Aerial Gardens Zone 5

Aerial Gardens Zone 5 (MAP58) is the fifth act from the fourth Hyper Level. It is the largest level in SRB2: TLL, taking place in a garden and temple suspended in the sky. Most of the level consists of very difficult platforming over death pits. Jetty-Syn Bombers and Bird Aircraft Strike Hazards are used as enemies, threatening to throw the player into pits.

Aerial Gardens Zone was originally part of the v1.09.4 modification Mystic Realm, where it constituted the final four-act zone. These four acts, as well as the emerald levels Starlight Palace Zone and Inner Sanctum Zone, were all merged into this level. Many segments were heavily modified, and new sections were added, including new paths for Knuckles.

Walkthrough
As this stage is very long and complex, the walkthrough has been split into three smaller segments, one for each act of the original Aerial Gardens Zone. AGZ3 and AGZ4 can be completely skipped, and are not included in the walkthrough.

Aerial Gardens Zone 1
Start by jumping to the platform before you, and use the pillar to your left to climb up. Then jump down to your right and run along the path until you come to a yellow spring. Take it and land on the platform ahead of you. Here the path splits.

Forward
Jump across the platforms in front of you to reach a door. Enter to your left to reach a Star Post, and Jump down at the exit. To access the high ledge in front of you, you must run around it until you find a set of yellow springs. Take them and turn around to see a pool with a pillar in the middle. Jump onto the gargoyle on top of it and to the platform in front of you. You might have to kill the Jetty-syn beforehand. Continue to your right, jumping across several small platforms. You will eventually reach a set of yellow springs. Take them to reach a Star Post.

Right
Jump onto the pillar to your right to access the high platform. Jump up the platform next to the yellow spring and continue forward to reach an opening in the wall. On the other side of the tunnel, you have to cross a gap via some small square pillars holding upward and diagonal springs. To reach the other side of the room, bounce across the pillars using the upward bouncing springs in the center of each one. Enter the tunnel, containing a Star Post. After exiting the tunnel, turn to your right and jump across the platform to a piece of land. Turn to your left and jump to the piece of land coming out of the wall of the central structure. Follow it to meet up with the forward path, at the pool with the gargoyle in the middle. Follow that path from here to reach a star post.

Next
Walk past the Star Post and across the narrow beam to your right. Take the yellow spring to the platform above and take the red spring, which will lead you to a set of yellow springs. Take the set of yellow springs until you eventually reach an opening in the wall. Continue through the tunnel, and jump up through the opening, still following the path until you reach an outdoor area. If you are Knuckles, you cannot jump up through the opening, so you will need to take the Knuckles path instead.

Knuckles and Tails path
Knuckles must take this path, but Tails can take it too. Instead of running right, climb or fly up the pillar to your left. Then, do the same with the next two pillars and jump to the ledge in front of you, containing a Super Ring Monitor. Continue along the beams and pillars to your left until you reach an opening in the building to your right. Activate the Star Post and exit downstairs. The following area can be cleared by flying as Tails. Knuckles however has to climb up some floating platforms. Begin with the two taller ones and then continue along the smaller platforms. Once you've reached a very tall but narrow pillar, you can start gliding to the exit. Drop down the hole to enter the first hallway of AGZ2.

Aerial Gardens Zone 2
Enter the building to the right of the waterfall and continue through the long hallway to your left. You should end up at a fork in the path.

Left
After exiting the building, drop down in front of you. Cross the pit via the small square platforms. Then take the spring on the platform to your left and continue until you reach another spring. Use it to reach one of the square platforms above you, leading you to a yellow diagonal spring. Take that spring to be taken to a high pillar. Then walk across the narrow beam to enter the building on the other side. Drop down and, to your left, enter a room filled with several waterfalls and a Star Post. Walk downstairs to reach another split.

Right
After exiting the building, jump down to the right. Walk around the pool of water to reach a set of springs that take you upwards. Jump up the ledges in front of you and continue along the set of platforms moving up and down. Jump across these, but be careful not to get crushed against the ceiling. Now simply enter the building to your left and drop down. To your right you should enter a room filled with several waterfalls and a Star Post. Walk downstairs to reach another split.

Left
Continue along the hallway to reach a hole in the ceiling. Knuckles cannot jump through it, and thus, is forced to take the other path. As any other character, jump through and exit via the stairs. When outside, bounce across the pit via the small platforms with springs on them and continue forward over several platforms until you reach the next building, containing a Star Post.

Run down the stairs and step outside again. In this room, you have to jump across a lot of narrow beams set over a death pit. This will require very accurate jumping, so be careful. You should also kill the Jetty-syn Bomber beforehand to make things easier. You have to cross the room three times, each time taking a spring to reach a new height level. At the end of the room, simply enter the building and walk downstairs to reach a Star Post.

