Mystic Realm/Levels/Blazing Forge Zone

Single Player levels
Emerald stages
MAPAQ: Blazing Forge Zone
MKZ RKZ LWZ BFZ	SCZ NCZ STZ ISZ DWZ
Extra levels

MAPAQ, Blazing Forge Zone, abbreviated as BFZ, is the fourth emerald stage in Mystic Realm, containing the Light Blue Chaos Emerald. It is accessed by activating the Mystic Shrine in Flame Rift Zone Act 2. It is set in a factory filled with lava, featuring crushers and pipes with gas jets as gimmicks. Crawla Commanders appear in several locations, threatening to throw you into the lava.

Walkthrough

You start the level in a corridor with a glass wall that separates you from the area with the Chaos Emerald and the exit. Turn left to encounter a path split; you can go either left or right. Before you decide, kill the Crawla Commander approaching you.

First path split

Left path

After turning left, you will enter a room with a bridge crossing a lava pool. Walk over the bridge and turn right afterwards. Jump down on the pipe in the lava below and walk across it to reach a gas jet that will propel you up to a higher ledge. After a right turn, you will encounter another pipe in a pool of lava. Again, jump on it and use the gas jet to reach a ledge with a Crawla Commander. After defeating it, follow the corridor until you get to a set of two crushers. Pass under the first crusher while it recedes and rest in the gap between the two crushers. Once the second crusher starts receding, pass under it as well. You will reach a small pool of lava spanned by a pipe with two gas jets. Jump on the pipe and use one of the gas jets to reach the top of the ledge in front of you. You will enter a large room mostly covered by lava, with a large two-tiered structure in the far right corner. Jump to the platform with the first Star Post in front of you and destroy the Crawla Commander that starts approaching you. Here the paths merge.

Right path

After turning right, you will enter a corridor with two crushers. Pass under the first crusher while it recedes and rest in the gap where the corridor makes a right turn. Once the second crusher starts receding, pass under it as well. You will come across a lava pit with a pipe extending from the ledge you are standing on. Walk across the pipe to reach a gas jet at the end, which will propel you up to a higher ledge to your right. Should you fall into the lava, another pipe next to the ledge you entered from has a gas jet that will get you back up.

After reaching the higher ledge, continue along the corridor and jump over the pipes blocking your path. You will reach another pool of lava with two pipes, one extending from the ledge you are standing on and one hanging overhead. Jump onto the first one and use the gas jet to reach the second one. Use the gas jet on that pipe to reach a higher ledge to your left, where a Crawla Commander awaits. Defeat it before moving on. You will enter a large room mostly covered by lava, with a large two-tiered structure in front of you. Jump to the platform in front of you and turn left. You will reach a pipe leading across the lava to a ledge with the first Star Post. Walk across the pipe, activate the Star Post and destroy the Crawla Commander that starts approaching you. Here the paths merge.

Second path split

Jump to the platform where the Crawla Commander came from and take the red spring in the left corner. It will propel you up to a platform at the top of the room. A network of pipes spans the room, allowing you to reach two exits, one on the large two-tiered structure to the left and one to the right, above the entrance from the right path of the first path split.

Left path

Walk onto the pipe extending from the platform you are standing on and then jump across two pipes in front of you to reach an outer rim on top of the large two-tiered structure. Most of it is covered in lava, so walk around the outer rim until you reach a pipe in the lava leading left. Walk across it to reach the entrance to a corridor with the second Star Post.

Continue along the corridor until you reach another larger room, with a lavafall to your right that falls down a series of steps to your left into a large pool at the bottom. Jump across the platforms in front of you and then look down to your right to see a ledge that leads into another corridor. Jump down to the ledge and enter the corridor. The entrance to the corridor is guarded by a Crawla Commander, so kill it before moving on. The corridor is covered by a long crusher. Once it starts receding, pass under it and follow the right turn of the corridor. At a second right turn, there is a safe spot where you can rest. Pass under the next crusher once it starts receding and quickly run through the rest of the corridor.

You will reach a room with a large lava pool extending to your left. A series of pipes span the lava, with several gas jets shooting out of them. Before you move on, destroy the Crawla Commander approaching you. Now you have to make your way across the lava by jumping over the pipes. Be careful to avoid the spots with the gas jets so you can land on them safely. After jumping across two pipes, you will land on a platform in the middle of the room, with an arrow on the left wall pointing forward. Here the paths merge. Jump across two more pipes to reach a platform with an exit to your right that contains the third Star Post.

Right path

Walk onto the pipe extending from the platform you are standing on and follow it to the right. Once you've reached the end of the pipe, turn left and jump across a few more pipes to reach the entrance to a corridor with the second Star Post. The corridor is filled by a lava river, so walk across one of the pipes on the outer edges. You will reach a drop in the floor where the lava river feeds a cascading lavafall. Carefully jump down the steps of the lavafall until you reach the bottom. Turn left and jump across the lava to a ledge. Continue through the corridor in front of you, jumping over the step in the floor.

