Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity. |
- For the gimmick in Sonic Adventure 2, see Ancient Ruin.
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Ancient Ruins is the fourth area in Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal. It is an island region which houses an abandoned city from the Ancients. Underneath it lies a robot production facility where Lyric the Last Ancient builds his Destruction Troops. While following Amy's trail, Team Sonic journeyed through this location.
Description[]
Described by Sticks as "the distant past slammed into the far future, all wrapped up in an incredible present", the Ancient Ruins are the abandoned remains of an advance Ancient city from five millennia ago. Crumbled buildings, roads, pillars and statues make up the ruins, which are overgrown with various plants.
In Ancient City, the level takes place in the purple ruins between the hills. The ruins, which are covered in the Ancients' runes, show much decay; walls are crumbled or cracked, hanging plants and moss grow everywhere, and colorful bushes grow at the roads and on the hills. Still, the city is an archeological marvel of pillars, towers, gates and (leaking) aqueducts. The tower interiors are darker, being made of grey stone, but are otherwise pristine and show the Ancients' architecture in the walls, windows, pillars and statues.
In Robot Facility, the level takes place inside a brown, orange, and grey-shaded Destruction Troop factory beneath the Ancient Ruins. Covering the surfaces in many places are the Ancients' runes. An astonishing technological marvel, it is a fully metallic environment with boilers, engines and turbines. Giant gears and pipes cover the walls and there are pools of molten metal with glass shields. The deeper parts of the facility are relatively the same as those in the front, but darker and with pools and machines connected by pipes for processing green toxic waste.
Story[]
Upon arriving at Ancient Ruins, Team Sonic realized they were out of clues to Amy's whereabouts after she had been kidnapped by Lyric. The team thus decided to look around for clues Amy could had left. Wanting to prove Sticks wrong after she deemed his intellect inferior to Amy's, Tails shifted through Amy's logs with Knuckles and soon discovered that Amy had located Lyric's Destruction Troop factory underground.
Entering the robot factory, Sonic and team decided to trash it to throw a wrench in Lyric's plans to conquer the world with his army. Soon after, Tails discovered from a control terminal that the factory was being control from somewhere in the sky, which Tails figured was where Lyric was hiding. As Knuckles was given permission to smash the terminal however, Metal Sonic showed up to protect the facility, as per orders from Dr. Eggman over the terminal. After driving Metal Sonic off, Team Sonic followed him to a volcano, thinking he could lead them to Lyric.
Gameplay[]
Ancient Ruins' adventure levels, like the others, are divided into two parts (the foreground and background) that run parallel to each other, which can be traveled between with the Slingshot. Standard gimmicks here include Bounce Pads, Boost Pads, Enerbeam Swings and disappearing platforms. The Robot Facility also has hatches that only open when the characters pass through them from the right side, only to close right behind them again. Hazardous obstacles in Ancient Ruins include pits with wooden spikes, waste pools, molten metal vats and water streams. Touching such obstacles will damage the player and return the characters to an earlier position. In addition, the underground sections have bombs that detonate upon being touched or a few seconds after being approached, and the Robot Facility has pipes in the ceilings that drop damage-inducing waste in intervals. Ancient Ruins also has collectibles scattered about which unlock extra content if collected and breakable obstacles that give extra Rings.
Like other adventure levels, Ancient Ruins' have several character-specific gimmicks for the playable characters. These include dash blocks for Sonic, Air Vents and Sea Fox sections for Tails, Burrow spots for Knuckles, and Boomerang Switches for Sticks.
Overview[]
Ancient City[]
Ancient City is the area's first adventure level, which takes place in the abandoned city. The foreground is set outside the ruins, while the background is set inside the ruins. It becomes available after obtaining thirteen Sonic Badges. This aventure level is a multi-story maze where each character gets to use their specific character skills. Notably, Sonic and Sicks only get their own sections in the background. The player can as well move freely around on virtually every floor in this adventure level and enter various buildings with the use of the characters' skills. Sonic, for example, can barge through dash blocks that separate the sections from one another, but Knuckles is also sometimes needed to burrow through to another side of walls. Sticks is also needed to deactivate spiked barriers. Notably, Ancient City is also the first adventure level to feature bombs in the burrow sections. It also contains numerous loops and corkscrews.
