Central City

Central City is a prominent location in the Sonic the Hedgehog series. It is the capital city of the United Federation.

Sonic Adventure 2
The city in Sonic Adventure 2 is unnamed, but said to be based on Station Square or the real-life San Francisco. The first Hero cutscene states that it takes place "above the capital city," and in Shadow the Hedgehog, G.U.N. soldiers and Doom's Eye refer to Central City as the capital. This strongly suggests that the city in Sonic Adventure 2 is Central City or an early form of it. In this appearance, the city is mostly modelled after San Francisco, as some areas below have similarities with San Francisco's places. It may also be based on multiple cities, because area backgrounds appear to feature both San Francisco and New York City skylines combined.

Areas

 * City Escape: a stage based on the long slopes of San Francisco. Sonic runs through the stage while escaping from G.U.N.
 * Radical Highway: a highway bridge under construction; based on the Golden Gate Bridge. Shadow runs through it.
 * Mission Street: a street stage that is also set on the bridge at times, based on the real-life street, Mission Street, in San Francisco.
 * Route 101: a long bridge over an ocean. Miles "Tails" Prower drives on it while chasing the President.
 * Route 280: an equally long bridge, where Rouge the Bat chases Tails. However, unlike Route 101 this route is more lethal as there are large holes.
 * Aquatic Mine: an abandoned coal mine that has been flooded, accessible through the sewer system of Central City.

Sonic Battle

 * Main article: Central City (Sonic Battle)

Central City makes its first named appearance as an overworld in Sonic Battle. In it, there's an apartment where Amy Rose and Cream the Rabbit live, a skyscraper (called Central Lab) with a library and a famous database, and a highway called Battle Highway. Tails goes here to find out more about Emerl. Another part of Central City named Night Babylon also appears as a casino district where Rouge owns her own club and Dr. Eggman has one of his numerous bases.

Shadow the Hedgehog

 * Main article: Central City (Stage)

Central City also makes an appearance in Shadow the Hedgehog. The first city appearing in the game is named Westopolis, but if Shadow helps Eggman light five lanterns in his Cryptic Castle base, Shadow goes to the Central City stage. In it, G.U.N. tries to fight off the invading Black Arms aliens that are trying to destroy the city. The Hero Mission is to help Knuckles the Echidna capture twenty bombs, and the Dark Mission is to help Black Doom detonate five giant bombs. Shadow the Hedgehog reveals that the President of the "United Federation" nation lives in Central City in a variant of the White House. It is destroyed by the Eclipse Cannon after clearing the Dark Mission of The ARK stage. Whether Central City is destroyed or not is up to the player. Central City also appears in Expert Mode, where Espio the Chameleon challenges Shadow.

Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood

 * Main article: Central City (Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood)

Central City is one of the areas in Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. Tails' Lab and G.U.N Headquarters can be found there, as well as numerous shops. Roads lead both to the Green Hill Zone and to Mystic Ruins, although the latter is blocked by GUN troops during chapters 1 and 2.

The enemies in Central City include Wasp Swarms and Eggman's robots (secretly under Nocturnus Clan control).

It is in Central City that both Tails and Rouge are recruited into Sonic's party.

Trivia

 * In Sonic Battle and Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, Central City appears to be located on South Island. However, in Sonic Adventure 2, the capital city is instead shown to be on the mainland.
 * The Eclipse Cannon destroying Central City may be a reference to the movie, Independence Day, since it hit the White House before wiping out the city.
 * In the DC Universe, there is a city named Central City, which is home to Barry Allen, the second Flash.
 * In Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, the BGM is a remix of Diamond Dust Zone from the Mega Drive version of Sonic 3D: Flickies' Island.