pilot Tails, is heading towards the grounded Angel Island, as it floats on the ocean. Before they reach it, Sonic leaps off-screen, reappearing as Super Sonic (he was holding the seven Chaos Emeralds, apparently) and skims across the water, leaving Tails behind. Going past the beach and through the jungle, he is then surprised by the official debut of Knuckles the Echidna, guardian of the island. Knuckles jumps out of the ground and knocks the tar out of Sonic, turning him back to normal, and scattering the emeralds across the jungle floor. Before Sonic has a chance to pull himself together, Knuckles has already picked up all the shiny jewels and made off with them, but not before laughing cruelly at your misfortune. Robotnik has tricked the Echidna into believing that Sonic has stolen the emeralds and that they need to be reclaimed, for his own evil purposes. Shortly afterward, the level begins.
POW right in the kisser! Sonic is caught completely off-guard by a mysterious assailant bursting out from under the ground, knocking the emeralds clean out of him and scattering them across the floor!
It's Knuckles the Echidna, resident guardian of the island and your mere presence has apparently pissed him off big time.
Before Sonic has a chance to know what to do with himself, Knuckles has scooped up all the emeralds himself and run off, but not before giving a chuckle at your misfortune. Kids these days.
#1. Comment posted by GOLD_sonic on Thursday, 10th September 2009, 4:55am (BST)
This is one of the VERY few moments where Sonic has actually gotten knocked out of his super form by some attack. Knuckles must be a ton stronger then we all thought...
#2. Comment posted by Metropolisishard on Sunday, 11th December 2011, 8:55pm (GMT)
He is in super form because he collected the emeralds in the last game, sonic 2.
#3. Comment posted by BritnorLH on Friday, 10th February 2012, 7:23am (GMT)
If you are playing as Tails or Knuckles alone, you begin the level right away. There is no cutscene.
#4. Comment posted by GJTobi on Friday, 30th May 2014, 12:54am (BST)
In response to Britnor, Tails does have a cutscene. Knuckles will uppercut him the same way that he did to Sonic.
#5. Comment posted by Ratchet 0203 on Wednesday, 8th October 2014, 5:23pm (BST)
In response to what GJtobi said, there isn't a Tails cutscene for this level, but if there was... (I know this is cruel) It would start like Sonic's, except sonic falls off the plane and drowns before he could go super, and then Tails would have to do the mission alone.
#6. Comment posted by Ratchet 0203 on Wednesday, 8th October 2014, 5:28pm (BST)
...Simply ruining the game "Shadow the hedgehog", since Sonic should have already died more than 10 years before and Shadow SHOULD have no one to kill at the end.(If Shadow killed him.)
Hide Notes
Near the bottom, you can push this boulder to the side and knock through the breakable column below to find an invincibility and 20 rings in a small submerged cavern.
If you walk across the top of the loops toward the big tree trunk, you can grab the extra life you've no doubt spotted already, perched on a small branch.
#1. Comment posted by Michael on Thursday, 23rd August 2012, 12:51am (BST)
The pushable boulder can be very funny if playing as Sonic and Tails. If Tails gets on the other side of the boulder, he will appear to be pushing it against you!
#2. Comment posted by Anonymous on Saturday, 8th December 2012, 6:35pm (GMT)
In reply to Michael's comment: Even if Tails is pushing it from the other side, you're still pushing it the way Sonic's pushing it.
#3. Comment posted by Ratchet 0203 on Wednesday, 8th October 2014, 5:33pm (BST)
That reminded me of the fact that the somehow awesome Tails can't be Hyper Tails. After being made fun of because how stupid he was in Sonic and Tails mode, he should have Hyper mode, as well.
#4. Comment posted by Ratchet 0203 on Wednesday, 8th October 2014, 5:41pm (BST)
That reminded me of the fact that the somehow awesome Tails can't be Hyper Tails. After being made fun of because how stupid he was in Sonic and Tails mode, he should have Hyper mode, as well.
