Team Prismatic (Mystic Realm: Community Edition)

Tempest Valley

Players traveling through the deep trench of the valley filled with buoyant goop and toxic water. The type of what I mentioned is whenever the pool is deep or shallow. Toxic water will also have a bubbling effect to indicate that its hazardous. Buoyant goop will have a big impact in progression to your goal.

Verdant Forest

A misty rainforest that is shrouded with mystery. The zone will play mind tricks on the player, but will give out clues on where to go by mysterious forces. What are they? No one knows. The goal is to reach to the giant tree where Eggman is located. The boss fight will have players climb to the top to take him down.

Flame Rift

Mixture between the main zone and its emerald stage. Eggman has built machines to tore the zone apart like how tectonic plates on the Earth move. Players will need to be aware on what goes on with the environment so they won't fall into lava pits. Players can also take down those machines or activate them to break open paths.

Midnight Freeze

Takes place to climb a mountain with some Blue Mountain vibes to it. Water in this zone will be foggy so its hard to tell what lies in the water. Slippery floors will still be in, but will have less to do with platforming unless hard paths are involved. Windy breezes will also come into play during cliffside segments.

Sunken Plant

Eggman's secret base underwater. Mines will be in the zone as well as some electric machinery. Electric water will be a gimmick but only when the machines are powered on. You can turn them off in some rooms to progress without taking damage. Some pathways will require you to get in and out of the water due to the machinery being timed based.

Aerial Garden

Taking places high in the clouds, but less temple stuff involved. Gimmicks like the climb and slingshot vines will help players progress to get where they need to be. Less button hunting for some secrets except for Inner Sanctum, which will have a bigger impact later on.

Prismatic Angel

A more of a pathway based stage instead of a platforming one. It will put your skills to the test on what you come across on your adventure. Buttons that open up pathways will be in and your main objective is to reach to the temple where Eggman's after.

Mystic Realm

The actual final boss where you'll fight the Egg Anius. Exact same as it was before but the end will have something else when you have all the emeralds.

Dimension Warp

The extra boss fight when you have all the chaos emeralds. Being based on the Doomsday zone from S3&K, you'll put an end to Eggman's plans and save the realm!

JCZ: The original zone had a progression of starting out down on the coast and working your way up into the mountains. My pitch would be to reverse this, having Sonic and allies start elevated up on the mountains and work their way down to the sandy coast. Along the way, Sonic and the others traverse through various different small caves, many of which containing water in them which can generally be avoided with careful platforming. Characters such as Tails and Knuckles can take alternative routes that avoid the caves altogether.

TVZ: After thwarting Eggman on the beach, Sonic and the others find a valley not too far off that Eggman seems to have been dumping his waste into. For aesthetic and mood purposes, perhaps Act 1 could merely be cloudy overhead, though the sounds of thunder and lightning in the distance could warn of the impending storm. For Act 2, the storm begins, and the inclusion of rain causes some sections of the zone to become flooded, though as with the previous zone the player can avoid going in the water entirely. Powerful winds could also blow through some of the narrow sections of the valley in this act, pushing the player towards or away from progression. Players must avoid being pushed into harmful goop, while making use of bouncy goop occasionally to progress.

VFZ: Perhaps this zone could have a theme of darkness and light in addition to the whole mystical, mysterious thing it has going on. Sonic and the others must find their way through the mazelike forest, occasionally having to travel into hollowed out trees and huge fallen hollowed out logs to progress, in addition to the occasional abandoned treehouse, inside any of which it's hard to see. Perhaps these sections could include torches the player can light somehow, or something more magical to light the way. Both acts could borrow from the old Emerald Stage's gimmick in that progression isn't always entirely Euclidean and keeping an eye on your surroundings is important to progress. The spirits that live in this forest aren't dangerous, but are notorious tricksters. The badniks Eggman has placed within the forest however are much less friendly.

MFZ: Sonic and the others emerge from the forest only to find themselves mysteriously at the top of a mountain. Some sort of lab can be seen further down the mountain in the distance, but to get there Sonic and friends must traverse through the snowy, treacherous terrain they find themselves in presently. Act 1 taking place higher up on the mountain could have lots of winds blowing that threaten to push the player into the dangerous ice water. It's smart to stay on the snow and stay away from the ice while outside, but you can take shelter in the icy caves to get away from the winds, though these pathways might not be as fast a way down the mountain as taking a more direct route outside.