Right
After going outside, turn right and take the yellow spring. Jump to the next platform for another set of springs. Now turn left and jump onto the structure with the four gargoyles. From there, you can reach another platform with a spring taking you to the exit on the left. Now you have to jump through a hole in the ceiling. Knuckles, however cannot pass and must take an exclusive path (see below). Continue down the staircase to reach another outside area. It consists of several square platforms moving up and down at different intervals. Make your way across and try to get higher. Once you've reached a platform that goes high enough (there's also one with a red spring), exit the room to get to the Star Post.

Knuckles path
Instead of jumping through the hole in the ceiling (which isn't possible as Knuckles), continue forward and climb up the wall to your left. On the other side is a Star Post, as well as another outdoor room. Climb up the pillar to your left and jump to the platform in front of you. Then climb up the pillar directly to your left and jump one the nearest of the several small floating platforms. These platforms are set up in such a manner that you can always glide to the next-highest one and cling on to the side, then climb up and stand on top. In some cases, it is best to spindash-jump before gliding to make sure you reach the edge of the platform. Once you've reached the highest platform, glide to the rim surrounding the high ledge on the other side of the room and enter the building.

Continue downstairs, passing by a Star Post, to reach a large death pit room with several floating blocks in all shapes and forms. Climbing the walls is useless in this room, since the room gets narrower on its way up, providing a natural barrier for Knuckles. Kill the Jetty-syn that approaches you from the right, and then start climbing upwards, utilizing the platforms and pillars to your right. You will reach a high ledge. Jump on one of the rising and falling platforms and try to get on top of the highest one. It should be just high enough to reach the next level of the wall. Cling on to it and climb until you can get no further. In the middle of the room you can see a floating block with a yellow spring. Try to glide into that spring, taking you up to the next ledge of solid floor. On both ends of the ledge you can see gargoyles. Stand on top of one of those to be able to reach one of the floating platforms. Make your way up as usual until you are able to climb up the next segment of the wall. The ledge that is located above you has some blocks hanging down below it, containing gargoyles and a spring. Take that spring to be taken to the ledge. On one of the wall you can now reach the exit, taking you to a Star Post.

Now you will reach a small outside area, with a water pool in front of you. Jump into the water and head left. After falling down a waterfall, you will end up at the underwater section of Starlight Palace Zone.

Next
Grab the speed shoes and move along the empty corridors until you reach a pyramid-like building with a Star Post. Skip the AGZ3 area by simply exiting to the left and you will eventually wind up at the beginning of Starlight Palace Zone.

Starlight Palace Zone
Walk around the waterfall and enter the building in front of you. You can go either left or right.

Left
Jump onto the platform to your left and from there to the next one. Be careful since that platform is only a ring, which means you can fall in the middle. The platform to your right contains and yellow spring, propelling you on top of the structure. Jump on one of the four outer pillars to reach the next platform. The next gap you have to cross is rather large, so jump off at full running speed to make it to the other side. Walk through the small tunnel and continue climbing upwards until you reach a red spring, taking you to a high entrance and a Star Post.

Continue by walking downstairs until you come to a river. Follow its path and turn left as soon as possible. Exit through the staircase to your right. Once you're outside again, you should be able to see a high building to your right, with another Star Post at the entrance.

Right
Jump across the platforms in front of you until you reach a yellow spring, taking you to another yellow spring and then to a higher platform. Jump to the next platform and make your way across the pit via some small square pillars. Go through the small tunnel and jump over some more pillars. Jump on the platform to your left and turn around. You now have to cross a rather wide gap to reach the next platform, so start running and jump at full speed. Once you're on the other side, continue to your left until you reach a pillar with several gargoyles and a yellow spring. Take the spring and enter the building to your right, activating the Star Post along your way.

Continue by walking downstairs until you come to a river. Follow its path and turn right as soon as possible. Exit through the staircase to your left. Once you're outside again, you should be able to see a high building to your left, with another Star Post at the entrance.

Next
While it is possible to continue by doing some difficult platforming, it is generally easier to take the elevator in the building. Simply step on it to be taken to the top. There are two possibilities: You can either jump off at the next floor and take the staircase at the left entrance, or you can ride to the top and enter the building in front of you. In the first case, you will end up directly at the next Star Post, in the second case, you will have to wait until the floor collapses and then exit to your left, reaching the Star Post.

You can see a narrow ledge with a scrolling floor, set over a death pit. Jump onto that ledge and run against the scrolling direction. In this area, you will have to jump over several of those scrollers, separated by increasingly narrow columns. Be careful to jump through the columns, or you will fall into the death pit below. After you crossed that area, take the yellow springs to return to safe ground, and simply turn left in the next corridor to reach a building containing the End Level Sign.