Mystic Realm v.4.6 (scr_mysticrealm.wad)

Mystic Realm is a level mod for SRB2 with over 30 stages, a bunch of secrets, and a lot of stuff to do. Being originally created in 2003 and last significantly updated in 2006, Mystic Realm is one of the oldest SRB2 modifications. As such, many of the levels here will likely feel dated nowadays after the vanilla game updates included far more interesting single player stages with far more depth. On the other hand, an insane amount of love and devotion was put into this, and while the stages lack in modern size and depth, they do still have it where it counts. If you're looking for a bunch of moderately decent single player content or have a nostalgia for older versions of SRB2, Mystic Realm should last you quite a while.

For those that haven't played this before, emerald collection in Mystic Realm is vastly different from SRB2. Each of the seven main zones has a Mystic Temple hidden in Act 2. Activating the Mystic Temple changes the next stage to a hidden single-act zone of higher difficulty level than the normal zone. At the end of the hidden zone is a chaos emerald and the end level sign, taking the player back to Act 3.

Spoiler: Version History

Version 4.6

• Ported to SRB2 v.2.1. Thanks to Prime for porting his SOC as usual.
• Changed the unlockable structure to finally handle the secret stages. You can now access Prismatic Angel and Mystic Realm Zones from the Secrets menu after completing them.
• Fixed a few minor bugs.

Version 4.5

• Ported to SRB2 v.2.0 thanks to Ezer.Arch, Kaysakado, Prime 2.0, and SpiritCrusher.
• Small modifications to the bosses to make them less unfair.
• Knuckles can climb walls in SPZ and AGZ to prevent unwinnable situations due to his lower jump height in 2.0.

Version 4.4

• Added unlockables and upped emblem count to 75.
• Fixed a bunch of random stuff, and made tweaks where I felt it was appropriate.
• Removed multiplayer stages.

Version 4.3

• Revamped Jade Coast 1 so that it's no longer as cramped.
• Added textures to make it possible to see breakable walls. (Thanks, Blaze!)
• Added Golden Sands Zone for Race mode.
• Added two CTF stages, one old and one new.
• Modified several parts of the game to be a little more forgiving and/or because they were unfair to the player.

Version 4.2

• Revamped Aerial Garden's emerald stage.
• Levels no longer reset upon dying. Mystic Temples, falling platforms, and switches stay active after the player has died.
• Various bugfixes and little tweaks. A certain hidden stage will not crash out the game on level load anymore, among other things.
• Added something a little special ^_~

Version 4.1

• Added little modifcations to make characters than cannot spin, such as Amy, capable of completing the game with all emeralds.
• Added some match stages to the pack.
• Lots of bugfixes and little tweaks. Hopefully Sunken Plant 2 won't SIGSEGV all the time now.

Version 4.0

• Added two new three-act zones: Tempest Valley Zone and Sunken Plant Zone.
• Added seven one-act zones to house each of the chaos emeralds.
• Added a section for when Sonic has all emeralds on Normal or higher.
• Added emblems to the stages. Try to get all fifty!
• Retextured Flame Rift Zone and changed the enemies.
• Added snow pack to Midnight Freeze and changed the enemies.
• Revamped Aerial Garden Zone completely.
• Renamed Crawla Isle Zone to Jade Coast Zone.
• Removed the original SRB2 levels from the rotation.
• Added a title screen logo by Blaze. Thanks to a441 for fixing the red stars, as well.
• Added an original soundtrack by RedXVI and Arrow. Thank you both a ton.
• Generally altered levels to do various things, from game balance to adding scenery.

Version 3.0

• Added Midnight Freeze Zone.
• Retextured Verdant Forest Zone and changed the enemies.
• Retextured Final Zone, and renamed it.
• Optimized the levels using DoomBuilder.
• Fixed a lot of texture problems.
• Changed the powerups a bit around the levels, mostly adding extra lives.
• Changed the music, and added custom music for Verdant Forest and Aerial Garden, thanks to Arrow.
• Renamed the pack AGAIN to "Mystic Realm", where it should stay.

Version 2.0

• Added Flame Rift Zone.
• Renamed the pack to "Mystic Way".

Version 1.0

• Initial Release.

[Ors]

Then the boss is just hard. I think it's a good thing to have something relly hard to make the emeralds getting harder, like Mystic Real Zone. Prismatic Angel is not hard enough to have happy feeling about the completion. Actually it took me six lives to beat the boss.

[Jeck Jims]

Yeah, except the fact that the last save is at Starlight Palace, which is kinda a fuck you to the player sending them back 3-4 levels because they can't defeat a OP boss.

