Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Ollie sings the praises of the game's third zone, Marble Garden...
I used to own a Sega Mega Drive when I was younger (well, truth be told, it was my brother’s, but when he upgraded to a PS1, the Mega Drive was passed down to me), and although I played several classics like Flashback, Probotector, and the hilarious Ren and Stimpy: Stimpy’s Invention, I always went back to Sonic the Hedgehog 3.
I owned Sonic 2 as well, of course (and I think I had the original, too), but to me, its Hirokazu Yasuhara-directed sequel felt infinitely more accomplished across the board and, as a seven-year-old at the time, I only wanted to play the very latest games. If it was newer, it was better, right? Thankfully, I’ve become a bit more sophisticated in more recent years when it comes to video game analysis, though I will always maintain that Sonic 3 is the absolute pinnacle of Sega’s flagship franchise.
That said, I don’t think it gets off to the very best of starts. The first zone, Angel Island, is a perfectly fine opening stage that I think does a good job of distinguishing itself from the copy/paste job of Sonic 2’s Emerald Hill. Otherwise, I don’t find it particularly memorable bar the strangely apocalyptic encounter with the Fire Breath Badnik. On the flip side, the second zone, Hydrocity, is memorable for all the wrong reasons. Sure, it’s not as egregious as some of the franchise’s most frustrating water levels, but it’s still a water level, and that's quite enough for me.
For me, Sonic 3 doesn’t truly begin until you reach the third zone, Marble Garden. This is where the game transcends Sonic 2 to become the very best of the franchise. It’s just perfect. Now, I know there are going to be a few of you rolling your eyes right about now, because yes, those spinning top platforms can be a bit frustrating, and yes, the fake-out spike enemies are a right nuisance, but for me, this is what makes Marble Zone stand out so much. It’s just a boatload of nonsense, and it’s great fun!
It also happens to be one of the most visually pleasing levels in the game. The bright green grass gently fading into the parallax-scrolling background is genuinely stunning, and this is only augmented further by the gorgeous ancient architecture and various flora dotted about the environment. It’s the kind of cheery, carefree sort of level that you’d expect to find right at the beginning of a Sonic game, but putting it third allows for some truly devious obstacles to juxtapose the otherwise jaunty tone, not to mention the absurd sense of verticality with the multiple steep slopes and underground segments.
Not only that, but Act 1 in particular features what I deem to be one of the greatest music tracks in Sonic’s history. Yes, I know the original version of Carnival Night Zone is an absolute banger, but Marble Garden just about edges it thanks to its irresistible beat. Seriously, just press play on the YouTube video down below and try to get through the whole thing without at least tapping your foot to the beat. You can’t.
So in short, Marble Garden Zone is, in my opinion, probably the greatest of Sonic’s 2D levels, or at least one of the greatest. The visuals, the gameplay, and the music all add up to an unforgettable experience, and we sincerely hope that Sonic Team gives Green Hill Zone a bit of a break and shows Marble Garden a bit more love in the future.
What do you make of Sonic 3's Marble Garden Zone? (579 votes)
- It's perfect; one of Sonic's very best zones
- It's great, but not my favourite
- It's fine, I guess..?
- I'm not too keen on it
- Ew, no, away with it
- This isn't Mario..?
So what do you make of Sonic the Hedgehog 3's Marble Garden Zone? Does it rank amongst your favourite Sonic levels? Let your opinion be known by voting in the poll and leaving a comment.
Comments 39
I prefer Stardust Speedway(with the bad future, music, so good)
-guess this aint a sonic 3 zone though lol
Haha, this is by far the worst zone in S3+Knux along with the carnival one
For an article about Marble Garden being the 'best zone', I expected it to be a bigger part of the article.
I never really thought much of it, but Marble Garden is pretty unique with it's level design and mechanics. The boss battle is also quite different from the rest, at least within the bosses in vanilla Sonic 3.
Personally, Hydrocity Zone is my favorite. I feel that it's a water zone done right. It keeps you moving relatively quickly though the water parts. Plus, the music is fantastic!
@Servbot_EJ Hyrdocity zone is probably the only good water level in Sonic History but its not only good its REALLY GOOD
Is this another "opposite take" article? I don't really Sonic enough to know.
Marble Garden is definitely one of the Sonic levels of all time!
Ice Cap is my favorite, but Hydrocity Zone, especially Act 2, is absolutely great. When I was a kid, I hated Hydrocity Zone. I rarely made it to the miniboss, and when I did make it that far the mad-dash run that begins Act 2 was where my game usually ended.
"Hydrocity is so hard"
You've never experienced sonic on hard mode until you've emulated advance 2 ice paradise while lagging on a touchscreen. 😂
It's ok, but it's not Cosmic Angel Zone, especially Act 1.
Ice cap is my favorite from Sonic 3 it was probably the first zone where I really understood the branching paths since for years I had no idea there was water in it! It blew my mind and then finding big rings in there was all the more exciting. Also the song is insane. Such a shame origins doesn't have it.
I "like" marble garden but I don't think the music is super great. And that act two boss fight is kind of a nightmare for me still.
It's far from my favourite, took my 8-year old self so many tries to beat the act 2 boss. However, the music track, together with Hydrocity zone, is by far the best in the series, so funky!
Funny, this was my absolute least favorite level in the game. Then again, I'm not a big fan of Sonic gameplay.
I love the Robotnik fight, but beyond that, the only good thing I have to say about Marble Garden Zone is that I don't have anything bad to say about it.