#5. Comment posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, 8th October 2014, 5:43pm (BST)
Sorry, the computer acted like I went back in time 9 minutes to before I posted that, and posted it again.
Hide Notes
Special Stage Rings
Special Stage Rings
Drop down to the bottom asap and then head left through a blocked up little room to find the first ring.
The first big ring can be found by dropping to the bottom of the zone as soon as possible (near the area with swinging ropes). It's in a room guarded by a large rock just to the left. Spin dash through.
This one is hidden just under the start of the burned up half of the act. Go down and left as soon as you can and spring up through this tall room.
The second occurs just below Point #3, the burning scene. You need to head through past Point #4 and then drop down through the breakable floor to the bottom. Then, head left through more barriers. A spring sends you straight up to the ring at the top of a tall room. When you're done, you can knock through the floor above to go back to the beginning of this half of the act.
#1. Comment posted by chicobo329 on Friday, 3rd February 2012, 9:00pm (GMT)
Regarding the second Special Stage ring here, if you take the Spring Launcher and go straight up, you'll break through the ground and go above as the ring is appearing, but when you return down the ring will be gone! When you jump on the spring launcher, move to the left or right so that you can bump on the ceiling and drop down as the ring comes into view.
#2. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 2nd September 2012, 11:05am (BST)
Don't worry, if you break through the ceiling and come back down, the giant ring will still be there. I've done it many times
Hide Notes
Point #2
Towards the end of the first half of Act 1, you'll find yourself entering this giant hollow tree trunk. The idea is that you run into it with enough speed behind you that you'll be able to run around the internal walls, making your way up to the next ledge on the top right of it. Hence the two loop-de-loops and slopes beforehand. If you're not going fast enough, you won't get anywhere, so hit a Spin Dash back up through the loops and try again. Control-wise, all you have to do is hold the right button on the D-pad while he's running around it, and with enough momentum, it's easy to get through.
This huge tree trunk opens up as an internal view when you run in. You need to keep up the pace that you've started, in order to start running around inside the internal walls.
Keep up your momentum (just keep holding right) and you'll quickly ascend..
..Finally, you'll make it out through a doorway at the top.
#1. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 18th November 2012, 12:58am (GMT)
Tails can just fly up if he doesn't have enough speed, and Knuckles can climb up. It's a good place to show the different ways each character can uniquely tackle the same obstacle.
Hide Notes
Point #3
Immediately afterwards, you'll meet one of these big purple flame pods, and there are more of them flying in the sky above. It'll come down from the top right, but even though you can leap and hit it to your heart's content, this weird little bit is not a boss, it's another cut-scene. Don't touch the flames at the bottom of it. The pod will start launching missiles and then disappear to the side of the screen when they fall back down to the ground, and the whole place starts to catch fire. It gets worse and soon the entire screen is engulfed in a huge inferno, emerging from the bottom and blocking everything else out from your view. Highly unorthodox! When it settles, you'll find that your character(s) are still standing, miraculously unscathed. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the appearance of the entire level, as the whole beautiful jungle has become a burned ruin, a shell of its former self. So much for Robotnik's attempt to burn our heroes to death, and surely Knuckles wouldn't be too happy to know that a chunk of his home has been completely decimated by his own ally.
Not far along the cheerful jungle, the peace is ruined by an impromptu appearance by a large purple machine. Watch the skies and you'll see whole swarms of them start appearing.
..This is no boss battle, it's pest control! Hit the thing all you like but you can't stop it from dropping bombs and setting fire to the whole place!
Flames soon engulf the whole screen from the bottom all the way to the top. This game certainly mixes things up a bit, doesn't it?
When everything settles, our heroes are fine, but the same cannot be said for the level. The background is ablaze and the area around you, burnt to a crisp!
#1. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 18th November 2012, 1:02am (GMT)
An interesting technical note is that as soon as the flames go up, the act actually technically changes to act 2. The second half of act 1 is really a part of act 2's data. This is why if you go into the special stage and come back out or (In Sonic 3 only.) the bonus stage it'll play act 2's music. There are possible glitches to exploit when act 2 officialy begins you can actually go ALL the way back to this spot even if you started act 2 proper. This is due to the fact that to the game engine as soon as the zone goes up in flames, you are on a technical level already in the next act.
