UNDERGROUND MYSTERY

Level by Mahetus

Walkthrough by Phil Lambeth

Four options are provided to start the game: New Game, New Game+, Japanese NG and Japanese NG+. The + versions give you unlimited resources, and I'm assuming (there's no readme) that the Japanese versions offer more challenging gameplay. There's also no setup program, which forces you to play in full screen mode, and the Look function for some unexplained reason is assigned to the “f” key on your keyboard.

You start at the end of a street under a fixed camera that's broken when you run forward. Explore the immediate area for some pickups: Turn right down an alley to a courtyard and go left under a bridge to attract two vultures. Go up the steps to your left for uzi ammo, then across the street to an outdoor dining area for flares and continue down the street for a small medipack and shotgun ammo on the right side. Near the corner on the left you'll find more flares. Continue past Cafe de Flore to encounter a mutant monster in an open area and pick up the dropped CROWBAR.

You'll return here later, but for now go back the way you came, through the alley to the beginning street and straight ahead past a closed gate to a dead end for a small medipack and flares. Go back a few steps, open the crowbar door and enter a small room to attract two more vultures. Pick up the BEACH KEY, exit to the street and go back up to open the gate you passed by. Step out into a rocky beach, turn left, run toward the green-tinted area and pull up onto the rocks. With a couple of jumps left you can reach the top of the wall and run to the other end for SECRET #1.  Pick up the MP5 along with 3 x MP5 ammo, 2 x small medipack and a large medipack. Slide down to the beach area, return to the green-tinted rock wall and this time run forward to a floor hole. Climb down the ladder, drop onto a slope and slide down to a lower passage for shotgun ammo and a small medipack. Step on the weight-triggered trap door and slide down further onto a ledge overlooking an underground lava stream.

Step forward and take a running jump slightly to the right to land on a flat rock. Note the closed door to your right, jump forward onto a flat spot, jump left over the lava and jump up to grab the ceiling. Monkey swing along the tracks and drop in front of a wall switch that opens a nearby door. Monkey swing back the way you came, retrace your steps to the flat rock and jump past the opened door. There are breaktiles covering a lava trench ahead, so monkey swing over them, drop down and walk around the corner toward a lava pool. Save your game and take a running jump over the lava to land on a slope and start a trap sequence. Jump off onto a ledge to trigger a spike wall, continue with jumps across three smaller spike-wall ledges and jump to land on a sloped but safe rock in the lava. Turn left and time a jump past the swinging fire pot. Turn right and take a running jump across the gap, grab and pull up into the passage. Walk to the other end, hop down left to trigger a boulder and shoot the mutant monster waiting inside.

Search the skeletal remains for 3 x shotgun ammo, 2 x uzi ammo and a large medipack, note the closed door and find a wall opening where you can pull up two times and alert two zombie natives in the cave above. Pick up the dropped large medipack, pull up higher and step on the trigger tile to open the door ahead. Continue into a room with closed doors and wall switches. Face the entrance and pull down all four levers in no particular order. Doors hiding boulders will open and close as you do so. Run across the room to pull down the fifth lever to release two of the boulders and trigger a cut scene of a formerly burning floor hole. Return to the previous cave, hop down into the safe floor hole and pick up the TUNNEL KEY as a door opens elsewhere. Hop into the opening next to the lava trench and go around to jump the gap on the way back to the cave with the lava pool. The spike walls are now dormant, so get past them on the way to a raised platform that you can use to reach the exit passage. Either run over the breaktiles or monkey swing over them, jump onto the flat rock in the lava and hop up left onto the triangular ledge on the hill. Go across and take a running jump to grab the opening in the far wall where the door opened. Pull inside to find a wall switch that floods the room.

The door opens to your right, so swim along the passage and up the shaft to surface near the beach area you visited earlier. Wade out onto the shore, exit through the opened gates, turn left and return to the square with the two-horse monument. If you like, you can divert for some pickups by turning right and jumping into the water. Swim down for 2 x shotgun ammo, grenades, flares, large medipack and 2 x uzi ammo, surface and pull out where there’s a gap in the railing. Go past the monument and down the street to loop right around the Cafe de Flore toward a dark tunnel where you can use the Tunnel Key to open the entrance gate. Light a flare and enter to find MP5 ammo. Move the pushblock past the opened gate and out into the street between the first two street lights. Get up onto it and take a running jump to grab the wall, pull up and drop down the other side next to a zip line. Ride it down to the next building, slide down next to a crawl space and enter (by using the “c” key on your keyboard instead of the standard crouch key).

