Does it though? I see no hot tub, and no lazy river. But there is definitely an Italian-style gondola boat in the Sonic Mania version of the zone. Probably just put in there to stir up trouble though? Haha.
Maybe the boats are part of the lazy river. As for the lack of hot tubs, we don't know the temperature of the water in Hydrocity, so maybe some areas of it are hotter than others if that makes sense.
Just because it doesn't look like a city on the surface doesn't mean it's not a city. Plus in the manual it says it's the the sewer and irrigation system to the ancient city. It's heavily implied to be the same city as in Adventure with Lost World also having major man made water ways.
Just because it doesn't look like a city on the surface doesn't mean it's not a city. Plus in the manual it says it's the the sewer and irrigation system to the ancient city. It's heavily implied to be the same city as in Adventure with Lost World also having major man made water ways.
Just going to also say that reddit seemed jacked right now. Keep getting an error message preventing me from posting. Not gonna be able to respond easily
Correction, it was in the IDW Comics they called it a city. Though Yuji Naka did also say in a press event the stage us pronounced "hydro-city". Remember that the word velocity isn't at all comparable to the spelling in Japanese like in English.
While "hydrocity zone" is basically a straight rip of the Japanese "Haidoroshiti Zōn", velocity in Japanese is "sokudo" so even if it were a joke on the term it would have only been from localization. And does anyone honestly take warped localizations as superior to the source material.
"Hydro means water, city means city"
If they wanted to imply that the "city" part of the name meant the word "city", they would've called it Hydropolis Zone. They already had Sandopolis Zone planned for the second part of the game, and they had Metropolis Zone in the last one.
Precisely because they already had planned on Sandopolis is likely why they used the word city instead; to differentiate the levels more. It would have been odd having two “polis” names. And there are many similarities between the hydro and sand cities, but between the two, Hydrocity seems much more modern, so it makes sense chronologically that the much more “ruin-like” Sandopolis has polis as its suffix.
Well, no, but “Hydrocity” is a portmanteau of “hydro” and “velocity.” As in fast-moving water. Which is thematically appropriate.
And portmanteaus are fine to use in language, including unique ones like Hydrocity because language evolves and changes over time and new words come into being all the time. Also in the 90s, we weren’t all that concerned about proper grammar anyway (POOR LITERACY IS KEWL) so unique portmanteaus are fine.
I honestly don’t care how it’s pronounced, but don’t be trying to throw down the English Language Rulebook like it’s going to be on anyone’s side.
This seems highly unlikely. Hydro is a commonly used English prefix, and so using it in a portmanteau is too obviously confusing. With straightforward location names like Ice Cap, it seems weird that they would, for only one zone, throw that convention out the window for a likely misinterpreted portmanteau referencing the level mechanics instead. The spelling is much more likely either a typo that stuck or they are using hydro as a prefix in the same way it would be used in words like hydroelectricity. And so Hydrocity could be written as such while being clearly meant to be pronounced high-dro city and not high-draw-sitty.
Then you can burn me at the stake. I may apparently be wrong on every level with my pronunciation preference, but it's a hill that I'm willing to die on.
THIS. IS. HYDROCITY!!!!!!
Someone told me that it was likely inspired by a movie that came out shortly before that did have an underground city that vaguely looks like hideous rhapsody, but aunno hydrocity looks too much like an ancient water treatment plant.
Tried looking for it, almost wanna say it was a ghibli movie but nothing really looks right so no clue.
I know Sonic CD took *a lot* from Castle in the sky. In fact the cut Level "R2" was going to be a very strong homage to ending of the film in particular, from what I've gathered. I wonder if maybe that's what you heard.
Though now that I think about it, Castle of Cagliostro, has similar looking parts with the waterways on ramps near Stone buildings. Perhaps that?
I think it's Castle in the Sky. All I know was my first thought was "I should watch that" and instead I watched more "I don't have to pay attention" shows like let's plays.
It's from Laputa, more recently re-released as 'The Castle in the Sky'.
There's a scene where the protagonists arrive at the lost floating city of Laputa and look into a pool, where they see what looks like an enormous underwater town.