#2. Comment posted by Ratchet 0203 on Wednesday, 8th October 2014, 5:47pm (BST)
To add to the previous comment, when the act changes, the colors of SCORE, TIME, and RINGS turn a brighter yellow. In debug mode, the coordinates next to SCORE go back to 0, indicating the start of a new level.
Hide Notes
Point #4
As Sonic or Knuckles, watch out for this slotting spike set - you're too tall to squeeze under!
..Tails however has a height advantage in this case.
After the stage gets toasted, progress onwards and past the checkpoint is a set of slotting spikes on the ceiling. Do not take these lightly, because if you're standing underneath when the spikes come down, you will get crushed. Note that this does not apply to Tails, who is actually short enough to fit through the gap. Beware of this hazard in later levels of the game as well, because it's a pretty cheap way to knock off a life.
#1. Comment posted by GoldenDelicious on Tuesday, 20th November 2012, 12:56pm (GMT)
I envy Tails. :/
Hide Notes
Boss
Act 1 Boss
Before you progress straight into the arena for this boss, I strongly recommend picking up the fire shield just before it, in order to make the whole thing very simple. It's easy enough to spot - look past the Bloominator badnik over on the left hand ledge opposite the higher one on the right, which leads to the boss. You need to use the stable boulder on the floor below as a boost up to it, but watch out for the collapsing edges and spikes.
As Sonic or Tails, the Act 1 boss is just above this area, to the right. Using the collapsing ledge on the left from this sturdy boulder might be a small challenge for new players because of the spikes and nearby badnik.
If you go over to the left ledge, past the badnik, a fire shield will make the following a boss a real piece of cake.
You've reached the end of Act 1 and here's another one of those flame pods again - this time it wants to stick around for a bit of a scrap. Possibly the same one as last time, who knows? It'll come down from the top right again and produce a flame blast from the flamethrower on its front. After hanging around a bit, it'll slowly move up, wander across the top to the other side and repeat the process on the left, and then back to the right, etc. Just jump and hit it on the top rather than from the flame-guarded bottom - unless you have the fire shield of course, in which case it's pretty much completely helpless against you. Six hits will see this thing off for good.
The flame pod returns and slowly hovers down alternating sides, giving one short lick of flame each time. The small flames underneath are also problematic without the shield, but with it, the machine is a complete sitting duck.
Knuckles' fight, like most of them in general, is a bit tougher in that the pod also fires off three upward-missiles while throwing its flame, and these fall back down to the ground, across the area, so be a little more careful. His arena is in a different place too, so getting a fire shield beforehand may not be so easy.
Knuckles can't climb the dizzy heights of Sonic's route to the boss, so he simply smashes his way through this secret passage, to his own battle arena, just below.
..His battle is a bit harder. Not only does he not get that fire shield, but the pod also flings three missiles down to the ground on each cycle, spacing themselves out evenly, but always in the same places.
#1. Comment posted by Andreww on Monday, 16th May 2011, 9:29am (BST)
Simple anyway, even with Knuckles
#2. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 18th November 2012, 1:05am (GMT)
Knuckle's AIZ Act 1 Boss Arena is directly below Sonic's. Just a fun little note.
#3. Comment posted by Anonymous on Saturday, 8th December 2012, 6:41pm (GMT)
I think they make Knuckles' bosses different to take advantage of his weak jump.
Hide Notes
In the area with spiked logs floating on the water, not far off the start, you can find a nice little life down here, in the first small pool.
Another can be found later on if you fall down both sets of flipping stairway platforms after Point #5. After a submerged tunnel, you'll then find it here, awkwardly surrounded by spikes. If you let that bridge collapse without getting across it then it can be hard to successfully cross.
Knuckles' route is entirely different, meeting Sonic's at no point throughout. It's a secret tunnel made up of largely internal caves filled with spikes, moving platforms and enemies. There are no tough points particularly, just a lot of easy ring loss, so be careful!
