Empire City

The national flag of Empire City

 An economic hub with almost as many skyscrapers as citizens! Also a melting pot of diverse folk and ideas. All who come here dream of making it big. It's home to **Casino Park**, part of the **Breeze Media network** and **Honey Brand clothing**!
 — Description, *Sonic Unleashed*

**Empire City** is a location that appears in the *Sonic the Hedgehog* comic series and its spin-offs published by Archie Comics. It is a populous, economic hub dominated by skyscrapers and a urban metropolis and a melting pot of diverse folk and ideas, where those who dream of making it big gather on the continent Northamer, and a part of the United Federation.

## Description

Empire City is a high-rise metropolis based off the hustling and bustling city of New York City. It also retaining features from other famous cities in the U.S. such as the fountain that bears a resemblance to the Buckingham Fountain in Chicago. Endless highways, mile-high skyscrapers, and urban surroundings characterize Empire City, with bridges similar to the George Washington Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge and the Verrazano Bridge, as well as tunnels similar to the Lincoln Tunnel.

## History

### Past

Years ago, Doctor Ellidy's daughter Nikki won the first prize and Andrea won the second prize at the Empire City Science Fair.

* Archie Comics
* Videogames

# Shattered World Crisis

## Act One

During the Shattered World Crisis, Breezie the Hedgehog came into the possession of a Chaos Emerald and hosted the Chaos Emerald Championship for her media's own benefit, with the Chaos Emerald serving as the prize. This would attract the attention of numerous parties, including the Hooligans, the Freedom Fighters, and individuals such as Knuckles the Echidna and Espio the Chameleon, which kicked off the tournament. Eventually, during the final round between Sonic the Hedgehog and Knuckles, Metal Sonic invaded Casino Park and headed for the vault in an attempt to steal the Chaos Emerald, only to be intercepted and thwarted at the last moment by Tails.

## Act Two

The city would be seen again when Honey listened in on the Freedom Fighters' plan to fix the world.

# *Sonic Unleashed*

During the beginning of *Sonic Unleashed*, Empire City's continent was torn away from the Earth's mantle when Dr. Eggman awoke Dark Gaia, resulting in the planet shattering into pieces.

During this crisis, Empire City was threatened to be overrun by Dark Gaia's Minions. Amidst this chaos, however, Sonic the Werehog arrived in Empire City with Chip and cleared out Dark Gaia's Minions in Skyscraper Scamper which forced the monsters to retreat. A while later, Eggman decided to have his robot army invade Empire City. Fortunately, once hearing reports about the attack, Sonic and Chip returned to Empire City and drove off the invading forces, saving Empire City once more.

Some time later, Empire City and its continent were returned to their proper place when Sonic and Chip used the Gaia Temple in Shamar and the Chaos Emeralds to restore their fragment of the planet.
### The Case of the Pirate Princess

While in search of the missing Princess Undina, Echo the Dolphin traveled to Empire City, where a clue she had found led her to Honey the Cat, who revealed that the princess had chosen to tour the world on her own.

## Points of interest

* BINGO Highway
* Casino Park
* Counter of Dreams 2
* Honey Brand Clothing main office
* Skyscraper Scamper

## Trivia

* Empire City appears to be based on different cities in the U.S like Chicago, Seattle and New York City, especially considering the fact that New York City is nicknamed "The Empire City" after New York State's nickname of "The Empire State." Also, the flag looks much like the United States' flag, except the current U.S. flag has fifty stars while the one for Empire City has only twelve, the U.S. flag has thirteen stripes while the Empire City flag has seventeen and the blue area covers an entire side of the Empire City flag while the U.S. flag only has a corner covered by blue.
* Sonic never has to visit this city if he collects enough Sun Medals to enter Adabat.
* Due to the design of Empire City's flag originating from the United States' flag, one could speculate that Empire City is part of the United Federation.
* Empire City is one of the two locations in *Sonic Unleashed*, which does not have a Gaia Temple, the other being Apotos.
* Empire City bears a close resemblance to Crisis City, a stage in *Sonic the Hedgehog* (2006), although it is not destroyed. If you look very carefully at the billboards, they are exactly the same as the ones seen in Crisis City, not to mention similar architecture.
* If the player looks at the news stand in Empire City closely enough, they can see a picture of the cover of *Sonic the Hedgehog* (2006) on a newsletter. This picture is also visible when looking over the shoulder of someone reading the newspaper in the background.
* Empire City is also a fictional city in various other franchises, usually as a fictional variant of New York City.

## References

1. ↑ Sonic Team (19 December 2008). Sonic Unleashed. PlayStation 3. Sega. Area/Level: World Map.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 *Sonic the Hedgehog* #281, "The World of Sonic the Hedgehog"
3. ↑ *Sonic Universe* #73, "Spark of Life Part Three"
4. ↑ *Sonic the Hedgehog* #268, "Champions Part One: The Gang's All Here
5. ↑ *Sonic the Hedgehog* #269, "Champions Part Two: Climbing the Brackets"
6. ↑ *Sonic the Hedgehog* #270, "Champions Part Three: Raising the Stakes"
7. ↑ *Sonic the Hedgehog* #271, "Champions Finale: The One Left Standing"
8. ↑ *Sonic the Hedgehog* #283, "The Mission"
9. ↑ *Sonic Universe* #91, "The Case of the Pirate Princess Part One: Dial "C" for Chaotix"