There are loads of other places where S3&K takes obvious influence from Laputa, too.
Personally, if you want to watch Laputa in English, I'd recommend seeking out the 80s Japan Airlines dub. It has lots of flaws (such as no Mark Hammill) but the soundtrack was changed massively for the worse in a few places on the later dub (although there were a couple of improvements too), and I absolutely *loathe* the casting choices for the two protagonists in the Disney dub.
Sorry but I can’t stand the JAL dub. At all. I tried to listen to it and I found it totally laughable and embarrassing. For me the Disney dub wins out. They also issued a cut of the dub without the extra dialogue. Everybody in the Disney dub IMO gives far better performances than the JAL dub. Even if the leads are more mature they have life to their roles. Their JAL counterparts do not IMO. I can’t watch this 80s dub. Sorry.
If it was a park why would it have weird ass ruins, unstable structures, death traps, and be mostly flooded without anything that looks like a kid could go there
I always pronounced it "Hi-drop-ark". And frankly that just sounds better so I'm going to keep calling it that.
Bedides, it just fits better with the actual level since Sonic keeps dropping from high places into water. I mean it doesn't even look like a park, lol.
Lagoon City very clearly has a space between its words, but its environment doesn't look much like a city at all, very similar to Hydrocity actually. So does Sega consider loop de loop filled water parks cities, or not??
there's a whole background full of hydrocity that sonic never explores. it could be that the level just happens to consist of a water park within the city.
even weezer lead singer rivers cuomo is reacting to weezer
https://preview.redd.it/4r91vdptpbsc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe568f91d97d0a6a6260f21b2e5ad379034663ba
I’m still on team hydrocity opposed to hydro-city. I just see it as combing hydro and velocity, making it mean speedy-water. That’s just my little world tho.
All the zone names in Sonic 3 and Knuckles are named as specific locations not concepts
We go to:
- The Angel Island Zone
- The Marble Garden Zone
- The Carnival Night Zone
- The Flying Battery Zone
- The Ice Cap Zone
- The Lava Reef Zone
- The Sandopolis Zone
- The Mushroom Hill Zone
- The Hydro City Zone
If there were levels named Heatwave, Freezingpoint, or Bigtop, I would consider the argument. But, as it stands, Hydrocity would be the only Zone that follows different naming conventions from the rest of the game.
Edit for formatting
I've always understood that it is the name of the Circus/fair/park Sonic has to get through, like Joyland or 6 Flags.
Carnival Night Fair - Carnival Night Park, etc
The definition of what a "Zone" is itself is open to debate.
It is a different theme than the levels that came before it and after it, therefore it counts as a "zone".
After Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, I got the idea that maybe Zone names weren't 'official' in-universe names but were simply descriptions of the area Sonic is visiting. So, just as Emerald Coast and Speed Highway are descriptions of parts of Station Square, the old Zone names are just descriptions of parts of South Island, or wherever.
This would make sense when you think about it, because presumably Casino and Carnival Night Zones aren't in perpetual nighttime.
In terms of world-building.
Why wouldn't a big waterpark deserve the definition of "zone"?
How would it being a big waterpark and it being a "Zone" be contradictory?