You will reach another room covered in lava, with several platforms leading downwards to your right. Kill the Crawla Commander on the first platform and then jump across the platforms until you come to another right turn. Walk across the pipe extending from the platform you are standing on and jump to a ledge across the lava. Turn left and walk through a corridor to reach a small lava pit with two pipes hanging overhead. Jump to the first pipe and use a gas jet to reach the second pipe above it. Use another gas jet on that pipe to reach the top of a high wall surrounding the lava pit. Should you fall into the lava, another pipe at the bottom of the ledge you entered from has a gas jet that will take you back up.

After reaching the top of the high wall, you should a slightly higher ledge in front of you, with an arrow leading right on the far wall. Jump to the ledge and walk forward to reach a room with a large lava pool. Here the paths merge. If you missed the jump to the ledge and fell down into the ground below, you can use a series of three pipes with gas jets to get back up to the high wall and try again.

After reaching the room with the large lava pool, turn right. Two pipes span the lava in front of you, with several gas jets shooting out of them. Jump across the pipes, but be careful to avoid the spots with the gas jets so you can land on them safely. You will reach a platform with an exit to your right that contains the third Star Post.

Final section

After the third Star Post, you will enter a room with a large lava pit from which several platforms extending that lead downwards. Look to the far wall from the entrance to see two vertical pipes spanning the wall. The exit of the room is between these two pipes, at the bottom of the room. You can either jump down across the platforms to reach it or you can jump down to it directly (you may need to use your special ability to reach it). The next room is similar, except now you start at the bottom of the room and have to make your way up via the platforms. You will eventually reach a staircase that splits in two. Continue to your right to reach the exit with the fourth and final Star Post.

After a short corridor, you will reach a room with a large lava pit extending to your left. Similarly to the room where the paths merged, several pipes span the room, except now they float high above the lava. Between the pipes are lavafalls that get more frequent towards the far end of the room. To reach the other side, you must jump across the pipes between the gaps in the lavafalls. Should you miss a jump and fall into the lava below, turn around and go back to the start of the room as quickly as you can to reach a ledge with a row of red springs that will take you back. When you reach the last pipe, the gaps between the lavafalls in front of you are so small that you can barely see the ledge behind them. It's possible to jump through the gaps without touching the lava, but if you don't want to take the risk, walk up to the left end of the pipe and then jump around the lavafalls to the ledge.

The ledge at the end of the room has a hole in the floor that you can drop down into. After walking through a corridor with a few more enemies, you will reach the area with the fourth Chaos Emerald and the Level End Sign.

Points of interest

• At the first path split, turn left. Immediately afterwards, you will pass by two high platforms in the left corner. Use a gas jet in the pipe across the pool of lava to reach the lower one. Another pipe with a gas jet winds around the higher one, allowing you to reach the top, where you will find a Super Ring Monitor and a Whirlwind Shield.
• Take the right path at the second path split. When you come to a room with a series of platforms leading downwards, there is a ledge with an Attraction Shield in the far left corner from the entrance.
• Take the right path at the second path split. After passing the room with a series of platforms leading downwards, the path makes a left turn. Before the left turn, look behind the pipe in the right corner to find an Invincibility Monitor. Aside from being useful by itself, it also allows you to reach a nearby extra life. After popping the monitor, walk backwards across the pipe next to you and jump back up the platforms that led you downwards. When you reach the corridor that you entered the area from, look to your right to see a small lavafall with a gap in the wall at the top. Pass through the gap to reach a hidden passage with the extra life.
• Between the third and fourth Star Post, you will pass through two large rooms filled with lava. In the second one, you have to jump up a series of platforms to reach the top. At the end, instead of taking the staircase to your right to reach the exit, take the one to your left to reach an extra life.

Emblem locations

Sonic

At the second path split, take the right path by walking across the long pipe leading to the right. Once you've reached the end of the pipe, you normally have to jump across a few more pipes to reach the exit with the second Star Post. Look down below you at this point to see a lower pipe with the emblem. Jump down to the pipe to collect it.

See image

Tails

Take the right path at the second path split. After the second Star Post, there is a lava river in front of you that eventually feeds a cascading lavafall. After jumping down the first step of the lavafall, turn around to see the emblem floating above the lava, between the two pipes.

See image

Knuckles

Take the left path at the second path split. After reaching the second Star Post and walking through the corridor afterwards, you will reach a room with a lavafall to your right that falls down a series of steps to your left into a large pool at the bottom. From the entrance, jump down to the ledge below you to your left to find the emblem sitting on a pipe in the corner.

See image

Technical data

Note While the next level is Silver Cavern Zone according to the level header, a custom exit in the map changes the actual next level to MAPAC – Flame Rift Zone Act 3.