Overall, Ancient City has one foreground with multiple Slingshots that lead to paths with collectibles that loop back to said foreground, albeit at different spots. Nonetheless, the player's target is always the uppermost path. For one of the most direct routes to the goal, proceed directly down the right-orientated path at the start to reach a Burrow spot leading to a Slingshot. Use it and go right to find another Slingshot. Use it and follow the left-orientated paths from there. Upon reaching the second Air Vent after using the previous Slingshot, use it to reach the Burrow spot on the right above and use it to reach the area above it. From there, the player can reach the uppermost path.
Once on the top path, use the Slingshot on top of some arches in the area to the right. From there, follow the path down below to reach a Slingshot leading to the goal.
Requirement | Reward |
---|---|
Reach goal | Sonic Badge |
Get six Blueprints | Sonic Badge |
Get five Crystal Shards | Sonic Badge |
Reach goal with 100 Rings | Token |
Reach goal in 05:00 min | Token |
Worm Tunnel[]
The Worm Tunnel is a bonus level where the player must race to the end of an obstacle course made and inhabited by Driller Worms. It becomes available after clearing Ancient City and obtaining seventeen Sonic Badges.
Requirement | Reward |
---|---|
Reach goal | Sonic Badge |
Reach goal with 250 Rings | Token |
Reach goal in 02:05 min | Token |
Robot Facility[]
Robot Facility is the area's second adventure level, which takes place in the underground factory. The foreground is set in the facility's outer rim, while the background is set deeper inside. It becomes available after clearing Ancient City and obtaining sixteen Sonic Badges. Also, in addition, to the waste-dropping pipes, the corridors are often patrolled by more advanced Destruction Troops. Also, in addition to the standard obstacles for each character, the player will also come across encounter loops and corkscrews.
At the beginning, the target location is the closed-off area above the level's starting point. To reach it, the player can go either left or right at the beginning. If the left path is chosen, follow it to reach a Slingshot and use it. Go then left to reach a new Slingshot leading back to the foreground. Take then the left-going path above to reach the closed-off area at the beginning. If the right path is chosen, follow the right-orientated path to a Burrow spot. Use it and go then down the left-orientated paths to arrive in the closed-off area at the beginning.
In said closed-off area, use the Slingshot above. Go then down the path on the left to find another Slingshot leading to a new area, where the goal is on the uppermost path. Within this area, the player can go right to follow a relatively linear, but long path to the goal. Alternatively, the player can go left to reach an area that splits into two paths. Follow the right path at the split path will take the player down a linear course to the goal. If the left path at the split path is chosen, the player must keep going up until they reach the path just below the goal. Follow this path to the right to eventual arrive at the goal.
Requirement | Reward |
---|---|
Reach goal | Sonic Badge |
Get six Blueprints | Sonic Badge |
Get five Crystal Shards | Sonic Badge |
Reach goal with 100 Rings | Token |
Reach goal in 05:00 min | Token |
Facility Race[]
In Facility Race, the player has their third rival race. It becomes available after clearing Robot Facility and obtaining eighteen Sonic Badges. For this race, the player controls Sonic. Here, the player must race Metal Sonic through the robot factory and beat him to the goal to proceed.
Requirement | Reward |
---|---|
Reach goal | Sonic Badge |
Reach goal with 225 Rings | Token |
Reach goal in 01:45 min | Token |
Q-N-C's Toy Shop[]
This building is the local shop owned by Q-N-C. Here, the player can trade Tokens for toys and display their current collection. It becomes available after clearing Robot Facility.
Gallery[]
Screenshots[]
Maps[]
Full maps[]
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In-game maps[]
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Hub map[]
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Music[]
Name | Artist(s) | Length | Music Track |
---|---|---|---|
N/A (Ancient City 1) | Richard Jacques | 4:30 | |
N/A (Ancient City 2) | Richard Jacques | 4:31 | |
N/A (Robot Facility 1) | Richard Jacques | 4:37 | |
N/A (Robot Facility 2) | Richard Jacques | 4:28 |