Neo Castle Eggman Zone

Neo Castle Eggman Zone (MAP34), abbreviated as NCEZ, is the third Super Level SRB2: TLL. It takes place in a forest leading to Eggman's castle, which the player enters at the end. It features spinning maces as hazards, as well as spinning chains that players can use to throw themselves upwards and forwards.

First section
You start out in a small cave, with a fenced area in front of you. Turn left and run along the U-shaped ledge. At the end of it, jump down to the forest area to your lower left. Here the path splits: You can go either left or right.

Left
You will step on a wooden bridge surrounded by fences. Continue forward until you come to the edge of the bridge. Drop down the hole in front of you. You will enter a room with several tree trunks that are surrounded by leafy platforms. Jump onto the lowest platform and use the yellow spring to get up to the next platform. Walk around the tree trunk and walk over the bridge to the third platform. On it is another spring leading to a smaller platform up high. From there, you can use another spring to reach a narrow wooden ledge suspended over a bottomless pit. Walk over it until you reach an outside area with a large lake in the center. Here the paths rejoin.

Right
You will step on a wooden bridge. Continue forward until it descends to the floor in a series of stairs. Jump down the stairs and turn right. In front of you is a wooden staircase that winds around a tree trunk. Jump onto it and work your way up. Continue forwards, crossing several bridges and climbing up more staircases, until you reach a cliff with a Star Post and a trail of rings pointing downwards. Jump off the cliff, following the trail of rings. You will land in front of a bottomless pit over which two tree branches are suspended. Use the branches as platforms and use the spring on the second one to reach the ledge above.

Walk across the ledge, taking care to avoid the Egg Guard that stands on it, to reach another spring. It leads up to a second ledge, which in turn leads up to the entrance of a hollow tree. Jump into the tree and walk through it quickly to avoid the shots of the Robo-Hood standing inside it. At the other end is a cut-off tree trunk with a row of diagonal red springs leading to a fenced area. Strafe left after using the springs to land on a small ledge on the left side of the room. If you miss, you will be thrown into an arena with an Egg Guard and two CastleBot FaceStabbers. Kill them to bring up a staircase that leads back up. You will enter an outside area with a large lake in the center. Here the paths rejoin.

Lake
On the left shore of the lake is a pathway leading into a cave. The cave entrance requires you to jump through a hole in the ceiling that is too high for Knuckles to reach, so he must take a different path: On the other shore of the lake, to the right of the cave entrance, is a large tree with a row of rings leading upwards to an entrance. Climb up there to reach Knuckles's path; Tails can take it as well.

Cave path
After jumping through the hole in the ceiling, turn right to reach an area with a small water pool and an entrance to a tree trunk. Walk into the tree. In front of you is an exit, but it's too high up to jump to. Instead, stand under the spinning chain in the center of the tree. When the chain reaches you, you will automatically grab on to it. Press forward to make the chain rotate faster, and then jump off at the right moment to throw yourself to the exit. Then walk forward to reach a Star Post, where the paths rejoin.

Knuckles path
After entering the tree, you will stand on a rim that goes around the inside of the room. The hole in the center is guarded by two rotating maces. Jump down and stay close to the pillar they're attached to in order to avoid them. After falling down, you must go through a small corridor to reach the inside of another tree. You must climb up the wall at the spot marked by a trail of rings. Maces rotate around the tree; you must avoid them while climbing upwards. Cling to the wall and wait for the first mace to pass you. Then climb past it and stop moving. Once a second mace has passed above, climb further upwards to reach a third tree.

Again, you must climb up the wall at the spot marked by a trail of rings and avoid the rotating maces. The maces are laid out as follows: At the bottom is a pair of maces. Shortly above it is a single mace, and above that one is another single mace on the opposite side. At the top is another pair, with one mace being slightly above the other. Cling to the wall and move the camera up so you can see the first single mace above the pair. Once it has passed you, start climbing upwards. You will see the second single mace and the lower mace from the pair at the top pass above you. Stop shortly below the height where the mace from the pair passed. Once the higher one from the pair has passed slightly above you, start climbing again until you reach the top. From there, continue through the corridor until you drop down through a hole in a floor, landing in an area with a Star Post. The paths rejoin here.

Second half
Walk past the Star Post and proceed across the bridge in the next room. At the end of the bridge, turn right and jump across the platforms in front of you. Descend down the staircase to your left to reach a room with a wooden beam spanning over a bottomless pit. Jump on top of the beam and follow it until you reach a Star Post and a spinning chain. Stand under the chain to grab on to it. Press forward to make the chain rotate faster and jump off at the right moment to be propelled over the wall in front of you.

After reaching the other side, enter the room to your right. Walk over the grass bridges and take the yellow springs until you reach a platform with a row of diagonal yellow springs. Use the diagonal springs to reach the next platform, which is connected to a third platform by a wooden beam. A mace rotates around the third platform. Walk across the beam until you are in front of the platform, but still out of reach from the mace. To your left behind the platform you should see a cut-off tree trunk. Wait for the mace to rotate past you and quickly step on the platform to jump to the tree trunk. Jump across another cut-off tree trunk to reach the entrance to a hollow tree.

In the center of the tree is a rotating chain. Use it to propel yourself to the top, where you will reach an opening to another tree with another rotating chain. Repeat the same process here and continue forward until you reach an outdoor area. While the path continues with tree trunks in front of you, another path exists at the bottom of the room, which you are forced to take if you fall down accidentally.

Upper path
Jump across the tree trunks in front of you and take the row of springs. Then jump to the tree branch in front of you, walk to its end and jump to another tree branch. Follow it to an alcove in a tree trunk. A Robo-Hood stands next to you, so quickly turn right and jump to the grassy platform with the spinning chain below. Another Robo-Hood stands on this platform, so quickly grab on to the spinning chain and use it to propel yourself to the high platform on the far side of the room. From there, jump across another platform to reach a wooden bridge.

Lower path
Should you have fallen down at any point in this room, you must make your way through the bottom of it. From the tree trunks at the start of the room, walk forward until you come to the edge of a bottomless pit. Walk along the narrow stripe of land to the right of it, passing by a FaceStabber in the process. Eventually the stripe will end, and in front of you will be two cut-off tree trunks standing in the pit. Jump over them to reach the other side. Then walk forward until you come to a series of cut-off tree trunks that reach progressively higher. A Robo-Hood stands on the highest one, shooting arrows at you. Quickly jump across the tree trunk, avoiding the shots, until you reach the one with the Robo-Hood. Use the red spring to propel yourself to the bridge above you.

Final room
Walk across the bridge and continue forward until you reach a gate. The gate will open, leading into a large room with the castle entrance. Continue forward until you stand in front of the entrance. Jump over the pit and avoid the enemies to reach the Level End Sign.