Zone: 0 > Sonic 1 > Green Hill Zone

Sonic the Hedgehog - 1991 - Sega Mega Drive/Genesis - Primary Platformer

Background Info Gameplay Stages and Story Other Modes Miscellaneous Downloads

The very first Sonic zone ever made and still probably the most well known after all these years. The palm trees, the orange chequered hillsides, the spiky flowers; The original introductory tropical zone, set in and around a rocky bay. You don't get any more nostalgic than this. It's designed to be fast and simple, with long open stretches, twisting tunnels and loop-de-loops, but watch out for classic badniks and large spike pits.

Appearance Level Structure Features and Obstacles Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Miscellaneous Notes

Game: Sonic the Hedgehog

Stage Number: 1

Level Division: 3 Acts

Boss: End of Act 3

Playable Characters: Sonic

Difficulty Rating:

Music: ..contributed by guest writer Flint
The Classic Sonic Tune, no doubt given its reputation on basis of it being the very first Sonic song (excluding the intro jingle) ever heard by the players. The song begins rather triumphantly, as if to celebrate our blue hero's first steps in the world. As the steady bassline keeps a constant rhythm under the music, the song lowers down to a more speedier approach before slowing down to a beautiful and moody, almost melancholy yet optimistic section before starting again from the beginning. Whilst some might argue that the fast-paced song might not really fit the rather slow (in Sonical measures) level, it is nonetheless a classic tune - not only because of its historical factor, but also because it's just that damn great. Same music for all three acts.

Typical Length:

Act 1: 30 - 40 seconds
Act 2: 40 - 50 seconds
Act 3: 1 minute - 1 minute, 30 seconds

Available Items:


Act 1	151	2	7	1	2	0	0
Act 2	123	1	4	2	1	1	1
Act 3	123	4	11	3	3	1	2

Green Hill Zone Downloads:

Level Maps:	Act 1 map (.png, 673kb) Act 2 map (.png, 655kb) Act 3 map (.png, 778kb)
Music:	Green Hill Zone (.mp3, 2.86mb)
Art:	Official badnik art (.jpg, 146kb)
Misc:	Green Hill Zone Papercraft (.zip, 989kb) A paper cutout model of Green Hill Zone bits and pieces, released by the Sonic Channel as part of Sonic's 15th Anniversary in 2006.

Top Tips

- By far the biggest danger to watch out for are the long pits of spikes, as you can often die almost instantly in them. They mostly lurk near the bottom of the stage.

- Look for item boxes hidden in the palm trees all over the place. Jump at them from below to knock them down, or just leap straight into them.

Some palm trees conceal hidden item boxes.

Each section of this page allows users to add their own notes to fill in any missing details or supply additional research etc.

View/add general notes for Green Hill Zone (7)

#1. Comment posted by Bcadren on Wednesday, 11th June 2008, 1:29am (UTC)

I can remember doing Act 1 in 29 seconds, Act II in 27 seconds and Act III in 57 seconds (including Robotnik). May I suggest adding "fastest path" and "greatest ring bonus path" to the maps? I could probably do it myself on every level other than "Star Light", personally Star Light has always been Fast, Fast, OMG there's the exit. So I have no clue on it.

#2. Comment posted by Mario133 on Tuesday, 24th June 2008, 6:58am (UTC)

Adding fastest path would be a great idea.

Act 1 29sec
Act 2 28sec
Act 3 1min 8sec

#3. Comment posted by CrUiZ3R on Thursday, 21st May 2009, 7:47am (UTC)

Fastest possible times:
Act 1: 24 secs
Act 2: 13 secs
Act 3: 30 secs

Fastest HUMAN Times: (as of today according to The Sonic Center)
Act 1: 24 secs
Act 2: 13 secs
Act 3: 31 secs

Act 2 involves a glitch. Otherwise 19 is the fastest. If there were to be route maps glitches and zips would have to be considered.

#4. Comment posted by Anonymous on Thursday, 21st May 2009, 11:30pm (UTC)

My record time on Act 1 is 30 secs.... I don't see how 24 is possible.