In Act 2, the winds let up quite a bit, not pushing the player as strongly. However, Eggman has become aware of exactly where Sonic and the others there, and has ordered his badniks to deal with them. The player must be more careful of badniks hiding in the snow or taking advantage of the slippery ice. Towards the end of the level, it becomes twilight, and then sunrise.

SPZ: Sonic and the others arrive at the Sunken Plant. It appears to have been a water treatment facility and a lab Eggman was using to produce his badnik army, and is the source of the waste he was dumping in TVZ. However, the plant has since been abandoned due to some accident that took place long ago, flooding the place with water. Many of Eggman's more water themed badniks are still here, and are still programmed to capture Sonic and the others. Most of the water sections can be avoided through careful and sometimes clever platforming, though sometimes going through the water is necessary for progression. Perhaps in some rooms, there could be a way of draining the water to make things easier, though that might cause some of the other badniks to activate...

AGZ: After defeating Eggman in SPZ, Sonic and the others follow him through a teleportation device that leads them into this heavenly place in the clouds. Eggman and his badniks are intruding on this sacred place, and must be stopped. Clouds can be bounced on Sky Sanctuary style if the player wants to take faster, more direct routes through the level, though this can be very risky as doing so is done over bottomless pits. Solid ground is still plentiful however, and is easily accessed as the slower way through the zone. At the end of Act 1, Sonic and the others find themselves entering a huge palace. Act 2 takes place inside the AGZ palace, where there are no more bottomless pits. However, the mazelike structure of the palace can be confusing. Inside the palace sometimes rooms flip the gravity upside down or shrink the player or a number of other things as a result of the mystical power within these walls. Progressing quickly is no longer an easy option, as Sonic and the others now need to work their way up the palace on their journey to the roof, where Eggman is waiting for them in his most dangerous creation yet: Brak Eggman. For this fight, Brak Eggman is vulnerable constantly, but the risk of getting forced off the edge to an instant death is ever present.

Prismatic Angel (All 7 emeralds required to enter): After defeating Eggman on the roof of the palace, Sonic and the others have successfully defended the Master Emerald. However, the seven Chaos Emeralds in Sonic's possession resonate with the Master Emerald, and a portal is opened up into another dimension, which Eggman immediately flees into. Sonic and friends leap in after to stop him, and arrive in Prismatic Angel. The first big change I would make to this level is to do away with the bottomless pits. Instead, this level is inspired somewhat by the final boss dimension in Generations, in which much of the level takes place within the alternate dimension, but sections of earlier levels appear. Sometimes, these are even mixed together in ways that are unnatural and feel very forced. Many of the level hazards and badniks encountered along your journey so far return, though in combinations that sometimes are new. Sonic and the others need to be on their A Game if they want to survive this.

Mystic Realm: Serves as the boss for Prismatic Angel. Brak Eggman returns, but this time it's been souped up. In it's new invincible state, Sonic and the others have no hope of damaging it... Or do they? Occasionally, Brak Eggman will attack, and this is an opportunity to get him to destroy some boxes containing monitors. Break an invincibility monitor, and find yourself on even territory with his power for the duration, allowing you to do damage. But be warned: He can still knock you off the edge.

Dimension Warp: Sonic exclusive fight. With Brak Eggman destroyed for good, Eggman has made a last ditch effort to beeline for the portal into this alternate dimension and lock Sonic and the others inside of it, trapping them forever. To stop him, Sonic transforms into Super Sonic. Eggman is racing Super Sonic to the end of the level, but also attacks him along the way to slow him down, which must be dodged. Super Sonic can attack back to slow Eggman down if the attack lands on him. If Super Sonic runs out of rings or fails to make it to the end of the level before Eggman, the player loses a life. Rings can be picked up along the course of the level, but are not plentiful.