I've got to kick in another vote for Ice Cap Zone.
I love Marble Garden Zone like most but the best? Not a chance! It's maybe better than the boring Angel Island Zone. Hydrocity, Carnival Night, Launch Base, Ice Cap, Sandopolis, Flying Battery, pretty much everything else in the game is better. Same for Sonic 1 and 2, it's one of the worst actually, still enjoy it but the others are more fun.
I could never get behind the Sonic 3 main sprite. I think it also came out at a time where I was leaving games behind (before coming back with the Saturn), so I only played it years later, on Sonic Jam initially. To me, it's my least favourite of the Mega Drive games but I don't really know why. I just prefer the music and graphics in the first two games I think.
It’s ok. It lacks the character of Angel Island, Carnival Night or Ice Cap Zone. Hydrocity Zone is by far the most thrilling level. It’s better than Launch Base Zone, which is a bit of a drag at times. It’s fine.
It's fine. Ice Cap is my favourite and Hydrocity rocks, too. Fun ice and water levels?? What madness is this?
That image with him making a 3 always creeped me out as a kid.
I didn’t like sonic 3 very much but i did like hydrocity zone.
Yeah I disagree with this. Hydrocity is my favorite zone in the game. It’s got the best music track, the best level design, a fairly decent mid boss and Robotnik boss, and it’s the only water level I actually love in any game.
Could never get into sonic 3 or sonic and knuckles as a teen. I think it was just the age thing, i was 15 when 3 came out and however much older when knuckles came out. So while I played and loved sonic 1,2, and cd; 3 and knuckles hit during that weird “cute games suck” phase of my childhood.
Here I am now though, 30 years later and finally digging into sonic and knuckles via the origins release and ive found the levels confounding. They remind me a lot of mania(which i love) but have the same characteristics that make it so i always hit the 10min timer for something like 50% of the levels. The origins release also ia extremely long, which I am not sure if 3 was.(i have a feeling its the lock on version perhaps)
Either way, marble hill is a great level, but i prefer the lava levels myself for 3. Beyond that, i think mania overall is better across the board, but that doesn’t take anything away from 3, which is amazing. My only regret is holding off playing it for so long.
@Runex2121
The level design in some of S3 is wild stuff at times. They really wanted to show off what they could do with a large storage size and how they had learned the Genesis over the years.
I agree that Marble Garden has possibly the best music in the franchise, but yeah gameplay-wise it sucks. Sonic 2 is still the superior title 😎
@Markiemania95 Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic 2 are both better games. 3 gets better toward the end, which does flow nicely into Knuckles, but as a solo title it's not great.
It's a good zone, the sound and visuals are great and unique. That Act 2 Robotnik battle in the sky is still really cool to this day. Some cool yet simultaneously frustrating gameplay mechanics. I think Launch Base is probably my least favorite of the Sonic 3 side of S3+K zones, the first 5 are decent to awesome. If I had to rank my preference overall from favorite to least favorite:
Hydrocity
Angel Island
Marble Garden Zone=Ice Cap Zone
Carnival Night
Launch Base
the worst zones ever is metropolis zone from sonic 2 where those star fish,krabs and mantis hit you unfair way and the dreaded water slide level from the first game especially trying to find a bubble before drowning.
I never understood why Sonic 2 is ranked higher than Sonic 3 and even Sonic & Knuckles.
Don’t get me wrong, Sonic 2 is phenomenal but to me Sonic 3 (& Knuckles) cripples the previous entries. Marble Garden’s music is top notch.
All the music is still stuck in my head from 3 and knuckles and likely always will until I’m dead.
Well crap now I wanna play the game having talked about it.
I want my wife and I’s tombstones to “lock on” to one another like the Genesis cartridges did.
Possibly the second worst zone in both vanilla S3 AND the complete S3&K (Carnival Night is the worst).
I prefer Angel Island and Icecap, but Marble Garden is good — so many giant rings to find! I always get to enjoy super form there.
Considering S&K as part of Sonic 3 I also prefer all of those zones except the desert.
Man S3&K still has yet to be topped for best Sonic game imo. The Super Emeralds plot line is so cool, and the boss feels less out of nowhere than other sonic games.
@Ultimapunch did you read the article..?
Hydrocity is #1 easily, and Marble Garden is something I'd be fine never playing again. But I clicked the article just to comment about how wrong the article was, so I guess you ultimately win, author.
Not one mention of the doomsday zone? That was simply awesome! Mushroom hill was also quite chilled and fun.
@Servbot_EJ Agree, the music for Hydrocity pt2 is probably the finest from all sonic games.
Marble garden is a nice level, probably one of my favourites from the game.
IceCap Zone will forever be my favourite from Sonic 3. I guess my profile pic also shows that.
I wouldn't put it near the top of my favoutites but I suppose it is one of the more memorable ones, in a sea of levels that are largely based on the same scenery (in modern times). Ice Cap definitely one of the best, if not for the music alone (screw the replacement music), but I'd say the strongest levels are in the &Knuckles part of the game.
Marble Zone is my favorite Sonic 3 level but that's not saying much as I think Sonic 3 has consistently mediocre level design. I really don't like a single stage very much at all, and I'll never understand the people who like it more than Sonic 2.
In particular, Ice Cap Zone gets so much praise, but I feel like that's down to great music and the cool snowboard opening, but the level layout itself always felt tedious to me.
That's a weird way to spell Carnival Night Zone!
Music is good, but I have more memories of getting lost and the timer running out for it to be a favourite!
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