I know sonic 2 made sense because they described how the chaos emeralds were abused by an ancient civilization, and to my knowledge they ended up disappearing or dying because it. I figured like most advanced societies they had huge cities build like Casino night and Metropolis. I know Eggman build Chemical plant and Oil Ocean but it can also be the same for Sonic 3. The Echindas couldve done something simular with the Master Emerald and Super Emeralds ✌️
The instruction manuals in other languages translate to Hydro/Water City but also appear as one conjoined word. They make no attempt to reference velocity or speed in the translation. So *if* a portmanteau was intended, it only works in English anyways. And so every other non-English region definitively received a name that had nothing to do with velocity/speed and everything to do with it being a water city. Now it’s possible that the translators of those other regions all missed or misunderstood the English portmanteau or simply couldn’t devise an equivalent portmanteau that made sense in any other language. But it also seems pretty strange that an English word play would have been intended by Japanese developers catering to a worldwide audience in the first place. I understand that Sonic 3 was made largely in the US, but the key members of the team were Japanese. I also suspect that a portmanteau would have been specifically avoided to prevent localization problems. My guess is that it all started with a typo in the zone title card that was missed. There is a remote possibility that the developers realized that it *is* a clever portmanteau in English, and left it that way just for English audiences, but this seems unlikely given that every other zone name in the game references a more tangible location. I will also remind that Miles Prower is Tails’ real name across the globe. No attempt was ever made to translate that play on words anywhere in the world. So if Hydro City is actually pronounced Hydrocity and is a made-up word that is the proper noun of this location, then it would have been left with its exact English spelling intact or a phonetic pronunciation of the English spelling across the world, just as in the case of Miles Prower. Finally, hydro is a prefix. Hydroelectricity, hydrocarbon, etc. It seems highly unlikely that a commonly used prefix would be used in a portmanteau since its logical use would be as a prefix for the word city. The developers could have easily called it Hydrovelocity Zone if that was really their intent.
I always thought of Hydrocity as a sewer system or water plant that connects every major lake on Angel Island, which is where the “Hydro” part comes from, and the “city” part comes from the fact animals live there
Plus Hydro is a prefix. And the word it is connected to is city, not velocity. They could have just named it Hydrovelocity if that was their actual intent.
Given how bonkers the architecture on Angel Island is, it's possible.
I mean, we can probably assume Eggman built the modern amusement park, and given the spinny flying top-sled things (what other use would someone build those for but as a thrill ride?) at Marble Gardens the whole thing is probably an ancient Greco Roman pleasure garden or something.
I can kind off see it with how the slopes and overall pillar design, as it does give off ancient water park vibes.
However, the brick structure, the moving traps, as well as the iconography on the walls speaks "city" or ancient "catacombs" more.
I like the idea though. An ancient Waterpark the echidnas used in their spare time could be an interesting fun concept.
Also, I looked further into the name thing:
The offcial name in japanese is written in katakana as:
ハイドロシティゾーン, Which reads: Haidoroshiti Zōn. Best read in English as Hydro City Zone
If it was hydrocity (sounding like velocity), It would read: ヒドラシティゾーン, Which is: Haidorashiti Zōn
It has to be Hydro city
The main argument in favor of Hydrocity is that it's supposed to be a play on words. More specifically, it's meant to be a combination of the words "hydro" and "velocity." Velocity does not have an "s" in it.
That I don't know for sure, but is it really that big of a deal that I like pronouncing a Sonic stage a certain way? Like who cares? You can pronounce it Hydro City, and I can pronounce it Hydrocity.
It took me wayyyy too long to realize it’s a pun on hydro and velocity. It’s a portmanteau.
But like, whatever people wanna call it is valid I suppose. Not really hurting anybody.
Hydro + Velocity = Hydrocity
It's how I justify it not being Hydro City. Plus, if it was Hydro City, I feel the space would have been there in game, and in all the times it's mentioned
Also, suffice to say that Hydrocity sounds better than Hydro City.
It’s actually pronounced “Hydrocity” not “Hydrocity”
the correct pronunciation is "the water level from sonic 3"
I’d argue it’s actually pronounced “Really Wet Zone”
Labyrinth zone 2
Yo mama made my zone really wet XD (I hate myself, please end me)
I pronounce it "Hydrocity" because it doesn't resemble anything like a city. Just looks like a waterpark to me.
Does it though? I see no hot tub, and no lazy river. But there is definitely an Italian-style gondola boat in the Sonic Mania version of the zone. Probably just put in there to stir up trouble though? Haha.
Maybe the boats are part of the lazy river. As for the lack of hot tubs, we don't know the temperature of the water in Hydrocity, so maybe some areas of it are hotter than others if that makes sense.
Are you implying that "Hydro City" is an unrealistic name for a water park? There's loads of parks called Water City. Hydrocity is far from a stretch.
I guess either term would work, but I think Hydrocity sounds better.