[LunarDestroyer]

Personally, I would prefer a harder PAZ 2 (preferably one that has the same level of pure platforming as PAZ 1), than have a slightly harder than is reasonable MRZ boss. Similarly, something needs to be done about the platforms in PAZ, since platforming when you can't see what you're trying to land on unless you jump is rather annoying.

[Mystic]

Mystic Realm Zone's boss was always pretty bullshit. You can circlestrafe to hit him if you're good, as well as hit him with his own spark mortar shot's explosion if you make him hit something in the arena with it. As the fight goes on it gets progressively more impossible, though, and the easy way is still to cheese him by getting hit directly on top of him so you just end up stunned directly inside him.

This is just a straight port, though, so we didn't put any effort into fixing how completely unfair that boss is.

[MascaraSnake]

Originally Posted by Jeck Jims

Yeah, except the fact that the last save is at Starlight Palace, which is kinda a fuck you to the player sending them back 3-4 levels because they can defeat a OP boss.

Once you have beaten PAZ, it's accessible from the secrets menu, so that at least makes it a little more tolerable.

...on the other hand, you only start out with three lives and one continue.

[Legendary Emerald]

Originally Posted by SpiritCrusher

Once you have beaten PAZ, it's accessible from the secrets menu, so that at least makes it a little more tolerable.

...on the other hand, you only start out with three lives and one continue.

Heh, yeah. I played about half the game again before I tried to take on Prismatic Angel, just because I figured it would be smart to gather some extra lives. I ran out of patience before my 66 lives ran out, lol.

Worth pointing out that SRB2 is one of those rare games where I actually like to collect coins/rings/collectables that only add to my lives count and score.

[CobaltBW]

Yeah, I know this thing is archaic by level design standards, but there is something special to finding hidden things throughout Mystic Realm. There's bustable walls and hidden paths with small rewards everywhere that just makes exploring the level a little more fun. Feels like oldshool Zelda, which I'm sure Mystic took a lot of inspiration from at the time.

Actually, I still think bustable walls is a cool mechanic for this game, and I wish levels outside of MR would integrate it more often.

[CowboyJoseph64]

my god, you don't know how to sanic.

first off, the levels are very confusing. Although this apparently came before 2.0, but still, you couldn't improve?

second, MY GOD YOU REALLY FUCKING SPAMMED THESE ROBOTS. Jesus christ, you can't walk one step without getting hit from them, leading to many a cheap death. Again, you couldn't improve?

thirdly, you only use two bosses out of all of these levels, the laser shooter and the purple puddle spiller. Time to repeat this once more:

YOU CAN'T IMPROVE?

well, if you're just trying to do a completely straight port, then I guess this map's okay, but otherwise, FUCKING HELL.

[Jellybones]

Originally Posted by CowboyJoseph64

second, MY GOD YOU REALLY FUCKING SPAMMED THESE ROBOTS. Jesus christ, you can't walk one step without getting hit from them, leading to many a cheap death. Again, you couldn't improve?

But that was the best part about 1.09 and Mystic Realm. Back then, it really was all about Robo Blasting. Just look at the magnificence that was the old CEZ. A work of art.

["Lat'"]

Originally Posted by Jellybones

But that was the best part about 1.09 and Mystic Realm. Back then, it really was all about Robo Blasting. Just look at the magnificence that was the old CEZ. A work of art.

Please no, the Tails emblem in CEZ1 was about to make me a hearthstop, I was affraid of detons, and the enemy placement in the second act was about to be Mystic Realm.

Originally Posted by CowboyJoseph64

second, MY GOD YOU REALLY FUCKING SPAMMED THESE ROBOTS. Jesus christ, you can't walk one step without getting hit from them, leading to many a cheap death. Again, you couldn't improve?

Also, spamming robots is not the only point of levels being hard, it's how you spam them. Instance, Bullets Syn in platforming sections are awful, Aerial Garden is a perfect sample. Miscs robots near ledges that you can't reach without a spring are vicious too, those places always have to be safe.

Originally Posted by Jellybones

A work of art.

>> I approve.

[Zwip-Zwap Zapony]

Originally Posted by CowboyJoseph64

thirdly, you only use two bosses out of all of these levels, the laser shooter and the purple puddle spiller.

