Green Hill Zone

Green Hill Zone
File:SonicSymbol.png
Universe	Sonic
Appears in	SSBB
Availability	Unlockable
Unlock criteria	Unlock Sonic.
Crate type	Presents
Tracks available	Green Hill Zone Angel Island Zone Scrap Brain Zone Emerald Hill Zone Sonic Boom Super Sonic Racing Open Your Heart Live & Learn Sonic Heroes Right There, Ride On HIS WORLD (Instrumental) Seven Rings in Hand Bolded tracks must be unlocked
Tournament legality Brawl Singles: Banned Doubles: Banned

Green Hill Zone (グリーンヒルゾーン) is the stage that represents Sonic the Hedgehog in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. It is unlocked after Sonic himself is unlocked. The midsection is a half-pipe that crumbles away if it attacked too much during the course of the fight. There are also checkpoint lampposts that can be hit to spin around to hurt other players once they are blue. These only deal 10% damage, but has decent knockback with KO capabilities. In the background is a giant shuttle loop with a 1-Up video monitor above it. The background also consists of various other parts of the Green Hill Zone.

Origin

Green Hill Zone as it originally appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog.

This stage originates from the first area in Sonic the Hedgehog (1991), Green Hill Zone. Green Hill Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog is depicted as being a lush paradise. The stage, almost ten years later, would reappear as an easter egg in Sonic Adventure 2, bringing the stage to a 3D state for the first time. In Brawl, there are many references to elements from both of the Green Hill Zone stages that are in the background: palm trees, flowers, spikes, rings, checkered soil, etc.

Green Hill Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog also features a shuttle loop, which in order to get progress through the level, the player has to run through by gaining enough speed. The shuttle loop has been retained in Brawl and is in the background. Ever since Sonic the Hedgehog, the shuttle loop has become a prominent feature in later Sonic games. Another prominenet feature in Sonic games are Item Boxes, which contain certain items depending on the image it is showing. If the item box has an image of Sonic's head, it gives the player an extra life, which is the same Item Box that is seen on top of the shuttle loop in Brawl.

There are certain spots in Green Hill Zone where the ground will crumble down when stepped on. They are more particularly located at the edge of cliffs. In Brawl, the middle of the stage crumbles if heavily damaged. Throughout Sonic the Hedgehog, there are "lamp posts" with a blue bulb on top that servea as checkpoints and are activated when the player runs past them. Also, when they are activated, the top section spins for a short period of time and the bulb turns red. In Brawl, the posts occasionally appear on stage and can only be activated by attacking the bulb. They serve as a stage hazard when activated as it spins and delivers knockback to whoever comes in contact.

There are three Sonic characters that can occasionally be seen running through the shuttle loop: Miles "Tails" Prower, who first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and is one of Sonic's friends; Knuckles the Echidna, who made his debut in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and is both Sonic's rival and friend; and Silver the Hedgehog, who debuted in Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) and is also one of Sonic's friends.

Tournament Legality

The west view of Green Hill Zone.

On March 17th 2009, the BBR announced that the stage should be banned, as opposed to its former status as a counterpick, and the stage has since been universally banned in tournament play. Many players take issue with Green Hill Zone for its extremely campy nature. The most effective strategy when fighting here is to camp the signposts, which have a centralising effect due to their significant defensive power for an already highly defensive game, and this can severely elongate the flow of the match. Another major issue with the stage is its deep slope design, which besides being awkward to fight on, players can DI and tech into the slope, creating a cave of life effect that allows them to potentially live to extreme percentages. Furthermore, both sides of the stage have permanent walk-off edges, favoring chain throws or simply camping the edge; the frequent absence of a lower blast-line also negates any off-stage play.

Trivia

• When playing as Pokémon Trainer, he stands on top of the loop.
• Sometimes, the bridge will slow down an attack like Spin Dash or Wario Bike.
• A mistake currently exists in the Spanish and United Kingdom versions of the DOJO!! of this stage's page: instead of displaying the Sonic universe icon, Sonic's head's silhouette, it has the symbol of the Mario universe, which is a mushroom.^[1]
• Green Hill Zone is the only stage to have only one remixed music track.
• When a section of the stage regenerates, if a player is below the regenerated ground, they will fall through the ground.

Gallery

• 

  (From right to left) Tails, Silver and Knuckles running in the background.

• 

  The Green Hill zone as seen in Sonic Adventure 2.

External links

• DOJO!! Update
• Green Hill Zone in action
• Serebii.net's Page on Green Hill Zone (stage)