#5. Comment posted by CrUiZ3R on Monday, 6th July 2009, 12:10pm (UTC)

Well you're not trying hard enough ;P. 25 seconds is definitely possible. 24 just requires cheeky tactics (such as hiting the underside of monitors to keep speed in the air) and alot of insane skill. tasvideos.org has a Run of Sonic 1 including Green Hill 1 in 24 seconds (and Scrap Brain 3 in 10 D:). Check them out and relish in awe.

#6. Comment posted by Anonymous on Monday, 27th July 2009, 5:19am (UTC)

The world record for Green Hill zone act 1 is a mind blowing time of 24 seconds! Personally I have gotten 25 seconds, but it's very tough. I suggest editing the time section.

#7. Comment posted by Anonymous on Friday, 26th February 2010, 3:17pm (UTC)

I thought the time section was just a general time for people playing the game normally, as opposed to speed runners or TASers.

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The public's first introduction to the Sonic world is set in a brightly coloured tropical bay, surrounded by rocky cliffs and waterfalls. The name is slightly deceptive in that it's more of a blue sky and water zone, but that would make a rubbish name for a level so they stuck with Green Hill. The background is made up of a large, clear lake, with rocky brown banks on the other side that are littered with areas of thick green bushes and trees, and an occasional waterfall. Beyond that are pointed canyons looking over the bay and a blue afternoon sky above, with small, fast-moving clouds floating across if you have the Japanese version of the game. They're stationary otherwise.

The surrounding ground carries an orange and brown square chequered pattern across it (the first of many) with various abstract extrusions and intrusions in the rock, and grass covering the broken-up surfaces above. All over the place, you'll find tall palm trees with leaves that resemble folded card, and flowers and plants that rise up and down or have spinning, spiky petals. Totem poles boasting simple facial expressions are typical staples of this zone, as are clear waterfalls that cascade down to the bottom of the level, below wooden rope bridges that react to Sonic's weight. The most easily-recognized and characteristic kind of environment in all of the Sonic legacy, and one that has been reproduced many times, in one way or another.

Log bridges descend slightly under Sonic's weight in classic style.

In lower sections, you can see the waterfalls in the immediate background coming from below those bridges.

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This level is designed specifically to be fast and fairly simple, to draw attention to the game's ground-breaking use of speed and non-stop action. That said, its multiple routes welcome the more adventurous player as well. The normal route along the ground is simplistic and open, with some long and fairly straight paths, with gentle slopes and a very basic rightward-only direction. There are chunks of ground set at different heights to create steps, some with curved edges, or connected via dipping log bridges. Rather than just being based on big chunks of ground that just sit in the air, everything is built on a foundation of the orange chequered ground, so there are some patches of it that reach up high into the level. The long, open areas are also the birthplace of the classic Sonic the Hedgehog loop-de-loop, which you'll need to run towards at full speed, or you won't have enough momentum to get through it to the other side.

Make sure you approach the loop-de-loops with enough speed, or you'll never make it through!

At various points along the path, you have an option to instead take a higher route and hop along platforms to reach high up ledges. A more difficult alternative is to venture below the surface, where you'll be surrounded by the orange chequered ground that reaches up to support the higher paths. It's generally more difficult down there, and falling into spike pits or off the edge of the screen to your instant death is not uncommon, but there are also healthy rewards around, for those who seek them. The level is a very short and mostly easy one, but pure classic all the way, with plenty of hidden areas to explore. However, don't take it as lightly as certain other introductory stages, as it can have a fairly lethal underbelly, based on those dangerous spike pits.

Some routes take you fairly high up, on small platforms and ledges...

..While lower routes, amongst the chequered ground, can be more dangerous with bottomless or spiked pits, both very deadly if you fall in.

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Beware the flimsy ledges protruding outwards, as they tend to collapse as Sonic stands on them.

