2.0:XSRB2/Levels/Sandy Shrine Zone Act 1

XSRB2 levels
MAPX3: Sandy Shrine Zone Act 1
DDZ MAPX0 MAPX2	SSZ MAPX3	FFZ MAPX9 MAPXB
Sonic Golf MAPZ0–MAPZ8

MAPX3, Sandy Shrine Zone Act 1, abbreviated as SSZ1, is the first act of Sandy Shrine Zone, the second zone in XSRB2. It is set in a temple that is partly filled with quicksand. The level features gimmicks such as quicksand falls that the player can climb up by repeatedly jumping (based on those from Sonic 3 & Knuckles's Sandopolis Zone), platforms the player must step on to open doors or move other platforms, and rope pulleys. Green Snappers are the only enemies that appear in this level.

Walkthrough

You start the level in an outdoor area with the entrance to a temple in front of you. Enter the temple and walk through the corridor to reach a room with a pool of quicksand to the left. Jump to the platform across the quicksand, where a diagonal yellow spring will take you up the quicksand fall to the right. Turn left to enter a large room where the path splits.

Path split

Left path

Turn left and walk up to the quicksand fall next to the arrow leading upwards. Jump into the quicksand fall and then repeatedly press the jump button to ascend to the top. Walk up the stairs to the right to reach a pillar with a diagonal yellow spring, which will propel you into another quicksand fall. Jump up to the top and then follow the corridor to your right, which contains the first Star Post. You will reach a rope pulley suspended from the ceiling. Hang onto it and let it carry you across the top of the previous room. Jump across two more rope pulleys to reach an exit to an outdoor room on the other side.

The outdoor room consists of a balcony leading across the side of the temple building. Parts of the balcony are covered in quicksand with a current that pushes outward. Jump across the platforms in the quicksand to reach the other side. If you fall into the quicksand and can't get out in time, it will push you down to a lower balcony that is also covered in quicksand, which will push you further outward into a death pit. Wade through the quicksand to either end of the balcony to find a spring that will get you back up. Once you've reached the end of the higher balcony, re-enter the temple and turn right to reach the second Star Post. Here the paths rejoin.

Right path

Turn right and proceed forward until you reach the edge of a quicksand pit. Jump to the platform in front of you and from there to another platform to the left. After walking up two small staircase, you will reach a platform with wooden supports. If you step on the platform, it will sink down and open a door to your left. Walk through the door and follow along the corridor, which contains the first Star Post.

You will reach a room with a quicksand pit and a button in the center. If you press the button, quicksand falls will drop down from the ceiling and start raising the quicksand pit. Stand on one of the square platforms that surround the room, which will be carried up by the quicksand. Three bridges span the room at various heights, which some of the platforms will crush against as they rise up. Only the platform to the right of the entrance and the one across from it on the other side of the room are completely safe. If you are standing on one of the other platforms, jump off to another one before you get crushed against a bridge. If you land in the quicksand pit, jump repeatedly to stay on top and avoid getting dragged into the pit.

Once you've reached the exit at the top of the room, continue through the corridor until you reach the second Star Post. Here the paths rejoin.

Final section

Continue along the corridor until you reach a quicksand pit with two platforms suspended from the ceiling. Stepping on one platform will lower it and raise the other one. The path continues along the corridor behind the left platform. To reach it, step on the right platform until the left one has been raised up high enough for you to reach the corridor. At the end of the corridor, you will find the Level End Sign.

Points of interest

Special Stage Tokens

• At the start of the left path, walk around the platform with the first quicksand fall to find a small passage underneath it that is blocked by pillars. If you look closely at the pillars, you will see that the one in the middle has a circle decoration that differs from the others. Spindash through this pillar to break it and then look to the left for two more pillars with circle decorations that can be spindashed through, revealing an alcove with a Super Ring Monitor and a token.
• When you reach the two suspended platforms near the end, enter the corridor behind the right platform. At the end, look for a hole in the right wall that you can spindash through. It leads to a room with a token.

Extra lives

• Near the start of the left path, instead of taking the diagonal yellow spring, jump into the quicksand at the bottom of the quicksand fall that the spring leads to. Jump down into the basin of quicksand to your right and walk through the quicksand fall to find an extra life in the corner.
• The button in the rising quicksand room on the right path drains the quicksand in the starting area, revealing a pit with five extra lives. To get back to the starting area, continue to the top of the rising quicksand room and then backtrack through the left path from the second Star Post.

Other power-ups

• In the first temple room after the starting area, there is a high platform to the left of the entrance that contains a Combi-ring. To reach it, either jump up the quicksand fall or jump to it from the exit.
• In the rising quicksand room on the right path, jump up one of the quicksand falls to reach a small corridor above the room with three Super Ring Monitors and an Attraction Shield.
• In the outdoor room of the left path, a Super Sneakers Monitor is in plain sight on a small platform in the quicksand.
• In the outdoor room of the left path, jump over the railing to your right to land on a lower balcony with quicksand leading outward into a death pit. About two-thirds of the way through the room, an Invincibility Monitor sits on a small platform next to a pillar. There is a spring on the far end of the room that will get you back up.