Sonic the Hedgehog: Mixed-Up Madness



Sonic the Hedgehog: Mixed-Up Madness is an upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog game that will be released on the PlayStation 4, XBOX One, Nintendo Switch, and PC in 2021. This game celebrates the 30th anniversary of the franchise and combines levels from all across the 30-year history of Sonic.

Story
After years of defeat at the hands of Sonic, Dr. Eggman's plan of global domination has finally been completed. He's built a machine called the "Dimension Mixer" that will mix up dimensions from all across the universe! With this contraption, he'll be able to rule every corner in the universe with an iron fist, and bring Eggmanland back to its former glory! In order to test this new creation out, he took it to Green Hill Zone on South Island, where Sonic and his friends Tails and Knuckles just happened to be at that very moment. Everything seemed to be going as planned, but when Eggman activated the Dimension Mixer, it spiraled out of control, not only sucking in Green Hill Zone but also many locations that Sonic had visited over the years, and even the rivals themselves! Soon, everything was black... there was no telling as to what was going on... until they came to.

About 10 minutes later, Sonic woke up and soon made a shocking discovery: EVERYTHING WAS MIXED UP! Green Hill was mixed with Emerald Hill, Marble Garden with Mystic Cave, it was all a mess! Even places from Blaze's world, such as Plant Kingdom and Machine Labyrinth, were caught in all the madness. What had Dr. Eggman done this time?! Not wanting to let this slide, the heroes braced for action once again and sped off into the void, hoping to return everything back to the way it was before this foul scheme had officially commenced.

After blasting through the crazy mishmash of Green Hill, Emerald Hill, and Leaf Storm, they eventually found Dr. Eggman, who was surprised everything worked out the way it did, albeit with him being sucked in too. It was then after discussing just what on Earth happened that the truth was revealed: Eggman could rule every dimension from inside his own machine! This enraged Sonic and his friends, which prompted a quick boss battle against a familiar machine from the first adventure 30 years ago.

After a swift defeat, Eggman revealed the truth behind the whole operation and about the whole plan to bring back Eggmanland. Furthermore, he said that he was feeling generous, and gave the heroic trio 3 days to revert everything back to the way it was before. Should they succeed, he would leave them in peace and give up on the whole operation. If they failed, Eggmanland would finally return to the world, and everything would be ruled with an iron fist, including Sonic and his friends themselves!

And with that, he zoomed away, leaving the heroes clueless as to where they would go next. Just then, the ground started to shake and move as the 3 zones they went through separated and flew out of the Dimension Mixer. It was revealed to them that if they ran through every mashed up place inside the machine and defeat Eggman in them, the locations will separate and fly out of the machine. But they had 2 important questions on their minds: Thanks to the genius of Tails, they were able to create a little map as to what locations were where and how much time they had left to save everything they knew and loved. There were 7 other mashed up areas throughout the Dimension Mixer, and they found out that there was no time to waste. They soon high-tailed it to wherever the next location was, determined to save their world, as well as various others throughout the universe.
 * 1) How many more locations are there to save?
 * 2) How much time do they have left?

(The player has control as to where Sonic/Tails/Knuckles goes next. The next 7 zones are now unlocked and can be played in any order, but all of them must be cleared before the 9th and final zone of the story can be unlocked.)

After the 8th zone has been cleared, the trio soon chases Eggman into the final mashed up area that, somehow, wasn't able to be tracked by Tails. They soon made a grim discovery: The Death Egg has been rebuilt yet again and is about to be launched into space! This sent bad chills down everybody's spine. What was Eggman planning this time?! It was then that they noticed something on the face of the Death Egg. The nose had been replaced by a giant laser beam... and it was aiming straight at everything inside the Dimension Mixer.

It was now a race against the clock to jump inside Eggman's evil contraption and destroy the weapon, but there were 2 problems in their way. All paths leading to the Death Egg had been blocked except for one: the Launch Base Zone... and they had only 10 minutes to get there. Knowing that there was no time to waste, they bolted through the crumbling zone and made it in the nick of time just as it was taking off. But it didn't take long for them to be spotted by the Death Egg's large security force. However, no security was going to stop the heroic trio from defeating Eggman.

There just happened to be a map that showed the location of everything inside Eggman's base of operations. As it turns out, the giant laser beam was right in the center of the Death Egg. With their plan in action, they charged straight toward the core, defeating every robot and security measure that stood in their way. After they destroyed the main threat, Eggman descended down to them, enraged that the main part of his plan had been eliminated. He then said that if it was a fight that they wanted, it was a fight that they were gonna get, and that he would meet them at the very top of the Death Egg.

On their way there, security went all out in catching the heroes. One by one, each robot charged at them, only to be run over by Sonic or punched to pieces by Knuckles. The final battle was straight ahead, and nothing was gonna stop them from defeating Eggman once again. Upon finally arriving, he was waiting for them as happy as evil could be, but had one more trick up his sleeve. Revealed from a curtain, he pulled out the Ultra Hyper Prototype-2, which turned out to be an upgraded version of one of his mechs from Sonic Unleashed, and he captured Tails and Knuckles! Knowing that he was all alone, Sonic pulled out all the stops, defeating the mad doctor once again and saving his friends.

