Stuck a bit on Arid Canyon, any advice?

I got around to continuing my save file after the fun Castle Eggman boss, and unfortunately, it's been very difficult to get through the proceeding zone, which is bizarre as everything I've looked at in regards to this zone says it's a sigh of relief after the brutal Castle Eggman, yet I've spent more than twice the amount of continues and time on this level, and I've only just recently reached Act 2. I'm not entirely sure, but something about this level's mechanics I don't really get. The twisters are the biggest issue I'd say I have, it feels like I'm spit out in a random direction every time, with the randomness increasing with the speed shoes that are necessary for a portion of stage (I don't really understand how the other path works), and often the angles are not really salvagable, leading to a death.

There's also the cacti, which are difficult to see exactly where they'll hit you at, and are sometimes placed in areas where it launches you into a death pit. They also seem to be everywhere on alternate paths, making it difficult to try and look for Emerald Tokens. Speaking of which, many of the nooks and crannies in this zone feel especially dead-end-y, with not any way to escape once you reach them, or having to backtrack.

I'm not sure if this is just a me thing, but the platforming challenges that you need to do also definitely feel harder than the ones in CE. I spend a whole continue trying to learn that triple jump next to the Oil spill and the turtle enemy (I never found out how to beat that thing consistently, felt like neither my spin dash or jump did the job without taking a hit), and the one spire that crumbles as you run across it took a few tries, too. The springs feel especially particular about whether you need to keep your stick neutral or hold forward to get acceleration to clear a gap.

If you have any advice on this stage, I'd appreciate it. It feels like I'm missing something in particular (besides platforming skill, of course). I suppose if all else fails, I can "break the glass" and just have Tails effortlessly fly through the entire stage for me, but I do want to give the stage more of a chance that that. I don't really hate the zone, the music is wonderful, and I love the theme of it, it's just I worry I might run out of continues before I get through it, even with my current life count of 30.

I recommend using Tails, or Knuckles if your having trouble. Tails can help you guide you through the stage, while Knuckles can do the same by climbing up walls and guiding you to a better location to reach the goal.

Btw, if you have any suggestions about Arid Canyon, I recommend going here.

The tornados normally launch you in whichever direction you're holding so all you really have to do Is just to hold forward.

SpeedyHedgehog said:

I recommend using Tails, or Knuckles if your having trouble. Tails can help you guide you through the stage, while Knuckles can do the same by climbing up walls and guiding you to a better location to reach the goal.

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I know, but it feels like Tails, especially in this stage, completely nullifies anything the stage would throw at you, as everything is very much designed around Sonic's jumping. Like I said, if I feel like I want to just move on, I'll just have tails skip me through the stage later. Knuckles would be a consideration, but as far as I know, there isn't a way to swap characters without cheating in this game, so I'll try to work with what I got.

SpeedyHedgehog said:

Btw, if you have any suggestions about Arid Canyon, I recommend going here.

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Appreciate the link! I don't want to make a suggestion mid-struggle, so I'm not having my suggestions being annoyance-charged. I'll see if I can add anything after I finish the game, though.

27cels said:

The tornados normally launch you in whichever direction you're holding so all you really have to do Is just to hold forward.

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I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that that's what I was thinking, too, and indeed they often do that. But sometimes, they don't care about my input, or will throw me in a direction even if the stick is neutral, which is confusing.

HealingMind said:

I'm not entirely sure, but something about this level's mechanics I don't really get. The twisters are the biggest issue I'd say I have, it feels like I'm spit out in a random direction every time, with the randomness increasing with the speed shoes that are necessary for a portion of stage (I don't really understand how the other path works), and often the angles are not really salvagable, leading to a death.

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The twisters shoot you out depending on the camera angle when you first entered it I am pretty sure. So, make sure you aim where you are going before trying the twister. If you're using the Automatic playstyle, then it will shoot you out on the input direction instead of the camera direction when you first entered if I'm correct. Keep in mind too that some alt paths you may be able to access are possibly Knuckles' Path. I would focus on whats near and what can be done by your character.

