Route 101

Route 101 is the ninth stage of the Hero storyline of Sonic Adventure 2 and the third stage playable with Miles "Tails" Prower. It represents Tails' attempt at chasing the president's limousine.

Plot

Back in Station Square, Amy and Tails are on the phone to Sonic. Tails reckons that the stolen Chaos Emeralds have been taken into space for use on the ARK by Robotnik and Shadow. Suddenly, Knuckles climbs out of a manhole right next to them, saying he must have gotten lost in the mines. Tails then tells Sonic he wants to catch up with the President's limousine; he transforms the Cyclone into a racing car, the Whirlwind S7 and drives it through Route 101 to do so.

Level layout

Appearance

Route 101 is a thin one-way bridge or highway that is suspended over the sea, with red walls that have direction arrows of the right way to go. It is divided into three sections by means of two checkpoints, which will extend the time countdown when crossed. Several car models also drive through the road: a pair of city cars (one red, one light blue), a pair of executive cars (one white, one black), a van (blue), a common yellow and black American taxi. The cars serve no apparent purpose, since the Whirlwind S7 won't take damage, yet they will slow it down considerably.

Other level specific objects are sharp bend signs for corners, an arched advertisement placed over the road, “Born to be fast” and four different advertisement billboards scattered along the way:

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  a Sonic Team ad, which shows a revamped logo and advertises their website

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  a Chao Kindergarten ad—“Let’s study together!”

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  a generic tyre ad—“Select Type? We give you the boss tyre”

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  a Sonic Spin Wheel advertisement, “Super Great Type”

Other versions

Route 101 and Rouge's Route 280 share the same kart gameplay, mission setting and level themes, although the latter is more dangerous and harder to beat than the former. It's of no wonder, since both are located at the highway outskirts of the city.

There are similarities with Tails’ Mission Street and Shadow’s Radical Highway as well, like the roads and respective walls, the Golden Gate styled bridge, billboards and sharp bend signs.

Gameplay

The controls for the stage are straightforward. Use to accelerate; when turning, tap then hold it down to start a powerslide, which is useful on corners. You can stop sliding by releasing the analog stick for a second. activates a 5-second boost, which is received for every twenty rings collected.

Checkpoint requirements and ring count

Checkpoint	Rings	Time (s)	Time (s) (Hard Mode)
#1	72	60	60
#2	104	80	50
#3	78	80	60

Kart Race minigame

If this level is beaten before Route 280, the Kart Race minigame will become available; if it is beaten after Route 280 the 2P Kart Race minigame will become available.

Trivia

• Route 101 is named after U.S. Route 101, a north-south U.S. highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States.