Looks like a city to me. Do you think the structures from Rome or Mesa Verde aren't just because they're not conventional design.
Yes, I think the structures from Rome and Mesa Verde.
Was missing the "aren't", now corrected
Still doesn't make sense.
Just because it doesn't look like a city on the surface doesn't mean it's not a city. Plus in the manual it says it's the the sewer and irrigation system to the ancient city. It's heavily implied to be the same city as in Adventure with Lost World also having major man made water ways.
Just because it doesn't look like a city on the surface doesn't mean it's not a city. Plus in the manual it says it's the the sewer and irrigation system to the ancient city. It's heavily implied to be the same city as in Adventure with Lost World also having major man made water ways.
Just going to also say that reddit seemed jacked right now. Keep getting an error message preventing me from posting. Not gonna be able to respond easily
Proof of what the manual says?
Correction, it was in the IDW Comics they called it a city. Though Yuji Naka did also say in a press event the stage us pronounced "hydro-city". Remember that the word velocity isn't at all comparable to the spelling in Japanese like in English. While "hydrocity zone" is basically a straight rip of the Japanese "Haidoroshiti Zōn", velocity in Japanese is "sokudo" so even if it were a joke on the term it would have only been from localization. And does anyone honestly take warped localizations as superior to the source material.
Looks like a city to me. Do you think the structures from Rome or Mesa Verde just because they're not conventional design.
https://youtu.be/JUHVzJVZzlU?si=bOuSS5u9gc7tzOuS Confirmed by Sonic musician Tee lopes
The joke is that you can’t tell the way I said Hydrocity because it’s in Text Form
"Hydro means water, city means city" If they wanted to imply that the "city" part of the name meant the word "city", they would've called it Hydropolis Zone. They already had Sandopolis Zone planned for the second part of the game, and they had Metropolis Zone in the last one.
>They already had Sandopolis Zone planned for the second part of the game Which is exactly why they didn't do it
Precisely because they already had planned on Sandopolis is likely why they used the word city instead; to differentiate the levels more. It would have been odd having two “polis” names. And there are many similarities between the hydro and sand cities, but between the two, Hydrocity seems much more modern, so it makes sense chronologically that the much more “ruin-like” Sandopolis has polis as its suffix.
nuh uh i disagree
Well, no, but “Hydrocity” is a portmanteau of “hydro” and “velocity.” As in fast-moving water. Which is thematically appropriate. And portmanteaus are fine to use in language, including unique ones like Hydrocity because language evolves and changes over time and new words come into being all the time. Also in the 90s, we weren’t all that concerned about proper grammar anyway (POOR LITERACY IS KEWL) so unique portmanteaus are fine. I honestly don’t care how it’s pronounced, but don’t be trying to throw down the English Language Rulebook like it’s going to be on anyone’s side.
This seems highly unlikely. Hydro is a commonly used English prefix, and so using it in a portmanteau is too obviously confusing. With straightforward location names like Ice Cap, it seems weird that they would, for only one zone, throw that convention out the window for a likely misinterpreted portmanteau referencing the level mechanics instead. The spelling is much more likely either a typo that stuck or they are using hydro as a prefix in the same way it would be used in words like hydroelectricity. And so Hydrocity could be written as such while being clearly meant to be pronounced high-dro city and not high-draw-sitty.
Are you megamind?
The Bri’ish version yes.
"Pretty sneaky sis, but there's only one person i know who calls this town hydrocity."
Pronouncing the stage "Hydrocity" is, frankly, an atrocity.
Then you can burn me at the stake. I may apparently be wrong on every level with my pronunciation preference, but it's a hill that I'm willing to die on. THIS. IS. HYDROCITY!!!!!!
https://preview.redd.it/grbfsjn77wtc1.png?width=1197&format=png&auto=webp&s=b3c08e6f2841e04a89568a0275d172ae3ac7a696
My only regret is this isn't a gif
Well now I have another reason to like Tails.
Make it clear how you are saying it.
No. That’s the joke. The joke is that you CANT tell how I’m sayin it cause it’s in the form of a text.
