The Laser Prison,[1] also known as the Barrier Eggman[2] (バリアエッグマン[3] Baria Egguman?), is an object that appears in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is a room with a laser created by Dr. Robotnik.
Description[]
Appearance[]
The Laser Prison consists in a small room behind two impenetrable force field-like barriers. Within the room is a moving laser in the ceiling that can be operated using a control panel just on the other side of the barrier. During the West Side Island incident, it also had floating drones[1] with spikes below them.
Features and abilities[]
The Laser Prison's moving laser cannon in the ceiling can be easily controlled with the control panel the room has. This can shoot powerful lasers, although it requires a long time to charge.
Game appearances[]
Sonic the Hedgehog 2[]
| << Previous boss | — | Sonic the Hedgehog 2 Laser Prison |
— | Next boss >> |
In Sonic the Hedgehog 2, its various ports and remasters, and the lock-on game Knuckles in Sonic 2, the Laser Prison[1] (バリアエッグマン[3] Baria Egguman?, lit. "Barrier Eggman") is found at the end of Wing Fortress Zone. It is located at the bridge of the air fortress where Dr. Robotnik is seen piloting the ship before the boss. After taking a small amount of Rings, the player finds themselves being trapped between activated laser walls, while Robotnik himself is laughing on the right side of the room. In the original game, it is fought with Sonic and Tails. In Knuckles in Sonic 2 and the 2013 remaster, it can also be fought with Knuckles. In Sonic Origins Plus, it can also be fought with Amy.
A small hatch on the ceiling opens and small spinning platforms with spikes below them will arrive to float around the trapped room. A moving laser cannon will also appear on the ceiling of the cabin room, which eventually stops to load its laser attack. It will then shoot the laser to the floor before starting to move in the player's direction. After five seconds, it will stop shooting, turn itself off, and repeat its pattern over again.
The only way to get out of this trapped room is to destroy the laser cannon. This is possible when it stops and starts loading the laser cannon to its full power. The player must use the spinning platforms to reach the cannon, but they need to be careful not to touch the spiky undersides of the platforms, which can hurt the playable character. They also must make sure to not get hit by the laser blast that the cannon will shoot after charging enough.
By hitting the cannon eight times, it will be destroyed, which ends the battle. Unlike in other Zones, neither a Goal Plate or a Prison Egg appear to see the results, as Robotnik instead seen escaping to his space shuttle to travel to the Death Egg. After the player is freed from the trap room, Sonic arrives too late to the launch pad to stop the doctor, who has launched his space shuttle and takes off. After this, Tails arrives with the Tornado, now with a rocket add-on set below the biplane. After the sky chase, Sonic grabs hold of the ship and keeps hanging on until the space shuttle docks into the space station.
The boss is much easier when fought with Amy, as her Jump Attack can hit the laser eye without the need of using the platforms.
Trivia[]
- Following this boss fight, if Sonic does not follow Robotnik downwards and instead jumps over to the pilot seat after beating the Laser Prison, there is a hidden Extra Life monitor to be found.
- In Boss Attack Zone in the 2013 remaster of the game, a Shield is found instead.
- In Anniversary Mode in Sonic Origins, a Coin monitor is found instead.
- The laser originally fired by the Laser Prison made no sound effects in the original release of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, but its Sonic & Knuckles sound effects were added in the 2013 remaster of the game.
Music[]
| Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music track |
|---|---|---|---|
| "STH2 Boss 〜Mega Drive version〜" | Masato Nakamura | 2:14 |
Sonic 3 & Knuckles[]
| << Previous boss | — | Sonic & Knuckles Laser Prison |
— | Next boss >> |
The Laser Prison later returns in Sonic & Knuckles and the lock-on game Sonic 3 & Knuckles, as the first of two bosses that the player encounters in Flying Battery Zone Act 2. It is the fourth boss in Sonic & Knuckles, and the seventeenth (or sixteenth in Knuckles' story) in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles. In Sonic & Knuckles, it is fought by Sonic or Knuckles, while in Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles, it can also be fought by Tails either alone or as Sonic's partner. In Sonic Origins Plus, it can also be fought with Amy. The player will be trapped in a room in the ship's exit hall. Robotnik is also seen controlling the moving laser cannon on the ceiling himself this time (when the player controls Knuckles, EggRobo can be seen controlling it).