As always from this level on, jump on the yellow and red springs to catapult yourself higher, sometimes found on the tops of the trees or the purple blocks, and sets of big nasty spikes are plentiful in this level, and painful if you land on their points. Read Point #3 below to see why they're probably the biggest danger in this otherwise simple zone. Thin horizontal platforms can sometimes fall when you stand on them, while others move back and forth over an area, or just stay motionless. Hop from one to the other accordingly. There are purple-ish rocks that don't really do anything, other than get in the way, but they can also be used to jump up to a higher ledge if need be. Don't stand around on ledges that stick out from the ground though, as they have a tendency to crumble and fall, and time your jumps carefully on small platforms that swing from one side to another like a pendulum, on a long chain.

Stand on the pendulum platforms as they swing 180 degrees, and you'll be carried across with them.

Twisting tunnels will send Sonic spinning out the other end or up into the air with great speed, and you may even be able to break through some hidden fake walls using Sonic's roll, with enough speed behind it. Look for edges of seemingly solid walls to the right that are slightly off-colour, and a bit yellow-ish, as shown in the screenshot below. To get through, take a good run up and hit the down button to roll right through. Some palm trees can hide item boxes that are only just visible through the leaves, or sometimes springs that lead up to a few rings or higher ledges. Finally, be careful when moving across long rotating logs peppered with sharp spikes. Jump on a smooth area of it and walk along with it at the same speed as it moves and you should be fine.

Look for the slight but noticeble discolouration of the chequered edges of breakable walls...

..Then take a run up and hit the down button to roll right through.

On these rotating spiked logs, either jump across carefully, or hop on a smooth area and walk across at the same speed as it rotates, so you'll constantly remain between two spiky bits.

Badniks Buzz Bomber, Moto Bug, Chopper, Crab Meat and red and green Newtrons.

Lets not forget about our first encounter with the devilish creations of Sonic's nemesis, Dr. Robotnik. There are five different badniks that are home to the Green Hill Zone including some of the most infamous machines in the Eggman catalogue, who would later encourage development of wave after wave of similar models in the later games. Remember, take out these guys by jumping or rolling into them, but you'll take damage if you touch them while you aren't in a spinning ball. Buzz Bombers are the classic wasp robot that zip from one area to another in the air, pausing only to try and shoot a small yellow projectile at you from its stinger. Probably the most basic badnik of them all, Moto-bug simply moves back and forth over a set area along the ground. Choppers, the fish badniks, leap up and down at you from waterfalls as you're crossing the bridges, while Crabmeats prefer a stationary ground-based assault. Beware of the projectiles that are occasionally thrown from their claws as they stagger around rather curiously, and watch out for the Newtrons, the masters of stealth. The red type will typically appear behind you and take the form of a missile that blasts along the ground towards you, while the more subtle green ones hide on the rocks, sneakily throwing a beam at you before disappearing again, and because of their positioning, they cannot be destroyed.

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Green Hill Zone Act 1 Map (PNG format, 673kb, 4862 x 640, Last updated 21 June 2007)

Early on in Act 1, part of the first ever set of objects and platforms.

Continue on, across the gap by using the spring, or drop to the route below.

Take the lower route at first opportunity to find 30 rings and a free Invincibility power-up. This is located just below the main route, and you can hop back up to it to the right from here.

This winding tunnel will send you flying out into Point #1.

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"Ring Heaven". If you don't touch the D-pad while you're sent flying out of the long, twisting tunnel near the end of Act 1 (and aren't going too fast when you enter it), you should be thrown into this classic batch of 30 rings, floating in the air. See how many you can grab! Try and bounce off the nearby badniks to get more.

Use the winding tunnel to soar into this large collection of rings.

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#1. Comment posted by CrUiZ3R on Thursday, 21st May 2009, 7:49am (UTC)

Actually if you go back to the tunnel and work your way back up then you can get all 30.

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Green Hill Zone Act 2 Map (PNG format, 655kb, 4096 x 623, Last updated 21 June 2007)

Green Hill Zone Act 2, early on.

Take the lower route (beginning at Point #2) and you'll eventually come to a spring that can catapult you up to the extra life atop this loop-de-loop.