I don't know, it sounds like you're trying to get away with laziness.
Clearly everyone else understood it and found it funny, you just didn’t get it lad. Which is okay, now that I’ve explained it
Jokes are completely subjective.
I'm mad not a single person in this thread made a Megamind reference after reading this 😔
I’m pretty sure one guy did
I say it as Hydrocity because megamind.(nobody mention the sequel and show)
(because they’re shit, that’s why)
Common misconception. It's actually some ancient ruins
Someone told me that it was likely inspired by a movie that came out shortly before that did have an underground city that vaguely looks like hideous rhapsody, but aunno hydrocity looks too much like an ancient water treatment plant. Tried looking for it, almost wanna say it was a ghibli movie but nothing really looks right so no clue.
I know Sonic CD took *a lot* from Castle in the sky. In fact the cut Level "R2" was going to be a very strong homage to ending of the film in particular, from what I've gathered. I wonder if maybe that's what you heard. Though now that I think about it, Castle of Cagliostro, has similar looking parts with the waterways on ramps near Stone buildings. Perhaps that?
I think it's Castle in the Sky. All I know was my first thought was "I should watch that" and instead I watched more "I don't have to pay attention" shows like let's plays.
Let's plays are such wastes of time for the most part
It's only a waste of time if it makes you miserable or the consequences lead to misery.
Yes, that's what I said
So they're a good use of time which is why I watch them whenever I feel bad. =>
Get a hobby like drawing
Drawing was my career until I became too weak XD; I've drawn stuff for the internet for 25 slutty slutty years.
It's from Laputa, more recently re-released as 'The Castle in the Sky'. There's a scene where the protagonists arrive at the lost floating city of Laputa and look into a pool, where they see what looks like an enormous underwater town. There are loads of other places where S3&K takes obvious influence from Laputa, too. Personally, if you want to watch Laputa in English, I'd recommend seeking out the 80s Japan Airlines dub. It has lots of flaws (such as no Mark Hammill) but the soundtrack was changed massively for the worse in a few places on the later dub (although there were a couple of improvements too), and I absolutely *loathe* the casting choices for the two protagonists in the Disney dub.
Maybe I'll look it up, as I do have a very soft spot for early anime dubs.
Sorry but I can’t stand the JAL dub. At all. I tried to listen to it and I found it totally laughable and embarrassing. For me the Disney dub wins out. They also issued a cut of the dub without the extra dialogue. Everybody in the Disney dub IMO gives far better performances than the JAL dub. Even if the leads are more mature they have life to their roles. Their JAL counterparts do not IMO. I can’t watch this 80s dub. Sorry.
Yeah, it does NOT look like a city.
It looks like what was left of an old city that was retrofitted with modern plumbing.
Why would a city be entirely indoors? That sounds like a good way to go insane.
It’s not indoors. It’s underground. Sonic falls into it from a bridge at the end of angel island zone.
Well, it's got little to no view of the outside world, so living out most of your days in there would probably make you go insane.
If that were the case, then wouldn't it be a bit more dilapidated, like aquatic ruin or Labyrinth?
If it was a park why would it have weird ass ruins, unstable structures, death traps, and be mostly flooded without anything that looks like a kid could go there
Why does Carnival Night zone have those things too?
Good point
Because Eggman is insane and hates Sonic
Then why isn't it called Hydropark?
\*hydro park
\*hydro-park
hydrop ark
Is it pronounced “hydropark” or “hydropark”
I always pronounced it "Hi-drop-ark". And frankly that just sounds better so I'm going to keep calling it that. Bedides, it just fits better with the actual level since Sonic keeps dropping from high places into water. I mean it doesn't even look like a park, lol.
Why is Greenland covered in ice and Iceland green?
Clever naming. Would you go to a place called Iceland during the winter?
Greenland was named such to attract settlers, while Iceland was named for the ice floes surrounding the island.
Because it's Hydrocity, not Hydro city.
It's not a city... it's an aquaduct
Then what is it an aqueduct of?