Act 1 will take after Dirk's idea of MFZ, in which Sonic and gang will climb up a frozen-over mountain. Winds and ice will be in effect, alongside two new gimmicks possibly: icicles and snowboards. These should be self-explanatory.
This will probably be a mix of old and new, with segments loosely based off the best parts of MFZ1 and MFZ2. At the end of the act, Sonic and gang stumble upon a wooden building, leading into Act 2.

Instead of just being another standard ice level, Act 2 takes place in an abandoned ski lodge (thanks to Cookiefonster for the idea) which is really a disguise for Robotnik's main factory in the region (aka SPZ, which is sabotaged once Sonic enters). Here, you must travel between wooden buildings filled with traps set by Robotnik, and between these buildings are, naturally, mostly snowboarding segments and some icy segments. The end of the act would take place on the largest building in the ski lodge, which...

now has the boss! The boss will likely be revamped, but I have no clue how yet.

Jade Island, a remote tropical paradise hosting a wide range of climates, was once home to an ancient race of creatures known simply as "Mystics". According to legend, the mystics understood the chaos emeralds better than anyone before or since, and used them in tandem with 4 elemental crystals to shape the island to their whim. However, one day they had all converged in the royalty's Aerial Garden. One moment they were there, and with a blinding flash, they had disappeared. All that is known of their fate is that they claimed to be headed for the Mystic Realm, a land of unparalleled beauty where chaos energy crackled in the air itself. All that remains of the mystics is mysterious ruins, and the 4 crystals- though, for eons, they were left undiscovered by the few who explored Jade Island...

After narrowly escaping the collapsing Egg Rock, Dr. Eggman found himself stranded on the legendary island. As soon as he realized where he was, the doctor ecstatically got back to work; never before had such an opportunity arisen so quickly. He traced the power signatures of the 4 crystals and in a day's work. Calling over his surplus of badniks from the last escapade, he got to work setting up his factories on the island, and began investigating the Aerial Garden. There, he hoped to find some means of creating a gateway into the fabled Mystic Realm.

6 months after the black rock incident, Sonic and his friends arrive after catching wind of Eggman's plan to leap dimensions. Unbeknownst to them, the 7 chaos emeralds landed here with the doctor. Perhaps they hold the secret to stopping this horrible scheme from unfolding...

The pristine shores and mountains surrounding them are the only sights most see of Jade Island. By far the most amiable region, Jade Coast will be of little difficulty for the heroes to overcome, even when its swamped with Eggman's forces. It housed the Earth Crystal before the doctor stole it- if ancient texts and murals are to be believed, the Mystics had used it to form the coastal mountains as means of protection from invaders.

Wedged between a few steep mountains lies the green emerald's resting place, Mudhole Karst. The path to sacred places such as this one are blocked with strange, impenetrable, glowing barriers. The massive puddles of mud and steep cliffs make this place quite difficult to traverse, but the badniks here aren't holding up very well either. The Mystics had used the green emerald for a simple purpose- to keep Jade Coast fertile and lively, not unlike the effect the chaos emeralds had on South Island.

Enveloped in a constant torrential downpour, this valley is where explorers turn back. It isn't water that's falling from the sky; constantly raining on this unforgiving, craggy land is a strange, purple goop. This sludge is so dense that even sonic and his team remain almost completely buoyant, not unlike the polluted water of Techno Hill. Eggman's troops aren't phased by this region's harshness, so the odds are quite heavily stacked against the three heroes here. Oddly enough, none of the elemental crystals are here... perhaps Eggman has taken this place's associated crystal somewhere else?

If potential assailants of Jade Island could somehow cross the mountains, their assault would likely end at Rainstorm Keep. Originally serving as barracks for the mystic royalty's well-trained army, this fortress is sturdily built and well guarded- especially now that Eggman's forces are occupying it. Deep within its mazelike catacombs lies the purple emerald, thought to be the source of the constant downpour of goop.

Dark, ominous, and extremely difficult to navigate, none have returned from Verdant Forest to tell of its danger. Populating this forest are impossibly massive trees which completely obscure the sky with their foliage, the only source of light being the bioluminescent fungi that dot the ground below. The giant trees are completely hollowed out, yet continue to live. They didn't evolve naturally; the earth crystal had been used to create these massive plants, evidently having served as homes for the mystics which used to live here. Eggman's robots have decided, however, that they work just as well as traps, waiting to ambush Sonic within.