If you find yourself against a tall wall, don't forget about Knuckles' climbing ability! Press jump twice and hold the button on the second press to glide, and simply glide into the wall to latch onto it. Climb with up and down.
#1. Comment posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, 25th March 2014, 9:52pm (GMT)
Anyone notice that in the act, sonic's path and knuckle's path never meet.
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Special Stage Rings
Special Stage Rings
This is one ring that can't be missed. The first winding tunnel off the start pushes you right into it.
The first Special Stage opportunity of Act 2 is pretty much forced upon you. Simply roll through the winding tunnel and you'll almost definitely dash straight through the boulder in front of this room and just to the right of the ring, forcing you to go back straight into it.
Head to the huge waterfall near the end of the act and look around the small pool at the bottom right. There's a hidden path in the wall with your big ring in it.
Just before the final phases of the act, you'll need to wind your way up a huge, wide waterfall with block platforms protruding out of it. If you go to the bottom right of this waterfall area, into a small pool of water, you can spin dash up the curve to the right and into the ring's hidden room, in the wall.
#1. Comment posted by SonicTailsKnuckles on Friday, 31st October 2014, 7:24pm (GMT)
Bear in mind, that Knuckles gets NO giant rings in AIZ Act 2.
#2. Comment posted by dinosaur202 on Sunday, 17th April 2016, 1:47am (BST)
I found a glitch, at the giant ring, fail in the special stage, spindash into the tunnel and it will carry you back into the arena, now you can backtrack through act 1 to the point where the island gets set on fire!
Hide Notes
Point #5
A submerged wall blocks your way, just after a short twisting tunnel.
There's a button to remove the wall and also lower the water level in a room just above. Use the yellow spring on the floor to get to it. There's also another button in a small room further up that does exactly the same job.
When you reach this part, underwater, you won't be able to continue because there's an unbreakable wall blocking your path. Use the spring to the left to reach a ledge on the upper right. Head into a hidden room on the right and press the button, which will not only open up the wall below, it'll also lower the water level for you. There's another button in a room directly above that which will do the same thing, but is only accessible if you took the higher route, on a moving platform just before the twisting tunnel that lead to this bit.
You can take Tails on a shortcut at this point, by flying to the very top of the area. The buttons will also open another wall that features a spiked vertical corridor. Fly through it carefully..
..From there carry on right, over the platforms and onto this rope, then jump to the moving platform to the right..
..This shortcut brings you straight to a bonus 1-up, past a Bloominator. You could also just fly straight up here without taking the shortcut, of course.
Either button also opens up another unbreakable wall directly above that, which actually leads to a Tails-only shortcut, where you have to fly up a spiked vertical corridor. Not only does this cut out a more lengthy, zig-zagging portion of the act, but it also allows access to an extra life that is otherwise too high to reach. After the spiked vertical corridor, carry on down the curve, over the platforms and onto the swinging rope to a moving platform. Use it to find the life, above.
#1. Comment posted by Anonycat on Sunday, 13th September 2009, 7:38am (BST)
Sonic can actually take this shortcut on his own, but it requires double-jumping with a lightning shield into the spikes on the left, deliberately losing the shield in order to bounce off and hopefully land on top of the spikes on the right side.
#2. Comment posted by Ajavalo on Tuesday, 15th September 2009, 3:06pm (BST)
Also, that extra life is accesible with Sonic, by simply spindashing up the slope before the three loops and jumping at the right time.
#3. Comment posted by Anonymous on Thursday, 7th April 2011, 1:54pm (BST)
Or, Tails could fly Sonic up there.
#4. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 2nd December 2012, 11:52pm (GMT)
Sonic & Lightning shield = extra life.
#5. Comment posted by Anonymous on Saturday, 8th December 2012, 6:47pm (GMT)
There's a breakable boulder just underneath a platform moving up and down. With a lightning shield, he can jump on there (it's too high without it) which takes him right to the 1-up.
