Lyric's Tomb

Lyric's Tomb (古代の墓) is the first area in Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric. It is a dense forest area on an island, littered with ruins from the Ancients, and the location of the tomb where Lyric the Last Ancient was imprisoned. It serves as the tutorial level for the game.

A thousand years ago, Lyric the Last Ancient was imprisoned in this location and turned into a statue. In the present, Team Sonic came to Lyric's Tomb during their chase after Dr. Eggman, but got trapped inside the tomb. In their attempt to escape however, they accidently freed Lyric.

Overview
Lyric's Tomb is separated into two main areas: the exterior of the tomb where Lyric was imprisoned within and the interior. The exterior of the tomb is a large and very dense forest area in a slightly mountainous region, filled with lush, tropical and often colossal trees, some of which are as tall as skyscrapers. The forest's bottom is a rocky field of dirt and enormous roots, covered in green flora, vines, rock pillars and chasms, and features few rivers and waterfalls. Amongst the raw nature, there are some ancient ruins of stone foundations originating from the Ancients and a giant statue.

In the center of the jungle lies the tomb containing Lyric which is presented as an old, cylinder-shaped building with large gates depicting Sonic and Tails, and a lock only Sonic can open.

The interior of Lyric's tomb is a dark, ancient and smelly stone structure (with a few metallic components) heavily affected by the hands of time, with grass and moss growing out of the floor and thick vines coming out of the walls. It contains five rooms in total: one large room in the center where Lyric was contained and four surrounding it. In each of the surrounding rooms is a device shooting a light beam into a receptacle in Lyric's room that emits a light that kept Lyric frozen.

Story
A thousand years ago, the Ancients created a tomb in this location where they imprisoned Lyric after he tried to destroy the world. In recognition of Sonic and Tails' key roles in stopping Lyric, the Ancients engraved pictures of the heroes on the tomb's doors and equipped the entrance with a lock only Sonic could open. To power this facility, they used the Shock Crystal not far away.

In the present, on a regular day thwarting Dr. Eggman's schemes, Team Sonic arrived at Lyric's Tomb in a pursuit for the doctor. During the chase, Eggman ambushed the heroes with Metal Sonic and the group split up, with Sonic and Tails going after Eggman while Knuckles and Amy go after Metal Sonic.

After another ambush by Eggman, Sonic and Tails met and defeated the Destruction Troops, ancient robots Eggman had taken control of. Soon after, Sonic and Tails met Amy and Knuckles at an ancient tomb which puzzled them due to its depictions of Sonic and Tails. There, they were attacked by hordes of Destruction Troops and Metal Sonic. Against his team's wishes, Sonic unlocked the tomb and sought refuge within with his friends. While Eggman and Metal Sonic were locked out, Eggman was pleased to see his plan to awaken Lyric was working while Shadow looked from afar.

Trapped within the tomb, Team Sonic tried to escape by moving beams from some receptacles in hopes of unlocking a door. However, when they reached the central chamber, they found frozen Lyric and were trapped. Everyone turned their anger towards Sonic for locking them up when Lyric came to life due to the team disabling the system keeping him frozen. While Lyric showed familiarity with Sonic, Sonic tried to attack him, but Lyric dodged him and tied them up with his shackles. Lyric then broke out of the tomb to destroy the world, but Tails freed them and converted their shackles into Enerbeams which they used to pursue Lyric. However, Lyric escaped Team Sonic, so they turned towards Cliff for help.

Gameplay
In Lyric's Tomb, the player passes through the forest and the tomb where Lyric is imprisoned. Here, the player is incapable of manually switching between all four playable characters.

As a tutorial level, the gameplay in Lyric's Tomb focuses on obligatory sections where the player gets to test out the game's basic aspects and the unique skills of the playable characters and without offering optional routes like in other levels. Like other areas in Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric, Lyric's Tomb includes speed level sections, where the player runs down a long path with speed-enhancing gimmicks while avoiding hazardous obstacles, and as well slower-paced areas for exploration and combat. The latter half of the area features different puzzles that must be completed in order to progress, which mainly involves the Button gimmick. Sometimes, rows of Rings also appear to show the path that the player must follow.

Lyric's Tomb introduces the basic gimmicks for the specific character actions to the player (most of which is introduced in the latter half of the game). This include Spin Ramps for Sonic, Climbable Walls and Ceilings for Knuckles and Balance Beams for Amy. Near the end, the player is also introduced to the Enerbeam, where it is used for combat and an Ener-Rail. Because it is a beginner area, Lyric's Tomb has few and fairly easy enemies. It also features nearly no environmental hazards, except for bottomless pits.

Description
Lyric's Tomb begins in the forest on a speed section, where the player must avoid obstacles, falling objects and missiles from Dr. Eggman and Metal Sonic. When reaching the end of the speed section, the player takes control of Sonic and Tails where they have to defeat a group of Destruction Troops. The player then has to follow the path to the tomb where another wave of Destruction Troops must be defeated. Here, the player automatically take control of Knuckles.

Once inside the tomb, the player has to pass through four sections for each of the playable characters; first Sonic, then Tails, then Amy and finally Knuckles. Each section focuses on the character's unique abilities and skills to pass through it. At the end of each section, the player has to hit a Button on a light beam-device that opens up the path to the next section. After awaking Lyric, the player has to fight more Destruction Troops until they can throw one into an unstable statue and unlock an Ener-Rail. The player must then ride the Ener-Rail out of the tomb and reach another speed section while avoiding Lyric's attacks, until the player reaches the end and gets to Cliff's Excavation Site.

Collectibles

 * Crowns: 15
 * Shinies: 2
 * Robot Scrap Chests: 15

Trivia

 * Because of Knuckles' "infinite jump" glitch, it is possible to bypass the fight against the Destruction Troops that takes place outside of the tomb and jump directly into the tomb. Using the glitch again, the player can skip activating the four receptacles segments of the level and directly confront Lyric.