Tomorrowland
""A vista into a world of wondrous ideas, signifying man's achievements.... A step into the future with predictions of constructive things to come. Tomorrow offers new frontiers in science, adventure, and ideals, the atomic age, the challenge of outer space and the hope for a peaceful and unified world."—Walt Disney dedicating the Trope Namer at Disneyland, July 17th, 1955
An inexplicably technologically-advanced area in a place where it obviously doesn't belong—for example, a far-flung Jetsons-esque metropolis in a game set during the modern day; or an advanced techno-dungeon in the middle of your Medieval European Fantasy. Either way, expect to run through streets and buildings high in the sky, and to dodge cars—of either the mundane or the flying variety.
Named after the section of several Disney Theme Parks dedicated to such things.
See also Schizo-Tech, Zeerust and Decade Dissonance.
Examples of Tomorrowland include:
- 2010's release, Disney and Junction Point's Epic Mickey, has this has one of its early levels. Including Tron Lines everywhere in the latter half of the level, including the boss, the walking Tron homage Petetronic.
- Metropolis Zone, Scrap Brain Zone, Metal City, Grand Metropolis, Power Plant, Eggmanland, and many more all from the Sonic the Hedgehog series.
- Justified in that they are presumably the work of Robotnik/Eggman. 'Cept for Grand Metropolis.
- The Sonic Riders subseries, if it's somewhere you can expect to find people, will have a level of technology far above the rest of the Sonic games. Zero Gravity has a pair of courses set in what looks like modern-day Japan, but the game explains that this is an artificial construct.
- The Legend of Zelda has numerous, including:
- Majora's Mask had an underwater factory of sorts with a very complex pipe and drain system
- Skyward sword had a Mining Facility with what seems like the only place in all of Hyrule history so far to have electricity.
- Robotica Farms from Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage.
- Another example is from a level not too far from Robotica Farms: Metropolis. It's an even bigger example of this trope because it's a domed robot city, perhaps the urban counterpart to Robotica Farms.
- Any of the "future" stages in Crash Bandicoot: Warped, though there it's justified—the game's gimmick is Time Travel.
- Esthar of Final Fantasy VIII. The tech difference can be partially justified in that they're also very isolationist, so their advancements wouldn't have spread to the other nations - yet even so, said isolationism is less than twenty years old, and Esthar is full-on Crystal Spires and Togas while the rest of the world is early 20th century.
- Cliffport City in Order of the Stick. The characters even lampshade the fact.
- A lot of levels in Super Mario Galaxy are like this, since the game takes place in outer space.
- Sanctuary Fortress in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. After having just beaten the quiet, tropical Torvus Bog, the Sanctuary Fortress, which is about as technological as possible, snuck up on players.
- The Dwarves from The Elder Scrolls have been extinct for over 3,000 years, but were several centuries more technologically advanced than any other modern-day civilization in the Verse. Word of God has this justified by their alien belief system forbidding them from using proper magic. Since the other races use magic, they apparently don't need all this technology. Because why would you want a weather machine or army of robots when you can shoot a magic fireball instead? Naturally.
- While the fireballs are all you can use in the games, it's made pretty clear through backstory and the accomplishments of other characters that magic is the cornerstone of Tamrielic society and economy, and there are plenty of important uses for it that rival or exceed what the Dwemer achieved with technology.
- Omnitopia from Secret of Evermore.
- Area 66 from MadWorld
- Gnomeregan (and anything gnomish) in World of Warcraft.
- Unusual for a sports game, Quantum Field of Backyard Baseball.
- Deep Space in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep. Somewhat justified, as it's a galactic spaceship that merely happens to be crossing through The Multiverse back to its proper dimension... a fantasy-dominant multiverse.
- The Alaborn cards from Magic: The Gathering's Portal Second Age expansion have guns. Given that Magic features numerous different worlds, it wouldn't be a problem...but supposedly, they really do come from Dominaria, the same world as most other sets released prior to 2003. Where exactly they were during Invasion has never been answered, although it's debatable whether the guns would have been of much use.
- Although card art during the Invasion block did feature Magitek laser guns, planes, and Humongous Mecha. Not everyone was happy.
- Most of La-Mulana is ancient ruins. Then comes the Tower of the Goddess, a spaceship, complete with futuristic lighting, mysterious monitors, and scaffolding.
- A staple of the Might and Magic series, where each game (except the ninth)) has some sort of sci-fi location, most often the Very Definitely Final Dungeon.
- The art of Nick Kaloterakis, as seen on the covers of Popular Science.
- Most of Elona is set in a vaguely Medieval-ish setting, but then you come across a town called the Cyberdome filled with computers and high technology.
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