Palace of the Ugly Sphinx

Level by Kjartan (February, 2001)

Walkthrough by Harry Laudie


You start with a flyby of three closes doors and Lara in a tunnel. Run up the tunnel into the room and the south doors open as you approach them. The area behind the east and west pillars is a fire trap. The central stairs going down are for later. Go up the east stairs and enter an area with a closed door and a shotgun. Exit and go up the west stairs and get blue shotgun shells. Go south and watch out for a fire trap pit at the east wall. Go to the south-west corner and pull up to a column. Jump north to grab a ledge. Pull up, slide and jump to grab a pole. Twist around and back flip to a column. Follow the columns around the room to jump and grab a ladder on the south wall ledge. Pull up and use the floor lever to get a cut scene of four ninjas. Grab the ceiling and monkey swing to the north to drop onto a column. Jump to the column by the entrance and safety drop to the floor. Pick up a small medipack in the north-east corner and exit the room.

Return to the entrance doorway and run south down the central stairs. Kill the four ninjas and go to the west corner for a large medipack. Then turn and enter the tunnel in the east wall. Go to the end and use the floor lever and hear a door open. Exit and go back up the east stairs. Enter the open door and get a flyby of the area. Go straight ahead to pick up a small medipack. Take either side ramp and go get the Hand of Orion. Exit down the stairs back into the starting room.

Go to the west wall and use the Hand of Orion to open the door. Ahead of you is a really ugly sphinx. Go to the north-west corner for red shotgun shells. There is a tunnel in the south-west corner for later. Climb onto any sphinx's paw and run, jump, and grab an entrance door column to the east. Go south but ignore the hole in the ceiling. Jump to the east wall and jump over the doorway that leads to the south section. Notice that the ceiling and the doors get in the way. You have to jump a slight angle into the room and then curve back to make it onto the other wall. I have read that someone called it a "banana jump". Go to the east end and get secret #1 and a small medipack. Get down and go back to that south section of wall. This time, jump onto the west ledge. Follow the ledge to the end where you can jump onto the sphinx and pull up onto the sphinx's head. Use the floor lever and a door opens on the east ledge.

Jump to the north ledge and pick up the revolver and revolver ammo. Then go east to enter the open door. Use the safe tiles to jump over the deadly floor to get to the corner tile. Use the floor lever and return back to entrance doorway. Use the sphinx to get to the ground and go into the south-west tunnel. Enter a room to pick up Cartouche Piece 2 and use the floor lever. Exit back to the starting room and the north door is open.

Approach the edge of the room and jump to the middle columns. Safety drop to the ground floor and kill two ninjas. Climb the two blocks at the east wall. Jump to the central column and use the floor lever. Get back to the ground floor and go to the north side of the column. The gate is open so use the floor lever in the alcove. Climb the columns at the east wall and jump to the north ledge to enter an open gate. Go to the first ramp and turn around. Hop backwards and when you hear music starting, sprint forward to the entrance tunnel. Turn the corner onto the ledge as a spike ball rolls behind you. Enter the room again and see four other spike balls have fallen. You could also climb a wall at the west side and get into an alcove to avoid the spike balls. But this also triggers two ninjas.

Go to the opening in the north wall. Climb down a ladder and kill a scorpion. Follow the tunnel to look north over a pit with a deadly floor. Run, jump, and grab the colorful ladder on the structure to the north. Climb up and use the floor lever. You get a cut scene of a gate opening and many wall darts. Run, jump, but no grab to the south and back into the entrance. Climb the ladder and run back through the spike ball room to the ledge. Go to the west end to see the gate that you opened.

Crawl under the wall darts and stand on a ledge over a deep pit with a deadly floor. Run to the column at the north wall. Climb the ladder and shimmy to the right to stand on a higher block. Stand at the west edge and stand jump to the slope. Slide, jump and land on a flat column. Run and jump to the west to another slope. Pull up, slide, and jump to a safe column in the corner. Enter the tunnel to the west and jump over a fire pit. You emerge into a room with many ledges and a pool of red water. There is a receptacle at the north wall.

Dive into the water, as it is safe. Swim into a tunnel in the east wall. Follow it to a room and pull up. Climb a block and back flip onto a slope on the east wall. Jump forward to grab a slope and shimmy to the far right. Back flip to a flat block and pull up into an east tunnel. Use the floor lever and get a cut scene of a gate opening at the top of all the ledges. Get down and swim back to the first room.

Start by going to the south-west corner and climb the column. Then run and jump to grab a ledge towards the north. It is an easy route along the perimeter of the room to finally reach the block in front of the open gate. Enter the room and shoot the vases in the south-west corner for a large medipack. You face three passageways and three closed gates. Go up the west passageway and the gate opens. Enter the room and step on a raised tile. This opens the timed gate in the middle passageway. First kill a ninja that appears, and then try the timed run.

Enter the timed gate and stop before a pit. Jump the columns in the room to get to the floor lever in the north corner. Of course, it is difficult because of spikes that project from the ceiling. Use the floor lever and go back over the columns. Kill a ninja and exit and go to the last open gate. Enter the room and grab the monkey swing. Follow the monkey swing to the other side and release to grab a crevice. Shimmy to the right and around the corner to a safe area. Pick up red shotgun shells and a small medipack. Kill a scorpion and follow the tunnel. Kill a ninja and pick up Cartouche Piece 1 to open the gate. Exit by way of the first passageway and just dive into the pool.

Climb up and make the Ba Cartouche to use in the receptacle. The underwater door in the west wall opens. Dive into the water and follow the underwater tunnel until you can pull up into a small room. Go west into a tunnel. At the other end, slide down a slope as the level ends.

28-jun-2006