Flip out on the other side, hit the “c” key twice to stand up again and follow the friendly monkey into the passage ahead for the small medipack that he drops for you. Continue to a zoo exhibit, pause for shotgun ammo and go through the opened gate. Turn left for 2 x shotgun ammo and continue around the corner for the ZOOKEEPER NOTE and desert eagle ammo next to a pushblock. Move the pushblock around the corner and into the entrance passage (to keep this door from closing when you push the button), push the nearby wall button to open the adjacent door and now push the block into the next room. Loop around left past the opened door and find a wall switch that opens a door and attracts a mutant with poisonous breath. Exit the zoo exhibit and follow the passage down to an aviary and locate the opened door (crocodiles and monkeys) at the far right corner. Enter and shoot two vultures. You can also target and shoot two crocodiles swimming about below. There’s a ladder at the first corner you can use to get down and collect flares, shotgun ammo and a small medipack. Note the “underwater” lever on the central island, indicating that you’ll need to flood this area and return later.

Climb back out and follow the wooden ledge past the opening on your right (tigers and piranhas). The door closes behind you, so draw a weapon and hop down right to engage two tigers waiting in the next area. Follow the huge tree branch and see a school of deadly piranha swimming about in the water ahead. Slide down and jump to the first of several blocks in the water. Use standing and running jumps as appropriate to go around in a counterclockwise direction and be prepared to deal with two attacking vultures along the way. You’ll end up at a pile of rocks at the corner. Climb to the highest flat one, face the tree and take a running jump through the leaf canopy to grab the nearest limb. Pull up and hop onto the limb to your left. Take a running jump from the end to grab the jutting rock ledge, pull up, turn right and jump over to the next rock ledge. Jump onto the suspended platform, turn a bit left and take a running jump to grab the tree limb. Pull up, hop around to the other side, pausing for MP5 ammo on the limb to your left, and Lara will look up at the poor guy dangling from a rope. Jump up while firing to put him out of his misery and draw the attention of the piranha below, jump in after him and look for an underwater lever on the rock slab at the corner near the feeding frenzy. Pull it to open an underwater door, turn right and swim past the piranha and look right at the third rock column to see the opened door. Swim on through and up the shaft to surface at an indoor passage.

Pull out and follow around the corner to engage a zombie native. Get past two sets of teeth doors to pull down wall switches that open trap doors in previously visited areas. Exit, swim back to the piranha lake and pull out onto the giant tree trunk ahead and to your right. Jump over to the nearby rock formation and pull up through the ceiling hole. Pick up the nearby WATER PUMPS PRESSURE INSTRUCTION, find the opened trap door and pull up higher next to the cages containing tigers and cobras. Follow the passage to the crocodile pool, shoot a third crocodile that has appeared down below and jump into the water. Find the floor hole where the trap door opened, fill your lungs with air and save your game before swimming down into a long underwater passage and emerging at a room with active thumpers. Turn left, pick up the small medipack and continue forward to time your way past three thumpers, pausing after the second one for a rocket. Turn the corner, surface and pull out into a room with multiple water pumps. Refer to your instructions and turn only the wheels on the back sides of these blocks: Left side (as you face the far wall) -- 1 and 2, right side – 1 and 3. Hop onto the ledge at the far wall, pick up the large medipack and 2 x uzi ammo, push the button and wait a few seconds as the glass panel lifts from the wall switch. Pull it down to open a door elsewhere, return to the water and get past either set of thumpers on your way back to the crocodile pool.

Use the ladder to climb up to the wooden bridge, go through the crocodiles-monkeys opening to the next area and continue past the opened door in the far left corner. Turn the valve wheel to flood the previous areas and go back to jump into the water. Locate the floor hole near the corner and swim down past the opened door for SECRET #2. Collect the GRENADE GUN and 3 x grenades, a large medipack and 2 x desert eagle ammo, return for air and prepared for a timed exercise. Locate and pull the underwater lever you noted earlier to raise two timed platforms, turn around, swim around the right side of the column, surface and pull out in front of the piranha doorway. Turn right, take a running jump to grab the first raised platform, pull up, turn around and stand jump to grab the next raised platform. Pull up and take a running jump slightly left to grab the tree limb, pull up for desert eagle ammo and flares and turn around. Make your way clockwise around the periphery with appropriate jumps until you reach a rock formation with the UNDERGROUND KEY at the apex. A trap door lowers when you pick it up. Get down to the lower rock ledge and jump over onto the tree limb protruding past the leaf canopy for the SHOTGUN and 2 x shotgun ammo.

