Ranking Every Classic Sonic The Hedgehog Level From Worst To Best

2. Chemical Plant Zone

Sonic Ranking 3
SEGA

It could just be that I was raised in the industrial heartland of Middlesbrough, but something about Chemical Plant really resonates. Those smoke stacks just scream 'home'.

Quite honestly, the music is enough to rank the level in the top two, an industrial electronic rhythm which perfectly sets the stage's tempo and tone. If the thumping choon was all Chemical Plant had going for it though, you could easily be content with the sound test. Even with the volume muted it's a rollicking affair, featuring some of the steepest, speediest slopes in Sonic (which is saying something), lots of tubes ('totally tubular', in '90s parlance), and a heart-stopping, lung-stretching sequence in bubblegum-flavoured drink (officially 'mega-mack').

The plant may be a pollutant, but this is Sonic's special chemistry at its purest.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.