Hide Notes
Point #6
Just as it's best to approach the Act 1 boss with a fire shield, the same goes for Eggman himself in Act 2. When you've finished winding your way up a huge waterfall, the final checkpoint and a tunnel toward the end is just over to the right. Before that though, an essential fire shield is hidden in a palmtree just before. You can get up to it by spin dashing straight up the curve that's next to it, minding the spikes and the Monkey Dude.
Here's the last checkpoint, but just before you go in all guns blazing, you might like to look to the palm tree to the left, where you'll find a fire shield. Recommended for the boss ahead.
Through the tunnel, and in yet another major attempt by Eggman to bury his adversaries, a huge green bomber airship appears above Sonic and Tails as they're running across a long open stretch just before the Act 2 boss. It has several tubes to release the big, heavy bombs and doesn't waste time in doing so. The screen scrolls along with you so that you can't go back, but if you hold the right directional button firmly, all the bombs will miss you entirely, though Tails will really take a battering if he's following you, in auto-pilot. Just keep running until the ship passes over you completely. Some say this is actually part of the Flying Battery battleship, which you hop on board later on in Sonic & Knuckles, but it doesn't really look anything like it. After the ship goes away, you'll see Eggman flying between the trees in the background. Keep running until you reach the Act 2 boss arena.
On this long stretch, a large ship will appear above, dropping bombs as it passes overhead! The screen scrolls at a set speed, but all you need to do is keep running and you'll avoid them all easily. If Tails is on auto-pilot, he'll really take a battering though!
As you clear the ship sequence, you can see Eggman through the trees in the distance. It's not over yet!
#1. Comment posted by Metropolisishard on Friday, 16th December 2011, 12:49am (GMT)
it could be, eggrobo might of changed it a bit.
Hide Notes
Boss
Act 2 Boss
Eggman has a purple flame pod of his own, with twin mounted cannons. He bursts through the waterfall, over the wooden bridge and promptly sets fire to it, creating the threat of instant death. Take a few cheap shots, but don't go overboard.
He reappears in any one of four positions. If just to the side of the ledge, his cannons will point diagonally and fire once each. The fireballs makes their way across the ground and should be jumped over.
If he appears just above the edge, he'll fire them downwards. You can attack at any place on the craft when he's in range.
At first, your battle arena consists of a wooden bridge on the left and a ledge on the right, with a large waterfall behind. Eggman will appear through the waterfall on the left, above the bridge, at which time you can get in one quick hit if you want, but do NOT get cocky and stand on the bridge for too long, because he's about to burn it down, and it'll be sudden death if you fall. His machine this time is a rather impressive purple floating thing not unlike the flame pod we saw earlier. It has twin cannons which produce balls of flame, one on either side of the machine, and they can be directed straight down or diagonally downwards (where they will travel across the ground, when they land). Upon destroying the bridge with them, he'll go back in the waterfall and your access to the whole arena opens up, and you'll find the ledge goes on further across the screen, with an open gap on the far right hand side, in addition to the one on the left now.
He'll reappear in any one of the following four places: Above the right or left edge of the platform (where he will fire his cannons downward), or slightly lower and to the right of the right ledge, or to the left of the left ledge (where he will shoot diagonally downwards). When he emerges in one of these places, he'll fire each cannon once, one after the other, pause, and then go back through the waterfall and return in another, randomly selected place. Read his pattern and dodge the fireballs, and get a hit in (anywhere on the machine) at the end of each attack, but if you've got a fire shield, there's no need to worry about any of that. Just hit him repeatedly, but be careful that you don't fall down either of the gaps on the far sides. Eight hits, as usual. When playing as Knuckles in Sonic 3 + Sonic & Knuckles, the boss will fire two blasts out of each cannon, instead of one.
Knuckles' battle, against the Eggrobo, is a little tougher because it fires two balls of flame from each cannon rather than just one, so you'll need to be quick on your feet.
#1. Comment posted by Andrew on Monday, 16th May 2011, 9:30am (BST)
My brother rates this the 19th dumbest boss of all time.