Originally Posted by CowboyJoseph64

this apparently came before 2.0,

Originally Posted by CowboyJoseph64

well, if you're just trying to do a completely straight port,

You answered yourself twice. "Before 2.0", and a "straight port". This was made in 1.09.4 or whatever it was, maybe even before that, and the 2.0 port was also straight. Mystic has stated there will be work on utilizing 2.1's features later, but not right now.

[TehRealSalt]

*sigh*

Again...

Originally Posted by Sonic100000

See Neo Mystic Realm

(how does everyone miss this??? it's on page one AND this is a message board where you're supposed to read messages...)

[Legendary Emerald]

Originally Posted by "Lat'"

Also, spamming robots is not the only point of levels being hard, it's how you spam them. Instance, Bullets Syn in platforming sections are awful, Aerial Garden is a perfect sample. Miscs robots near ledges that you can't reach without a spring are vicious too, those places always have to be safe.

Agree. I'd say that the biggest problem SRB2 has is its enemy design. There are very few places where certain enemies would be justified in existing, and yet they end up being put in anyway just to increase variety and "difficulty". The camera view and level design just isn't suited for the clouds of auto-seeking enemies that levels designers like to use.

More often than not, enemies aren't a challenge, but an invisible annoyance. The flies were given a buzzing sound effect in 2.1, which is at least helpful for noticing when they are near, but I've still been sneak-attacked several times by other flying enemies and those awful water skimmers who drop bombs on anyone who would DARE to try and explore in an underwater section.

Having said that, I wouldn't say Mystic Realm has this problem moreso than any other level pack. Aeriel Garden act 2 has some bad Crawla placement on the Tetris platforming segment, but it's still my favorite map in the pack.

Looking forward to Neo Mystic Realm and any changes it will bring. Especially for the final boss, since it sounds like it became even more broken in the switch to 2.1, heh.

[Mystic]

I think there's a fundamental misunderstanding here about what Mystic Realm is, and what it's about. Mystic Realm is a dated level pack from the Final Demo days of SRB2. We had two bosses, a few enemies, and three zones, of which only three acts are even remaining in the game in 2.1. The level design at the time didn't have much in the way of level gimmicks, and much of what makes SRB2 what it is today didn't exist. Mystic Realm was made in that environment, where I looked at what tools I had at the time and built stages around them. While it might sound silly now, at the time SRB2 didn't have a lava stage or a water stage. Aerial Garden was the first stage released for SRB2 to even include bottomless pits!

Thus, Mystic Realm was designed with a very different design than SRB2 2.X. Mystic Realm uses the tools I had available to create what was at the time the biggest package of SRB2 content. While gimmicks like "lava", "ice", and "water" sound overly simple now in the light of 2.0's additions, at the time it provided a lot more variety than the vanilla game had. The rest of the package was rounded out with platforming, enemies, and a large emphasis on exploration for secrets. Mystic Realm assumed that you had played 1.X's vanilla campaign already, and therefore knew how the enemies functioned already and wanted more challenging content. This meant that I used some of the enemies in situations that many people object to, such as on the landing area for springs. I don't consider this problematic as long as the player gets a proper view of the landing area before landing. The patches of MR have removed most of the instances where it was legitimately blind, and I've fixed a few more in Neo Mystic Realm, but when you can see what's going on, I don't consider placing enemies that way to be "cheap".

Neo Mystic Realm fixes some of the problematic mistakes of Mystic Realm's design, but it does not change the core of what Mystic Realm is. NMR is still about basic platforming with enemies and an emphasis on exploration. In fact, thanks to the inclusion of some of 2.0's enemies, you'll probably find the enemy placement even MORE mean in many locations. If you want challenging basic platforming that tests your ability to handle enemies while navigating narrow platforms, Neo Mystic Realm won't disappoint.

["Lat'"]

I never said the enemy placement was that bad, and at least it gives free lives for detonating a nuke shield. As for Neo Mystic Realm, I am excepting to see those red birds in AGZ...

[TehRealSalt]

Will Neo Aerial Garden be different from the version included in vanilla SRB2, or will it be the same with the exception of that it's a requirement for beating the game?

[MrBreada]

Mystic Realm was the first WAD I ever added, and it was just as hard now as it was back then. And I've improved too much since then.

[NeonSonik]

Well thanks for bringing it back.

[NeonSonik]

Let me guess, the infamous Prismatic Angel Zone is back....

[MosaicMario]

Excuse me but since the release of 2.1.14 some textures of this mod aren't correct or even went missing.
Basicly the textures of all mystic temple activation platforms and a few textures from AGZ SPZ and GSZ are not correct. Even possibly more.

Screenshots:

Spoiler:

Edit: Reupload Screenshots