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#1. Comment posted by Craig on Monday, 13th April 2009, 7:29pm (UTC)

An alternate method to get the extra life, avoiding the dangerous bottom route, is to use the speed-up shoes (next to the breakable wall) to jump from the edge of the platform near the three fish to the top of the loop.

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Take a run up to get up this steep curve.

Missed this swinging pendulum platform at the start of Act 2? Sonic doesn't invent the handy spindash move until his next game, so you'll need to take a run-up at that slope in order to get up it. Alternatively, you can head left to follow the longer, more treacherous subterranean route that has you jumping across platforms over a deadly pit of spikes (be extra careful, for the reason detailed just below). At the end of this you'll find a spring that catapults you to the top of a loop-de-loop, where an extra life awaits.

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There are several large pits of spikes throughout the level, usually at, or near the bottom. You have to be more careful here when passing over them than you might in another Sonic game, because a bug in the US/European and the original Japanese version of Sonic 1 means that if you land on a set of spikes, your temporary invincibility won't protect you if you fall back into the spikes immediately after. It should, but it doesn't, so you'll die instantly. It's not such a big deal on a single set of three spikes, as you usually bounce away from them upon impact, but be very careful when near a large pit full of them. Sometimes you actually slip through them and die at the bottom of the screen anyway.

A bug in most versions of the game means that you'll die instantly if you fall in a long pit of spikes, so take extra care!

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An Invincibility item is in the first tree after the curve. Your momentum up the curve will usually knock it down, or you can jump into the tree yourself.

Some of these tall platforms move up and down, so be careful because it's instant death if you fall!

This series of vertically-moving thin chunks of ground can be tough to negotiate at first, especially since instant death awaits you just below, if you fall on the spikes between them. I'd recommend grabbing the invincibility power-up, hidden in the first palm tree at the start of this section, thus stopping the badniks from having any say in the matter, and then take it slowly and carefully. Some ledges move, while others don't, and there's a checkpoint towards the end.

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Green Hill Zone Act 3 Map (PNG format, 778kb, 5630 x 768, Last updated 21 June 2007)

Checkpoint 1. There's a speed-up item in the tree just to the right of it, if you feel so inclined to take it.

This spring can be a bit of a nuissance as it can send you backwards after running across a long, speedy stretch. Don't let it throw you back, just jump over it.

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Taking the platform here can be risky, so grab the invincibility and hit the spring to go to the higher route.

Act 3 is slightly bigger, and a little more challenging for the lesser-skilled. Again, I'd recommend grabbing that hidden invincibility item box in the second tree from the start, and then hitting the spring, rather than taking the route of the moving platform on the right, which is tough to land on and you'll land right in the spike pit if you fail. Bear in mind that regardless of the chosen route, you're facing obstacles before you're given any rings here, so be careful. On an odd note, the background music usually seems to deviate slightly, and miss some bits of the tune at this point.

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Point #6 There's a hidden, lower route that begins early on here, which you'd completely miss if you were unaware of the breakable walls in the level. Get to the lower path as soon as you've passed the spike pit mentioned in the previous point, then roll down the hill, keeping your momentum until you reach the wall at the end. You should be able to knock straight through it and then a winding tunnel will deliver you to the secret lower area. Be very careful down here, as there is a death drop below a collapsing ledge, and plenty of spikes and opposing horizontal springs. When you reach the vertical yellow spring at the end, which can take you back up, instead of using it, jump over it and into the space between it and the spikes. Then jump over the spikes into the waterfall where you can find another secret area containing 50 rings and a top secret extra life!

Smash through this wall early on in the act to locate a secret route.

When you arrive here at the end of the route, land between the spring and the spikes and then hop over the spikes..

..to find yet more secrets behind the waterfall.

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Just be careful here, towards the end of Act 3. On that top path, wait for the pendulum platform to swing around, so that you can make it across safely. On the lower route, you can jump across more easily, with some decent momentum, but landing in the spikes can be fatal. From there, continue across the long path to the right to get to the boss.

On the lower route, take a good run up, and on the higher, make sure you time it very carefully and don't leap toward the swinging platform too early or late.