In this version, there are no spiked platforms, meaning that the player cannot attack the laser cannon directly (except as Tails, or as Sonic with Bubble or Lightning shield); instead, the room becomes smaller each time the laser is fired. Also, the laser is fired at a fixed spot during its duration meaning that the player simply has to avoid standing below the laser cannon when it is about to fire. To win this fight, the player only needs to survive after the laser is fired seven times.
While it is possible to hit the laser cannon's eye using Sonic's Double Jump granted by a Lightning Shield, Sonic's enhanced jump as Super Sonic or Hyper Sonic or Tails' tails while flying, doing this will not affect the fight in any way in the original versions of Sonic & Knuckles and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles.
After seven laser strikes, so much of the room is damaged that the barrier falls on its own. Robotnik panics, and escapes to the outside of the air fortress. After that, the player will follow Robotnik to the outside and must pass through the last platforming section of the Zone, where a long platform will raise up which the player must stay clear of until the end of the route, or they will eventually be crushed between the long platform and the ceiling. After this, the player will be able to ride up on the long platform for a moment, when the act's final boss (the Egg Hanger) arrives.
In the 2022 remaster of Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles featured in Sonic Origins, the player can now also hit the laser cannon's eye twelve times to end the fight, although this requires the use of a Super/Hyper form, Thunder Shield, Tails, or Amy's Jump Attack. It is impossible for Knuckles to hit the laser eye, even with a Super/Hyper transformation.
Trivia[]
- When a second player is controlling Tails during this boss fight, the second player can pass through the invisible wall in front of Robotnik.
- There is a glitch in this boss fight that allows the player to skip the Laser Prison. At the start of the battle, by performing a Spin Dash from a specific point near the middle of the room, it is possible for the player to clip through the right barrier and be able to continue through to the rest of the stage as normal albeit various sprites of some objects (Springs and clouds in the background) appear to be jumbled up with sprites of other objects.
Music[]
| Name | Artist(s) | Version | Length | Music track | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Boss 1" | Sega | Sonic & Knuckles/Sonic 3 & Knuckles | 1:05 | ||
| Sonic & Knuckles Collection | "FM Synthesizer" | 1:22 | |||
| "General MIDI" | 1:24 | ||||
In other media[]
Books and comics[]
Archie Comics[]
The Laser Prison, from Sonic the Hedgehog #289.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics, the Laser Prison was created by Dr. Eggman as one of the many features of his Wing Fortress and Flying Battery warships. Both were deployed to fight Sonic when he broke into these craft, but neither version could defeat him.
Sonic the Comic[]
The Laser Prison, from Sonic the Comic #6.
In the Sonic the Comic comic series and its spin-offs published by Fleetway Editions, the Laser Prison was one of the many features of the Wing Fortress. In the recent past, Dr. Robotnik used this machine to destroy Sonic in the ship, although it was defeated. In the present day, Sonic returned to the Wing Fortress to find that the defenses, including the Laser Prison, have been left running on automatic. Having defeated the system before, he easily did so again by leaping onto a spiked platform and then hitting the laser cannon with a Spin Attack.
Trivia[]
- The Big Squeeze from Sonic Mania is loosely based on the Laser Prison.
- While the Laser Prison itself doesn't appear in the game, the 2011 remaster of Sonic CD uses its barriers for the Egg Spinner arena. The sprites for the barriers are taken from the battle of Sonic 2, though with the lights made blue rather than orange, and the laser walls being blue and white rather than yellow.
Gallery[]
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References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Flynn, Ian; Sega (8 December 2021). "Sonic The Hedgehog (16-bit)". Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia. Dark Horse Books. p. 24. ISBN 978-1506719276. "Boss: Dr. Eggman traps Sonic in the Laser Prison with spiked drones and a megalaser."
- ↑ Flynn, Ian; Sega (8 December 2021). "Sonic & Knuckles". Sonic the Hedgehog Encyclo-speed-ia. Dark Horse Books. p. 55. ISBN 978-1506719276. "Bosses: Act 2 - Barrier Eggman. Dr. Eggman employes the same ceiling laser that he had on the Wing Fortress. Dodge the laser and let Dr. Eggman blast his own ship to pieces."
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 (in Japanese) ソニックメガコレクション最強攻略ガイド. Shogakukan. 1 March 2003. p. 99. ISBN 978-4091060907.
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