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Information in this article may not be canonical to the storyline of the games or any other Sonic continuity. |
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Paleo Tarpits is the third level in Sonic Boom: Fire & Ice. Devoid of civilization, this is a prehistoric island with the earthly remnants of mighty dinosaurs and numerous tar pits. Due to Dr. Eggman, the island's environment was messed up by the by-products from the doctor's mining operations on Ragna Rock. This pollution was brought to an end by Team Sonic.
Overview
Paleo Tarpits' World Map.
Paleo Tarpits is an untouched prehistoric land surrounded by a purplish red haze. It is overgrown with large trees, sharp-leaved plants and other primordial flora. It also has mud ravines with green swamps, barren outbacks, and countless black tarpits. The landscape is as well littered with dinosaur bones.
The first two adventure levels include the lush areas. The dirt paths are covered in grass, and things like spearhead pits, dinosaur eggs, and unknown flora like trees and sharp-leaved bushes appear along them. A purplish red haze and glowing insects fill the air, and there are bridges and roads made of dinosaur spines and ribs. In the background is also a primeval jungle set in a swamp with strange flowers.
The last two adventure levels include the more desolate areas. The paths go through a open cave with dinosaur skeletons and black tar on every surface, grass tot and mushroom. Here, lots of tar drops down from the ceiling and bubbles on the paths. Like before, there are eggs, spearheads and bridges/roads made of dinosaur bones along the paths. Outside the caves is a desolate outback with dead trees, tar pits and mountains.
Story
While mining on Ragna Rock, Eggman would pipe the messy by-products from his operation off to Paleo Tarpits. This lead to the creation of fissures emitting Fire and Ice energies, which would mess up the island's environment.
Believing D-Fekt was connected to the fissures which were destroying the world's environment, Team Sonic pursued D-Fekt to Paleo Tarpits where they sealed a fissure D-Fekt was trying to protect before defeating the robot's newest form. However, this raised one question: why was D-Fekt trying so hard to keep the fissures open?
Amidst their trip, Sonic was taken to another Bot Racing event by Dr. Eggman. When they returned though, Sonic's friends forced Eggman to drop Sonic off prematurely. Immediately after, Team Sonic had to find their way off Paleo Tarpits and head to other islands who needed their fissures sealed; as it turned out, by closing fissures in one place, Team Sonic was forcing them to erupt elsewhere.
Gameplay
Paleo Tarpits' adventure levels, like the others, are divided into two parts (the foreground and background) that run parallel to each other, which can be traveled between with the Bounce Pad. Other than the Bounce Pads, standard gimmicks here include Boost Pads, Enerbeam Swings, and disappearing platforms. There are also constantly-moving block platforms and cannons for firing the playable character, the latter of which can be fired with 
and move around on their own. Most noticeable though, are the Water Spouts and blocks of ice/water that can be turned solid or intangible by touching them while using Fire/Ice Mode.
Hazardous obstacles in the adventure levels include stationary rollers with spikes, moving and non-moving spiked blocks (some of which form traps), and spiked surfaces. Touching such obstacles will damage the player and return the characters to an earlier position. The adventure levels also have collectibles scattered about which unlock extra content if collected, breakable obstacles that give extra Rings, and Challenge Room entrances.
Like other adventure levels, Paleo Tarpits' have several character-specific gimmicks for the playable characters. These include dash blocks for Sonic, laser blocks and Laser Reflects for Tails, pillars for Amy, Burrow spots for Knuckles, and Boomerang Switches for Sticks. In addition, Paleo Tarpits features three bonus levels, each with different gameplay mechanics.
Description
Primeval Jungle
Primeval Jungle is Paleo Tarpits' first adventure level, which takes place in the jungle. It becomes available after unlocking Paleo Tarpits.
At the beginning, go right until the characters enter the background and go left from there. Upon reentering the foreground, go right to arrive at a split in the path right after using a Bounce Pad. Going left here leads to a loop past Primordial Wilderness. If the player takes the upward or the right path here instead, keep taking the rightward paths until the characters enter the background. Along the way, there will be small looping detours. Go left from here to reach the fissure.
| Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|
| Reach goal in 01:40 min | Ragnium |
Jungle Labyrinth
Jungle Labyrinth is Paleo Tarpits' second adventure level, which takes place in the jungle. It becomes available after clearing Primeval Jungle.
