Lava Reef Zone

Perhaps the coolest- or should I say hottest- level in Sonic and Knuckles. This boiling hot cavern of mines is the crash site for the stricken Death Egg. There's lots of tear away platforms, and most of them break away into bubbling lava. Like with Volcano Valley Zone, the most valuable thing here is the Flame Shield. The mini-boss is a pair of bullet-shooting tentacles and a giant metal hand. To make the fight go faster, destroy the tentacles first. In the second act, a majority of the boiling lava has hardened. Knuckles will drop you into a cavern with the Death Egg for the boss fight. The Death Egg will turn on and cause lots of lava to appear. The first part is just a survive for a set amount of time part. After that, you will be going down a lava fall. Find the Flame Shield and jump down to fight the boss. You can't hurt it, but it's own mines will. Defeat him to move on to Hidden Palace Zone.