Mirage Ocean

Mirage Ocean is a desert level featured in Sonic Dreams. It is the third level in Sonic's story, the second in Aria's story and seventh level in Sonata's story. A portal to the desert can be found in the Season Ruins, but the level itself takes place in the same area as the desert levels in Sonic Adventure 2, even sharing certain set pieces with them.
==Story==
Following their fight in Season Ruins, Aria and Sonic team up to launch an attack on Dr. Eggman's desert base. Aria is reluctant to tell Sonic about Jet, as she has been told about their rivalry in the past. Sonic is well aware of Aria's relation however, and politely asks how Jet is doing. Aria then confesses her reasons for going after Eggman. Sonic 
The two combine their abilities to get through the desert, but separate after reaching Eggman's base and destroying the Egg Antlion together. Sonic chases after Eggman back to the Season Ruins, eventually ending up at his other base in the Frosty Bunker. Aria heads deeper into the pyramid base to sabotage Eggman's mechs and find any information on Jet's location. She is soon captured by a horde of Egg Fighters and thrown deep into the tombs.
Sonata arrives in Eggmans base much later after teleporting down from the Lunatic Gate at around the same time as Eggman himself. She rushes to the tombs to rescue Aria after hearing about a prisoner over an announcement directed at Dr Eggman. Sonata rescues Aria, who asks if Sonata knows anything about Jet. She says she doesn't, but notes that there is likely to be a record on Eggman's database. Aria learns that Jet is being held in the Horror Complex, and Sonata directs her to the teleport system.
The entire tomb rumbles as the Egg Colossus rises, heading straight for Vecotopolis. Sonata, assuming Eggman is piloting the Colossus, takes the opportunity to escape, but is ambushed upon leaving the pyramid, and is forced to fight Eggman's Robot Legion while he tries to attack her. Sonata defeats Eggman, and retrieves the Seventh Chaos Emerald. She heads for Vectopolis to join the fight against the Egg Colossus in Havoc Garden, failing to notice "Eggman" disintegrating.
==Gameplay==
===Sonic the Hedgehog===
 Sonic's level start out inside a small cave where the portal to Season Ruins is before heading straight out into the vast deserts and the ruins that populate it. This level offers many alternative pathways through the ruins or along the dunes and cliffs. Quicksand traps can be difficult to escape from or even serve as a bottomless pit depending on if there is any solid ground nearby, though strange rock snakes swim through the sand, allowing safe travel across these sections. Sonic can also use the dream shift to raise platforms in the sand, or - if Sonic returns after obtaining the time break upgrade - to slow the sand down to a point where he can safely run across.
Sonic can boost across the quicksand sections which are impassable by Aria, leading to different sections of the desert. Sand pit traps are found in places around the level and if Sonic falls into one, he will be unable to move until he is attacked by a crab-like badnik, where he can leap of it's head and jump really high, often to reach platforms and secrets. These traps are especially common in the 2D section, where they must be used to progress. Slow-moving sandfalls are also present in the 2D sections, and work as they do in Sandopolis, among other stages.
Eventually, Sonic will reach a seemingly impassable sea of sand. The trick is to just fall into it, and Sonic will fall into a cave below. This brief section makes heavy use of Hourglasses which temporarily open up doors to the next section, and Sonic must act fast to slide under the closing gates. The stage ends on an unusual red platform, which will rise into an arena which looks like a Colosseum, the site of the Egg Antlion fight.
If she hasn't been already, Aria is unlocked as a playable character after Sonic completes this stage.
===Aria the Hawk===
Aria's level starts out in the same place as Sonic, though she takes a different route pretty quickly, as she is able to destroy walls using missiles and scale pillars and platforms using the hover function. Due to the amount of quicksand in the level, which will instantly trap the Egg Walker, Aria spends a lot of time on her feet in this part of the stage, and her flight is needed at one point to climb up Eggmans pyramids and pull out some platforms to continue on. Eggman statues can be shot at to create passable platforms too, and - as in Sonic's version of the level - large stone snakes can be ridden across seas of sand. The first act concludes on top of a circular, Colosseum-like ruin, where the Egg Antlion is fought with Sonic.
Her second act is much shorter, and takes place inside the pyramid base, and there are areas similar to the Death Chamber and Egg Quarters from SA2. The goal is to simply blast her way through the corridors of the base and ultimately demolish a large storage facility filled with robots.
If Sonata hasn't been unlocked yet, she will be following the completion of Act 2.
===Sonata the Wolf===
Sonata's level also takes place inside the pyramid, and is the longest of her 8 stages. It starts in a steampunk laboratory where the teleport pod is, and spirals upwards around a large cylindrical mesh structure covering pistons and gears. This section is dominated by cogs and pistons which must be used as platforms to reach the exit of the room. This section is also devoid of any rings, making any form of damage a one hit kill.
The next area takes place mostly in a series of corridors and fairly small rooms, invoking a claustrophobic feel not unlike Sandopolis Act 2. Sandfalls from Sonic's act make a return, as do the hourglasses which open up doors, though they can also start or stop sandfalls to open and close off sections. Sonata will eventually make her way out of the tomb by swinging into a loose stone during an abseiling section, and will start to make her way around the face of the pyramid. The end of the level is right at the base.
==Geography==
Mirage Ocean is a vast desert populated by crumbling ruins of a dirty brown colour. Outcrops of weathered stone and what's left of once impressive tombs provide most of the reliable footing, as sand may or may not be as risky route. There are a few shrubs scattered across the landscape, but they are so few and far between they barely warrant mentioning.
Eggmans base, while designed to look old and weathered, stands out as far more refined and stylish than the rest of the ruins, adopting a rusty orange and red colour scheme in addition to the more tame browns. Statues and murals have been adapted to include depictions of Eggman to idealised or just plain disturbing ends, including the Doctor standing triumphantly over a presumably dead representation of Sonic.
Inside the pyramids are two juxtaposing concepts: The worn hallways populated by ancient traps and lit dimly by torches; and the steampunk factory deep within, the production line for many of Eggmans robots. The unsettling way the cogs, motors and generators are built into the ancient tomb, and how the streams of sand actually helps to power the base shows Eggmans flagrant disregard for relics of the past.
Category:Locations
Category:Sonic Dreams
Category:Stages
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