First, start out by going right on the path. After the first cannon, the player can either go left to reach a looping path, or take the right path. Continuing down the latter path will take the player into the background, where they must go right again to reenter the foreground. Go again rightward from there to get sent up by a Bounce Pad to a split in the path on a bridge. Going left here leads to a loop past Sinkhole while going right here will eventually take the player back into the background where the fissure is.
| Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|
| Reach goal in 01:40 min | Ragnium |
Sticky Situation
In this level, the player encounters the local boss, Sticky Situation, a blob of tar brought to life by D-Fekt. It becomes available after clearing Jungle Labyrinth. For this boss battle, the player controls Sonic and Tails.
In battle, Sticky Situation first attacks with tar balls, chomps and tentacles. Hit D-Fekt when he gets in range. After three hits, the player must stay in the air with Tails while Sticky Situation raises the tar levels. Land three more hits from here to beat this boss.
| Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|
| Clear boss in 04:30 min | Ragnium |
| Clear boss with 20 Rings | Ragnium |
Hazardous Conduit
Hazardous Conduit is a bonus level where the player must race to the end of an obstacle course while dealing with fire and ice elements. It becomes available after clearing Sticky Situation.
| Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|
| Reach goal in 01:40 min | Ragnium |
| Reach goal with 200 Rings | Ragnium |
Mechanized Meltdown
Mechanized Meltdown is the Bot Racing minigame of Paleo Tarpits where Sonic or a Bot Racer competes in a circuit race against Obliterator-bot on Thunder Island. It becomes available after clearing Sticky Situation. To clear it, the player must complete three laps before Obliterator-bot.
| Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|
| Win race in 02:40 min | Ragnium |
| Win race with 200 Rings | Ragnium |
Narrow Fathoms
Narrow Fathoms is a bonus level where the player must navigate an undersea section with mines and breakable obstacles in the Sea Fox and find the two Trading Cards within the level in time. It becomes available after clearing Mechanized Meltdown.
| Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|
| Find the Trading Cards in 01:10 min | Ragnium |
Tarpit Depths
Tarpit Depths is Paleo Tarpits' third adventure level, which takes place in the outback. It becomes available after clearing Mechanized Meltdown.
At the start, follow the path on the right to enter the background and follow the left path there to reenter the foreground. From there, take the right path. Just after the first Water Spout after the second Checkpoint, there is a drop leading to a loop past Sunken Gulch. Further ahead, at the third Checkpoint, there is an upward path leading to another loop. If the player takes the lower route here instead, they will arrive at the fourth Checkpoint; going left here leads to a new loop. Going right here instead will take the player to another split in the path, where the left path leads to a new loop while the right path leads into the background, where the fissure can be found on the right.
| Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|
| Reach goal in 02:20 min | Ragnium |
Frozen Splash
Frozen Splash is a bonus level where the player must clear an iceberg passage filled with destructible ice bergs, indestructible mines and whirlpools in the Hovercraft and collect the Trading Card at the end in time. It becomes available after clearing Tarpit Depths.
| Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|
| Reach goal in 00:55 min | Ragnium |
Prehistoric Outback
Prehistoric Outback is Paleo Tarpits' fourth adventure level, which takes place in the outback. It becomes available after clearing Tarpit Depths.
At the start, follow the path on the right to enter the background. From there, stick to the rightward paths to reenter the foreground. From there, follow any rightward path to eventually return to the background. After scaling the first ledge after the incoming Checkpoint, the player can either go straight ahead or follow the lower paths for a trip past Chasm Lair. Either way, they will end up on a path leading directly to the fissure.
| Requirement | Reward |
|---|---|
| Reach goal in 03:00 min | Ragnium |
Tails' Plane
Tails' Plane is the landing area for Tails' personal aeroplane. It becomes available after clearing Prehistoric Outback. Here, the player can access the Cloud Map to reach other levels in the game.
Trivia
- "Paleo" means "prehistoric", "ancient" or "primitive", which fits the theme for this level.