Egg Rock Zone 1

Egg Rock Zone 1 (MAP28) abbreviated as ERZ1, is the first act of Egg Rock Zone, the tenth zone in SRB2: TLL. It takes place in a space station and prominently features low and reverse gravity, often in combination with other mechanics such as conveyor belts or crushers. Other gimmicks include platforms that appear and disappear at fixed intervals, 3D-to-2D transition and outer space areas which threaten to choke the player. As the first act of the final zone, ERZ1 is very hard and many of its obstacles are designed to kill the player.

## Walkthrough

This level begins directly with a path split that lasts until the end.

### Left Path

The first thing you'll see is a bunch of platforms with diagonal caution lines. Jump on those, but jump to each sequential one quickly, as each platform triggers a crusher. The red crushers will come down faster than the yellow ones. Additionally, laser walls are installed in the room, which you have to find a way around. After completing this challenge, you should be able to make your way upward via several moving floors. After that, you'll reach a laser challenge. This room contains three vertically moving lasers, but not in sync, allowing you to be safely under one laser at any time. After making your way through those, your gravity will shortly be flipped but immediately flipped back. You'll make your way to the conveyor belt challenge. This room consists of two rows of conveyor belts, one in normal gravity and one in reverse gravity. You can jump at any time to toggle the gravity direction. Proceed through this room carefully and watch out for crushers along the way. After that, you'll make your way to a lava pit with yellow and red platforms. Jump across the platforms and towards the steam jet. The steam jet will propel you up, but make sure you land over the rock barrier, as on the top of it, there is more damaging lava. The path splits here by character.

#### Sonic Path

Sonic must run through an enclosed gauntlet of crushers in order to make it to the next area. If you have a good running start, you will *just* make it provided you keep running. The hallway makes a few bends and if you brush up against the wall even for a moment it could be fatal, so try to anticipate all of the curves and get a feel for the flow. At the end is a large crushing floor; just like the rest of the path, running at top speed with Sonic will allow you to clear it *just* in time.

If you mess up, but miraculously miss the crushers, you can try to thok from safe space to safe space using the wall and holding backwards to cushion the distance you travel. For the final crusher, you will probably want to use spindash get to maximum speed before thokking.

After you complete this challenge, you'll get to a room where you jump from platform to platform in low upside-down gravity. To do that safely, hold the jump button during the entire jump and don't thok. On the fourth platform you land on, make sure you turn right in the middle of the jump when you jump to safety. The last jump you may thok on. At this point the character-specific paths merge together again.

#### Tails Path

Tails' path is the easiest of the three. Since he isn't as fast as Sonic, he cannot pass through the crusher gauntlet. Instead, fly up to the left of the crusher gauntlet. Then, fly from platform to platform until you reach the same star post that Sonic passes. Tails then does the same reverse-gravity challenge that Sonic does. See Sonic path above.

#### Knuckles Path

Since Knuckles can't jump high enough to reach the crusher room, he must go through a breakable wall straight ahead to reach his path, which tests the player's gliding and climbing skills. It's a lava room with platforms that have scrolling sides that pull you up. Beyond those, there are falling blocks that act similar to the lava falls in RVZ. Start off by grabbing the nearest platform and let it pull you to the top. You can either attempt to glide to the platform behind the falling block from there, or jump from platform to platform until you reach the platform behind the block. Once you reach that, wait for the second block to start falling. When it does, jump off the platform you're hanging on and start gliding right until you're facing the right direction and pass the second block. Repeat the same process for the third block, but you must glide to the right soon enough that Knuckles doesn't hit the wall and fall to the bottom. Beyond the third falling block, you should see a zoom tube leading to the second room.

In this room, you will be upside down and must glide through the room without touching the electrified walls or landing in the pit at the top. The gray walls near the turnings point are okay to cling to, however, but will push you off. When you start off in a long hall, simply make a left turn at the end of the hall and another at the other hall. However, you must quickly turn right after the second hall to avoid hitting a wall in this small area. Then, cling to the sliding gray wall ahead and press up and left to get further away from the pit and not glide into it upon trying to reach the exit. When you're about to fall off of the gray wall, jump off, position yourself to face the exit, and glide through it. It will take you to a breakable wall, where the character-specific paths join up again.

### Space Countdown

Use the diagonal springs to be propelled into a corridor with glass windows that show the outside. Walk along the corridor and turn left to see a zoom tube that leads outside. You can only breathe in space for 11 seconds before you must refresh your air supply by standing inside one of the blue blocks. Find the diagonal spring, bounce on that, and then stand in the blue sector to refill your air. Then make your way up the metal beams. The gravity is low enough to allow you to skip every second beam, which you should do to save time. In case you run out of air, a blue air sector is located to the right before the hallway leading to the exit.

### Right Path

Go down the elevator, and you'll find a sequence of crushers. Make your way through them and time them carefully, as the slightest mistake will kill you. Next up is a low-gravity section where you must make large jumps with 90° turns in the middle of each jump. Partway through the low-gravity room, you'll find anti-gravity sectors. Run from one anti-gravity sector to the second; and thok from the second anti-gravity section to safe ground.

In the next room, touch the button with the intangible blue lines surrounding it to activate anti-gravity and walk above the gap in the laser. Go down the stairs on the ceiling, across the green bridge, into an area that returns you back to normal gravity. Jump and thok across the death pit with three lasers, timing it just right, then go upside-down. Turn left at the left arrow, then left again; then go down the ceiling stairs. Stand upside-down on the bottom of the elevator, and after passing the blue-colored sector, you'll return to normal gravity again.

Next you'll find another crusher sequence. Standing on the yellow caution floor will lift you up to get to the next sector, but if you stay too long on it, you will be crushed. Charge a spin-dash while on each crusher and let go when it lifts you up just enough. The next room showcases a spiral staircase downward in anti-gravity. Hit the button to open the door, and after that, quickly move down the spiral staircase, as red fog that causes an air countdown will start descending from the ceiling.

The following challenge are disappearing/reappearing blue platforms over a spike pit. Study the patterns they form and when you know the patterns, move your way through with careful timing. After that, you'll find blue platforms over a huge death pit, creating a curved staircase. Wait for them all to disappear, and start running as soon as you see the bottom steps appear. Right after that is a horizontally-moving platform, which you must jump on. To duck under a sector, charge a spindash and cancel it when on the other side by jumping. After the first duck, you'll need to jump on another moving platform which will appear on your right. Jumping off the second horizontally-moving platform will put you onto some red caution platforms, each of which crumble, so move quickly.

Next, you'll go through a zoom tube and the level will switch to a four-tiered area in 2D mode. While going through the zoom tube on the way to the third tier, jump after you exit the zoom tube so that you don't get hit by the spikes. While going through the zoom tube on the way to the second tier, curl up in a ball after you exit the zoom tube so you don't get hurt by the laser. The last zoom tube will lead you to a cavern of lava.

In the lava cavern, jump across the conveyor belts. Hit the anti-gravity sector; jump onto each of the three upside-down conveyor belts; jump off onto the green rock on the ceiling and then into the next room. Be careful and make sure you don't hit the laser before you enter the next room. The next room is a simple space countdown section. Use the yellow spring to get inside a safe tower, then use the diagonal yellow spring to shoot into a hallway. The exit is right in front of you.