#2. Comment posted by Anonymous on Wednesday, 8th October 2014, 5:54pm (BST)
Yeah, besides the flying battery act 1 boss, I'd say it's in all boss tie for 1st. funny
Hide Notes
Point #7
Upon defeating the boss, a bridge will appear over the gap on the right and the capsule will, rather obscurely, hover downwards from above, upside down. Hit the button as soon as it's low enough, get your score, and for the first time ever, a cut scene explains to us the transition to the next level. Sonic and Tails will automatically walk right, standing over the new bridge, and look up to see Knuckles again. He's standing on a ledge above them, still chuckling away because he knows all he has to do is touch that button next to him and the bridge will collapse, sending our heroes down into the subterranean aqueducts of the island. So he does.
After the boss, Knuckles reappears with his trademark evil chuckle. He's got a button that, it's safe to say, isn't exactly going to dispense treats and candy for all..
..Sure enough, it causes the bridge to collapse, sending the pair tumbling helpless down to the underworld of the island. Cue next level!
If you're playing as Knuckles, he'll just jump down there by himself.
#1. Comment posted by Cruizer on Sunday, 25th October 2009, 2:08pm (GMT)
If you still have a fire shield at this point, you can (hopefully) jump at the right time and fire-dash to the left and not fall to the next zone. However if you keep going left you will eventually fall in another gaping hole and fall to Hydrocity
#2. Comment posted by Tim333 on Thursday, 30th June 2011, 1:13am (BST)
As Tails it's possible to jump left, get onto the still-floating egg pod, and get over the top of Knuckles's invisible barrier and stand next to him while he continues chuckling away. You can even press his button.
#3. Comment posted by Tim333 on Friday, 8th July 2011, 10:43am (BST)
Having gone back to do it, I have to correct myself - you can't press his button, it's already pressed.
#4. Comment posted by Adam on Friday, 5th August 2011, 11:03am (BST)
or if you have bubble or electric shield (bubble is easier) then hit the animal pod at its lowest point and quickly jump onto it, you can reach him as sonic. It's quite funny because he's still laughing at you.
#5. Comment posted by Dan on Sunday, 8th April 2012, 2:21pm (BST)
I don't think Sonic needs any shield to jump back onto the land.
#6. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 13th April 2014, 10:10pm (BST)
Yep, I managed to get back on the land with no shield.
Hide Notes
Miscellaneous Notes
- Some may be confused by the name of this level. Angel Island is also the name of the entire island that all levels in Sonic 3 and most in Sonic & Knuckles are located on. A main staple in the Sonic universe, also originally known as "The Floating Island" in Western marketing, and usually hovers peacefully in the skies. This level takes place in the outer jungles of the island, but is known as Angel Island Zone anyway, even though it's actually only part of the whole island. The same principle goes for the Angel Island Zone in Sonic Advance, which is more of a ruins level, based elsewhere on the island.
- After the whole level gets burned up halfway through Act 1, the Act 1 music will still be playing, but if you die or enter a Special or Bonus Stage before completing the act, the music will change to the Act 2 theme when you return to the level, despite the fact that you're still in Act 1.
- Jun Senoue, mastermind behind a vast array of Sonic tracks created a remix of this level's classic music, his earliest work for the franchise, in Super Smash Bros Brawl for the Nintendo Wii in 2007/2008. The game included Sonic and his signature Green Hill Zone as unlockables and Angel Island Zone was the only remixed track to be played in the background of this stage, amongst other classic Sonic originals. It features both Act 1 and 2 in a more slightly chaotic, rock-ish style akin to his later works and the track was available to fans on compilation album "True Blue: The Best of Sonic the Hedgehog". You can give it a listen in the downloads section.
#1. Comment posted by Cruizer on Sunday, 25th October 2009, 2:00pm (GMT)
Also Chaos Angel (from Sonic Advance 3) takes place on Angel Island in more airbourne territory.
