Rewards: Purple Gem—destroy all 15 boxes without losing a life (Yellow Gem required to get all of the boxes).
This level is unique. You advance through dark hallways. Your Aku Aku Mask is your light. As time passes, the light eventually goes out, so you need to move constantly and smash the Aku Aku boxes to keep the light shining.
At the start, hit the Aku Aku box and light up your surroundings. Begin running forward and jumping over gaps. There are no enemies here, so focus on making the jumps. Don’t waste time, or you may get stuck in the dark before you can reach the next Aku Aku box.
The Aku Aku box signals a coming change. In addition to jumping over gaps, you now must jump to floating platforms in the middle of the gaps. Don’t linger, since they drop shortly after you land on them.
After you pick up another Aku Aku box next to the checkpoint, you must jump onto moving platforms. If you’ve kept moving, you can jump right off the edge, and the timing should be right for you to land on the moving platform. However, if you pause, you need to wait until it returns toward you. There are also floating platforms that drop. Keep going to pick up an extra life next to an Aku Aku box. Don’t delay on the moving platforms. If you don’t make quick jumps and are forced to ride them back and forth, your light will go out, which means you have to make jumps in the dark.
You reach a long section of floor; grab another extra life and an Aku Aku box. A new enemy makes an appearance: giant rats start coming at you. They can’t jump across gaps and are easily defeated with a spin attack.
Move on through the rat-infested halls to reach a new threat—swinging blades. If you keep moving, the timing lets you miss most of them. After you get past a few, there’s a transparent platform. Don’t jump on it unless you have the Yellow Gem. Instead, jump over it and onto a floating platform to keep going.
Moving quickly now becomes even more important. You can’t stop long to wait for the blades. If you do, you’ll arrive at the spot where you have to jump across to floating platforms between swinging blades in the dark and most likely lose a life. However, once you’re past this part, you’re almost to the end of the level.
Time Trial
Time Requirements
Sapphire: 1:31:00
Gold: 1:20:67
Platinum: 1:06:87
This level is already similar to a time trial, due to the fact that you have to keep moving or you end up in the dark. During the real time trial, there’s little time for pausing. Pick up all of the time boxes and all of the Aku Aku boxes. If you keep moving as quickly as you can, you’ll hit the moving platforms and miss the swinging blades without any trouble.