HealingMind said:

I'm not sure if this is just a me thing, but the platforming challenges that you need to do also definitely feel harder than the ones in CE. I spend a whole continue trying to learn that triple jump next to the Oil spill and the turtle enemy (I never found out how to beat that thing consistently, felt like neither my spin dash or jump did the job without taking a hit), and the one spire that crumbles as you run across it took a few tries, too. The springs feel especially particular about whether you need to keep your stick neutral or hold forward to get acceleration to clear a gap.

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Well, it is after CEZ so it only makes sense its slightly tricky. Overall, that drop is very tricky, that generally just takes practice and experience for that. For the turtle enemy, you have to defeat it by hitting the body of it (if you didn't know), so you are required to jump if your character can spin. Though this enemy is one I would avoid. Unless if they are completely in the way when you need to focus they can almost as easily be left in the dust. If you're also having trouble with springs, I wouldn't hold anything.

The rest I never really had any issues with. If I were you though I would use Tails for this, not to just cheese but to help adapt with the level so you can re-enter as another Character. Looking up videos on people's routes are also a good idea as well!

A'Dilla said:

Looking up videos on people's routes are also a good idea as well!

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Anywhere in particular that would be a good place for this? Looking up anything Arid Canyon regularly hasn't really yielded anything useful, mostly just uploads of the music and people completely breaking the stage in half with Tails, or a few modded characters.

HealingMind said:

Anywhere in particular that would be a good place for this? Looking up anything Arid Canyon regularly hasn't really yielded anything useful, mostly just uploads of the music and people completely breaking the stage in half with Tails, or a few modded characters.

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Skip to 49:39

Matrio said:

Skip to 49:39

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I appreciate looking that up, but it seems like their route is still "just use tails/super Sonic to skip half of the level", so there's not a whole lot I can get from it.

It's worth noting that the speed at which a twister launches you is based on how much speed you had when you entered it. So you may want to build up a running start if you intend to travel a longer distance. You can also try fully charging a spin dash into one.

Remember that running down a slope will not build up much speed compared to rolling... and also don't forget that if you are in a rolling state when you fly off a cliff, you won't be able to use your thok or shield ability, so in many cases you'll want to jump just before the edge. Note that the whirlwind shield gives you a midair jump when rolling off a cliff or launching from a spring, which can be handy. (In general, the whirlwind shield is the most valuable for platforming, so take note of every place you spot one.)

Diagonal springs are the ones you almost always want to hold neutral on. Straight horizontal or vertical ones are the kind that typically expect you to hold forward... at least in the vanilla campaign.

If lost as to where you need to go, ring placement tends to give hints, as does spring placement (excluding those placed as hazards). If you run into a starpost that you didn't touch, yet it already acts as if it has been, that means you've either gone backwards, or you've stumbled into a separate path, or both.

Remember that you can press spin to detach from pulleys rather than always jumping, and note that you can only attach to a pulley while falling into it from above. Remember to hold the jump button for maximum height, and remember that forward momentum is carried, so when switching pulleys at an intersection, jump early to account for the forward movement.

Note also that a whirlwind shield is easily accessible just before the pulley section at the end of Act 1. A well-timed jump from the paved road onto the little hill with cacti on its edges will get you there easily.

If you falter during the pulley section at the end of Act 1, you can try to recover by thokking onto the lower route, which relies more on traditional platforming. Note that the right-hand side of the lower route is Knuckles/Metal-only... you'll want to take the left-hand side as Sonic.

Which route are you taking in Act 2? I used to always take the route with the slope and the badniks spraying slow-down fog, and I didn't even realize there was another path at the start that leads you to a minecart section much earlier in the level (though its easy to overlook the entrance to the minecart section, and because of that, you might assume the path is a dead end for Sonic).

And here's another vanilla playthrough of Arid Canyon using Sonic without Tails:

Whirlwinds depend on which way your character was facing, so if Sonic was facing slightly right he would be launched with a right angle. For this stage I suggest slowing down, and when you get to a tornado; stop and try going at it with a middle angle.

HealingMind said:

I appreciate looking that up, but it seems like their route is still "just use tails/super Sonic to skip half of the level", so there's not a whole lot I can get from it.

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Huh, well now I’m stuck on it too since I’m doing a sonic save file, well at least I know where to go, just idk how to get there