Those who follow us on our social networks have likely seen our seasonal spooky posts and know full well that the Sonic the Hedgehog series and Halloween-inspired creatures and settings have crossed paths numerous times. Thanks to the common platforming trope of a scary setting, we’ve seen ghosts in Sonic & Knuckles Sandopolis Zone, referred to as Hyudoro. We’ve also seen ghosts in Sonic Adventure 2, though this time the ghosts were called Boo and they had a leader named King Boom Boo. These Boo ghosts were Knuckles’ worst nightmare as he ventured into Pumpkin Hill, a stage which featured fantastic music accompanied by some pretty funny lyrics including “I’m walkin’ through valleys cryin’ pumpkin in the alley”. Most recently, Sonic Lost World saw the return of Sonic Adventure 2‘s Boo ghosts.
Despite all of these spooky stages and enemies, no Sonic stage came closer to Halloween than 2004’s Sonic Heroes which featured a full haunted house stage called Hang Castle. Featuring invisible walkways, levitating platforms, pumpkin-headed ghosts, and changing gravity, Hang Castle was truly bizarre. To this day, it is the only Sonic stage that scared me thanks to a creepy skeleton that peeked around a corner. Run towards where the skeleton should be and… he’s gone! Silent Hill has nothing on Hang Castle. Accompanying Hang Castle is a great soundtrack that fuses hip-hop samples and instruments that wouldn’t be out of place in a 1930’s cartoon featuring a haunted house and dancing skeletons. Give the track above a listen, and after the break… Pumpkin Hill. Because we can’t do a Halloween themed Tuesday Tunes without it!
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hang castle.. ugh xD what a frustrating level
cool atmosphere and music though
hang castle and pumpkin hill both have a very “iizuka-san” feel to them.
SA2 rap music spotted in the wild!
Actually, the first time I fought against King Boom Boo I think I took about half an hour. My poor middle school self was absolutely clueless on how to get behind him once his health was in the lower ranges.
And I agree, Hang Castle was frustrating.