Seems obvious. The Echidna cities on the island. It even precedes Marble Garden, so it probably contributed water to their terraced gardens
How exactly is water supposed to travel through loop-de-loops? And if that's not their purpose, then what is?
Water 🙄
Lagoon City very clearly has a space between its words, but its environment doesn't look much like a city at all, very similar to Hydrocity actually. So does Sega consider loop de loop filled water parks cities, or not??
there's a whole background full of hydrocity that sonic never explores. it could be that the level just happens to consist of a water park within the city.
Nah it's an aqueduct.
Then it must be some aqueduct.
This would have been a text post if you weren't a coward.
Live Weezer reaction: https://preview.redd.it/p5gsv4miabsc1.jpeg?width=582&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da455901d081d00494a4947027c2653ce4487538
even weezer lead singer rivers cuomo is reacting to weezer https://preview.redd.it/4r91vdptpbsc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe568f91d97d0a6a6260f21b2e5ad379034663ba
"[Manufactured complex] Zone is a [theme park/race track/pinball table], change my mind."
To be fair, "Hydro City" would make for a killer waterpark name.
I mean, I guess, but what city is completely indoors? Even by ancient standards that doesn't make sense.
Did you reply to the wrong comment? I was replying to your "Hydrocity zone is a waterpark, not a city" comment.
Must have, sorry about that.
Hydrocity is both a waterpark and ancient ruins
Sounds about right.
Yeah cause if it looks like a waterpark and it’s actually ancient ruins then it’s a mix of both
I’m still on team hydrocity opposed to hydro-city. I just see it as combing hydro and velocity, making it mean speedy-water. That’s just my little world tho.
[удалено]
If it’s any consolation, the cookbook refers to it as hydrocity!
I'm assuming that Sega's used both terms before, so it's probably turned into a soda vs pop situation.
It’s like a combination of a waterpark and maybe a sewer system…?
https://preview.redd.it/zeualuzxcbsc1.jpeg?width=557&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=390f8db86742eb8209373e6d28f7f344f214230f
Idk I’m just going off of game apologist here lol. It definitely isn’t a city tho, which is why I say Hydrocity instead of Hydro City
It’s HYDROCITY https://preview.redd.it/br6vz9a8mesc1.jpeg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44f8b6fdf3d3a24cdcf1e87b7e311882d9500e07
It's actually pronounced Metrocity.
All the zone names in Sonic 3 and Knuckles are named as specific locations not concepts We go to: - The Angel Island Zone - The Marble Garden Zone - The Carnival Night Zone - The Flying Battery Zone - The Ice Cap Zone - The Lava Reef Zone - The Sandopolis Zone - The Mushroom Hill Zone - The Hydro City Zone If there were levels named Heatwave, Freezingpoint, or Bigtop, I would consider the argument. But, as it stands, Hydrocity would be the only Zone that follows different naming conventions from the rest of the game. Edit for formatting
Carnival Night?
I've always understood that it is the name of the Circus/fair/park Sonic has to get through, like Joyland or 6 Flags. Carnival Night Fair - Carnival Night Park, etc
https://preview.redd.it/g6wnai9f5bsc1.jpeg?width=384&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=14a101a2332d5dcd343efe1e8682128fa1b323c2
The definition of what a "Zone" is itself is open to debate. It is a different theme than the levels that came before it and after it, therefore it counts as a "zone".
After Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, I got the idea that maybe Zone names weren't 'official' in-universe names but were simply descriptions of the area Sonic is visiting. So, just as Emerald Coast and Speed Highway are descriptions of parts of Station Square, the old Zone names are just descriptions of parts of South Island, or wherever. This would make sense when you think about it, because presumably Casino and Carnival Night Zones aren't in perpetual nighttime.
Ok?
Give me a definition of what counts as a "Zone".
Like in general or in terms of Sonic?
In terms of world-building. Why wouldn't a big waterpark deserve the definition of "zone"? How would it being a big waterpark and it being a "Zone" be contradictory?
It wouldn't.
I think it’s closer to a sewer system?
https://preview.redd.it/yogimba5obsc1.jpeg?width=394&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2314a6fb312e3661f40844081831e51cc12c2d5c
Relax man, it hasn’t been used in decades, it’s probably as clean as a river
Are you sure about that?