Drop back down into the water, surface and pull out onto the wooden bridge. Exit to the adjacent atrium area and loop around right to pull up into the same crawl space opening you used to get here. Return to the ledge onto which the zip line deposited you earlier, turn right and jump up the slope, turn left and stand jump down to the first rock column. Take a running jump to the next rock column and continue with another running jump toward the ladder ahead. Climb up to the top and take running jumps in a counterclockwise direction until you reach the ledge with the zip line. Pull up onto the wall and hop down to a familiar street. Two mutants with bad breath are shuffling your way, so kill them from a distance and go back up the street to the two-horse square, where you’ll be met by two zombie natives. Continue past the monument to engage a mutant monster and loop left around the wall to find a receptacle for your Underground Key. The trap door down below to your left opens, so drop onto a slope and slide to an underground passage. Follow around the corner and step on a marked tile that triggers action music and the sound of a released boulder behind you. However, you can easily outrun it to the corner and slide down left to a lower ledge overlooking a pit of deadly goo. Collect the nearby flares and 2 x shotgun ammo, walk toward the swinging fire pots and look for the translucent floating platforms to the left of them.

Take a running jump (no grab) to land on the first one, stand jump to grab the second one and pull up. Turn right to face the fire pots, time a standing jump down into the opening where they can’t reach you and light a flare to detect the next floating platform. Jump to it, turn right and take a running jump slightly left onto the next one and continue with a running jump slightly right to land in front of a wall switch that opens two timed doors behind you. Reverse roll, take a walk/running jump onto the previous floating platform, continue with a running jump onto the platform ahead and another running jump into the timed doorway for SECRET #3 and the DESERT EAGLE. Return to the wall switch, pull it a second time, reverse roll and take a running jump onto the previous platform, turn right and stand jump to grab the timed doorway. Pull up quickly and save your game before proceeding further into the next room.

As you enter, the door closes behind you and spike walls start to converge from either side. You need to run forward and clear horizontal blades and a swinging fire pot until you reach the end of the trap zone and another door closes behind you. You’re not yet out of the woods, as you’re immediately attacked by two mutant monsters and a zombie native in the cave ahead. When all is quiet, save again and search the window alcove for a large medipack and shotgun ammo. Note the nearby closed door that requires two keys and search the rocky ledge on the right side for MP5 ammo and desert eagle ammo. Climb the rock ledge on the left side and go up to find a floor hole with the UZIS and 2 x uzi ammo. Pull out and go up higher to approach a building with two closed doors as two poison-breath mutants slither around the corner on either side. Both side alleys lead to an alcove with a wall switch. Let’s start with the switch at the end of the left side alley. Pull it down to open the door behind you. Reverse roll and follow the passage around the corner into a room with horizontal blade traps and roller blades. There are eight wall switches, two on each wall, and a central structure surrounded by a lava trench. Your task is to time the roller blades to pull down all eight switches while avoiding the horizontal blades, using the central structure to get from one wall to the next. It’s tedious but not too difficult.

When you’ve pulled the last switch the flames on the central structure are extinguished. Hop up there and pull up onto the trigger tile for a cut scene of a door opening where you encountered the mutants earlier. Return there and grab the SKULL KEY. Now go to the wall switch at the end of the right side alley and pull it down to open the door behind you. Follow the passage to a room where you’re attacked by a mutant monster and two Tinnos wasps.

The Tinnos wasps continue to appear in waves of two each until a single ninth one appears. To avoid having them distract me during the tasks that follow, I simply awaited their arrival from down below and picked them off one by one until they stopped materializing. Go to the far wall and pull down the timed wall switch to raise four platforms, two on each side. You can choose either side (I chose the right side), so hop back turning slightly left, jump onto the ledge, turn right and take a running jump to grab the lower platform. Pull up, turn slightly left and roll into the corner, followed by two standing jumps in quick succession to reach the upper ledge before the timed platforms drop back down. There are two switches on the central column, and each one raises two timed platforms behind. Pull down the switch of your choice, reverse roll and turn slightly right or left, take a running jump to grab one of the raised platforms, pull up at the outer corner and stand jump onto a higher ledge with a wall switch. Pull it down, get down to the central ledge and repeat with the switch on the other side of the column.