The blue emerald resides within the Labyrinth Woods, a maze where the unattentive will find themselves running in circles. Choosing the incorrect route will send one straight back to the entrance of this sacred grove; the path forward is telegraphed by increasingly subtle means. It seems the blue emerald's only purpose here is to keep the plant life in the shade alive. Perhaps it may have done more back when this place was populated, but that time has long passed.

This searing, rocky, dry ravine is the most perilous place sonic and his friends have had to pass through. It certainly doesn't help that eggman has taken the Fire Crystal from its rightful spot here, letting the heat and magma run uncontrolled. The crystal's dominion over the heat allowed the Mystics to harness the geothermal energy and keep their surprisingly advanced machines running; some scraps of those machines can even still be found around the area.

Housing the red emerald is the Vulcan Furnace. This ancient factory had been used to forge all manner of weapons and tools, all of which were imbued with the red emerald's power. The ancient technology is alien to even the likes of Eggman, leaving him unable to hijack it for his own means. Nevertheless, his robots are here to try and secure that crimson macguffin.

Those hoping to receive some solace from the extreme Flame Rift are in for a nasty surprise, for just beyond that lies a mountainous tundra shrouded in eternal night and frost. This freezing cold is maintained by the Ice Crystal, and it's only barely warmed up with the artifact gone. Researchers have come to the conclusion that this is where the Mystics would put their prisoners. Exiled to a place like this, even the most calloused of minds would slip into insanity. Oh, and Eggman's decided to commercialize the place with a ski resort, because of course he has.

Deep beneath the snow of the Midnight Freeze lies a silent, icy cavern. With more abyss than there is stable ground, none of eggman's troops have made it down here and survived; all there is is precarious platforming and a chaos emerald at its heart. It may seem brutal... but it's merely an appetizer of what's to come.

Floating within an icy lake lies Eggman's new base of operations: Sunken Plant. Serving a dual purpose as a robot factory and a control center, Sonic and his friends will not have an easy time getting to the base's center where the elevator to the Aerial Garden resides. With the power of the Water Crystal, the doctor has flooded half of his facility to exploit Sonic's greatest fear: Swimming.

Having managed to snag the area's emerald from its rightful place, Eggman has the gem locked up in a secret portion of the facility; the Nitric Citadel. Surrounded by disconcerting amount of acid, lasers, and crushers, Sonic will not have an easy time taking the macguffin from the doctor's clutches.

Finally, Sonic and his friends have reached the pristine home of the Mystic royalty and gateway to the Mystic Realm... Aerial Garden. Almost entirely intact from when the place was abandoned by its owners, the garden has been completely overrun with Eggman's badniks. The doctor seems to be headed towards a central tower, the four crystals in hand. With a devious look in his eyes, it seems Eggman is ready to open the gateway to the Mystic Realm. Sonic will have to speed across precarious floating landmasses to reach the center before the doctor does.

Holding the last chaos emerald is the Starlight Palace. The gem lacks a clear purpose; it seems the monarch of Jade Island had simply hidden it in this fortress as to prevent it from getting in the wrong hands. With the power of the 7 chaos emeralds, Sonic might actually be able to stop Eggman even when his devices are imbued with the Mystic Realm's power.

Waiting in the depths of Starlight Palace is a small, peculiar shrine. It's relatively unremarkable... besides the fact that it contains the Master Emerald! Could it be that there is more than one out there? Knuckles is insistent that it was there before he left for Jade Island. Looking at his own reflection in the illogical artifact, the echidna feels questions forming about his civilization that he knows won't be answered.

The three heroes and their adversary arrive. The dimensional gate of Aerial Garden did not send them all the way; they have arrived at a midpoint between their realm and the current home of Jade Island's grand civilization. It is free of robots; the only assailants here are strange prismatic sentinels as the trio leaps across crystalline platforms and clock towers pulsating with light. Eggman isn't far ahead.

End of the line. The air crackles with chaos energy as the 4 crystals radiantly glow and the doctor laughs maniacally. Truly infinite power is now at his fingertips. One side of this battle will exit the Mystic Realm a victor.