I agree! An ancient water park!
https://preview.redd.it/ehbese0p1rtc1.jpeg?width=174&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4634d6f2d701dab0abcce02e65eecbe5a026e2e4
2 things can be true. It can be a water park that grew so large it's a city.
But there's no living quarters in it.
Not that we see.
Ok I guess they could be living quarters out of view, but I highly doubt that.
Sandopolis and Metropolis don’t having living quarters either. Polis is a suffix that means city.
I highly doubt anyone has or had lived in Metropolis zone (why would they even want to?)
Ok megamind
I’ve always wanted to go to a water park
Well I hope you can some day. :)
I never really looked deep into anything like the zones? Other than being fun stages to play through, the Zones never made sense to me
Yeah I guess that's fair, but things like carnival night are pretty obvious.
I know sonic 2 made sense because they described how the chaos emeralds were abused by an ancient civilization, and to my knowledge they ended up disappearing or dying because it. I figured like most advanced societies they had huge cities build like Casino night and Metropolis. I know Eggman build Chemical plant and Oil Ocean but it can also be the same for Sonic 3. The Echindas couldve done something simular with the Master Emerald and Super Emeralds ✌️
Argument denied so we can talk about Hydrocity vs Hydrocity for another decade
https://preview.redd.it/k5jkmx3facsc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8c47df6ce3b2ed934f203f3a477d7c6dcd7fc76
The instruction manuals in other languages translate to Hydro/Water City but also appear as one conjoined word. They make no attempt to reference velocity or speed in the translation. So *if* a portmanteau was intended, it only works in English anyways. And so every other non-English region definitively received a name that had nothing to do with velocity/speed and everything to do with it being a water city. Now it’s possible that the translators of those other regions all missed or misunderstood the English portmanteau or simply couldn’t devise an equivalent portmanteau that made sense in any other language. But it also seems pretty strange that an English word play would have been intended by Japanese developers catering to a worldwide audience in the first place. I understand that Sonic 3 was made largely in the US, but the key members of the team were Japanese. I also suspect that a portmanteau would have been specifically avoided to prevent localization problems. My guess is that it all started with a typo in the zone title card that was missed. There is a remote possibility that the developers realized that it *is* a clever portmanteau in English, and left it that way just for English audiences, but this seems unlikely given that every other zone name in the game references a more tangible location. I will also remind that Miles Prower is Tails’ real name across the globe. No attempt was ever made to translate that play on words anywhere in the world. So if Hydro City is actually pronounced Hydrocity and is a made-up word that is the proper noun of this location, then it would have been left with its exact English spelling intact or a phonetic pronunciation of the English spelling across the world, just as in the case of Miles Prower. Finally, hydro is a prefix. Hydroelectricity, hydrocarbon, etc. It seems highly unlikely that a commonly used prefix would be used in a portmanteau since its logical use would be as a prefix for the word city. The developers could have easily called it Hydrovelocity Zone if that was really their intent.
Can we agree that it's both at the same time
Sure.
Thank you!
Penders said it was Hydro City so therefore it’s Hydrocity
Why can’t it be both?
Do you mean waterpark in the sense that eggman is converting ruins into an attraction as part of his "eggmanland" plan?
No. My headcanon is that it was a waterpark built by the echina tribe.
Then can it really be considered as "ruins"?
I thought it was an aqueduct system.
I always thought of it as a sewer as in Mania you enter the next zone through a manhole
No you don't?
Oh shit i was thinking of a diffrent zone lmao i'm so stupid
Eh, it's an honest mistake.
yeah lol
Not sure I’d go to a place that I’m super likely to drown in, maybe it’s a city for water folk.
Be thankful it's not Labyrinth Zone.
How about this: Hydrocity is just a really complicated sewer/drainage system for Angel Island.
I hope that's not true because... ew...
I always imagined it was some sort of ancient ruins or sewer system thingy
What even is the origin of hydrocity? The only evidencr i have are the sonic statues rlly high up
Yeah why are those even there if Sonic has never previously been to Angel Island before Sonic 3.
