Cliff's Excavation Site

Cliff's Excavation Site is one of the three hub world areas in Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. It is a large rocky region with an archeological digging site set up by Cliff and his workers to excavate the remains of the Ancients' civilizations and some Sentinels. It can be accessed after clearing Lyric's Tomb. From here, the player can access the game's first five levels.

A former location of the Ancients, Team Sonic came to the site looking for Cliff's aid to help shred light on Lyric's schemes after they released him. From this location, the team found the first three Chaos Crystals to halt Lyric's plans before moving on to Bygone Island.

Overview
Cliff's Excavation Site is a very large and orange-colored rocky region near the coast with pillar-like mountainsides enclosing it. While flora is not abundant and the majority of the ground is covered in dust, there are patches of pale grass and pine trees outlining the cliffs. Diverting the area is a wide river with a waterfall in the west. A straight, and somewhat ancient, bridge in the middle of the area connects the two river sides.

As an excavation site, objects related to mining and digging can be found here, including wooden support beams for shafts and holes, wooden scaffolds, wooden bridges, a few digging equipments and a wrecking machine. Also, a few structures from the Ancients are also present. In three locations there is a large gate (one to the south and two to the north) dating back to Lyric's time that block the player from the areas beyond them. A few bridges for speed level sections can be found in various locations.

The southern part of this area is not very open, with canyons cutting through large masses of rock. However, a few open, albeit enclosed, areas can be found along the riverside.

The northern area is more open and is the heart of the excavation site. In the middle, Cliff and his workers have set up camp with tents, a small harbor, supply containers and digging equipment. There is also a large construction pit where they are unearthing an old Sentinel and the Tornado. To the east is the mining area with mine carts, rails and the entrance to the Mines, an underground tunnel network resembling the stereotypical mining shaft with a hidden underground room from the Ancients containing the Shock Crystal. Even further to the east lies the Raptor, a harbor-like area made by the Ancients. To the west lies Salty's house and dock for his Riptide.

Story
A millennium ago, Cliff's Excavation Site was a center for the Ancients' civilization. After the Ancients had imprisoned Lyric, they placed the Shock Crystal in a hidden room in this location to power Lyric's Tomb.

Thousand years later, Cliff led an archaeological expedition to this location to find Lyric's tomb. When they failed to catch Lyric, Team Sonic came here to ask Cliff for information on Lyric. The elder told the team about Lyric's history and how he was imprisoned for attempting to destroy all life in the world using his army of Sentinels. Begrudgingly, Sonic revealed they had accidently released Lyric, so Cliff, after getting over the news, provided a plan: Lyric would need the Chaos Crystals to reboot his army so they would just have to get the Crystals first.

With Cliff's help, Team Sonic found the first Chaos Crystal in the Mines. On the way back, Knuckles and Amy met Foreman Fred and agreed to help him free some trapped miners. After saving the miners, Foreman Fred gave them a Power Glyph as reward.

Continuing onward, Team Sonic used their first Chaos Crystal to find another and a map leading to the rest. Returning to the excavation site, Team Sonic met Salty who agreed to let them use his Riptide to reach the next Chaos Crystal after they repaired it. When Team Sonic returned to Cliff's Excavation Site with another Crystal, they met Cliff at the Raptor where the elder had unearthed a function aircraft from the Ancients, the Tornado, which they used to reach Bygone Island where the last Chaos Crystals were.

Gameplay
Cliff's Excavation Site is a free-roaming and non-linear area to encourage exploration. It serves mainly as a central hub from where the player can access the other areas in the game which include: In order to enter these areas from Cliff's Excavation Site (with the exception of Lyric's Tomb), the player must open the sections containing their entrance points by unlocking their respective Crystal Lock with the correct Chaos Crystal. The majority of the objectives in Cliff's Excavation Site focus on proceeding to the next area. For this level, the player can control all the playable characters at all times.
 * Lyric's Tomb
 * Abandoned Research Facility
 * Lyric's Weapon Facility
 * River Rush
 * The Pit
 * Bygone Island

The area contains a variety of different gimmicks, especially for the playable characters' specific character actions which include Spin Ramps and Spin Balls for Sonic, Climbable Walls and diggable ground for Knuckles, Balance Beams and Beam Swings for Amy, Tails Vents for Tails and holes for Buddy Bot. In addition, it contains a few Hydro Gates for letting the player roam on the river which contains few turning wheels that can cause damage. It also has a few speed level sections, where the player runs down a long path with speed-enhancing gimmicks while avoiding hazardous obstacles, for getting collectibles or reaching new sections.

From within this area, the player can participate in both obligatory and optional side-quests by interacting with the non-playable characters, though some of them cannot interacted with before reaching a certain point in the game. Completing the optional side-quests will either award the player with a Power Glyph or open paths to new collectables.

Cliff's Excavation Site contains nearly no enemies, most of which are encountered during side-quests or in far-off locations. There are likewise no environment hazards besides the bottomless waters. It also hold a few puzzles for the player to solve, through they are rather widespread.

Description
When first entering Cliff's Excavation Site, the player has to go to Cliff at the construction pit to proceed with the game. For there, the player has to enter the Mines to get the Shock Crystal by solving a small Button puzzle, where the AVA must be used to reveal the entrance to a hidden room. Inside this room, the player must solve a small puzzle to get the Crystal before heading back. On the way, the player must complete a side-quest from Foreman Fred by finding the miners inside the Mines. For this side-quest, the player controls only Knuckles and Amy.

Once outside, the player must make their way to the first Crystal Lock in the south and enter the Abandoned Research Facility. After returning from Lyric's Weapon Facility, the player must then unlock the Crystal Lock to the northwest. There, the player has to complete a side-quest where they must collect parts for Salty's Riptide by defeating enemies in different locations and then enter River Rush. Once back from The Pit, the player must open the Crystal Lock to the northeast and complete a speed level section to proceed to Bygone Island.

Collectibles

 * Crowns: 27
 * Shinies: 10
 * Robot Scrap Chests: 20