Final Fortress’ theme will be playing in my head as me and 2 of my friends destroy an AI data center

The fact that this stage was made by one guy while he was ACTIVLY DYING from overwork due to having to have made Basically EVERY OTHER LEVEL in the game solo show how much genius this poor man had.

6:18 fun fact, the reason Knuckles asks if Tails is gonna be ok is because Tails has a fear of lightning, which is shown in both the Sonic OVA and the recent IDW Comics. Shows how good of friends they are that Knuckles knows that about Tails

10:24 My personal headcanon for Hang Castle/Mystic Mansion's Eggman Neo Statue is that the Hang Castle is a weird paranormal force completely separate from the Eggman Empire, and whatever ghostly forces are residing there were trying to use weird visions to communicate to the Heroes who their real enemy is in all of this. With how much Neo Metal Sonic was hiding his true intentions from everyone else until the last possible moment, it doesn't seem in character that he would've built this statue basically outing himself.

18:59 Big is dead. Big is dead and you're all just laughing at him.

This video nearly makes me forget how many game overs I had on this stage:_SRank:

How did Eggman afford all the ships? Omega refers to the robots that get defeated as 'Consumer Models' - Eggman is the arms/weapons dealer here, and that rakes it in. In Final Fortress specifically, he ever refers to the E-2000s as 'being in production' too.

the adventure era had such good payoffs as you reached the end, no wonder people love this stage and levels like final rush

0:12 The gang decide to stop him and win.

Fun fact about the giant laser at the end

As a kid, I was the type to mash the button (as my first Sonic game was Shadow 05, and this was my 2nd, so of course I assumed similar mechanics), but I actually did find a way around the giant laser - switch to Tails and just fly as high as I can on specifically the rightmost rail, and he'll be high enough to not get singed.

Though yeah learning how the rails actually work definitely makes it a lot easier!

EDIT: turns out I am experienced enough at this game that I forgot how I dodged the laser when I didn't know how hahah

"2003 couldn't pull this off"
The humble thunderstorm conveniently obscuring most of the exterior:

6:28, ABSOLUTELY agreed!
He's so cute.

17:45 Fun fact: if you fly to the left side of the door where the Team Rose self-destruction switch should be, you'll actually find the switch floating in the air. Activating a team blast for the speed shoes and flying over to it will actually activate the switch too, although there isn't any new dialogue.

Final Egg: Best music.
Final Rush: Best gameplay.
Final Fortress: Best setting.

It may not technically be the final stage in Heroes, but Egg Fleet easily deserves a nod. That has a case for the best stage in Sonic period.

YES! also for the jankiness, this what made Heroes the best Sonic game, you're not restricted to the point it lets you do what should be impossible jumps, true freedom.

I think we can thank Takashi Izzuka for this grand final level. The scale, music and final lazer section. The only thing I hate about this stage is the Team Chaotix extra mission: finish the level too fast or too slow and you can forget about getting an A-rank.

4:55 THE BASS DRUM!!!

This is legitimately one of my favorite themes from any Sonic game ever solely because of that breakdown in the middle. The subtlety of that pulse makes your heart beat faster, like you're really feeling the whole pressure of the situation you're in fighting on that behemoth of a ship. It's the silent carry of the whole song, and I can't think of any other theme giving off that perfect of a vibe- even if the song itself is criminally short.


Thank you for talking about this stage because I have been holding onto this tangent for AGES!!!!

hold the hell up how has it taken me TWENTY TWO YEARS to realize Final Fortress is a mechanical Whale Shark

Final Fortress has been my favourite stage since I first played it, and it probably always will. The design is incredible. The soundtrack is phenomenal. No other stage has ever captured the sesne of scale, tension, and hype that Final Fortress has for me. The perfect ending to the best game in the series.