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#1. Comment posted by Evan on Thursday, 16th April 2009, 5:28am (UTC)

Note that there is a invincibility box hidden in one of the trees near the boss arena. A good well timed jump will help you snag it, and let you fight Egg-head without worrying about dodging attacks!

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Boss

Upon completion, open up the capsule to release the trapped animals inside and end the level.

Sonic's first clash with Dr. Eggman/Robotnik is one of the most famous videogame bosses ever. You'll notice two adjacent platforms on either side of the screen. Eggman will descend from the top right hand side, before bringing forth a giant pendulum from below his egg-mobile that he'll swing back and forth, in an attempt to hit you with it, while hovering across the top/middle of the arena. Your goal is to use the platforms to jump up at him and hit him anywhere on the egg-mobile 8 times. First, Use the right hand platform to get two or three of these hits in before he even has a chance to get into the swing of things (see what I did there?). After that, you'll need to carefully time your jumps so that you leap off a platform, hit him, and then fall in the space between Eggman and the pendulum, when it's swung towards you. Then, you can either jump up onto the opposite platform and repeat or if you're too close for comfort, hide under one of them, where it's safe. A beaten scientist, Eggman will flee in a panic, letting Sonic run forward and free his friends from the prison, drawing a close to one of the all-time great Sonic zones.

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- Ten years down the road in 2001, Sonic Adventure 2 (Sega Dreamcast and Nintendo Gamecube) featured a recreation of Green Hill Zone Act 1 in full 3D as a 10th anniversary treat for those that were skilled enough (and I emphasise that point) to obtain all 180 emblems in the game. Precise platforms and paths are quite faithfully restored, though perhaps a little bigger and longer. Maybe the level graphics aren't as rich as the game's own levels, and Moto Bugs, Crabmeats and Newtrons have sadly not lasted through their ten year absense, but everything else is there including palm trees, totem poles, big purple blocks and log bridges, and of course that incredibly infectious tune, also recreated.

Green Hill Act 1 in full 3D, a bonus level obtained after completing everything in Sonic Adventure 2. And that's not easy.

- More recently in 2008, Green Hill famously appeared as an unlockable battle stage in Smash Bros Brawl for the Nintendo Wii, a popular comical beat-em-up starring Nintendo characters, and in which Sonic guested as a playable character. The 2-dimensional battle area is a short path featuring a curve and slope in the middle, and a spinning checkpoint object that can whack characters clean off the stage. The central chunk of ground tends to collapse (strictly speaking it should really be the loose, crumbling edges of platforms, but lets not split hairs, eh?), bringing unfortunate players to their doom. Keep an eye on the loop-de-loop in the background, as Tails, Knuckles and even Silver the Hedgehog can be seen running through it at random intervals. A range of background music tracks are available including the original Green Hill theme, Scrap Brain, Emerald Hill, an excellent remix of Angel Island Zone, and a plethora of vocal themes from across the series. The arena is obtained along with Sonic when you unlock him, by completing the game's Subspace Emissary mode.

- Additionally, a toned-down version of the zone features in the Game Gear version of Sonic 1, Sonic Battle for the Gameboy Advance contains a hidden battle arena based on Green Hill and Sonic Advance 3's Sunset Hill boasts a remix of the background music. The area also reappears as the first hub world in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, RPG for Nintendo DS. In fact, the Green Hill Zone with its iconic orange checker patterns, palm trees and seaside landscape set the standard for most first levels in Sonic games to come, including Emerald Hill Zone, Palmtree Panic and Seaside Hill - all modelled closely after it.

- According to the official Sonic Jam Japanese strategy guide, which includes notes made by Sonic Team themselves, it took six months to finalise the level design and appearance of Green Hill, going through four or five different sets of graphics before finally settling on the ultimate outcome.

- In 2006, for Sonic's 15th anniversary, official Japanese website the Sonic Channel showed off a Green Hill Zone papercraft, printable pdf sheets that could be cut up and folded to create a range of Green Hill themed objects. I still have mine somewhere, still mostly held together last time I checked, surprisingly. Want to give it a try?

Green Hill, recreated via the fun-filled medium of printed, folded paper.