Two platforms have been raised on the column (not timed), and two higher up on the walls, and you can use either side to reach the top of the column. Pull up onto the ledge opposite the platforms of your choice, stand jump onto the lower platform, back flip onto the higher platform and stand jump to grab a ladder surface. Climb up to the top of the column and step on the central trigger tile to open the second door down below (as well as raise the timed platforms). Make your way down to the floor, exit this room and grab the second SKULL KEY. Go down the rock ledges to the cave with the closed door you noted earlier, place the Skull Keys to open it and enter a new puzzle room.

Pick up 2 x uzi ammo on the central slab and move the two pushblocks along the trench and onto their corresponding skull tiles. Two boulders roll down after each such placement, and you'll need to hop onto the pushblock both times to avoid being set aflame and wait a second or two. Now move both pushblocks onto the red tiles at the end of the trench and doors will open on either side of the room. On one side is a mirror room, on the other side is a room with deadly goo.

Taking the mirror room first, save your game and from the entrance tile on the first row note that there are seven vertical columns and numerous horizontal rows. Jump the tiles as follows: Stand jump 2^nd row, 4^th column; stand jump 3^rd row, 6^th column; stand jump 5^th row, 7^th column; stand jump 7^th row, 6^th column; stand jump 8^th row, 4^th column; stand jump 10^th row, 4^th column; stand jump onto or grab a block on the 11^th row, 6^th column; face the wall, jump up to grab the ceiling, monkey swing to the wall, turn left and continue to the ceiling tile and drop next to the SERPENT STONE. When you pick it up, platforms rise along the wall to offer a quicker way back to the entrance.  

Go across to the other side room and jump to your right from the raised platform next to a wall switch that lowers some platforms in the room while raising others. For a secret, carefully jump with grab to land inside the entrance, take a running jump onto the nearest platform, followed by a running jump to land on the ledge behind the column for SECRET #4. Claim the ROCKET LAUNCHER and 4 x rockets as your prize, jump back to the previous platform and from there to the entrance (curved running jump with grab). Take a running jump from the entrance to grab the raised platform, pull up and take a running jump curving left to land on a platform between two columns. Take a walking/running jump around the column to land on a ledge facing a wall switch that changes the configuration of the platforms once again. Turn around, take a running jump onto the platform against the wall, turn left and jump to a corner alcove with the second SERPENT STONE and a wall switch that you can safely ignore. Return to the previous wall switch, push it back up and make your way back to the entrance opening (following the same route as before). Pull up into the main room, place the Serpent Stones in their receptacles to open the door between them and enter a short passage. Approach the wall switch and the floor gives way under your feet to make you slide into a macabre underground pool.

Wade to the central floor hole, swim down and follow the passage to a ceiling shaft. Swim up, surface and pull out to engage two mutant monsters and a zombie native. Search the immediate area for 2 x uzi ammo, desert eagle ammo, 3 x shotgun ammo, 2 x rockets and a large medipack, venture further into the cave to meet two more mutant monsters, continue to an opening and step out onto a floating slab. Press the look key (“f” in this game, remember) to restore camera control, take jumps as appropriate from one slab to the next, grab the one at the corner and pull up. I won’t describe the following jumps in laborious detail, some of which require sliding and jumping off slopes, but if you’ve been playing Tomb Raider for a while you’ll know how to progress (you may wish to save in separate slots along the way). You’ll ultimately reach a ledge with a timed wall switch that opens the exit gates that you passed by. Save your game, pull the switch down and jump back a few slabs until you reach the opened gates. Take a running jump past the opening and run past a sea of bones to a final room where you meet up with an ethereal boss, assisted by a mutant monster.

When the boss dies he leaves behind something on the floor, but if you wait a few seconds another mutant monster will appear, followed soon thereafter by a third mutant monster. When all is quiet once again you can go over and pick up THE GOLDEN SKULL. The nearby gates open, so go on through and run toward the waiting raft to end the level.