#2. Comment posted by Cf on Thursday, 4th November 2010, 4:32pm (GMT)
The act 2 music plays in act 1 after a special stage because you're actually now in act 2. When the machine burns the level you're transported to the act 2 level map. A similar thing also happens in Ice Cap Zone at the end of act 1.
#3. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 8th January 2012, 7:35pm (GMT)
The name of the island where most of the levels in Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles are located is the "Floating Island," not Angel Island.
#4. Comment posted by Dan on Sunday, 8th April 2012, 2:23pm (BST)
The different loading routine also means this is the only place in the game you walk back into act 1 from act 2, right back to where it got burnt up. I don't know what triggers this glitch though.
#5. Comment posted by Anonymous on Sunday, 16th August 2015, 10:39pm (BST)
@Anonymous Only in western materials. Later on even western translation of Sonic materials corrects the name to Angel Island.
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View general notes for Angel Island Zone (7)
#1. Comment posted by Rec Games on Monday, 21st June 2010, 11:46pm (BST)
-Sonic was originally supposed to surf onto the island! This can be seen by looking in the debug mode objects for the level. If the correct object is placed at the right time, it will appear to be Sonic surfing. At the end, he simply jumps off his surfboard and runs onto land and Knuckles does not appear. Then, the game starts normally. This can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnfrQWPR1jQ . Another object that can be found in the debug mode is a strange object with red spheres rotating in 3D.
#2. Comment posted by yasin smaidy on Wednesday, 6th June 2012, 1:07am (BST)
one thing i hate about knuckles is that he is so easy to trick.eggman tricked knuckles to think sonic and tails are his enemy's.when i found that i was like what the fuck. until in sonic and knuckles after you beat knuckles in hidden palace zone,knuckles finds out that eggman was the real bad guy when he see's him taking the master emerald.
#3. Comment posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, 26th June 2012, 7:25pm (BST)
There is a double ring in this zone somewhere.
#4. Comment posted by Nipples the Enchilada on Saturday, 20th July 2013, 2:20pm (BST)
Knuckles is so dumb. He believed Eggy...

Knu(kl35 15 ju57 @ n00b...
#5. Comment posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, 3rd September 2013, 9:18pm (BST)
The reason why the game gets confused and loads the Act 2 music after going into a Special or Bonus Stage after the island burns up is because, internally, that part of the level is part of Act 2's map, and the game doesn't have proper checks to see if you're actually in Act 2 or not.
#6. Comment posted by Caitlin Alexander on Monday, 3rd February 2014, 5:43pm (GMT)
there is a forth bonus ring to get a chaos emerald near water, it's not easy to find but I have found a total of four, not three if anything I'd just stick to beign happy with getting even one of them. there is also a way to be able to redo the stage, just press quit before the screen that totals the points up, if you wait til all the spheres are out of sight then there's no possible redo
#7. Comment posted by Euler on Tuesday, 11th February 2014, 3:12am (GMT)
20 years since this game saw the light... and 20 years since I first saw it. The thing is, I've never seen anything as exciting since. Why is it that this game caused such an impression on some of us? I don't know if it's the thrill of finding Knux to mess us up, or having a hard time during our first experiences with the oh-my-God-there-so-many-Boss-fights, maybe the new 3D special stages, or those exotic routes you found by a remote chance and when replayed you could not find, and asked yourself "where the hell was it?"
But all of those things could mean nothing if it wasn't for the magic this game has... It's so genuine that is so hard to let it go. During tough times in my life it made me ask myself "why isn't there a bit of magic like in this game?". I know it sounds exaggerated, but that's how much it changed me.
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Last Updated
Content for this page last edited:
10th September 2009

Files last uploaded for this page:
8th September 2009

Recent Notes
Special Stage Rings
Posted by dinosaur202 on 17th April 2016

Miscellaneous Notes
Posted by Anonymous on 16th August 2015

Special Stage Rings
Posted by SonicTailsKnuckles on 31st October 2014

Act 2 Boss
Posted by Anonymous on 8th October 2014

Point #3
Posted by Ratchet 0203 on 8th October 2014

56 notes posted on this page in total