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Sonic 1 Original Level Order

During the development of Sonic 1, the Zone order was originally much different from what ended up in the final product. The levels were eventually rearranged for a more sensible difficulty curve, but the original order is actually reflected on the level select screen. While the gameplay definitely flows better with the revised order, playing the levels in their originally intended order reveals an interesting thematic progression from nature to technology:

1. Green Hill (nature)
2. Labyrinth (nature)
3. Marble (nature)
4. Starlight (technology, but idyllic)
5. Springyard (technology, but deteriorated)
6. Scrap Brain (Full blown cyberpunk dystopia)

It also makes the zones feel like they geographically belong near each other, especially in the second half of the game. The further you are from scrap brain, the nicer things are. Starlight is the "good part of town", while Springyard feels like it could be some kind of junkyard surrounding the fringes of Scrap Brain.