After putting an end to Eggman's schemes once again, the Death Egg started to self-destruct, with all of them inside it! Eggman made a swift escape, but as for the heroes, there was no other way out than the way they came back in. They made a run for the exit as the place was collapsing all around them, making their way out just before it crashed into the lake below in Launch Base. But that only made the situation worse, as the Dimension Mixer started to glitch out and shut down while they were trying to catch their breaths from the life-or-death dash. Yet, it turned out to also be their savior, because just as the corruption was about to reach them, Launch Base separated from Death Egg and started to fly out of the machine, taking the heroes with it.

Not long after their escape, the Dimension Mixer exploded like an Animal Capsule, dooming Dr. Eggman's latest plan to failure. It was an adventure that they did not expect, but they were happy that everything they knew and loved was saved. As they sped off towards wherever the land took them, Eggman was flying away to his lab, his Egg Mobile smoking. He muttered that this was not the end, and that he would be back to take over the world by storm when Sonic was least expecting it.

Gameplay
Sonic the Hedgehog: Mixed-Up Madness features 3 playable characters, each with their different playstyles: Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower, and Knuckles the Echidna. All of the levels have been constructed to work around the different characters and feature multiple paths and hidden secrets to encourage the player to play them multiple times to discover everything each level has to offer.

General Controls
Although all 3 characters have different moves related to their different playstyles, they all share the same general controls. These controls are:
 * Left Analog Stick or D-Pad (XBOX One, PS4, Switch)/Arrow Keys (PC): Move
 * A Button (XBOX One)/X Button (PS4)/B Button (Switch)/X Key (PC): Jump
 * Down + Jump (All Systems): Spin Dash (Tails and Knuckles only)
 * B Button (XBOX One)/Circle Button (PS4)/A Button (Switch)/C Key (PC): Attack

Sonic the Hedgehog
As the fastest character of the trio, Sonic's gameplay focuses on high-speed and quick precision gameplay. Moves like the Boost, Homing Attack, Stomp, Slide, and Lightspeed Dash can allow him to keep the fast action going. Where he may lack when it comes to power, he makes up for it with pure adrenaline. His character-specific controls are:
 * X Button (XBOX One)/Square Button (PS4)/Y Button (Switch)/Z Key (PC): Boost
 * Jump Twice in Midair: Double Jump
 * Jump Twice while Locked On an Enemy: Homing Attack
 * Down + Jump in Midair: Stomp
 * Right Trigger (XBOX One)/R1 Button (PS4)/R Button (Switch)/D Key (PC): Slide
 * Boost Button in front of Ring Trail: Lightspeed Dash

Miles "Tails" Prower
As sort of the middle ground between Sonic and Knuckles, Tails' gameplay focuses less on speed and combat and more on exploration. Using his trademark flying ability, he's able to get to areas that Sonic or Knuckles can't really reach, which allows him to discover more secrets. He can also use weapons such as a Dummy Ring Bomb or his weapons from his own solo adventures. He may not be as fast as Sonic or as strong as Knuckles, but nothing's gonna stop him from helping out his friends in saving what they know and love. His character-specific controls are:
 * Jump Twice in Midair: Fly
 * Left Trigger-Right Trigger (XBOX One)/L1-R1 Button (PS4)/L-R Button (Switch)/A-S Keys (PC): Weapon Switch
 * Weapons Available Are: Electric Cannon, Dummy Ring Bomb, Remote Bomb, Napalm Bomb, Triple Bomb, and Hammer
 * X Button (XBOX One)/Square Button (PS4)/Y Button (Switch)/Z Key (PC): Item Radar

Knuckles the Echidna
As a powerhouse hitter, Knuckles' gameplay is focused on combat. He's able to take down strong enemies in 1 or 2 hits whereas it would take 3 or 4 for Sonic and Tails. He's also able to climb up and down walls using the spikes on his fists and glide through the air, which, like Tails, can help him reach secrets that Sonic or Tails cannot normally reach due to their specific abilities. However, due to the fact that he mainly focuses on his supernatural strength, his acrobatic skills have taken a hit, meaning he cannot jump as high as Sonic and Tails and is also the slowest character in the trio, but he makes up for it with his intense power. His character-specific controls are:
 * Jump Twice in Midair: Glide
 * Up + Down while on Wall: Climb

Zones
As the celebration game for Sonic the Hedgehog's 30th Anniversary, the game's zones are mashups of levels from all across the franchise, going from as early as Green Hill in 1991 to as recent as Tropical Resort in 2010. Additionally, the game's levels are mashed up by theme, similar to a Mario game (grass levels, desert levels, ice levels, etc.), but with a Sonic twist. It also references both Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog 4, as the first zone must be completed before the player can access the other 7 zones. Once they are unlocked, they have free reign as to what's the next zone they can play, but all 7 must be cleared before the 9th and final zone can be unlocked. After the final zone is cleared and the player selects the file again, a 10th bonus zone is opened up.