Mystic Realm/Levels/Rainstorm Keep Zone

Single Player levels
Emerald stages
MAPAO: Rainstorm Keep Zone
MKZ RKZ LWZ BFZ	SCZ NCZ STZ ISZ DWZ
Extra levels

MAPAO, Rainstorm Keep Zone, abbreviated as RKZ, is the second emerald stage in Mystic Realm, containing the Purple Chaos Emerald. It is accessed by activating the Mystic Shrine in Tempest Valley Zone Act 2. It is set in a castle, with most of the action occurring in the castle's dungeon, which features slime and crushers as obstacles. As in Tempest Valley Zone, Buzzes are used frequently as enemies.

Walkthrough

You start the level in a rainy valley, with the castle entrance in front of you. As you approach the castle, the first gate leading into the outer rim of the castle will open. Enter it via the bridge leading over the toxic moat. A second gate leading into the castle itself will open. After walking up a staircase, you will reach a hallway with exits to each side and in front of you. Walk through the exit in front of you, immediately turn left and then turn right. You will reach a descending staircase leading into a dungeon with the first Star Post. To your left from the Star Post is the entrance to a corridor, with a crusher blocking your way. Walk under the crusher when it starts receding and stand in the safe spot with the chains hanging from the ceiling. Now the path splits; you can go either left or right.

Path split

Left path

Turn left and walk underneath the crusher to enter a room with a slime pool and an exit immediately to your right. Walk through it and kill the Buzz flying towards you. Turn right again and walk across the bridge spanning the slime to reach another corridor with a crusher. Walk underneath the crusher and stand in the safe spot where the corridor makes a right turn. After passing under another crusher, you will reach a room with a bridge spanning the slime, similar to the previous one. This time, however, the bridge is covered by a long crusher. Stand in front of the crusher and kill the two Buzzes approaching you from the side. When the crusher starts receding, quickly run under it to the other side, where you will reach the second Star Post.

After a left turn, you will reach a room that is covered almost entirely by a large crusher, with four small safe spots in between. The safe spots are marked by chains hanging from the ceiling and a single ring. Make your way from safe spot to safe spot by quickly walking underneath the crusher while it is receding. Midway through, the room makes a U-turn to the right, so turn right after the second and third safe spot to find the next one. After reaching the exit, turn left and follow the corridor to reach the third Star Post. Here the paths rejoin.

Right path

Turn left and walk underneath the crusher to enter a room with a large slime pool to the right. In the middle of the pool is a narrow ledge covered entirely by a crusher. Before jumping to it, wait for the Buzzes in front of you to approach and destroy them. Then jump to the ledge, but time your jump carefully so that you land on it while the crusher is receding. Immediately jump off again to reach a safe ledge on the other side. If you miss the jump, you must go back to the ledge with the crusher to try again.

After reaching the other side, enter the corridor in front of you, which is partially guarded by crushers. Carefully walk underneath them while they are receding and rest in the gaps between them. The corridor leads into a room with a bridge crossing a pool of slime to your right. The second Star Post is in the middle of that bridge. Walk across it and activate the Star Post. You will reach a fork in the path where you can go either left or right. Turn left to enter another corridor with crushers, similar to the previous one. Make your way through it and jump up the ledge to your left in the following room. You will reach another corridor with a crusher, but this one is longer. Walk underneath it and rest in the corner where the corridor turns left. After passing underneath another crusher, you will enter a room with an exit to your right. Turn right again to find the third Star Post. Here the paths rejoin.

Final section

In the room after the Star Post, walk up the staircase to your left to exit the dungeon. After walking through a few more hallways filled with enemies, you will reach the Level End Sign, with the second Chaos Emerald just before it.

Points of interest

Extra lives

• Sonic's emblem location contains an extra life.
• After entering the castle and walking up the stairs into the central hallway, turn right to enter the hallway with the bedrooms. Turn right again and take a staircase that leads outside. A row of springs to your left allows you reach the top of the castle wall. Walk along the wall, jump around the towers on either side and the castle gate in the center. As Sonic, you may need to thok to get around the gate. On the other side of the castle entrance, in the same spot where the ledge with the springs was on the side you came from, you will find a ledge with an extra life.

Shields

• After entering the castle and walking up the stairs into the central hallway, turn right and then immediately left again in the following hallway. You will reach a room with a large wooden shelf, which holds two Super Ring Monitors and an Elemental Shield. As Tails or Knuckles, you can simply fly or climb up to it. As Sonic, you need to jump on the outer rim of one of the torches on either side of the entrance first, and then to the shelf from there. Make sure to avoid the flame, which is damaging.
• After entering the castle and walking up the stairs into the central hallway, turn right to enter the hallway with the bedrooms. Enter the leftmost bedroom at the far end of the hallway and look behind the closets to the left to find an Attraction Shield.
• Take the left path at the path split. After the second Star Post, an Elemental Shield will be right in front of you.
• Take the right path at the path split. After the second Star Post, you will reach a fork in the path. Turn right and pass under the crusher to enter a room with a pool of slime in the center. Walk around the pool to find two ring monitors and a Whirlwind Shield.

Emblem locations

Blue ( 一 )

Accessible by: Tails / Knuckles

When you reach the descending staircase leading into the dungeon with the first Star Post, instead of taking it, turn left and walk through the hallway to reach a small courtyard enclosed by a high castle wall. Climb/fly up the long wall opposite the entrance. After reaching the top, jump down off the other side; you will land in a moat of goop. In the center of the castle wall, sitting on a small connected platform, you will find the Blue emblem. Collect it and go to either end of the wall to find a Red spring which will take you back up to the top of the wall.

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Red ( 二 )

Accessible by: All

At the entrance to the dungeon with the first Star Post, instead of entering the corridor to your left, look right to see two other corridors which are guarded by a series of alternating crushers. A very similar section is featured in Thunder Citadel Zone, another castle-themed level made by Mystic around the same time. To reach the emblem, you must make your way through one of these crusher gauntlets. To do this, walk under the first crusher when it starts receding and then wait for the next one to come down. Once it starts going back up, immediately walk under it before the previous one can crush you. Repeat this process until you reach the end of the gauntlet, where a small passage with an extra life and a spring connects the two gauntlets. After collecting the extra life, take the spring to reach a small corridor with the Red emblem. Collect it and continue until the end of the corridor. The floor will crumble, taking you back to the area with the Star Post.

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Green ( 三 )

Accessible by: All

Take the left path at the path split. After the second Star Post, you will reach a room that is covered almost entirely by a large crusher, with small safe spots in between. Between the second and third safe spot, look near the wall to your right to see the emblem under the crusher. If you walk to it quickly and immediately continue on to the next safe spot after collecting it, you will have just enough time to reach it without losing a life.

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Technical data

Note While the next level is Labyrinth Woods Zone according to the level header, a custom exit in the map changes the actual next level to MAPA6 – Tempest Valley Zone Act 3.