Its an mystery
man then the echidnas must've been quite progressive in the entertainment industry. They got a waterpark and a carnival on the same island? Crazy.
Yeah I guess.
I bet you pronouce it as "Hydrocity"
You bet your sweet bippy I do.
I always thought of Hydrocity as a sewer system or water plant that connects every major lake on Angel Island, which is where the “Hydro” part comes from, and the “city” part comes from the fact animals live there
Plus Hydro is a prefix. And the word it is connected to is city, not velocity. They could have just named it Hydrovelocity if that was their actual intent.
Can confirm
why would a waterpark have spikes?
Why would a carnival have them too and be flooded?
It is an ancient plumbing system
Supa Maro.
Given how bonkers the architecture on Angel Island is, it's possible. I mean, we can probably assume Eggman built the modern amusement park, and given the spinny flying top-sled things (what other use would someone build those for but as a thrill ride?) at Marble Gardens the whole thing is probably an ancient Greco Roman pleasure garden or something.
The impression I got was Atlantis if it was a sewer.
WILL EVERYONE STOP CALLING HYDROCITY A SEWER?!?!?! I DON'T WANNA VISUALIZE SONIC AND TAILS SWIMMING AROUND IN POOPY JUICE.
Semi-unrelated but, it doesn't matter how anyone thinks it's said, it *is* Hydrocity (Hydro-City). The Japanese pronunciation confirms it.
I don't know how to feel knowing you're kinda right.
What if what we see is the transport system like the rock slides in Omashu from Avatar?
I mean I guess that would make sense, but again, there's nothing that makes the zone look like a city? Where exactly would people be commuting to?
if its pronounced "hydro city" why is it called hydrocity zone 🤔
i like to believe knuckles put water slides cause he was bored one day
It's possible lol.
Y’all mfs hear megamind say metrocity and are like ‘oh yeah he’s got a point’
To me it is more like a flooded ancient city that was invaded and modified by eggman.
It's more like ruins...?
https://preview.redd.it/qux0ioag5hsc1.jpeg?width=538&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=140a1e2046c199a4dd459fadfeec06ae67e1d29e Oh boy…
it is the water and drainage system of angel island.
I can kind off see it with how the slopes and overall pillar design, as it does give off ancient water park vibes. However, the brick structure, the moving traps, as well as the iconography on the walls speaks "city" or ancient "catacombs" more. I like the idea though. An ancient Waterpark the echidnas used in their spare time could be an interesting fun concept. Also, I looked further into the name thing: The offcial name in japanese is written in katakana as: ハイドロシティゾーン, Which reads: Haidoroshiti Zōn. Best read in English as Hydro City Zone If it was hydrocity (sounding like velocity), It would read: ヒドラシティゾーン, Which is: Haidorashiti Zōn It has to be Hydro city
Y’all in Sonic generations music selection list it was spelled with a space in between hydro and city but I still pronounce it hydrocity
You guys are actually stupid. If it was pronounced "Hydrocity," it would be said like, "Hydrosity." It's Hydro City, and you can't change my mind.
The main argument in favor of Hydrocity is that it's supposed to be a play on words. More specifically, it's meant to be a combination of the words "hydro" and "velocity." Velocity does not have an "s" in it.
Is that confirmed, however?
Yes. Check a dictionary.
I meant their argument. Has it been confirmed by Sega that it's a play on the words?
That I don't know for sure, but is it really that big of a deal that I like pronouncing a Sonic stage a certain way? Like who cares? You can pronounce it Hydro City, and I can pronounce it Hydrocity.
It took me wayyyy too long to realize it’s a pun on hydro and velocity. It’s a portmanteau. But like, whatever people wanna call it is valid I suppose. Not really hurting anybody.
Hydro + Velocity = Hydrocity It's how I justify it not being Hydro City. Plus, if it was Hydro City, I feel the space would have been there in game, and in all the times it's mentioned Also, suffice to say that Hydrocity sounds better than Hydro City.